Can we also see God's glory?

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Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (Ex. 33:11)

Moses is unique in the history of redemption. God spoke directly and intimately with him. He was a prophet and an intercessor, speaking God’s words to the nation and speaking to God on behalf of the nation. Moses was the covenant mediator. He also played a special role in pointing to the coming One, who would be a prophet like himself (Deut. 18:15–19).

In Exodus 33, Moses continues to intercede for the wayward Israelites. His intercession had spared them previously, and now Moses intercedes once more. Although stubborn, this people belongs to the Lord. They need more than deliverance from judgment. Moses knows that God himself must accompany the people. God’s covenant presence must be what distinguishes them from all other people on the face of the earth. Moses appeals to the favor he has with the Lord; he appeals to God’s character, to God’s previously spoken words, and to the fact that the people are actually God’s own possession. God grants his petition: “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name” (Ex. 33:17).

In response to God’s gracious answer, Moses declares that he wants to see God’s glory (v. 18). But even Moses needs mediated glory. No one can see God’s face and live. Moses, the covenant mediator, has persuasively interceded with God, yet even this great mediator needs to be shielded from God's glory. He is hidden in the cleft of the rock and covered by God’s hand (v. 22).

Moses points us to our supreme covenant mediator, God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Like Moses, Jesus also prays for his people (John 17). His interces- sion preserves us and secures us all the way to the end (Heb. 7:25). Jesus’s prayers are better than the prayers of Moses because Jesus is the Son who is over God’s house. Jesus is a better mediator than Moses because Jesus not only had no need to be shielded from God’s glory; he was the mani- festation of God’s glory (John 1:14; Heb. 1:3).

Moses points us to Christ, our intercessor and mediator. Through Jesus Christ we can confidently enter into God’s presence, safe in the cleft of the true Rock. As we come to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit (Eph. 2:18), we can pray with confidence, appealing to God’s character, appealing to God’s own words. We can know that we have found favor in God’s sight because of Christ, and he knows us by name (Isa. 43:1; John 10:3, 27).

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