Seeing Him Who is Unseen

By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused [denied] to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing [haireo – preferred] rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.                     Hebrews 11:23-29

Now faith is the assurance [hupostasis – guarantee, confidence] of things hoped for, the conviction [elegchos – certain persuasion] of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval [martureo – had a good witness].                           Hebrews 11:1-2

What is faith in God? As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, For we walk by faith, not by sight. One definition of faith is that it does not employ physical sight. Moses had an amazing relationship with God, as he spoke with God face-to-face (panim el panim) in Exodus 33:11 and mouth-to-mouth (peh el peh) in Numbers 12:8, unlike anyone else in Scripture. These verses suggest that Moses had an ongoing dialogue with the Lord, though he could never see His face. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (John 1:18). In Exodus 33, Moses would meet Yahweh in the tent of meeting as the pillar of cloud would hover outside for the people to see. Moses recognized the power of Yahweh in His presence. This tent was Moses’ own tent, set up outside the camp while the Tabernacle was still being constructed.

Exodus 33 sits between Exodus 32, where Moses received the Law for the first time, and Exodus 34, when Moses was called to Sinai again to receive the tablets of stone. In Exodus 32, Moses’ first trip to Sinai represents the First Coming of Christ, who was rejected by his own people (John 1:11), while Exodus 34 points to His Second Coming. Between these two events lies Exodus 33, symbolic of the Church Age, which sits between His First and Second Comings. The Messiah came to mediate a new covenant, a covenant defined by grace (favor), through faith. The new covenant believer exercises his faith by seeking the Holy Spirit's leading in every detail and is empowered to follow it. There is a picture of this process in Exodus 4, where Moses recognizes he is not an eloquent speaker:

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? “Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.”               Exodus 4:10-13

By Grace, Through Faith

The new covenant is centered on Ephesians 2:8-9, that this new relationship with God is spiritual and based on the grace (favor) of God and the believer’s faith in who Jesus is and what He did. In Exodus 33, the exchange between the Lord and Moses provides that real faith depends on three pillars: (1) that God will never remove His presence from the believer, (2) that the glory of God is revealed in His mercy and compassion, a manifestation of His goodness toward all believers, and (3) that He will hide the believer in the cleft of the rock (the cross of Christ) and cover him with His hand.

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known [yada – known entirely] you by name, and you have also found favor [hen – acceptance, grace] in My sight.’ “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways [derek – how You work] that I may know You [know in experience], so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My presence [paniym – face, presence] shall go with you, and I will give you rest [mannah – rest, settle down].” Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory [kabod – majesty]!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness [tub – goodness, fairness, beauty] pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious [hanan – favor, have mercy on] to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock [Christ is the rock – 1 Corinthians 10:4]; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. “Then I will take My hand away, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”       Exodus 33:12-23

In the above passage, Moses confirms with the Lord that he has His favor but needs to know who will be going with the people when the Tabernacle is complete to travel to the promised land. Yahweh says that it will be His presence (cloud by day, pillar of fire by night) that would accompany them, and He would give them rest (faith-rest). Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Moses is exercising his faith in this exchange with the Lord by seeking His direction, understanding that without the Lord’s presence, how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Moses wanted to know God by knowing His ways so as to please the Lord. Faith in the Lord means trusting in His ways, thereby getting to know Him experientially. The believer gets to know God by what He says (the Word of God) and what He does. The new covenant believer has His presence with him at all times through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Trusting the Holy Spirit produces rest (Hebrews 4:9). Hebrews 13:5 quotes Deuteronomy 31:6, which promises that "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU."

Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory [kabod – majesty]!” The Lord answered, “I Myself will make all My goodness [tub – goodness, fairness, beauty] pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. This request was fulfilled when God granted Moses a deeper vision of His glory. Proclaiming God's name, His revealed character, to Moses, God allowed him to see His goodness and His back, but not His face. The goodness of God, His fairness, is proved in His mercy and compassion to those who do not deserve it. Paul quoted this verse in Romans 9:18. In verse 16, he provides the context: "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy."

Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock [Christ is the rock – 1 Corinthians 10:4]. The cross of Christ is not just the method of His death, but it represents the power of this new life in Christ. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power [dunamis – divine ability] of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). God’s ability is realized as the believer meets Jesus at the cross. And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

Pleasing to God

For we walk by faith, not by sight [eidos – outward appearance]— we are of good courage [tharreo – full of hope], I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing [euarestos – well pleasing] to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.                 2 Corinthians 5:7-10

For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them, for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.                       Ephesians 5:8-13

Our life is overwhelmed by faith in our immortal hope, not by the outward appearance of present things. As Moses understood, we see Him who is unseen by the way we live our lives before Him. Paul contemplated his purpose on the earth versus his eternal home when he wrote the church at Philippi: For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you (Philippians 1:23-24). He was hard-pressed to know which would bring the most glory to God and therefore be to everyone's advantage in the long run. His personal desire was to depart and be with Christ. This he knew would be better by far for him since it would mean his release from the persecutions and other hardships that he suffered. But he also knew that the Philippians needed him. Pleasing God is to live in the perfect will that God has ordained for each believer.

Mother Theresa was a great representative of one who lived in God’s perfect will by the way she served others, particularly in Calcutta, one of the poorest cities in the world. In an interview published by Time magazine on December 4, 1989, she referred to herself as a “pencil in the hand of God.” When asked why she would continue to selflessly serve God in this way long into her later years, she commented that it was there that she could see Him who is unseen.

As children of Light (as opposed to children of disobedience), the believer lives as those being led by Him who is unseen. For the fruit of the light is in all kinds of goodness (as opposed to malice or badness), righteousness (as opposed to covetousness), and truth (as opposed to vain words and lying). The good, the right, the true, represent true morality before God and man. The invisible God becomes visible to all who are watching.

Working What is Pleasing

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you [katartizo – put in its appropriate condition] in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.                   Hebrews 13:20-21

The new covenant relationship with God presents a new frame work: the work is not man’s work, but a by-product of the believer allowing God to accomplish what He pleases, without placing excessive responsibility on himself, accompanied by the resulting guilt when the work is not completed or is inadequate. Paul saw this principle clearly in 2 Corinthians 4:7 when he said, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. The end result of God’s work is that He gets the glory, and we experience His life and blessings.

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.                   Psalm 84:10