No More Hiding
Recently, I finished reading the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, which highlights the ways in which the Israelites had turned from God to worship idols. The last few chapters of the book paint a prophetic picture of God’s heart for his people. Though they were like dry bones, he would revive them with his Spirit (see Ez. 37). Though the old covenant had failed, he would make a new covenant. He would build a house where his glory could dwell (see Ez. 43), where the river of his presence flowed ever deeper (see Ez. 47), and the name of that place would be “The Lord Is There” (Ez. 48:35 CSB).
God has always desired one thing above all others—to dwell with his people. This is why Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact expression of the Father. Jesus shows us what God’s heart has always been—to know and be known.
After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God brought them to Mount Sinai and declared his plan to make them a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6). A kingdom of priests is a kingdom in which every person relates with God personally. Yet the old covenant is not a kingdom of priests. It is a kingdom in which a select few (priests and prophets) spoke to God on behalf of the people. So what happened?
God didn’t change his mind. The people changed theirs. Though initially they welcomed his idea of a kingdom of priests (see Ex. 19:8), when God’s glory came down on the mountain, they changed their minds. God was too holy, and they feared him. So instead, they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but don’t let God speak to us or we will die” (Ex. 20:19 CSB). Though Moses implored them to reconsider (see Ex. 20:20), the people refused.
God had shown himself to be good and loving by rescuing them from Egypt and providing for them in the wilderness, but they still rejected him. They wanted his works and provision, but not his person, not his presence. They refused God’s offer of a covenant of relationship and instead chose a covenant of rules. (I write more about this in chapter 4 of my book.)
So Moses became their arbiter. And every time he went into God’s presence, Moses’ face became radiant. He shone with God’s glory, yet because the Israelites could not bear to look on God’s glory, Moses put a veil over his face (see Ex. 34:33-35; 2 Cor. 3:12-14).
It is no wonder the Israelites so frequently rebelled against God. They were content with a secondhand relationship. They didn’t know him, and therefore, they didn’t love him.
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says the veil actually hardened the Israelites’ hearts. They didn’t want to see God’s glory, so Moses wore a veil to shield them from the glory, but that separation from God’s glory hardened their hearts against God so that they ultimately misunderstood his heart toward them. They could not see his great love for them.
God’s heart has always been to commune with his people. Though the Israelites rejected God’s presence, he wove his desire for deeper relationship throughout the old covenant. One example of this is the bread of the presence. Every sabbath, the priests would put twelve loaves of bread on the table of the bread of the presence in the temple, which symbolized God’s provision and their gratitude. Only the priests could eat the bread of the presence—a picture of God’s longing for the time when God’s people would all be priests (would know him personally) and would eat of his presence.
Then, when David fled from King Saul, he ate the bread of the presence from the temple. This too shows us God’s heart for relationship. God did not punish David for eating the forbidden bread, and I wonder whether that is because David had a deep relationship with God. He was an anomaly in the old covenant, a forerunner of God’s desire for all people to enter his presence.
When Jesus came, looking back to the bread of the presence, he declared himself the bread of life (see John 6:35). His presence is our bread, our spiritual sustenance. In Christ, the veil is finally removed so we can see the truth of who God is and his heart for us. So that we can stop running away and learn to know him intimately—just as he has always wanted.
In Christ, we set aside the veil that hides us from the glory of his presence (see 2 Cor. 3:14). We get to behold his glory with unveiled faces, and as we do, we are progressively transformed into his image “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18 CSB).
Yet, so many of us are content to settle for secondhand relationship. Content to observe from a safe distance. Content to construct our own “veils” when being in God’s presence feels scary. Instead, let’s learn from the Israelites. The barriers we put up in our hearts only harden our hearts toward God. The only truly safe way forward is an unqualified yes to his presence with us, the radiance of his glory, the habitation of God.
In the new covenant, we get to become the dwelling place God has always longed for, so that people will say of us, “The Lord Is There.”
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