March 23, 2025 • 24 mins
The Life of Moses- Episode #31 🌟 Have you ever noticed how something truly changes when it's been in the presence of light? Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was fascinated by those glow-in-the-dark stars that would shine brightly after being "supercharged" against a light bulb. This childhood memory perfectly captures what happens when we spend time in God's presence—we begin to radiate with His light, often without even realizing it.
In this deeply reflective exploration of Exodus 34, we witness Moses descending from Mount Sinai after 40 days and nights in God's presence. His face literally emitted beams of light so bright that the Israelites were afraid to approach him—yet remarkably, Moses himself was completely unaware of his transformation. This powerful image reveals the authentic nature of spiritual growth: those most transformed by God are often the least conscious of their own glow because they remain utterly focused on Him rather than themselves.
Moses' supernatural fast during these 40 days demonstrates how God's presence can sustain us beyond natural human limitations. When we silence the loudest voices in our lives—our physical cravings, our anxieties, our self-consciousness—we create space to hear God's voice and receive His transforming power. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 reminds us, "as we behold Him, we become like Him." True spiritual transformation isn't about self-improvement techniques or proving our spirituality to others; it's the natural result of extended, intimate communion with our Creator.
If you're feeling insufficient today, remember that your sufficiency comes not from yourself but from God who makes you enough. Press into His presence, supercharge your spirit through His Word, and watch as His light begins to shine through you—perhaps in ways you don't even notice yourself. Subscribe to Whispers of Grace for more encouragement as we continue our journey through the life of Moses and discover transformative truths for our own spiritual walks.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:19):
Kia ora and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sHoly Word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hiya friends, kia ora andwelcome to Whispers of Grace
(00:41):
podcast.
If you are new to this podcast,we are studying through the
life of Moses and all the pastepisodes are available if you'd
like to start from the beginningand catch up where we are now
in Exodus 34.
It has been an incredible ridelooking at God through the lens
of Moses's life, which was sofilled with powerful experiences
(01:04):
with God.
I've just enjoyed it so much.
In the last episode, we lookedat the connection between the
God that we see in the Hebrewscriptures the Old Testament and
Jesus in the New Testament.
We tackled the common struggleof reconciling the seemingly
harsh God of the old with thecompassionate Savior of the new.
(01:25):
We uncovered a God whose coreis merciful and gracious and
longs for intimate connectionwith his children.
We watched God reveal his gloryand share his character with
(01:46):
Moses, who is hidden in thecleft of the rock.
If you missed those episodes, Iwould encourage you to turn
back to them, because we justgot into some really good, deep
theology, really encouraging Godstuff.
I really loved making thoseepisodes for you, so if you
missed them, you can listen tothem.
But today we are going to focuson the aftermath of Moses's
(02:08):
amazing encounter with theliving God.
When I was a kid, growing up inthe 80s and 90s, everyone was
into things that glowed in thedark.
Every toy that was marketed wasmade so much cooler by being
glow-in-the-dark.
My brother had a glowwormstuffed animal that was his
favorite thing on this earth fora while, and we had those
(02:32):
plastic greenish stars that westuck to our ceiling that glowed
.
I had a watch that glowed inthe dark and my favorite was
glow-in-the-dark puffy paint.
We would decorate t-shirts andhats with it.
I just thought it was thecoolest thing in the world to
have these little secret lightsthat were shining in my room at
night.
But these things, they weren'tbattery powered.
(02:54):
The only thing they could dowas hold on to the light that
they were exposed to.
And I was on the top bunk whenI was a kid and I remember
supercharging my plastic starsby peeling them off the ceiling
and holding them up against thelight in my bedroom for just a
few seconds and then turning thelight off.
Man.
(03:15):
They would glow so bright afterthey were up against that light
bulb for a little while and itbecame a little tradition of
mine to supercharge all of mystars on the light bulb before I
went to bed, because I justwasn't happy with the dull glow
that came from them when theyweren't supercharged.
And as I was studying for thispodcast and reading over the
(03:36):
back half of Exodus 34, Ithought of those little glowing
stars and how radiant andspecial they were when they
soaked up the light.
Similarly, today we're going tolook at the radiant glow of
Moses' face as he descendedMount Sinai.
He was supercharged after beingheld up to the pure light of
(03:58):
God.
As he was beholding God, hebecame changed.
So let's dive right.
In Exodus 34, 28 to 35 tells usthis Moses remained there on
the mountain with the Lord 40days and 40 nights.
In all that time he ate nobread and drank no water, for
(04:23):
the Lord wrote the terms of thecovenant, the Ten Commandments,
on the stone tablets.
When Moses came down MountSinai carrying the two tablets
inscribed with the terms of thecovenant, he wasn't aware that
his face had become radiantbecause he had spoken to the
Lord.
So when Aaron and the people ofIsrael saw the radiance of
(04:44):
Moses' face, they were afraid tocome near him.
But Moses called out to themand asked Aaron and all the
leaders of the community to comeover and he talked with them.
Then all the people of Israelapproached him and Moses gave
them all the instructions theLord had given him on Mount
Sinai.
When Moses was finishedspeaking with them, he covered
(05:05):
his face with a veil.
But whenever he went into thetent of meeting to speak with
the Lord, he would remove theveil until he came out again and
then he would give the peoplewhatever instructions the Lord
had given him, and the people ofIsrael would see the radiant
glow of his face.
So he would put the veil overhis face until he returned to
speak with the Lord.
(05:28):
Starting out in verse 28, mosesis abiding and God is working,
and we see one of the earliestexamples of fasting.
In the Bible it says that Mosesdidn't eat or drink for 40 days
40 sunrises, 40 sunsets Now,that's longer than any of our
(05:51):
calendar months.
He went without any physicalsustenance for a very long time.
Interestingly, that number 40holds biblical significance as
the number of testing or trial.
If you remember, it rained onNoah and his family for 40 days
and 40 nights.
Moses, and then later Jesus,fasted for 40 days in the
(06:14):
wilderness.
Israel wandered the desert for40 years.
The prophet Jonah told Ninevehthat God had given them 40 days
to repent before their judgmentwould fall.
The season of Lent is a 40-dayperiod meant to deny something
in the flesh, to focus on thecoming of Resurrection.
(06:35):
Sunday, moses himself lived inobscurity in the desert for 40
years before God called him fromthe burning bush and there are
more uses of the number 40 inscripture him from the burning
bush, and there are more uses ofthe number 40 in scripture.
Suffice it to say Moses wassetting an example of
steadfastness, faithfulness andendurance, remaining on the
(06:59):
mountain with God for 40 days.
And if you're thinking thatgoing without food and water for
more than a month is impossible, you are right.
Scientists tell us that a humanbody can only live for a few
days without water.
We can go significantly longerwithout food, but water is
essential for all of our basicfunctions and without it we just
die.
So what is special and amazingabout this fast is that it
(07:22):
highlights the sustaining powerof God, because the only
explanation for this event isdivine intervention.
God sustained Moses by his verypresence alone and superseded
all of his physical needs for aperiod of time.
Think of it the intense andpure company of God is what
(07:47):
sustained his body.
What a dream.
Now I know that this isn't anormal event, so please don't
take this as a personalchallenge to your spirituality
or something, because this was amiracle extended to Moses, not
based on his merit oraccomplishment.
It was a gift from God to Moses.
But the symbolism here is rich.
(08:08):
It's a beautiful portrait ofour deepest human need finding
its fulfillment in God.
Sometimes, the things that weare convinced that we need the
most are simply the loudestvoices in our head.
But the loudest voices or themost visceral desires aren't
(08:32):
always the most importantendeavors for us.
In fact, our desires andlongings aren't supposed to be
in the driver's seat of ourlives at all.
In Matthew 16, when Jesus tellshis disciples and to us to deny
ourselves pick up our cross andfollow Jesus.
That is an all-encompassingcommand.
(08:53):
We are to master our cravingsand our wants and seek the will
of the Lord in all things, butwe often get complacent and are
led around by what our body orour mind thinks that we need.
How often do we think about foodor feeding people?
If you're a mom or a foodielike me, we think about food a
(09:16):
lot, like multiple times a day.
I'm thinking about meals.
What can I make for dinner?
How many more eggs do we havein the house?
What kind of baking should goin the lunch boxes this week?
What is growing in my veggiegarden that I can put into our
dinner?
Do I have time to make bananabread from the rotting black
bananas on my counter?
(09:36):
A lot of my responsibilitiesrevolve around food, but do we
live like?
The words of God are moreimportant than the basic life
essential of eating.
When I fast, my body screamsfeed me, but what my spirit
(09:58):
really needs is the presence andtouch of Jesus.
The loudest voices in our headsor in our bodies aren't always
the most important ones.
If I can tell my body to hushand wait in the background, then
denying my flesh can help totrain my spirit to be more
(10:19):
attentive to what is mostimportant.
Denying something in the fleshcan allow us to focus on what's
most important in the spirit,and fasting is a good way to
hone this skill.
Jesus, he fasted in thewilderness for 40 days and, if
you remember, at the end of thistime, it tells us that Satan
(10:40):
came to tempt him when he wasweak and starving.
And it was at this moment thatJesus quoted Moses's own words
of wisdom that were birthed inhis wilderness experience with
Israel.
I'll read it to you Deuteronomy8, 2 through 3 says this
(11:03):
Remember how the Lord, your God,led you through the wilderness
these 40 years, humbling you andtesting you to prove your
character and to find outwhether or not you would obey
his commands.
And to find out whether or notyou would obey his commands.
Yes, he humbled you by lettingyou go hungry and then feeding
you with manna, a foodpreviously unknown to you and
your ancestors.
He did it to teach you thatpeople do not live by bread
(11:26):
alone.
Rather, we live by every wordthat comes from the mouth of the
Lord.
This section tells us that Godallowed the Israelites to go
hungry so that they would turnto God and ask for divine
intervention, and then he mettheir need in a truly miraculous
(11:49):
way by providing manna thatonly lasted for one day, every
single day.
They needed to have faith thatGod would provide just what they
needed for the next 24 hours.
God wanted them to feed on hisfaithfulness, to build trust and
restore the created order ofsovereign God and obedient
(12:11):
children.
The practical provision of foodwas just the vehicle for this
deep lesson.
Moses gives his own insightinto this experience when he
tells us in verse 3, that Goddid this to tangibly show that
we don't live simply througheating, but we actually live
moment by moment by the wisdomand instruction that flows from
(12:36):
God.
Now, moses had a tough job,literally millions of people
looking to him for leadershipand direction.
He knew how needy and weak hewas and he ran to God over and
over.
He knew through and through,from experience, that sitting in
the presence of God was moreimportant than eating.
(12:57):
He knew his spirit needed to besustained by God himself.
Moses sought God out.
He pitched his tent in thepresence of God.
He fell on his face before theLord.
When he was outmatched, he ranto the presence of God.
He fell on his face before theLord.
When he was outmatched, he ranto the presence of God to
sustain him, to guide him, tocorrect him and to comfort him.
(13:22):
That last verse that I readDeuteronomy 8.3, says man shall
not live by bread alone, but byevery word that proceeds from
the mouth of God.
That is exactly the piece ofscripture that Jesus, our
Messiah, used to rebuke thedevil.
Jesus knew that the purpose ofhis hunger in that moment was to
(13:42):
test him, to prove hischaracter and to focus on
spiritual things, which is whySatan was tempting him to
abandon this fast and to focusonly on the needs of his body.
He set this time apart to havedeep fellowship with the Lord
before a massive season ofpouring out.
Right after this is when Jesuslaunched his earthly ministry.
(14:04):
He chose the disciples andstarted making himself known.
This is similar to what ishappening with Moses self-known.
This is similar to what ishappening with Moses.
God is testing him, but alsostrengthening him with profound
fellowship to prepare him for 40years of wandering with Israel
in the wilderness.
Moses and Jesus they knew thatintentional fellowship with God
(14:27):
was essential for them to walkthe paths that were set before
them, and they knew that denyingtheir flesh would help to
strengthen and focus theirspirit.
Can you imagine being Mosesfinding out that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, quoted you?
I just can't even imagine that.
That must have been reallysomething All right.
(14:49):
So next in this section we seethe result of the single minded
pursuit.
Exodus 34, 29 through 32 tellsus when Moses came down Mount
Sinai carrying the two tabletsinscribed with the terms of the
covenant, he wasn't aware thathis face had become radiant
(15:11):
because he had spoken to theLord.
So when Aaron and the people ofIsrael saw the radiance of
Moses' face, they were afraid tocome anywhere near him.
But Moses called to them.
So Aaron and all the leaders ofthe community came back to him
and he spoke to them.
Afterward all the Israelitescame near him and he gave them
all the commands that the lordhad given him on mount sinai.
(15:35):
So after 40 days of fasting youwould expect to see a gaunt,
exhausted skeleton of a manstumbling his way back down the
mountain.
But that was not the case.
Moses climbed down the mountainand was shining from his
experience.
The Hebrew word translated hereas radiant, or some other
(15:57):
translations say that his faceshone literally means to emit
beams of light, like headlightson a car, or to shoot out rays.
Or sometimes it's literallytranslated as to have horns like
horns of light, which is whysometimes the old artistic
masters like Michelangelo,portrayed Moses with horns on
(16:20):
his head, but there was aradiance about Moses.
He glowed and there were beamsof light coming out of his face.
Even his own brother, aaron,was afraid to come anywhere near
him.
All of Israel feared thisotherworldly phenomenon because
it was just so odd.
(16:41):
The very skin of Moses' facereflected the fact that he had
been basking in the glory of God, like a snake curled up on a
rock laying in the sun.
And scripture tells us thatMoses was completely unaware of
it.
His physical body had beenchanged by his experience with
(17:02):
God and he didn't even know it.
I think Moses didn't notice thebeams of light coming from his
face because he was utterlyconsumed by the experience of
seeing God's glory and sittingin it for over a month.
He wasn't thinking abouthimself at all.
He wasn't aware of his ownstate because his focus was
(17:25):
elsewhere.
It reminds me of the love-struckteenager that walks into a tree
or doesn't hear their namecalled repeatedly.
Sometimes they are oblivious tothe things happening around
them because they are soenraptured with another person.
In my mind, in this biblicalscene, moses is like the
love-struck teenager, glowingand smiling and celebrating life
(17:49):
because of the nearness of hisbeloved.
Moses was so content in theLord, he had little concern for
his own appearance.
It also seems that he hadlittle concern for his
reputation or status.
We can also observe all thethings that Moses didn't do with
this gift of revelation.
He didn't come down themountain to flaunt his
(18:12):
incredible understanding of Godor to boast in himself, or to
demand respect, or to sethimself up as some great man of
spirituality.
Moses didn't leverage hisexperience to benefit himself at
all.
Beware those that wouldleverage their spiritual
experiences to benefit or toglorify themselves.
(18:38):
In thinking about this, I wantedto take a look at something
that Jeremiah the prophet wrote.
It's in Jeremiah 9, 23 through24.
This is another man who saw Godand had amazing things revealed
to him.
This is the advice that hegives us that is straight from
the Lord.
Thus, says the Lord let not thewise man glory in his wisdom.
(19:00):
Let not the mighty man glory inhis might, nor let the rich man
glory in his riches, but lethim who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows me.
I am the Lord exercising loving, kindness, judgment and
righteousness in the earth, forin these I delight, says the
(19:23):
Lord.
Moses was given the gift ofintimacy with his maker, and out
of this blessed closeness hewas inspired to obey and to walk
in his calling.
He came down from the mountainin obedience to God and got
right to work.
After he convinced his peopleto approach him, he handed down
(19:45):
all of the commandments andstatutes and plans that God had
given him.
He was a man on a mission.
He was solely concerned withproperly carrying out his
calling.
So it causes us to think whereis our focus, friends?
Do we notice every slightchange in our face and our body?
(20:08):
Do we hyper-focus on the statusof our homes or our vehicle, or
our reputation, our likes andour follows, or are we steadily
looking at Christ and walking inobedience?
Are we trying to prove ourspirituality or earn our
position among self-proclaimedspiritual people?
Are we more concerned with whatothers are saying or thinking
(20:32):
about us, or are we so busylooking to Jesus that all else
dims in comparison?
2 Corinthians 3.18 tells us theLord, who is the Spirit, makes
us more and more like Him as weare changed into His glorious
image.
As we behold Him, we becomelike him.
(20:57):
So how content are you withyour glow?
How close have you been to thesource of all goodness and light
.
Maybe you've been stuck on theceiling for far too long, like
my little glow in the dark stars, and you need to be unstuck
from your situation and pressedup against the true light of the
world again.
(21:18):
Maybe you've been obeying yourflesh too much and not
considering that there is a muchmore essential voice that you
need to be listening for.
Those that truly glow have noneed to prove themselves to
anyone.
Moses submitted his flesh tothe trials of Mount Sinai and he
was changed.
And that is just what our goodGod does.
(21:40):
He transforms us and as webehold him, we become like him.
And before we wrap up, I want toleave you with some verses that
have encouraged me time andtime again, when I get
self-conscious about my worth orI judge myself too harshly or
get into a legalistic mindsetthat keeps me checking boxes to
(22:02):
feel better about myself insteadof simply abiding in Christ.
The verse is 2 Corinthians 3,4-6.
And we have such trust, throughChrist, toward God.
Not that we are sufficient ofourselves to think of anything
as being from ourselves, but oursufficiency is from God, who
(22:26):
has made us sufficient asministers of the new covenant,
not of the letter but of thespirit, for the letter kills,
but the spirit gives life.
Now, this verse has encouragedme through so many seasons of
life, because I don't often feelready, I don't feel like my
(22:47):
glow is enough, I don't everfeel like I've spent enough time
in the presence of God.
I'm someone who constantly seesmy flaws and I nitpick at
everything about myself.
That's just the way that I am,and this scripture consistently
grounds me in Jesus, because ittells me that my sufficiency,
(23:09):
your sufficiency, friends, isnot found in yourself.
We aren't sufficient, we arebroken, we are cracked, we are
covered in selfish ambition andsin and so many other things in
our life that we don't even see.
But this verse in Corinthiansreminds us that the sufficiency
isn't with us, it's in God, butthrough that it says that he has
(23:34):
made us sufficient.
Do you hear that you aresufficient?
And not only sufficient, but itsays you're sufficient, or
you're enough to be a ministerof the new covenant, to be a
minister of the gospel, and it'snot about the letter of the law
(23:54):
, but it's through the spirit.
Take courage, my friends.
If you feel like you're notenough, you need to just sit in
the glow of Jesus.
Get in your Bible, read it.
He wants to speak to you.
And as you sit with him, as youbehold him, as you look deeply
(24:15):
into his face and his words, aswe trust him and walk in him,
that is when we're changed,we're conformed into his image.
As we behold him, we becomelike him.
Kia ora and welcome to Whispers of Grace, a place for
women to be encouraged by God'sHoly Word.
I'm your host, julie Colbeth,and I am overjoyed to dig into
the Bible with you today.
Hiya friends, kia ora andwelcome to Whispers of Grace
(00:41):
podcast.
If you are new to this podcast,we are studying through the
life of Moses and all the pastepisodes are available if you'd
like to start from the beginningand catch up where we are now
in Exodus 34.
It has been an incredible ridelooking at God through the lens
of Moses's life, which was sofilled with powerful experiences
(01:04):
with God.
I've just enjoyed it so much.
In the last episode, we lookedat the connection between the
God that we see in the Hebrewscriptures the Old Testament and
Jesus in the New Testament.
We tackled the common struggleof reconciling the seemingly
harsh God of the old with thecompassionate Savior of the new.
(01:25):
We uncovered a God whose coreis merciful and gracious and
longs for intimate connectionwith his children.
We watched God reveal his gloryand share his character with
(01:46):
Moses, who is hidden in thecleft of the rock.
If you missed those episodes, Iwould encourage you to turn
back to them, because we justgot into some really good, deep
theology, really encouraging Godstuff.
I really loved making thoseepisodes for you, so if you
missed them, you can listen tothem.
But today we are going to focuson the aftermath of Moses's
(02:08):
amazing encounter with theliving God.
When I was a kid, growing up inthe 80s and 90s, everyone was
into things that glowed in thedark.
Every toy that was marketed wasmade so much cooler by being
glow-in-the-dark.
My brother had a glowwormstuffed animal that was his
favorite thing on this earth fora while, and we had those
(02:32):
plastic greenish stars that westuck to our ceiling that glowed
.
I had a watch that glowed inthe dark and my favorite was
glow-in-the-dark puffy paint.
We would decorate t-shirts andhats with it.
I just thought it was thecoolest thing in the world to
have these little secret lightsthat were shining in my room at
night.
But these things, they weren'tbattery powered.
(02:54):
The only thing they could dowas hold on to the light that
they were exposed to.
And I was on the top bunk whenI was a kid and I remember
supercharging my plastic starsby peeling them off the ceiling
and holding them up against thelight in my bedroom for just a
few seconds and then turning thelight off.
Man.
(03:15):
They would glow so bright afterthey were up against that light
bulb for a little while and itbecame a little tradition of
mine to supercharge all of mystars on the light bulb before I
went to bed, because I justwasn't happy with the dull glow
that came from them when theyweren't supercharged.
And as I was studying for thispodcast and reading over the
(03:36):
back half of Exodus 34, Ithought of those little glowing
stars and how radiant andspecial they were when they
soaked up the light.
Similarly, today we're going tolook at the radiant glow of
Moses' face as he descendedMount Sinai.
He was supercharged after beingheld up to the pure light of
(03:58):
God.
As he was beholding God, hebecame changed.
So let's dive right.
In Exodus 34, 28 to 35 tells usthis Moses remained there on
the mountain with the Lord 40days and 40 nights.
In all that time he ate nobread and drank no water, for
(04:23):
the Lord wrote the terms of thecovenant, the Ten Commandments,
on the stone tablets.
When Moses came down MountSinai carrying the two tablets
inscribed with the terms of thecovenant, he wasn't aware that
his face had become radiantbecause he had spoken to the
Lord.
So when Aaron and the people ofIsrael saw the radiance of
(04:44):
Moses' face, they were afraid tocome near him.
But Moses called out to themand asked Aaron and all the
leaders of the community to comeover and he talked with them.
Then all the people of Israelapproached him and Moses gave
them all the instructions theLord had given him on Mount
Sinai.
When Moses was finishedspeaking with them, he covered
(05:05):
his face with a veil.
But whenever he went into thetent of meeting to speak with
the Lord, he would remove theveil until he came out again and
then he would give the peoplewhatever instructions the Lord
had given him, and the people ofIsrael would see the radiant
glow of his face.
So he would put the veil overhis face until he returned to
speak with the Lord.
(05:28):
Starting out in verse 28, mosesis abiding and God is working,
and we see one of the earliestexamples of fasting.
In the Bible it says that Mosesdidn't eat or drink for 40 days
40 sunrises, 40 sunsets Now,that's longer than any of our
(05:51):
calendar months.
He went without any physicalsustenance for a very long time.
Interestingly, that number 40holds biblical significance as
the number of testing or trial.
If you remember, it rained onNoah and his family for 40 days
and 40 nights.
Moses, and then later Jesus,fasted for 40 days in the
(06:14):
wilderness.
Israel wandered the desert for40 years.
The prophet Jonah told Ninevehthat God had given them 40 days
to repent before their judgmentwould fall.
The season of Lent is a 40-dayperiod meant to deny something
in the flesh, to focus on thecoming of Resurrection.
(06:35):
Sunday, moses himself lived inobscurity in the desert for 40
years before God called him fromthe burning bush and there are
more uses of the number 40 inscripture him from the burning
bush, and there are more uses ofthe number 40 in scripture.
Suffice it to say Moses wassetting an example of
steadfastness, faithfulness andendurance, remaining on the
(06:59):
mountain with God for 40 days.
And if you're thinking thatgoing without food and water for
more than a month is impossible, you are right.
Scientists tell us that a humanbody can only live for a few
days without water.
We can go significantly longerwithout food, but water is
essential for all of our basicfunctions and without it we just
die.
So what is special and amazingabout this fast is that it
(07:22):
highlights the sustaining powerof God, because the only
explanation for this event isdivine intervention.
God sustained Moses by his verypresence alone and superseded
all of his physical needs for aperiod of time.
Think of it the intense andpure company of God is what
(07:47):
sustained his body.
What a dream.
Now I know that this isn't anormal event, so please don't
take this as a personalchallenge to your spirituality
or something, because this was amiracle extended to Moses, not
based on his merit oraccomplishment.
It was a gift from God to Moses.
But the symbolism here is rich.
(08:08):
It's a beautiful portrait ofour deepest human need finding
its fulfillment in God.
Sometimes, the things that weare convinced that we need the
most are simply the loudestvoices in our head.
But the loudest voices or themost visceral desires aren't
(08:32):
always the most importantendeavors for us.
In fact, our desires andlongings aren't supposed to be
in the driver's seat of ourlives at all.
In Matthew 16, when Jesus tellshis disciples and to us to deny
ourselves pick up our cross andfollow Jesus.
That is an all-encompassingcommand.
(08:53):
We are to master our cravingsand our wants and seek the will
of the Lord in all things, butwe often get complacent and are
led around by what our body orour mind thinks that we need.
How often do we think about foodor feeding people?
If you're a mom or a foodielike me, we think about food a
(09:16):
lot, like multiple times a day.
I'm thinking about meals.
What can I make for dinner?
How many more eggs do we havein the house?
What kind of baking should goin the lunch boxes this week?
What is growing in my veggiegarden that I can put into our
dinner?
Do I have time to make bananabread from the rotting black
bananas on my counter?
(09:36):
A lot of my responsibilitiesrevolve around food, but do we
live like?
The words of God are moreimportant than the basic life
essential of eating.
When I fast, my body screamsfeed me, but what my spirit
(09:58):
really needs is the presence andtouch of Jesus.
The loudest voices in our headsor in our bodies aren't always
the most important ones.
If I can tell my body to hushand wait in the background, then
denying my flesh can help totrain my spirit to be more
(10:19):
attentive to what is mostimportant.
Denying something in the fleshcan allow us to focus on what's
most important in the spirit,and fasting is a good way to
hone this skill.
Jesus, he fasted in thewilderness for 40 days and, if
you remember, at the end of thistime, it tells us that Satan
(10:40):
came to tempt him when he wasweak and starving.
And it was at this moment thatJesus quoted Moses's own words
of wisdom that were birthed inhis wilderness experience with
Israel.
I'll read it to you Deuteronomy8, 2 through 3 says this
(11:03):
Remember how the Lord, your God,led you through the wilderness
these 40 years, humbling you andtesting you to prove your
character and to find outwhether or not you would obey
his commands.
And to find out whether or notyou would obey his commands.
Yes, he humbled you by lettingyou go hungry and then feeding
you with manna, a foodpreviously unknown to you and
your ancestors.
He did it to teach you thatpeople do not live by bread
(11:26):
alone.
Rather, we live by every wordthat comes from the mouth of the
Lord.
This section tells us that Godallowed the Israelites to go
hungry so that they would turnto God and ask for divine
intervention, and then he mettheir need in a truly miraculous
(11:49):
way by providing manna thatonly lasted for one day, every
single day.
They needed to have faith thatGod would provide just what they
needed for the next 24 hours.
God wanted them to feed on hisfaithfulness, to build trust and
restore the created order ofsovereign God and obedient
(12:11):
children.
The practical provision of foodwas just the vehicle for this
deep lesson.
Moses gives his own insightinto this experience when he
tells us in verse 3, that Goddid this to tangibly show that
we don't live simply througheating, but we actually live
moment by moment by the wisdomand instruction that flows from
(12:36):
God.
Now, moses had a tough job,literally millions of people
looking to him for leadershipand direction.
He knew how needy and weak hewas and he ran to God over and
over.
He knew through and through,from experience, that sitting in
the presence of God was moreimportant than eating.
(12:57):
He knew his spirit needed to besustained by God himself.
Moses sought God out.
He pitched his tent in thepresence of God.
He fell on his face before theLord.
When he was outmatched, he ranto the presence of God.
He fell on his face before theLord.
When he was outmatched, he ranto the presence of God to
sustain him, to guide him, tocorrect him and to comfort him.
(13:22):
That last verse that I readDeuteronomy 8.3, says man shall
not live by bread alone, but byevery word that proceeds from
the mouth of God.
That is exactly the piece ofscripture that Jesus, our
Messiah, used to rebuke thedevil.
Jesus knew that the purpose ofhis hunger in that moment was to
(13:42):
test him, to prove hischaracter and to focus on
spiritual things, which is whySatan was tempting him to
abandon this fast and to focusonly on the needs of his body.
He set this time apart to havedeep fellowship with the Lord
before a massive season ofpouring out.
Right after this is when Jesuslaunched his earthly ministry.
(14:04):
He chose the disciples andstarted making himself known.
This is similar to what ishappening with Moses self-known.
This is similar to what ishappening with Moses.
God is testing him, but alsostrengthening him with profound
fellowship to prepare him for 40years of wandering with Israel
in the wilderness.
Moses and Jesus they knew thatintentional fellowship with God
(14:27):
was essential for them to walkthe paths that were set before
them, and they knew that denyingtheir flesh would help to
strengthen and focus theirspirit.
Can you imagine being Mosesfinding out that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, quoted you?
I just can't even imagine that.
That must have been reallysomething All right.
(14:49):
So next in this section we seethe result of the single minded
pursuit.
Exodus 34, 29 through 32 tellsus when Moses came down Mount
Sinai carrying the two tabletsinscribed with the terms of the
covenant, he wasn't aware thathis face had become radiant
(15:11):
because he had spoken to theLord.
So when Aaron and the people ofIsrael saw the radiance of
Moses' face, they were afraid tocome anywhere near him.
But Moses called to them.
So Aaron and all the leaders ofthe community came back to him
and he spoke to them.
Afterward all the Israelitescame near him and he gave them
all the commands that the lordhad given him on mount sinai.
(15:35):
So after 40 days of fasting youwould expect to see a gaunt,
exhausted skeleton of a manstumbling his way back down the
mountain.
But that was not the case.
Moses climbed down the mountainand was shining from his
experience.
The Hebrew word translated hereas radiant, or some other
(15:57):
translations say that his faceshone literally means to emit
beams of light, like headlightson a car, or to shoot out rays.
Or sometimes it's literallytranslated as to have horns like
horns of light, which is whysometimes the old artistic
masters like Michelangelo,portrayed Moses with horns on
(16:20):
his head, but there was aradiance about Moses.
He glowed and there were beamsof light coming out of his face.
Even his own brother, aaron,was afraid to come anywhere near
him.
All of Israel feared thisotherworldly phenomenon because
it was just so odd.
(16:41):
The very skin of Moses' facereflected the fact that he had
been basking in the glory of God, like a snake curled up on a
rock laying in the sun.
And scripture tells us thatMoses was completely unaware of
it.
His physical body had beenchanged by his experience with
(17:02):
God and he didn't even know it.
I think Moses didn't notice thebeams of light coming from his
face because he was utterlyconsumed by the experience of
seeing God's glory and sittingin it for over a month.
He wasn't thinking abouthimself at all.
He wasn't aware of his ownstate because his focus was
(17:25):
elsewhere.
It reminds me of the love-struckteenager that walks into a tree
or doesn't hear their namecalled repeatedly.
Sometimes they are oblivious tothe things happening around
them because they are soenraptured with another person.
In my mind, in this biblicalscene, moses is like the
love-struck teenager, glowingand smiling and celebrating life
(17:49):
because of the nearness of hisbeloved.
Moses was so content in theLord, he had little concern for
his own appearance.
It also seems that he hadlittle concern for his
reputation or status.
We can also observe all thethings that Moses didn't do with
this gift of revelation.
He didn't come down themountain to flaunt his
(18:12):
incredible understanding of Godor to boast in himself, or to
demand respect, or to sethimself up as some great man of
spirituality.
Moses didn't leverage hisexperience to benefit himself at
all.
Beware those that wouldleverage their spiritual
experiences to benefit or toglorify themselves.
(18:38):
In thinking about this, I wantedto take a look at something
that Jeremiah the prophet wrote.
It's in Jeremiah 9, 23 through24.
This is another man who saw Godand had amazing things revealed
to him.
This is the advice that hegives us that is straight from
the Lord.
Thus, says the Lord let not thewise man glory in his wisdom.
(19:00):
Let not the mighty man glory inhis might, nor let the rich man
glory in his riches, but lethim who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows me.
I am the Lord exercising loving, kindness, judgment and
righteousness in the earth, forin these I delight, says the
(19:23):
Lord.
Moses was given the gift ofintimacy with his maker, and out
of this blessed closeness hewas inspired to obey and to walk
in his calling.
He came down from the mountainin obedience to God and got
right to work.
After he convinced his peopleto approach him, he handed down
(19:45):
all of the commandments andstatutes and plans that God had
given him.
He was a man on a mission.
He was solely concerned withproperly carrying out his
calling.
So it causes us to think whereis our focus, friends?
Do we notice every slightchange in our face and our body?
(20:08):
Do we hyper-focus on the statusof our homes or our vehicle, or
our reputation, our likes andour follows, or are we steadily
looking at Christ and walking inobedience?
Are we trying to prove ourspirituality or earn our
position among self-proclaimedspiritual people?
Are we more concerned with whatothers are saying or thinking
(20:32):
about us, or are we so busylooking to Jesus that all else
dims in comparison?
2 Corinthians 3.18 tells us theLord, who is the Spirit, makes
us more and more like Him as weare changed into His glorious
image.
As we behold Him, we becomelike him.
(20:57):
So how content are you withyour glow?
How close have you been to thesource of all goodness and light
.
Maybe you've been stuck on theceiling for far too long, like
my little glow in the dark stars, and you need to be unstuck
from your situation and pressedup against the true light of the
world again.
(21:18):
Maybe you've been obeying yourflesh too much and not
considering that there is a muchmore essential voice that you
need to be listening for.
Those that truly glow have noneed to prove themselves to
anyone.
Moses submitted his flesh tothe trials of Mount Sinai and he
was changed.
And that is just what our goodGod does.
(21:40):
He transforms us and as webehold him, we become like him.
And before we wrap up, I want toleave you with some verses that
have encouraged me time andtime again, when I get
self-conscious about my worth orI judge myself too harshly or
get into a legalistic mindsetthat keeps me checking boxes to
(22:02):
feel better about myself insteadof simply abiding in Christ.
The verse is 2 Corinthians 3,4-6.
And we have such trust, throughChrist, toward God.
Not that we are sufficient ofourselves to think of anything
as being from ourselves, but oursufficiency is from God, who
(22:26):
has made us sufficient asministers of the new covenant,
not of the letter but of thespirit, for the letter kills,
but the spirit gives life.
Now, this verse has encouragedme through so many seasons of
life, because I don't often feelready, I don't feel like my
(22:47):
glow is enough, I don't everfeel like I've spent enough time
in the presence of God.
I'm someone who constantly seesmy flaws and I nitpick at
everything about myself.
That's just the way that I am,and this scripture consistently
grounds me in Jesus, because ittells me that my sufficiency,
(23:09):
your sufficiency, friends, isnot found in yourself.
We aren't sufficient, we arebroken, we are cracked, we are
covered in selfish ambition andsin and so many other things in
our life that we don't even see.
But this verse in Corinthiansreminds us that the sufficiency
isn't with us, it's in God, butthrough that it says that he has
(23:34):
made us sufficient.
Do you hear that you aresufficient?
And not only sufficient, but itsays you're sufficient, or
you're enough to be a ministerof the new covenant, to be a
minister of the gospel, and it'snot about the letter of the law
(23:54):
, but it's through the spirit.
Take courage, my friends.
If you feel like you're notenough, you need to just sit in
the glow of Jesus.
Get in your Bible, read it.
He wants to speak to you.
And as you sit with him, as youbehold him, as you look deeply
(24:15):
into his face and his words, aswe trust him and walk in him,
that is when we're changed,we're conformed into his image.
As we behold him, we becomelike him.
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