Face to Face

“The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. . .” 2 Cor. 4:6. Matt. 17:1-5. Rev. 1:13-18.

Another necessary characteristic that Moses possessed was fearlessness. A warrior must be fearless!

“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:27.

We are expressly told that the fearlessness of Moses sprang from faith, and the brief passage in Hebrews throws light on his whole history. Every step forward was the result of a faith that grew day by day as he endured its testing, and endured because he saw Him who is only visible to faith.

“For he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.

Moses forsook Egypt by faith—faith that God would see the thing through; faith that God would shield him from the wrath of the king, and protect and provide for the great host of undisciplined, helpless souls He was leading out into the unknown wilderness.

God was becoming to Moses a greater reality than the “things that are seen,” and bolder and bolder became his walk of faith, until the unseen grew more real and tangible to him than the visible.

How could he fear the “wrath of the king” when he walked in fearless fellowship with the King of kings? “By faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.” Hebrews 11:28.

It was the faith of Moses that was the link with God’s power on behalf of the children of Israel.

God had said that if the lamb was killed and the blood sprinkled, the destroyer would not touch them. Moses believed God, and “according to his faith” they were spared.

He had no fear when God’s judgments were all about them, because they were sheltered under the blood of the slain lamb.

How wonderful his faith was! It was even greater than Abraham’s. He had faith, first for himself and then for Isaac; but Moses had faith for the deliverance of a nation.

“By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.” Hebrews 11:29.

Moses had no fear of danger in passing through the Red Sea, for he obeyed God and wielded the rod of His power, stretching out his hand over the sea. Faith that God would bear witness accompanied his actions. The waters were divided, and Israel passed through as on dry land.

They went through dangers that proved disastrous to the Egyptians when they tried to follow.

Ah! is it not so today? Faith can fearlessly walk a path that would be death without the word of the Living God.

The Egyptians copied the walk of faith and were drowned. No copy of living faith will stand the hour of testing, but “all things are possible to the one who has a living faith.” LORD, increase our faith!

3. Lastly, let us note briefly the humility of Moses, as strikingly shown in his attitude toward Jethro when he came to him in the wilderness with Zipporah and his two sons.

Jethro sees what Moses has done with the people. Then, as he finds Moses engaged alone in seeking to settle the recurring disputes among the people, he suggests a plan whereby the work could be divided with others, adding, “If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure.” Exodus 18:23. Moses did not reject the counsel of Jethro because he had personally been guided by God hitherto.

And the way in which he received the suggestion teaches us that the soul who has the most deeply learned to know God, is ready to give others an attentive and respectful hearing. See James 3:17.

We see, too, how real a link Jethro was in the chain of events that led Moses nearer and nearer to the Mount of “face-to-face” communion.

How disorganized the camp would have been, when Moses had gone forty days aside with God but for the wise advice of Jethro and the teachable spirit of Moses, the faithful servant of God. (The people entered service, and Moses entered into silence).

“Now we see through a glass darkly.” 1 Corinthians 13:12. Isaiah 42:16. Psalm 24:3-6.

The LORD God Himself brought Israel out of Egypt, manifesting His presence “by day in a pillar of cloud, . . . by night in a pillar of fire.”

They had been led through stage after stage of the wilderness, and now, in the third month after leaving Egypt, they reached Sinai and encamped before the mountain. Here, God purposed to give His law for His redeemed people, and to call His faithful servant into a closer and more intimate fellowship with Himself.

We remember when Moses met God at Mount Horeb, he hid his face in fear; but since then, he has come to know Him more fully by his walk of obedience, and by his entire dependence upon Him.

He has gone on “from strength to strength”; and we have seen the timid, hesitant man transformed into the bold, fearless, faithful servant of the invisible God with whom he had been communing day by day.

Thus, it is through faith and obedience to our present knowledge of the will of God that prepares us for the fuller fellowship we long to know.

After the day when God appeared to Moses as a flame of fire in a bush, we have no record of any further revelation of Himself to him personally until Sinai is reached.

All through the conflict with Pharaoh, and with the murmuring Israelites on the journey to Sinai, the interaction between God and His servant is expressed by “the LORD spoke to Moses.”

But when Mount Sinai is reached, we read that “Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain.” Exodus 19:3.

Moses sought the LORD, manifested in the pillar of cloud for the purpose of knowing His mind about the people now assembled at Sinai. From this point on we may see the faithful servant led step by step into nearer and closer fellowship with God, until he was admitted to the glory and the devouring fire at the summit of the mountain.

For forty days, Moses was with the Lord . . . coming forth again to walk among men with the light of heaven upon his face, and to be known as the meekest man on the earth.

When the LORD first called to him at Sinai, it was to send him back to Israel with a brief message, embodying the primary conditions upon which God would deal with them as His people, a kingdom of priests and saints.

Moses returns to the LORD with Israel’s answer: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.”

Then he is instructed to prepare them for the third day, when the LORD God would come down upon Mount Sinai and speak to him in their presence and hearing.

“Come with Me . . . you shall look out from the top of Amana.” S.S. 4:8. Isaiah 25:7.

After solemn preparation, on the third day Moses led the people forth. to meet with God; and as they stood at the foot of the mountain the LORD descended in fire, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. When the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice, calling him to the top of the mountain. On the way up he was sent back again, to charge Israel solemnly not to break through and gaze and perish.

Once more he ascends the mountain until he reaches the thick darkness upon the summit. So terrible was the sight that Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake.” Hebrews 12:21. Could this be the same God who had so tenderly and graciously listened to Moses’ fears at Horeb?

It is very merciful that the LORD veils Himself to us in early days, and leads us on to the degree we are able to endure, until we can bear some knowledge of His holiness, and learn with godly fear and awe that we have to do with One who is a consuming fire.

Many of us may have been to Horeb, where we have met the LORD, and where He has been revealed to us as a flame of fire dwelling in us, as He did in that lowly thornbush. We have walked with Him, in obedience and faith, while going forth with the message of deliverance to souls in bondage.

We have learned to trust Him when the storm was raging. We have sung the song of victory, and, in the inner testing that always follows, have proved the power of the “tree” to change the bitter waters into sweet.