On the top of Mount Sinai, Moses prayed that the Lord would show him His glory. Many today cry to the Lord for that revelation, and yet they do not perceive all that a revelation from the Lord involves.
When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone with glory. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? II Corinthians 3:7, 8. Moses entreated the Lord, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. Exodus 33:18. The Lord made a provision for Moses to see His glory; but Moses did not anticipate, nor was he even aware of the change that had taken place.
A revelation of God involves change. It is impossible to listen to the living Word, perceiving a revelation from God, and really understand what happens within you. People change as they hear the living Word of the Lord. It is sealed to them. It will be said of God’s people in this day, “They heard; therefore they are.” They become what God wants them to become by virtue of a revelation that they receive from the Lord. They hear a Word that is a revelation from God, and therefore they become something that they have never been. To the extent that their spirits are open to perceive revelation, to that extent they change.
Moses hid in a place in the rock which the Lord covered with His hand as He passed by. Moses saw the back parts of God, but His face he did not see. Although God talked face to face with him, he did not see His glory in that respect. When Moses came down from the mountain, he wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. Exodus 34:29. This old English phrase “he wist not” is used in the King James Version referring to the time when Samson awoke from sleeping in the lap of Delilah after she had shaved his head. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.… And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Judges 16:20.
Churches that have not sought to walk in revelation from the Lord with integrity “wist not” that the Lord has departed from them. Because they are without revelation, they are not aware that they have placed themselves in the lap of the world. Although the Spirit of the Lord has departed from them, they are bolstered up by program that is ecclesiastical in nature. They can simulate enthusiasm and inspiration, but they do not know that the Spirit of the Lord has departed from them.
A remnant of God’s people today are crying out in hunger for the Word. A living Word, a living revelation from the Lord, is coming to them. They rejoice in it, but usually they are not aware of what is taking place. They “wist not” that the glory of the Lord is beginning to come through as God is communicating His attributes, His glory, and His presence. No matter how much God gives of Himself, He is not any poorer; for He still remains the One who fills all things.
You will change whenever you have any measure of revelation about the Lord. It may come through a living Word that is given. It may come in a vision or through seeing Christ in a brother’s life. The change begins to take place, though you (like Moses) “wist not” that the skin of your face shines as you communicate with the Lord. And yet you are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away. II Corinthians 3:13. Moses had to hide his face with a veil when he spoke to the people after coming down from the mountain with the tablets of stone which spoke of death. He spoke like a man ready for the hangman himself, with the veil dropped over his head like a sack of death. When he went before God, he removed it. The glory of the Lord came down upon the Tabernacle, and Moses communed there with the Lord. Yet the effects of that glory were to fade. It was not ordained by God that there be permanence in it. It lingered only for a while after Moses had seen the glory of God—perhaps a day, perhaps a month. The people probably whispered among themselves as they saw the luminescent quality of his skin, glowing and shining as he walked through the camp at night; he was looking forward to another meeting with God and thinking how wonderful God was. The rest of the time, Moses probably had the look of harassment with the wrinkles and the worry lines of a man who was trying to carry a rebellious, immature people into their inheritance in God.
Moses even cried to God for the mercy of being killed because he was not able to bear all those people alone (Numbers 11:14, 15). He thought that death would release him from the harassment he was under. When he was goaded he finally broke under the pressure; and with a rod he struck the rock, contrary to God’s command at that time. Because he did not sanctify God before the people, God told him that he was not worthy to lead them on into the land of Canaan (Numbers 20:12). The time came when God had Moses climb to the top of Mount Nebo to look over the land that was promised to his fathers. There Moses died in the arms of God (Deuteronomy 34:1–5). Where was the glory? What happened to the greatest experience a man had ever known in a lifetime? What would it be like to know the glory of God in such a mighty way and later have only a memory of it?
If Moses brought the tablets of stone down from Mount Sinai with great glory, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech. II Corinthians 3:8, 11, 12. What is the secret of coming into something that Moses did not have? We want to come into the glory of God and be transformed; but we want it to be permanent—not a passing experience that fades away. Who wants a wonderful experience, only to watch it diminish with each passing day? The experience we want is expressed in II Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
In this hour, the permanent manifestation of glory is coming. Never before has a generation witnessed what the end-time believers are now witnessing. No longer is there a diminishing glory, but rather there is a steady increase from glory to glory that is coming upon a remnant of believers. Those who open up to a real walk with God make rapid changes. At times they may seem to stall for a while, but they always break through to something better. They become different, changing from what they were to a greater glory.
Keep changing. There is always room for improvement. Keep changing from glory to glory. You may have no idea what you are going to be, but Romans 8:29 says that God predestined you to be conformed to the image of His Son. As Christ is revealed to you, you will change. The change will be more lasting than it was with Moses. Although the glory was all about him, the change was not wrought in him. Changes will be wrought in you. You will go from glory to glory, changing as the Lord comes forth in you. Your change will be permanent because it will be a basic change in the actual essence of what you are. The miracle of this kind of change is evident, for no science in the world today teaches this.
Through the healing arts the human body can be patched together, revived, and vitalized in some of its natural healing forces. The capacity by which the body makes new cell tissue is amazing, and yet a person always fights deterioration by plugging up his teeth and counting every precious hair. II Corinthians 4:16 reminds us that although the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day. Inwardly, as we have a revelation of the Lord, we are coming alive and becoming different. We need not believe in what we are according to the flesh, for even that will change when we come into the redemption of our bodies. The Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead will quicken our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). When God finishes changing us, we will scarcely recognize one another as having been what we once were. God will change us bit by bit until we are completely changed.
This is the time of change in which you can change your whole approach to life, your disposition, and all your thoughts. This is the one distinctive characteristic of a walk with God in this end time. You can reach into the changes that are destined for God’s remnant. The Apostle John said, … it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I John 3:2. Change is a by-product of revelation. To whatever extent God reveals Himself to you, to that extent you will change. When He reveals Himself in His fullness, you will become just like Him. In fact, with such an extensive revelation of the Lord, it would be impossible not to become like Him.
There are no easy lessons on how to change. Suppose you make a few resolutions to order your life; you discipline each day and decide what to read, what to think, and how to take care of yourself physically in order to change. Those steps might be profitable, but you cannot do them with the idea of effecting the change that God wants. God’s way of change does not come by projecting yourself into something different. You change as you expose yourself to God. You are changed into the same image from glory to glory as you behold Him.
Do not be so self-condemned over your past mistakes that you forget to love and thank the Lord for never letting go of you. Keep admiring and glorifying the Lord. Even though you might be mourning and repenting over yourself, keep rejoicing in Him for keeping His hand on you. Focusing on a revelation of His faithfulness will also help you to change and become faithful.
Let nothing stand in the way of the flow of the Lord revealing Himself to you. That is the way to change. Drink in the Word that is coming in this hour. In order to become all that the Word describes, keep soaking it in. Keep meditating on it. When you receive a revelation from the Word, rejoice in it as one who has taken great spoil. Focus on the revelation in that Word, and keep worshiping the Lord. Soon you will change, because a revelation of Him in His Word always precipitates changes.
Many have labored with a desire to change, praying and crying for it. From season to season the changes seemed minimal, yet they were not. They were basic changes that were foundational, upon which the Lord is building.
From this hour on would it not be true of thee, O house of the Lord, that thou shalt see the changes readily come? For the Lord hath dug deep, and He hath laid the foundation in thy life for the things that are to come. Now He is able to build greatly upon that foundation.
You have not passed into these things before. You have not seen them with your eyes; you have not experienced them. And in large measure, few have even seen them in vision or known them to take place afar off. But the Lord proclaims them and says, “These things spring forth, and they will be marvelous in thine eyes.”
How thou shalt glorify God for the way that He changes you! You shall praise God for His grace that you behold in your brother’s life, for you shall see that he is changing. You shall see the beauty and the glory of the Lord coming forth in him. You shall magnify the Lord that the days of flesh and the days in which we walk before the Lord in an objectionable way, even by our own standards, pass away. The Lord is bringing forth a people that shall walk acceptably before Him. Their walk shall be in holiness, and in righteousness shall they make their way into that which God proclaims for them to do.
This is the day of victory for you, and it is a day of change. But the Lord is not giving victory to you while you are still in the old state. The greatest victory is found in the war with the enemy within, in seeing Christ come forth in you to overcome all those things of the flesh that have been detrimental to your walk with the Lord.
Come and enter into the days ahead, for these are the days of magnifying the Lord. You shall not walk before the Lord in an unacceptable way. You shall not be the kind of believer who shall believe and yet not be able to show forth what you are believing. But you shall believe, and you shall exhibit the evidence of your faith in your very life. You shall become even what you proclaim by faith.