a beautiful mess

“I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb.” – YHWH to Moses, Exodus 17.6

“There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.” – YHWH to Moses, Exodus 33.21

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and so it is that intimacy shall follow time.

i love this exchange, and progression as it were, between our GOD and moshe. in exodus 17 we read of an encounter just as moses and the elders are arriving at massah. massah, that is, testing. and here at ‘testing’, GOD is standing “in front of” or “before” moses “by a rock”, or as the traditional hebraic commentary notes, “on the rock”. which is to say that moses is at a testing place with GOD standing in front of him at a crag of mount horeb (which is mount sinai).

that’s kind of crazy to follow. but…

picture if you will, time passing, time weathering moses’ face and soul, time working her mystery upon this man of GOD. and in exodus 33 we read of a an incredibly new encounter, though with some striking similarities.

then: GOD stood opposite moses on the crag of horeb/sinai. now: moses is standing on a crag with his GOD: at the invitation of, really at the insistence of, GOD himself!

“here is a place near/with me, and you’ll stand up on a rock.”

[selah]

having lived many days with GOD, moses has drawn near unto GOD and GOD has drawn near unto him. YHWH, who has been showing moses the manifestation of his name, I AM, now commends moses by declaring, “you’ve found favor in my eyes, and i’ve known you by name.”

it is the intimacy YHWH is after. that moses may know GOD and consequently come to know that GOD knows him!

it is always the intimacy. more than the anointing. more than the fulfillment of the promise (to agree with b.w.) moses came to understand that without the presence, without the intimacy, without the very face of GOD in the midst of a people on the face of the earth, none of it would matter.

[selah]

i can only pray that i will learn from moses. and that, even with my past, my scars, and my hurts, i will do my part to draw near unto GOD, for i know that there is a place with him.

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.

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