Read Exodus 33:12–17. What did Moses ask the Lord to teach him? Why did he demand God’s presence to guide them?
Moses’ growth in the Lord was steady. He drew closer and closer to the Lord and sought to model himself after God’s image. One day when he was conversing with God in the tent of meeting, Moses suddenly realized that he did not know Him, and he uttered a specific prayer: “ ‘Show me now Your way, that I may know You’ ” (Exod. 33:13, NKJV). Moses was aware of his deep need to understand God on a new level. He discovered that the more he knew the Lord, the more he did not know Him. He recognized his need and wholeheartedly desired to know Him better. God willingly granted Moses’ wish.
By looking at the experiences of Moses so far, we can observe how Moses was drawn into a deeper, intimate relationship with the Lord and how he grew spiritually.
First, Moses climbed the mountain and “went up to God” (Exod. 19:3, NKJV). Then he went “to the top of the mountain” (Exod. 19:20, NKJV) and afterward approached the cloud, “the thick darkness” in which God resided (Exod. 20:21, NKJV).
On another occasion, “Moses entered the cloud” where God was, and he stayed with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights (Exod. 24:18, NIV). During these 40 days, God gave Moses two precious gifts: (1) the gift of the Decalogue written by God Himself on the two tablets, also chiseled by Him (Exod. 24:12), and (2) the instructions on how to build and furnish the tabernacle (see Exodus 25–31).
Then he spent another 40 days and nights with the Lord, interceding for sinners (Exod. 32:30–32, Deut. 9:18).
Yet, even after all this, Moses desired to know God’s character more concretely, and God soon gave him special insights to understand who He is. This knowledge Moses desired was not a mere intellectual understanding of God but an experiential knowledge of His person.
No wonder centuries later Jesus would say: “ ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ ” (John 17:3, NKJV). What better way for God to make Himself known to humans than by becoming a human Himself?
Do you know God, or do you just know about Him? What is the crucial difference between the two?
Supplemental EGW Notes
Moses manifested his great love for the people in his entreaty to the Lord to forgive their sin, or blot his name out of the book which he had written. His intercessions here illustrate Christ’s love and mediation for the sinful race. The Lord refused to let Moses suffer for the sins of his backsliding people. He declared to him that those who had sinned against him, would he blot out of his book which he had written; for the righteous should not suffer for the guilt of the sinner. The book here referred to is the book of records in Heaven, where every name is recorded, and their acts, their sins, and obedience are faithfully written. When any one commits sins which are too grievous for the Lord to pardon, their names are erased from the book, and they are devoted to destruction. Although Moses realized the dreadful fate of those whose names should be dropped from the book of God, yet he plainly declared before God that if the names of his erring Israel should be blotted out, and be no more remembered by him for good, he wished his name to be blotted out with theirs’. For he could never endure to see the fullness of his wrath come upon the people for whom he had wrought such wonders.—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, pp. 285, 286.
After the Lord had given Moses all these gracious assurances, did he rest in satisfaction, and settle down in content?—No; he still desired something of the Lord; he prayed, “I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” The glory of God was revealed to Moses, and it will be revealed to those who seek for it as earnestly as did Moses.—“Our Need of Unselfish Love,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, July 28, 1891, par. 7.
We should plead with God for his blessings, as Moses pleaded with him in the mount. We have no time to wait. Our Lord is coming, and it is time to set our house in order. There is a great work to be done, and if you go to your neighbor with your heart all warm and glowing with love, do you not think that you can find the key to unlock your neighbor’s heart? The trouble with our work has been that we have been content to present a cold theory of the truth. We have not let our hearts melt down before those with whom we work. O that the Lord might quicken our understanding, and give us a realization of the time in which we are living! Many have walked in the sparks of their own kindling, but we should plead with God as did Moses, advancing step by step until we can say, “Show me thy glory.” Moses was in earnest in the matter, and the Lord put him in a cleft in the rock, and let his goodness pass before him. Have you thought of that? He let his goodness pass before him. O my brethren, what will not the Lord do for us, if we will but seek him with all the heart?—“Let Us Go Without the Camp,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 28, 1889, par. 10.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.