MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 34:29-35
THE GLORY OF MAN
The glory of man is harmony with his Maker, likeness to his Maker, consecration to the service of his Maker, and the attestation of his Maker’s approval in his character and life. In this sense Moses was glorified. In this, and also in other and sublimer senses, was the “Son of Man glorified” (John 17) Moses’ glory was external as well as moral, but he belonged to an external dispensation. It is the privilege of every Christian to have this glory, not in the mere lustre of the face, but in the moral and influential sphere of the heart and life (John 17:22-23; Colossians 1:27). Notice—
I. That this glory was the result of communion with God. For forty days and forty nights Moses had dwelt in the secret place of the Most High and under the shadow of the Almighty.” He who would know what glory is must go where that glory is to be obtained. Man usually seeks glory elsewhere; on gory battle-fields, in the arena of political strife, on the broad plains of literature, science, and art. Indeed, in these spheres Moses had “whereof to glory.” He occupied a high rank among warriors and statesmen and literati; but if we could question him about these matters he would count all these things loss, and tell us that his glory consisted in the manifestation of his Maker’s favour when on the holy mount. If man would now be glorified, he must “approach with boldness the throne of grace,” and then he will hear Christ say with reference to him and his fellow-worshippers, “The glory thou gavest Me I have given them.”
II. That this glory was open to the inspection of others. “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shone.” And so now. Not in the same literal way of course, but in a way no less real. One of the great features of Christianity is its publicity. None of its great events were done in a corner. Even the transcendent miracle of the transfiguration was before witnesses. So with Christian life all through the ages. It derives its glory “in secret,” but it exhibits its glory “openly.” The Christian is “a city set on a hill,” a “light shining in a dark place.” This glory will exhibit itself in the appearance, speech, action of those in whose heart Christ is formed “the hope of glory.” And that glory, unlike Moses’, as we shall see, “shines brighter and brighter to the perfect day.”
III. That this glory had a due effect on its beholders. What could it mean? It might signify the coming glory which should consume them for their sins. Was it a mute declaration that God had rejected the intercession of the mediator and was coming in flaming fire to have vengeance upon them? They were afraid. They waited. No fire fell. They were assured. Whereupon they “talked with Moses.”
1. The glory of a holy Christian life will have its effect upon the wicked. It will arouse conscience. Its awful contrast with the smouldering embers of an ungodly life may perhaps arouse the breath of prayer to fan them into a divine flame.
2. The glory of a holy Christian life will have its effect upon the good. It will encourage the feeble by an exhibition of the grand possibilities of piety. It will stimulate the strong to exhibit their glory more and more.
IV. That while this glory was manifest to all beholders, its subject was unaware of its existence. “Moses wist not that his face shone.” Self-consciousness is fatal to a glory that is more than tinsel or varnish, at all times and everywhere. It is the one thing against which the Christian should especially guard himself. There are certain facts of which it is necessary that he should be conscious. He should be conscious that he is born of God, that he loves Christ, that he is growing in grace, and that he has a hope of heaven. Of all else of the virtues and graces that flow therefrom, of past achievements, of present attainments, he should be forgetful.
1. Moses had no time to think about it. While it was transfiguring him he was in communion with God. When he ceased communion he was about God’s work.
2. Moses had no inclination to think about it. His ambition and desires were in quite a contrary direction. His one desire was to serve God and guide the people to the Promised Land.
3. He had no warrant to think about it. It was not a consequence of his own services, or virtue, or work. It was the manifestation of the grace of God.
V. That this glory being derived was not self-sustaining. “And when (not as A. V. till, in conformity with the fact that Aaron, &c., beheld the glory and—with Exodus 34:35, and LXX. Vulg. Targums and most versions) Moses had done speaking … he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord … he took the vail off.” See 2 Corinthians 3:13-16. (See Alford, in loco). “Moses placed a vail on his face in order that the sons of Israel might not look on the termination of the transitory.” He had to visit the Lord to renew that glory. It was like the sacred fire which the vestal virgins were to feed continually.
The Christian can only keep up the lustre of his holiness by continually deriving fresh supplies from its fontal source. His life can only be kept fresh, beautiful, and glorious by always being near the Lord of his life.
Application—
1. Have you this glory? All other glories are but tinsel in comparison with it. All other glories fade both in themselves and in the recollection of the beholders. This is true glory, eternal glory.
2. This glory is obtainable through Him who is the “brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, and by fellowship with Him we shall walk in its light here, and afterwards “appear with Him in glory.”—J. W. Burn.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Law-Lights! Exodus 34:1-35. Pressense says, that whatever opinions men may hold as to the integrity of that primitive witness, all must own that it contains pages in which one beholds, as it were, the reflection of the lustre which caused Moses’s face to shine when he held converse with God. It has ever been the pious mind which has through the eyes beheld the chain of revelation and the long series of Divine manifestations gradually unwind themselves. Just as they that watch for the morning gaze out from the height of the tower, longing with inexpressible desire for the approach of dawn; so does religious consciousness cast glances of fire upon the horizon as she looks out for the Divine Sunrise. The whole of the Old Testament pants and throbs with this Divine yearning, and it also shows us the finger of God writing in the heart of man the great preparation for the Gospel. The angels ever
“Draw strength from gazing on its glance,
Though none its meaning fathom may;
The Word’s unwithered countenance
Is bright as at Mount Sinai’s day.”
—Goëthe.
Sunset-Reflection! Exodus 34:29.
(1.) Looking up into the bright blue sky on a clear summer day, we see far off great masses of white fleecy clouds, piled up against the sky like the snow mountains in Switzerland. We see them sailing quietly and gracefully across the dark blue heavens, bright with the dazzling effulgence of the monarch of the day.
(2.) And at sunset we may see the mighty clouds, kissed by the warm effulgence of the sovereign sun ere he sets behind the western hills, hang around in all their congregated hues of beauty, like the pillars of some grand tabernacle. Even the sky, illuminated to its centre, has caught the radiance, and glows intensely, changing its sapphire majesty to gold.
(3.) Where do the clouds and sky borrow their splendour? From the sun’s face. And so Moses, from communion with God, caught the reflection of His glorious face. And just as the sun shines on the clouds in the sky and makes them beautiful; and just as God shone on the face of Moses and made it bright; so, by intercourse with Jesus—by beholding His face—we are changed into the same image; our souls are made to reflect the brightness of His face.
“Sunlight seeking hidden shadow, touch’d
The green leaves all a-tremble with gold light.”
—Massey.
Soul-Excellence! Exodus 34:29. An eminent writer says—True Christian excellence shines naturally like the sun, nut for the sake of effect, but because it cannot help shining. It was so with the face of Moses. But whenever a Christian grace becomes, so to speak, self-conscious, it loses its charm. It is like an Alpine flower brought from the lonely mountain peak, where it blushed unseen, and planted in the public garden, where it loses its beauty and fragrance, becoming a mere weed. You cannot handle a butterfly’s wing without rubbing off its delicate mealy dust, or a ripe grape without destroying the rich purple bloom upon it. And so you cannot handle admiringly your own Christian virtue without impairing its tender loveliness.
“Beware of too sublime a sense
Of your own worth and consequence.”
“If thou would’st keep thy garments white and holy,
Walk humbly with thy God.”
—Cowper.
Fellowship-Fruits! Exodus 34:29-35.
(1.) For forty days successively, the great Jewish legislator was concealed on the summit of Mount Sinai, within the thick darkness by which the glory of Jehovah was veiled from the less-favoured eyes of the multitude. In this prophetic seclusion, separated from the world, his mind took deeply and strongly the impress of heaven. By communion with God his soul was saturated with the light of His holiness. His countenance by a spiritual affinity caught the celestial radiance and reflected it with dazzling brightness. On his descent from the mount, this splendour from the Divine Presence continued to shine on his face, that Aaron beheld it while he talked with him, and all the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh.
(2.) Brown says his face was radiant, and dispersing beams like many horns or cones about his head; which is also consonant unto the original signification. Our Saviour and the Virgin Mary are commonly painted with scintillations or radiant halos about their head, which by the French are designated the glory. In some of the ancient Bibles, Moses is described with horns. The same description we find on a silver medal, i.e., upon one side Moses horned, and on the reverse side the commandment against sculptured images. The believer’s walk and conversation should be thus encircled with “horns of glory,” rays of the beauties of holiness.
“Ne’er let the glory from my soul remove,
Till perfect with Thy ransomed flock above,
I cease to sin, but never cease to love.”
Soul-Shekinah! Exodus 34:30-35.
(1.) In our atmosphere we have noticed the lower strata of clouds have a dark colour, for to them belong the smoke, and the steam, and the fogs, and the malaria, and the earthly exhalations. Above them are those which have left behind much of the earthly exhalations, but which are still not of perfect brightness and hue. But far above them, through the dry air of summer, may be seen other clouds beautiful in array, the white of their drapery pure, having left behind the impurities of earth, and having drawn nearer to the sunlight.
(2.) Here we have a picture of Israel, of Aaron and the elders, and of Moses. The Israelites were like the earth-clouds, with sombre faces dulled. Aaron and the elders were nearer God and so were brighter. But Moses was like the far-up cloud of silver purity, his countenance caught the bright perfections of God in the clear blue scene of communion. He knew it not, was as unconscious as the snow white vapour-vail; yet his face shone.
(3.) There are souls whose lives, spent amid the fogs and malaria and defiling exhalations of worldliness, are dark and ugly. Then there are others whose lives are higher up in the region of morality and so are less dense and repulsive, but still not clear and bright. And there are those who, living far above amid the sapphire-sheen of God’s infinite love, have lives all beautiful—comely with the comeliness which the Sun of Righteousness sheds upon them.
“To whose white robes the gleam of bliss is given;
And by the breath of mercy made to roll
Right onward to the golden gates of heaven,
Where to the eye of faith, they peaceful lie,
And tell to man his glorious destiny.”
—Wilson.
Moral-Transfiguration! Exodus 34:30. (l.) Like the great Jewish lawgiver, the soul that is familiar with God in meditation and prayer cannot fail to contract resemblance to Him—cannot fail to catch a portion of His purity and greatness. When our Saviour prayed and held intercourse with His Father on the mount, His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. In like manner every believer on the mount of prayer, during his heart’s intercourse with God, is spiritually transfigured.
(2.) It has been beautifully remarked that every face, according as it is more or less turned towards our Sun, must reflect a portion of His brightness. When Arthur returned from church there was a serene happiness expressed in his manner, that strikingly contrasted with the peevish restlessness and fretfulness of those whose thoughts bad not risen above earth. Lina thought that she had never seen her brother’s eyes so bright, or his manner more full of the sweet light of courtesy to all around.
“As though an angel in his upward flight
Had left his mantle floating in mid-air.”
—Baillie.
Legal Fears! Exodus 34:30. Contrast the fears of the Israelites at Horeb, as they saw the shining face of Moses, with the joys of the disciples on Hermon as they beheld the countenance of the Mediator shine as the sun. Then the disciples of Moses were reluctant to draw near; but now the disciples of the Mediator exult in their nearness, “It is good for us to be here.” As Krummacher says, “Every glance, every play of look, every word, every majestic act, was radiant with grace and only grace.” Streams of peace flowed into the apostles hearts. Sweet and sabbatic rest was breathed around them. Every ray of His countenance that fell upon them was the transporting smile of a God. Here they would gladly have made tabernacles and remained—for ever remained in this beatific irradiation of the Only-Begotten, full of grace.
“Here let us holy tabernacles build,
That we may ever stay
In silent trance, with heavenly visions filled,
Joy that shall ne’er decay.”
Self-Consciousness! Exodus 34:31.
(1.) Character!—A beautiful woman who knows that she is beautiful, and prides herself upon its possession, and parades her charms before the world for its admiration and applause, gives evidence of her self-consciousness by a thousand vain and artful ways, studied in order to attract attention. Alas! This is but too common with Christian souls. They know too well that their lives reflect the glory of God. They embrace every opportunity of exhibiting the radiance. They are proud of their spotless character and blameless conduct.
(2.) Consequence!—The transparent film of collodion on the photographer’s plate becomes instantly blackened and unfit for his purpose when placed in the light. And so there are graces so delicate and sensitive in the Christian soul that they are rendered opaque and useless for their object when regarded in the light of self-consciousness. It perverts the motives—lowers the aims—corrupts the affections. And Satan, as has been well remarked, takes full advantage of such self-complacency to tempt us to a grievous fall. There is on earth
“A host of prides, some better and some worse,
But of all prides, since Lucifer’s attaint,
The proudest swells a self-sufficient saint.”
—Hood.
Vail-Symbolism! Exodus 34:33.
(1.) Type!—In 2 Corinthians 3:7-18, Paul says that it typified the blindness of the Jewish mind. The hardness of their hearts brought a vail over their spiritual sight, so that they could not look beyond the letter. They saw the tables of stone, and beheld the letters written upon them; but they could not behold the Divine glory in the face of Moses.
(2.) Token!—On the one hand it was a token that under the law man cannot see the face of God and live; and on the other that under the Gospel the natural man cannot behold the glory of God as it is in the face of His Son Jesus Christ—the only Mediator between God and man.
(3.) Testimony!—It spoke eloquently of the Divine glory in the law—of the spiritual lessons of the moral beauty and effulgence vailed in the Pentateuch from ordinary gaze. Aaron and the rulers might draw nigh and behold; but the giddy world-throng could not perceive.
“This is the mount where Christ’s disciples see
The glory of Incarnate Deity;
’Tis here they find it good indeed to be,
And view His face.”
—Elliott.
Renewed Reflection! Exodus 34:35.
(1.) It has been supposed by some that the vail was put on by Moses after he had delivered the message from God, in order to hide the passing away of the brightness, which he retained on first coming forth from the Divine Presence. There is, however, no just reason for this supposition. Such a proceeding appears very unworthy of Moses, and entirely opposed to his character. He assumed the vail each time he came out from holding communion with God, because each time his face again reflected the glory of the Lord’s face. The vail was thus put on, in order that the people might not shrink from his presence.
(2.) When our earth turns away its face from holding communion with the sun, then the reflected brightness passes away from its features, and night reigns. No sooner does it again turn towards this dark world’s light, than again her countenance is illumined with the reflection of the sun’s glory. But again the face is withdrawn by the earth’s diurnal motion, and the glory fades. Even so, whenever Moses was with God, he came forth—his face resplendent with the bright effulgence; only to lose it, and again to have it restored.
“Welcome, dawn that never dies,
Day that needs no stars nor sun,
Where no tear-mists ever rise,
Hiding Thee, Eternal One.”
Modesty’s Vail! Exodus 34:35. Macmillan says a true Christian does not parade his excellencies before the eyes of his fellow-creatures. He covers them with the softening vail of modesty, as Moses covered his shining face with a vail in his intercourse with Israel. The Christian, as the poet rhymes, does good by stealth, and blushes to find it fame. He prefers the shade of retirement to the theatre of display. In short, he does not attest himself in anything that he says or does, but retires behind the vail of modesty, and shows that he is animated by the same mind which was in Christ Jesus—that he has learned of Him who is meek and lowly in heart.
“Scarcely revealing,
Scarcely concealing,
Being’s sweet mystery
Smiles from the sod:
While on each leaf
Is written this brief
But beautiful history,
‘We are of God.’ ”
—Butler.
Spiritual Assimilation! Exodus 34:35. Just as those who live at a royal court acquire courtly manners, and those who associate with refined and educated people acquire refinement insensibly; so those who live by faith in the presence of God, and as it were in the court of heaven, inevitably acquire something of a heavenly tone and spiritual elevation. As Macmillan says, “Communion with light imparts light; fellowship with greatness creates greatness; contact with the spiritual produces spirituality.” The apostle represents the transforming influence of the contemplative study of the Divine character when he says in allusion to the transfiguration of Moses, “We all, with unvailed face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
“From glory unto glory! O marvels of the word!
With open face beholding the glory of the Lord,
We, even we (O wondrous grace!) are changed into the same,
The image of our Saviour, to glorify His name.”—Havergal.