Moses asked God to show him His glory. What did Moses see?
God said to Moses that He would hide him in the cleft of a rock and cover him, and that when he passed by, Moses would get a glimpse of His glory.
EXODUS 33: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shall see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
The word glory, here, is the Hebrew word kabowd, which primarily means: honor; that which brings one honor; who a person is, one’s nature.
Moses was asking God what makes Him so honorable. What makes Him who He is? God responds by saying this:
EXODUS 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
So, God put his hand over Moses, hid him and then withdrew his hand for a split second. What did Moses see?
He saw his back parts, everything which YHVH had done, which enabled him to write the book of Genesis, but He saw further back than that.
He saw what happened before the foundation of the heavens and the earth.
He saw God in Christ taking upon Himself every kind of sin, sickness and disease experienced by mankind.
He saw His back laid bare with every type of sin, sickness, and disease being etched into His back. He saw the raw, bloody, open wounds caused by the scourging.
Jesus was so disfigured that He was no longer recognizable as a person. He suffered every sin and disease known to man.
What Moses saw was the incomprehensible goodness of God, who would send His only Son to die a horrible death for mankind.
Moses saw the glory of God!
God was showing Moses His goodness. God was telling Moses, “This is what makes me honorable; this is my glory; this is my goodness; this is who I Am.
