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, on - Ca in - was the fi rs t to fo llow
the pa tte rn . Afte r bruta lly murder–
ing h is b rother, Abe !, he began by
d enying the crime as if God had no
powe r to know about it o nc way or
th e othe r. (See Gen . 4:9.) Following
h is arres
t.
conviction , and sen tenc–
ing, t he Bible s imply record s: "And
Cai n went out from thc prescnce of
th e Lo rd , and dwc lt in the land of
Nod . on the eas t o f Eden" (ve rse
16).
Moses' lncredible Experiences
Ovcr the firs t two tho usand yea rs of
human h istory pro ba b ly less than a
doze n indiv id ua ls had any personal
con tact wi th God. according to the
Bible. AbeL Enoch .
oah . Ab ra–
ha m, a nd Lot a re a ll numbered
amo ng these few pe rson to have
walked a nd ta lked wit h G od. Later
God actua lly got down in the dus t
o f the ea rth a nd wrcstled wi th the
patriarch J acob.
Moses came o n th e
~cene
a bo ut
1500 B.C. He had a n ex trcme ly un–
us ua l a nd uniq uc rcla tio nship with
G od . " And he [God] said. Hear now
my words:
[f there be a prophe t
amo ng yo u,
l
thc Lo rd will make
myself known un to him in a vis io n.
a nd will s pea k unto h im in a dream.
My servan t Moses is no t so.. . .
With him will
1
speak mowh ro
mourh,
even appa rc ntly. and not in
dark speeches : a nd
the similirude of
the Lord sha/1 he behold . .. "
(Num.
12:6-8).
Back in t he 33rd cha pte r o f Ex–
odus, the re is a ve ry intc rcsting ac–
count o f how Moses was ove rcome
w ith
c uri os i~ y
a b o ut God .
H e
wanted ro see
Cod.
1 think you can
unde rs tand il. Moses was pract ically
dwe lling with thi s pe rsona lity -
camping ou t on Mo un t Si na i wi th
him and con tin ua lly hearing this
grea t voice. yet he was o nly a b le to
sce a heavy. thi ck. mis ty cloud tha t
his cyes s im ply couldn ' t pene tra te.
Pick up the account in ve rse 9 :
"And it ca rne to pass. as Moses en–
te red into the ta be rnacle, the cloudy
pillar d escended , and s tood a t th e
door of the ta bernacl e. a nd the Lord
ta lked with Moses....
And the Lord
spake unto Moses Jace ro Jace.
as a
ma n sp.eake th un to his fri end ..."
(ve rse 11 ).
T he nex t time Moses ta lk ed w ith
God. he mad e a bold request : "And
34
he sa id.
1
beseech thcc.
shew me rh¡-
glory" (ve rse
18).
·
G od 's rep ly: " 1 will ma ke a ll my
good ncss pass be fo rc th ee. . .. [Bu t]
tho u cans t not see my face: fo r the re
sha ll no ma n see me a nd live . ...
And it shall come to pass. wh ilc my
glo ry passeth by. tha t
1
will pu t thee
in the cleft (c revice] o f the rock. a nd
will cover thee wi th my ha nd whi lc
1
pass by: And
1
will takc away m ine
ha nd . a nd tho u sha lt ee my back
pa rts ; b ut my face sha ll no t be see n"
(ve rses 19-23).
What Oíd Moses See?
T hc Exodus accoun t !caves it at
tha t. But e lsewhe re the Bib lc revea ls
tha t ma n was fo rmed in the likeness
of G od (G en.
1
:26). So ma n mus t
look li ke G od - a nd vice versa. .
Dozens o f scr iptures
~ how
that God
has hands (Ex. 9:3 ; Job 1: 11: e tc.).
He has fin gers (Ex. 3 1: 18). l t is
pla in ly s ta ted in the Bible that G od
has arms. a to rso. legs. feet. two
eyes. a nose. a mouth. a vo ice. two
ea rs: in a wo rd . God is fo rmed and
sha ped like a huma n bcing even
tho ug h composed o f sp ir it (Jo hn
4:24).
Pro ba b ly the bes t d escriptio n of
wha t M
ose~
aw a nd hca rd was seen
by th e a pos tle Jo hn
in vision
-
no t
in thc ftesh. Of course. Moses saw
this same scene from th e back - no t
the fro nt. " And in the m ids t o f the
seven cand les ticks [was] o ne li ke
unto the Son of ma n.... H is head
a nd his hai rs were whi tc like wool.
as wh it e as now: and his cyes we re
as a ft a me o f fire: and b is fee t li ke
unt o fin e b rass, as if they burned in
a furnace: and
h i ~
voicc as the
so und o f ma ny wa ters....
and h is·
countenance was as the sun shineth in
his srrengrh
[wh ich cxpl a ins why no
human being can see God 's face
and live]" (Rev. 1: 13- 16).
Moses was not una !Tccted . even
phys ica lly. by th is incred ib le expe ri–
encc. Notice, in the 34th chapte r of
Exodus, a no ther prev ious ly unheard
of phenomeno n. " And it carne to
pass. whcn Moses camc down from
Mo unt Sina i w ith th c two tab les o f
test imo ny in Moses· ha nd [th e Ten
Comma ndme n ts] . .. th a t Moses
wis t (knew] not tha t the skin o f h is
facc sho ne wh ile he ta lked with him
[God]. And when Aa ro n a nd a ll the
children o f Is rael saw Moses. be-
ho ld. the skin of his facc sho ne : and
they wc rc a fraid to come nig h h im"
(verses 29-30) . Moscs· face was
glowing with an incan dcscen t kind
of radian ce . T hc pcopl e we re so
fri g htcned that he was lo rced to pu t
a
vc il over bis face in ordc r to con–
duc t daily bus iness.
The Public Reaction
Moscs was cu rious a bo ut G od. but
as c lea rly shown by thc a bove ac–
count. not the pcoplc . Th ey wa nted
to s tay as fa r away from God as
h uma n ly poss ible. When God chose
to "come out of h id ing" a nd fi na lly
reveal himse lf to the Israeli te . he re
is wh a t happened : "And a ll the
peo ple saw the
thu nde ring~.
a nd the
lig ht nings. a nd thc noise of the
trum pct. a nd the mo unta in smok–
in g : and when th e pcoplc saw it.
they removed, and stoodfar o.ff
And
they sa id unto Moses. Speak thou
with
u~.
a nd we will hea r: but le t
nor
God peak wi th us. lest wc die" (Ex.
20: 18- 19).
T his i the typica l manner in
wh ich ma nk ind had been reacting
to the presence of G od a ll the way
from the time o f Adam. In cssence.
ma n has to ld God
to
keep h is (un–
prin table) nose o ut of man 's (un–
printable) bus ine s. By thc time of
Samuel. God
wa~
pre tty well to ta lly
comply ing with ma nkind's wishes.
Prior to his reve la tio n to thc young
ch ild Samue l, it is mcnti oncd tha t
" . .. thc wo rd of the Lo rd was pre–
cio us in those days : there was no
o pe n vis io n"
(1
Sam. 3: 1).
Fina lly thc wri ting o f the Old
T estamcnt books was completed . ln
th e t hree- hund red-yea r intc r–
testament a l period. ma nk ind as
a
who le (including God 's own na li on
in J ud aea ) st rayed furt her a nd fur–
th e r from God , going to eve ry wc ird
re lig io us ex treme . God h imself was
kecping hands o ff wh ile h is tru th
was almost hopc lessly mo ngrelized
o ut of a ll recognition. Then ca rne
God 's full
rcve l~ tion
to huma nkind
in the flesh.
The Full Revel ation
"Whcrcas in th e past God spoke
th rough many fo rms. fashions and
figures, a nd commun icatcd by va ri–
ous means. methods and ma nners.
He
wa~
now ready to pour o ut the
whole s to ry th rough a Son (Heb .
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976