My veil is off.
I stand before you
as I am, Yahweh,
nowhere to hide,
and nothing between us
except your brilliant light.
Mesmerizing,
absolutely pure,
clarifying
(in its every sense),
your radiance hugs me,
encircles me
and sticks to me
softly glowing
to radiate the truth:
who you are
and who I am becoming
while I live in your Presence,
the burning bush my home.
It might seem self-promoting to talk about standing in the light of God’s presence and living in “the burning bush.” So let me explain the biblical teaching that impacted me with this imagery of spiritual transformation. None of the radiance that might be flowing from us and “bearing fruit” is due to our own worth or talents: it all comes from being sanctified, made increasingly holy through the work of the Spirit in us.
God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, revealing to him his true name: Yahweh (I AM). It was a frightening, unexpected moment. Moses could not bear to keep looking at the bush. Shocked that the glory of God was revealing itself to him in burning light ,he “hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. “ (Exod. 3:6 NET)
Years later he spent forty days and nights meeting up with God on the mountain, receiving God’s covenant words to pass on to his people:
27 The LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. 29 Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand– when he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to approach him. 31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 After this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he would put a veil on his face. 34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded. (Exod. 34:27-34 NET)
Now Moses was the one who was reflecting God’s glorious light on his face! The people were afraid to come near him and he had to convince them to listen to the message he brought them, from Yahweh. He knew, however, that they could not handle that bright light that would reflect off him each time he spent time with Yahweh to speak with him. While with his God he wore no veil, only when he came back out.
Moses never claimed that he deserved that glory. He knew it was only a result of being called into God’s presence as his servant. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, underlined that same truth. Yes, God had used Paul and his cohort and accomplished amazing things through them, but that did not mean that they were to be viewed as intimidating. He needed to make it clear that any radiance emminating from them was coming from their relationship to God as his servants. Through Jesus’ self-sacrifice and resurrection there was now a new covenant, not one written on stone tablets but on hearts by the work of God’s Spirit:
. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:5,6a).
After explaining the greater glory of the new covenant, which is not written on stone tablets but on the hearts of the covenant people, Paul writes that a veil is meant to conceal the light that radiates from this intimate connection with God–that is why Moses wore it when he came out from his place of meeting with Yahweh. But now it is not to be concealed! Instead, whoever becomes a follower of Jesus and enters into the new covenant, they no longer are kept from seeing God’s glorious plan or from living in his presence. This intimate connection is what gives his servants the courage and privilege to not only live in his light but to radiate it to others! We have new freedom and, through his Spirit, we are in the process of being transformed. This transformation is actually measured by degrees of glory! God’s light shines from us increasingly through our interaction with him and his empowerment:
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the result of the glory that was made ineffective. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:2-18 NET)
This transformation is through the Spirit’s work in us—also called sanctification. One key activity that keeps it increasing in us is doing what Moses did: spending time in conversation with Yahweh, then living out what we learn from him and sharing it with others. So let’s take a good look at our participation in this growth. Are we in this kind of relationship with God? Are we spending time focusing on him and his messages? Are we doing what he tells us to do? How are we then radiating the light of his glory as we live our lives?
We are only adequate to radiate his light, and bear fruit, through his work in us!
