Do You Know Him?

Introduction

The question is routinely asked “Do you know so and so?” Of course what is meant by that question is do you have any knowledge about or familiarity with that person and if you do could you tell me something about that person. I have sought out recommendations for certain needs in my life. Do you know a particular doctor, mechanic, or plumber? By such question, I am trying to find a recommendation to perform a task for me. Obviously, if you have had experience with a particular person, a friend’s recommendation goes a long way to helping decide who to call. We are looking for someone who can be described as dependable, capable, a person of integrity, one who follows through and perhaps even reasonably priced.

These things speak about the quality of a person’s work and to some limited degree the character of the person. For instance, a mechanic who treats his customers ethically and with integrity in all likelihood has those some characteristics in life. Is it possible for an ethical mechanic not to be so ethical in other areas of life? Of course, but we tend to believe that good qualities that allow us to recommend someone are consistently demonstrated in private. But then we know that such a view is not held in our culture. For decades, there has been a distinction made between the public and private parts of life. A mechanic may treat customers well but go home and be most difficult to deal with. The point—recommending a person professionally means you know the quality of work but not necessarily the quality of character.

Do you know what is completely unique about our God? He wants us to know him. Really know him. He invites us to know as much as humanly possible about his character recognizing that it is the tip of the iceberg. Pagan gods do not wish this closeness. God reveals himself to Moses and by doing so reveals himself to all who want to know him. To know the character of a person gives us freedom to live in relationship with that person. To know the character of God gives us the freedom to live in relationship with him.

God’s Character

Go back to Exodus 33:12-13. What is Moses’ request. As Frank pointed out, Moses is interceding for the people. Notice how he points to what God has said for the basis of his request. “God you want me to lead these people. You have said you know my name. You have said that I have found favor in your sight.” Moses is doing what we all do when we are trying to discern God’s will. We heap up our limited understanding. “You promised not to leave me. You promised to be at work. You promised to give me strength.” But Moses ends his request with the unthinkable—I want to know you more; I want to know you better; so that I can lead better.

33:17—God says he knows Moses by name. What a provocative way of saying “I know the kind of person you are.” God isn’t saying I know you Moses above all other people named Moses on the planet. Nor is he saying I finally got you implanted in my brain. I will not get you confused with anyone else. “I know your character. I know what kind of person you really are.” So what does Moses really want? Verse 18 “I want to see your glory; your majesty; the fullness of who you are.” Combined with verse 13—I want to know you in the deepest way possible.

So God agrees to reveal more but not so much that Moses will not die from a heart attack. Moses returns to the mountain yet again. There new tablets will be inscribed and there God will reveal his glory in fuller detail. But God doesn’t just allow Moses to see his back. God wants Moses to know what it means. God is going to reveal more of his character. To reveal it all would result in certain physical death but to reveal more and to give greater definition to what Moses has already experienced is the idea. Moses has seen God’s power; Moses has seen God’s judgment; Moses has seen God’s decisiveness; Moses has seen God’s anger; Moses has seen God’s strength. But this is different. So quickly after the covenant has been broken; so quickly has God expressed both a desire to start all over and a desire to walk away—Moses hasn’t seen the fullness of God’s mercy and grace. God has alluded to it in 33:19 but Moses has not yet seen it.

So God puts Moses in the cleft of the rock and covers him with his hand. As he walks by he announces himself. Remember this voice melted the people’s hearts in chapter 20. Moses seems to be the only one who can hold it together. God’s voice thunders and he reveals his character more fully:

Compassionate—filled with tender mercy

Grace filled—kindness beyond expectation and beyond what is deserved

Slow to anger—more patience than any have known

Abounding in love—Loyalty beyond human experience; he is not fickle like humans are

Abounding in faithfulness—truth permeates his character; he can only speak truth and be truth; thus, all he says is reliable

Maintaining love to thousands—God keeps his covenant to thousands of generations

Forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin—God can and desires to forgive all kinds of sin

But the wicked are punished—those who break the covenant are held responsible even in succeeding generations. With all of these gracious attributes, do not presume that God’s job is to forgive and my job is to sin. Do not presume upon God’s grace; he will punish.

And Moses falls on his face in honor of the great God and worships.

So What?

Moses asked for more to be revealed to make him a better leader. How do you think this affected his leading the people? He was already a good leader but this becomes revelational in how God thinks and deals with people. So what happened with all of this? How did this affect Israel? From this point forward this becomes the words to call Israel back into relationship with God. From this point forward, when a person needs to repent these words are used to remind about the real character of God. Various Psalms requote these verses, Moses does in Numbers 14, Nehemiah, Joel, Jonah, Micah, Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 30—every time these words are used to call Israel back to the covenant. Time and again, Israel strays from the covenant and these words remind the people of the heart of God. Here’s the question for us.

Do you think this applies to you? Do you think God’s character and nature has changed? Do you think God is still compassionate, grace filled, abounding in loyalty and faithfulness and forgiving? If you do, then live in the freedom of that truth.

Live in confidence that God isn’t mad at you.

Live in hope that his eternal promise is for you.

Live in relief that your sin no longer separates you from God.

Live without guilt, shame, or desperation.

Live in freedom to walk hand in hand with the God who wants you to know him even as he knows you by name.

In the presence of such overwhelming greatness we fall down and worship. We hide our face from such majesty. We bow in submission. And we celebrate our relationship with him through Jesus.

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