Moses Sees God

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: Go down at once. Your people, whom you brought up from Egypt, have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned away from the way I commanded them, making an image of the golden calf. Whoever has sinned against me, I will erase from my book. Loud go lead the people to the place I told you about. Ah, he will go before you. But on the day I sit to the counts, Aari will hold them accountable for their sin. 00:00:43 Speaker 1: The plague had chipped away at their numbers significantly. There was scarcely a family to be found among them who had not been affected. 00:00:51 Speaker 3: Now spread the word among the camp. This place is to be called the Tent of Meeting. Any One who wants to consult Our God to seek spiritual council can do so here. 00:01:08 Speaker 1: The first time Aaron saw Moses enter the Tent of Meeting, hope was rekindled in his heart. He had never seen anything quite like it. Moses would walk out to the remote tent, away from the rest of the camp, and people would stand at the entryways to their own tents to observe. Moses would enter the tent, and the pillar of cloud, just like the one that guided them through the desert after they escaped from Egypt, would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent. Moses would speak with their God inside the tent, just as he had done on the mountain. Pees, let me see your glory. He just wanted to see what he looked like. He longed to understand. He wanted to know his God more fully. 00:01:58 Speaker 2: But I will make it so. My glory will pass before you. You will see my glory and know my name. Come to me tomorrow. 00:02:09 Speaker 1: On the mountain, Moses stared at the pillar before him in awe. Tomorrow he would see the glory of his God, and he would finally learn his name, his true name. 00:02:33 Speaker 4: Amidst the echoes of a shattered promise, a new covenant was about to be forged, a testament to grace, forgiveness and the enduring love of the Lord. Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy Land of Israel, I'm l Extein with International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. In each episode, we'll hear dramatic stories inspired by the Bible, stories filled with time tameless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story, we find this truth that we are all chosen for something great. Has this podcast blessed you? I want to ask you a favor to follow this podcast so that you never miss an episode. And if you're interested in hearing how the Fellowship is impacting millions of people around the world, saving lives, helping to bring biblical prophecy to fruition, visit IFCJ dot org. We find ourselves at the threshold of a profound moment in our ancestor's journey. The Israelites, free from the chains of Egypt, wander the wilderness. Their hearts are still heavy from the sin of their recent idolatry, a golden calf, a broken promise, and now Moses is about to ascend Mount Sinai once more to encounter the divine to receive the renewed covenant. This is the story of Exodus thirty four, a chapter of rebirth and divine revelation, and one that asks what does it mean to be given a second chance by God? 00:04:16 Speaker 1: Hoshier was sitting inside the tent of meeting, as he did every day. He sat in the back of the tent and was separated from the section where Moses held an audience with the Lord. He couldn't always make out the words of what they were saying, but the muffled tones of the Lord's voice never ceased to amaze him. He wondered if the Lord would ever speak to him like that one day. On this day, one word seemed to cut through the fabric of the tent and pierce Hoshier straight in the heart. The words seemed and felt like breath itself, like life itself. He sensed a shift in the atmosphere around him, almost in response to this word. Maybe it was a place, a thing, or a person. Whatever it was, it was important. A few moments passed and there was quiet from the other end of the tent. Moses called for Hooshier as he began to exit the tent of meeting Hoshea. 00:05:20 Speaker 3: Come, I have a task to complete and we'll require your assistance. 00:05:26 Speaker 1: Hoshier jumped up and followed Moses. 00:05:29 Speaker 2: Here, I am whatever you need. 00:05:31 Speaker 3: Our God has asked that I have the new stone tablets cut to replace the ones I brought down from the mountain. We're to go see the stone workers. 00:05:42 Speaker 2: Stone workers, no one has used that craft since we left Egypt. There's no stone work to be done here. 00:05:48 Speaker 3: Do not worry, my son. Find the men who possessed the craft of hewing stone and send them to my tent. I'll supply the stone they need to dress. 00:05:57 Speaker 2: You can count on me. 00:05:59 Speaker 3: And yeah, once I have the new tablets made, I'll return to him on the mountain. 00:06:06 Speaker 2: Am I to go with you up the mountain again? 00:06:08 Speaker 3: No, not this time, my son. In fact, I'll need you to warn the people to stay away from the mountain again. Even the flocks and herds are not to graze in front of the mountain. Spread this news draft camp, and assemble the elders to enforce it. While I'm gone. 00:06:26 Speaker 1: Ho Sheer ran off in search of the men who were stone cutters and masons in Egypt. He brought them to MOSE's tent, and they found him on his hands and knees in the center of his tent, having thrown back the rugs and animals skins that served as his floor. He was digging into the very earth of the desert floor. He triumphantly cried out as they approached. 00:06:47 Speaker 3: Ah, perfect timing. Ah, It's just as our God said it would be. Look here, this is the stonewall cut to form the new tablets. 00:06:58 Speaker 1: Ho Sheer and the stone workers peered in over Moses's shoulder to find rough carving stone protruding from the dird floor of moses tent. The stone workers made quick work of removing the stone from the ground and hauling it over to their makeshift banker table to dress the stone. Moses oversaw the cutting, shaping, and surfacing of the tablets. The finished tablets were just as Hoshier remembered from the day they came down the mountain, about six handbreads wide and long and about three hand breads deep. Just before first light, Hoshier arose early, just in time to see his master take up the new stone tablets and depart in the direction of the mountain. Moses panted and stopped to catch his breath and readjust the heavy stone tablets in his arms. He wished that Hoshier had been permitted to join him, if for no other reason than to carry one of the tablets. 00:07:57 Speaker 3: Ah ha, I'm too old for this, Lord, This is a young man's work. 00:08:07 Speaker 1: A Moses heaved and panted his way up. He finally reached the point on the mountain side where the clouds hung low creating an otherworldly misty divide between this world and the divine. Moses steeled his breath and pushed into the cloud. Moses noticed a crevice in the rock, and he carefully lowered himself within. 00:08:33 Speaker 2: The rock. 00:08:33 Speaker 1: Walls came up well above his head, but he could see the surrounding mountain side through the narrow opening within the aperture. He set the stone tablets down beside him and waited. A stillness crept over the mountainside, and Moses's heart began to race. 00:08:51 Speaker 2: This was it. 00:08:53 Speaker 1: He held his breath in anticipation as a booming voice began to speak. It rattled his heart in his chest and his teeth in his jaw. He felt as though his entire life had been leading to this moment. He had asked something mighty of his God, and he was about to answer. 00:09:13 Speaker 2: You have reminded me that I have called you and knowed you by your name. Now you will know me by my name, and you will see my glory. My name is Yahweh. 00:09:29 Speaker 1: With that, Moses sensed his God's hand cover him inside the rock, and he knew his God was passing in front of him. Yaheh's hand shielded him from the overwhelming glory that would strike him dead from behind the hand he continued to speak. He spoke the meaning of his name, Yahweh. Moses absorbed the name for a second time. 00:09:56 Speaker 2: I am a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love for a thousand generations, for giving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequence of the father's iniquity on the children and the grown children to the third and fourth generation. 00:10:27 Speaker 1: When Yahoeh finished speaking, he lifted his hand from Moses' hiding place in the rock, and Moses saw his back, just as he had promised. As Moses took in his God's glory, he considered his name, the name that described his relationship to his people. He loved them, rescued them, was loyal to them, faithful to them, forgave them, and would judge and avenge them, disciplining and guiding them as a loving father. Tears of revelation sprang to Moses's eyes. His glory shone all around him. Moses had to squint his eyes and shield them from taking it all in the compassion and grace Yaheh spoke of. His very name was a palpable feeling in Moses's soul. His heart ached, ached with longing to know more, to see more, for the resolution of a broken world where he no longer had to hide in a cracked rock from his wondrous creator, God, the God Most High, the God Almighty Yahweh. Names and titles were a feeble human attempt to contain and describe something indescribable, so intangible, an unspoken groaning that came from deep within himself, a sensation of utter awe for which there was no interpreter. And who was this glorious and powerful God that he thought of Moses, of any human at all? But yet he loved them even though they had failed, and would continue to do so. This was unlike any god Moses had ever heard of in the known world. A god who would remain faithful to a people who rebelled against him betrayed him. A God who would choose a forgotten, downtrodden people to be his people. Absolutely unheard of, radical, and perhaps the most humbling revelation of all. He appointed Moses to lead his chosen people. He knelt low and worshiped before his God. Inspired by the very name of his God and all that it represented, he again advocated on behalf of the people, my God, are we If I have indeed found favor with you, Please go with us. Though we are stiff necked people, Remember you rescued us from Egypt's iron smelting furnace. Be patient with us, as your name declares. Forive our nequity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession, your inheritance. 00:13:31 Speaker 2: Now and always take up the tablets. I will renew the covenant with you today in the presence of all your people. Aye, you will perform wonders that Heaven may have not been done mean the whole earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see my work, for what I am doing with you is all inspired. Observe what I command you to day, and I will drive out your enemies before you. 00:14:09 Speaker 1: Moses listened as his God renewed the covenant. He recounted what was there before, but also added stern warnings of how his people should conduct themselves in the conquest and inhabitation of the promised land to come. It had been forty days and forty nights, and Moses had still not returned. He had not taken food or water with him. Just as before, Hosher returned each morning to wait at the edge of camp to see if that day would be the day Moses returned. He had done as his master had bid. The elders kept the people away from the mountain and the surrounding foothills. The herds had even been driven out to graze in the opposite direction. That morning, Hoshier sensed that something might be different. The last time Moses returned with the stone tablets was after forty days, and this morning was the fortieth day. Hoshier scanned the horizon and went up toward the clouded mountain. His heart caught as he saw a speck of movement in the foothills. He was right, it had to be Moses returning to them at last. He was about to turn and run to notify Aaron and the others when he noticed that the far away figure appeared to be emitting a soft glow. 00:15:36 Speaker 2: He frowned. 00:15:37 Speaker 1: Perhaps it was a strange reflection, he realized it must be. How else would he be able to see him against the darkness of the cloud cover. He shrugged and hurried to go find Aaron. The figure approaching camp was thought to be Moses. That was what the boy Hoshier had said, but Aaron was not so sure. As he drew closer, he called out to the figure from a safe distance. 00:16:05 Speaker 3: Stay back, Everyone stays back until we know who approaches. 00:16:10 Speaker 1: Aaron stood before the elders and many of the Israelites gathered at the edge of their camp. The figure approaching their camp was holding the same stone tablets Moses left with, and even dressed as Moses was usually dressed. But this being's face was radiant and shining. Aaron had never seen such a thing. He struggled to find the words to describe it. Beams of light radiated from the head and protruded outward, almost like horns, like some pagan symbol of divinity. The horns of light curled over the top of the figure's head and outward. So bright was the light from the face that Aaron had to avert his eyes. He could feel the elders around him doing the same as for the figure. He did not seem to realize that his face was a glow. He halted before the gathered elders and before the Israelites waiting behind them as if waiting for a greeting of some kind. Aaron felt obligated to speak. 00:17:12 Speaker 2: Who approaches you are not known to us? 00:17:16 Speaker 1: That gave the figure pause. He was still a ways off from the crowd. 00:17:20 Speaker 2: I think it's Moses. The glory of our God is clinging to his very face. 00:17:25 Speaker 1: Mosks, do you think. 00:17:27 Speaker 2: I would not recognize my own brother? 00:17:29 Speaker 1: The figure interrupted Aaron's terse remarks with how sheer it is? 00:17:33 Speaker 3: I Moses, your leader? How is it you don't recognize me? It is your face. It shines with radiant light. 00:17:43 Speaker 1: Moses then set down the stone tablets and held his hands up to his face, as if to see the glow reflected on their surface. 00:17:52 Speaker 3: It is all right, don't be afraid. I've seen our God. My face shines with his glory. 00:18:01 Speaker 1: Moses stepped forward to close the distance between them all, but the elders and people shrank back in fear. They were still apprehensive to be so near to this strange site. 00:18:13 Speaker 3: Do not be afraid, I would relay the renewed, coveted treaty to you. All. Come, come, let us gather in the center of the camp where all can hear. 00:18:25 Speaker 1: Moses approached the people, and though he assured them, they still gave him a wide berth as he walked among them. Hoshier alone, confidently strode in his wake. As they made their way to the center of camp, Aaron overheard Moses ask Hoshier to fetch him a veil. Moses relaid the renewed covenant, as he said he would do. He then told them the name of their God. He only told them once. Hoshier's body thrummed with recognition. It was the word he heard in the the word that reminded him of life itself. That was their God's true name. How Sha was amazed. So glorious and reverent was the name that Moses deemed that it was not to be spoken or used lightly, for their God was more mighty than an earthly king, and even their true names were similarly used sparingly. From that day forward, they would commonly refer to their God as the Lord or just God, to remind themselves of the distance there was between themselves and their God. This was how they would show reverence and respect for the true name. 00:19:47 Speaker 4: What a profound story, and it actually makes me think of one of my favorite movies growing up. The Wizard of Oz. Let me explain. When I watched it as a kid, I was terrified of the wicked Witch. I was in chen by the magical land of Oz, and I loved Dorothy's ruby slippers. But then when I rewatched the movie with my own kids as an adult, I realized that it also holds some deep messages about life. At the end of the movie, Dorothy is asked what she's learned, and her reply is the true magic of the movie. This is what she says, If ever go back looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard, because if it isn't there, then I never really lost it to begin with. In other words, happiness isn't somewhere over the rainbow. It's right here, exactly where God has placed us. According to Jewish tradition, when God commanded Moses to carve out new tablets to replace the old ones that were broken, Moses had trouble finding stone from which to make them. He looked everywhere but couldn't find the right stone, And then God appeared to him and told Moses to look underground, right beneath his own tent. Moses had looked everywhere, but where he was. What he had searched high and low for was right there with him all along. Like Moses, many of us make that same mistake. We look for the fulfillment of our soul's desire everywhere, but where we are. We think that we'll find happiness in a new car, or a different house, or an exotic vacation. We think, if only my spouse were different, if my child were easier, or my job was better, then everything would be great. But the truth is that everything we need for fulfillment in our lives is within us. Every time I travel for work and leave my family, my country, and my daily routine, I'm reminded that, truly there's no place like home. My greatest treasures are in my own backyard. God has given me everything I need, challenges and all to be truly happy and complete. In this story, Moses is given the amazing privilege of glimpsing God's glory, the closest any human being can come to seeing God, who is, of course unseeable. And as God passes in front of Moses, God calls out his own attributes, proclaiming the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Now, Jewish tradition asks a very important question about this verse. It asks, why must we know who God is? Or even what right do we as human beings have to expect God to list his attributes for us? Amazingly, the Jewish sagees answer, just as he is, so must you be? Why does God list his attributes so that we can follow them, so that we can emulate them, so we can. 00:23:12 Speaker 1: Be like them? 00:23:14 Speaker 4: Wow? What the sages are saying is this, God is compassionate, so we must be compassionate. God is gracious, so we must be gracious. God forgives, so we must forgive others. Isn't that amazing? 00:23:28 Speaker 3: Now? 00:23:29 Speaker 4: Of course, we can never become exactly like God, but we can try to take some of his characteristics that could make us holy. What a gold to set for the chosen people, We flesh and blood humans get to model ourselves after the God of the universe. After the Sin of the Golden Calf, Moses ascended Mount Sinai again, but this time it was different. This time, God revealed something deeper, something far more intimate. He didn't just give Moses the law, but God revealed his very nature. I want to repeat again what God told Moses. God said, I am the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Here God showed that even after betrayal, his love and patience endured. He's slow to anger. But this isn't just a description of God's character, My friends, we too are called to be slow to anger, to emulate this patience and grace that was shown to our ancestors. In Proverbs, we read this, a person's wisdom yields patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense. But in the original Hebrew, the opening word of this verse literally says, a person's wisdom makes him slow to anger. The verse uses the same words as Exodus third. And this ancient wisdom isn't just about controlling our tempers. It's about aligning our hearts with God. Like Moses, we have to find the precious stones of patience and wisdom in our own hearts. Then we can share it with the world. When we do find these precious stones, that emulate God. We'll be able to reflect a little bit more of God's glory, bringing peace and understanding to a world that's too often full of anger and hate. 00:25:35 Speaker 1: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Egstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot Com app today. This Prey dot Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max bod Zach Shellabaga and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Egstein, edited by Alberto a Venue narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. 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