Monday, April 2, 2007
Exodus 33:18-20 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
THE FACE OF GOD WITHHELD
When God withheld His face from Moses, Moses was serving as a preview of Christ. On Mount Calvary, the Father would withhold His face from Jesus too, though for a very different reason.
God withheld His face from Moses because a vision of that magnitude would have killed Moses. On Mount Calvary, the Father withheld His face from Jesus, along with the rest of His presence, so Jesus could suffer the full punishment our sins required. Hell is the punishment for sin, so Jesus had to experience Hell if He was going to set us free from sin.
God the Father stopped all His goodness from shining on His Son as He hung on the cross. That was hell on earth. Instead of the brilliant glory that Moses experienced, the noonday sun grew dark for three hours on Good Friday. And there in the darkness the Son experienced unspeakable torment.
God told Moses, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Exodus 33:19).
When you first read this it might sound like God is saying, "Hmm, I'll have compassion on that guy, but not on that guy over there." Like God randomly distributes His grace and love. But that's not what God is saying at all.
God is describing how our salvation was accomplished. God CHOSE to have mercy and compassion on sinners who didn't deserve it. To do this, God had to CHOOSE to withhold his mercy and compassion from His suffering Son. Jesus experienced suffering which surpasses our understanding so that we could experience peace which surpasses all understanding.
