When God renewed the covenant with Israel, he called Moses to come up the mountain. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights with the Lord.
Spending an extended period of time in the Lord’s presence had a telling effect on Moses. His face was radiant.
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30).
In today’s YouTube video, Whispering Danny discusses his mother’s experience in a laboratory when they immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union.
As Jews, they encountered people who wondered if she had horns. This confusion originated from a mistaken reading in the Vulgate (the Latin) translation of the passage.
The verb ‘he radiated’ is sometimes related to the noun ‘horn’. The Vulgate confused these two, leading to the representation in medieval art of Moses wearing two horns.
Inner Self Transformation
Paul wrote to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind” (Romans 12:2).
The transformation of our inner self, as we conform ourselves to the character of God, often reflects in our outward appearance.
Whispering Danny, Rudy Ross, and I all agree. We have met people who glowed with the presence of God in their lives.
What is most evident in these Christ-like people are the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. Who cannot be amazed when they encounter someone who lives with these qualities that Paul talked about?
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Glowing Followers of Jesus
We live in a world characterized by division, materialism, and self-interest. Polarization and discord are everywhere.
Imagine a world where love promotes unity, peace fosters reconciliation, and gentleness encourages dialogue. We can be at least one person who meets with God and brings this to the table of our needy world.
One of the beliefs of the world’s system is that like attracts like. Most people relate to people who are similar to them.
In God’s economy, He reaches a diverse group of people. As we live with God and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, we will be more like God and less like the world’s system with regard to only relating to “our kind.”
The Exodus experience began with a cry of agony from the Hebrews (Exodus 2.23-24) for God to set them free from slavery.
Our world has many injustices, just in the days of Moses. As we relate to God intimately and as His Spirit permeates our lives, we will be best adept at being change-makers in an unjust world.
The world has plenty of turmoil, but so do we in our inner selves.
As we live with God and as His Spirit produces a new personality in us, we will be best situated to be resilient. We will be able to navigate life’s challenges with grace and composure.
How To?
Living with the Lord is not a luxury, something we do with our spare time. It is an important part of aligning with God to accomplish His purposes in the world.
As we live with Him, we enjoy His presence and the world enjoys the new person that God makes within us.
Growing close to Jesus is personal and unique for each individual. It is more like art than science.
Three constants are a part of living with God in such a way that we begin to show the fruit of the Spirit.
The first of these is prayer. Prayer is essential to fulfilling what Paul wrote to the Romans about not being conformed to the world, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind.
I have a hard time praying without using my Bible. My daily practice is to read portions from the Bible, and then talk to God about what I’ve read.
If you haven’t already begun following this practice, I hope you will give it a try.
James tells us that faith without works is dead (James 2.14). This is a major truth about our devotional time: we must put it into practice.
I love what Henry Blackaby says. When God communicates with us, it’s not like finding a warm fuzzy in the front pocket of our pants. Rather, it is His direction for our life and must be followed.
As we do this, we will emulate the example of Moses who met with God and then lived it out when he came before the people.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Whispering Danny, and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 