What we think about God is the single most important thing in our lives. Whatever we perceive God’s nature to be will color how we live spiritually, physically, emotionally, and relationally. It is unavoidable. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19: 10). Our testimony of who Jesus is for us will drive our prophetic gift for the rest of our lives. For better or for worse, how we connect with God’s nature will determine how we prophecy.
In exodus 33-34, Moses had a unique encounter with God. The Lord lovingly maneuvered Moses in asking for the very thing he wanted to give him. Because everything originates in God, we know that Moses’s desire was placed there by him. Please, show me your glory (Exodus 33: 18.) Moses picked up on the very thing God wanted to give him.
God place Moses in a small cleft in a rock. So it shall be, while my glory passes by, then I’ll put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand while I pass by I’ll take away my hand, and you shall see my back; But my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33: 22-23).
That experience changed Moses. As God walked past him, he prophesied to Moses about himself:
Exodus 34: 6- then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and 4th generations.
Suddenly, Moses had a whole new revelation of who God wanted to be for him.
God never changes. He is still merciful and gracious, and all the other things he told Moses. But our ability to understand his character traits grows and deepens as we mature spiritually. The nature of God is constant, but we are not. That’s why we need to spend time with him, learning as much about his character as we can. Moses’s burning Bush experience paled in comparison to seeing the back of the almighty. He had proven himself worthy and grown to the next level. He was changed by what he saw from the cleft in the rock; Even his face glowed afterwards.
I believe the world is ready for a revelation of who God truly is and what Christianity is really about. We’re ready to come to a place of deep truth where the prophetic nature of God bubbles up within us. God wants to give each of us are unique vision of himself-sharing what he is really like, what he loves, what he sees, and what he dreams for us. This revelation will be so profound that it will change the way we think forever. When we walk through dry places, it will sustain us. It is water for our spirits.