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Daily Devotionals
Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time
“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him.” (NASB)
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, there were two remarkable features. First of all, his face shone. He had been in the presence of the Lord, who revealed Himself in a bright, shining glory cloud known as the Shekinah. The radiance on the face of Moses was a borrowed glow. After speaking with God, the lawgiver carried away some of the splendor and effulgence of the glory. It was a transfiguring experience.
The second notable feature was that Moses did not know that his face was luminous. He was totally unconscious of the unique cosmetic he carried away from communion with the Lord. F. B. Meyer comments that that was the crowning glory of that transfiguration—the fact that Moses was unaware of it.
There is a sense in which Moses’ experience can be ours. When we spend time in the presence of the Lord, it shows. It may actually show in our faces, because there is a close link between the spiritual and the physical. But I do not press the physical, because some cultists often have very benign faces. The important point is that communion with God transfigures a person morally and spiritually. That is what Paul teaches in HYPERLINK "javascript:" : “But we all, with open 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.”
But the crowning glory of that transfiguration is that we ourselves are not conscious of it. Others can tell. They take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. But the change is hidden from our own eyes.
How is it that we are blissfully unaware that the skin of our face is shining? The reason is this: The closer we are to the Lord, the more we are aware of our sinfulness, our unworthiness, our wretchedness. In the glory of His presence, we are led to self-abhorrence and deep repentance.
If we were conscious of our own radiance, that would lead to pride and the radiance would instantly be replaced with repugnance, because pride is repugnant.
So it is a blessed circumstance that those who have been on the mount with the Lord and who carry away the borrowed glow do not realize that the skin of their face is shining.
'Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time' Copyright 2007 © William MacDonald. 'Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
