The Lethal Majesty of Holiness
“You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live... while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand...”
In Exodus 33, Moses understood the ultimate plight of human existence. He knew that without God, we have no orientation, no purpose, and no identity. He pleaded: “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here... please show me now your ways, that I may know you.” Moses desperately wanted to be close to God, to walk with Him, and to know His ways just as God knew him by name.
But a terrifying tension stood in the way. God warned Moses that His unfiltered presence was lethal: “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Because of our rogue, lawless trajectory, God’s unapproachable holiness was physically incompatible with our brokenness. He even warned Israel that if His unfiltered presence traveled in their midst, He would consume and destroy them on the way. The cleft of the rock and the covering of God’s hand were acts of mercy—temporary shields keeping our fragile, broken nature from being obliterated by His absolute purity. We wanted to be close, and He wanted to be with us, but our lawlessness made real, unshielded communion impossible.
Yet, God did not keep Himself hidden in the dark forever. In His great mercy, the Logos came to the meaningless, the worthless, and the least. Centuries later, on a high mountain, Jesus took Peter, James, and John:
“And He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light... But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”
On that mountain, the disciples did the impossible: they saw the face of God in all His glory, and they lived. They did not perish, because the Person standing before them had come to take their place in judgment. The lethal, unapproachable light of Sinai became the warm, approachable touch of the Savior on the mount of Transfiguration.
Reflections
- Moses had to be hidden in the cleft of a rock to survive God’s glory, but the disciples were touched by Christ and told, “Have no fear.” How does Jesus change the way you approach God’s presence in your daily prayer?