Glory Exposure.
Exodus 24:12-14NIV.
Jenny and I love the ocean, the Grand Sea. I think we could just both hang out and watch the tides turn. I surly wouldn’t mind living closer to the Ocean one day!
People say that if you’ve ever sat on the edge of a 15,000 foot mountain peak on a clear- sunny day, looking over forest, rivers, lakes, and valleys – well, let's just say your bucket list is incomplete.
I’ve had great times when I’ve acknowledged God around me. His presence is overwhelming. The deep abiding presence of the Lord will be life-altering. P.H
A few years ago I begin to hunt. One of my favorite things to do would be to choose a tree. A big tree, a tree with little, to no limbs. I’d skill up this tree at least 30 ft. After securing my tree-stand-climber, and my gun, I would sit and listen and watch.
I would break open my black-genuine-leather world’s-smallest-bible and read.
Once in Kingston, Ga. Two Doe’s with twin fawns, 6 in all, were playing underneath my tree.
I watched for a good 20 minutes as these 6 deer played carefree.
It did something to me. I latter found out that I’d rather just be up in a tree, watching, and listening and worshiping.
I'd begin to tell God what a wonderful job He did with the deer. -And with all of His creation.
To me, God's creation is amazing, God is awesome. -Creator of everything.
The psalmist declares in, Psalm 8:1NKJV O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
With that being said, I don't know if you've ever been in the mountains alone in the dark, or in the ocean alone after dark, but that darkness changes everything.
Imaginations run wild. Bear, Snakes and Sharks around every bend.
In Exodus 24, Moses along with Joshua, leave the children of Israel to follow the call of God. Take note, The gifts and calling of God are a direct result of glory exposure. It’s an upward thing. Leave the old insanity, and receive glory exposure for the new!
Exodus 24:12-14NIV The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”
Think about this, Moses and Joshua begin to climb, they left (Israel), the millions, and went upward on Mount Sinai. -They were called to go up!
Exodus 24:15-16NKJV Then Moses (and Joshua), went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain. 16 Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He (God) called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Moses and Joshua camped close, and so they waited. For 6 days they waited, on the side of the mountain. They waited for God’s direction.
Finally God called Moses into His presence on the 7th day.
This glory exposure, this visible presence of God’s glory was seen in a cloud during the Exodus, and in Solomon’s Temple after the Ark of the Covenant was put in it.
About this glory, listen to, Exodus 24:16-18NKJV Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Again, on the seventh day Moses traveled into a land that I call, “Glory exposure.”
However tonight I want us to look at the man Joshua. The Bible gives no indication that Joshua ever left his post.
Think about this, Joshua was just outside of God’s glory. Bet it changed Joshua’s life! 34 days alone on Mount Sinai.
Many people know Moses spent 40 days and nights with God on this mountain receiving the 10 Commandments, and other laws, precepts, and religious rites God intended Israel to live by.
However no one remembers Joshua’s window peeking experience. Joshua didn’t get to go with Moses, He had to camp just outside of the glory.
I’m sure he heard the voice of God, the sounds of worship; I'm sure Joshua was exposed many times in that 40-days to, “Glory Exposure.”
Hear King David’s heart in,
Psalm 63:1-2NKJV O God, You are my God;?Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You;?My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land?Where there is no water. 2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
King David was thirsty for the power and presence of God. And like King David, Joshua was thirsty for the power and presence of God.
So Moses obeyed, taking Joshua, and up they went. Then things get really puzzling. God-actually made the two of them wait six-full- days before He said anything.
Exodus 24:16NIV and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
Can you imagine? What would you do for six days sitting just outside of a cloud caused by the glory of God, with thunder, crashing and lightning flashing inside of it?
The mountain actually shook at times. I wonder if Joshua ever asked, “hey, Moses, are you sure we're supposed to be here?”
We are not told why God made them wait for six days, maybe to teach them patience.
Isaiah 40:28-31NKJV Have you not known??Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth,?Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak,?And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,?They shall walk and not faint.
To me, the most powerful part of this historical document is that on the seventh day, when Moses disappeared into the glory cloud, -Joshua was left alone for 34-more-days!
Joshua wasn’t invited to the party. -Or was he!
For me, one can only imagine what it would be like to be alone for more than a month. Especially on the side of a mountain alone.
Like you and me, Joshua had the opportunity to be bored, or he could become like a sponge soaking in God’s presence.
Was Joshua horrified when Moses walked into the cloud? Remember, It was more than just a cloud, after all; it was a fiery cloud.
From the base of the mountain, Exodus 24:17NIV To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
You could say that the glory of God might look strange, or scary without spiritual eyes. It might seem foreign. P.H
One has to wonder:
Did Joshua question for 34 days if Moses survived?
Could he hear God and Moses talking?
Did Joshua flinch every time the mountain shook?
Could he hear the finger of God chipping the 10 Commandments into the tablets?
Did he get hungry? If so, what did he eat?
Did Joshua have angelic visitations?
Did Joshua sit for hours just staring at the glory?
Was he tempted to leave?
What did Joshua think when Moses finally emerged with his face glowing from glory exposure?
One thing I'm sure of, what happened with Joshua will remain He and God's secret.
Never discount this powerful scripture, it’s a promise: Psalm 91:1NKJV He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Although God didn't tell us what transpired, He did, give us a hint of the effect this excursion had on Joshua.
In Exodus 32, Joshua and Moses came off the mountain.
In Exodus 33, Moses erected a tent, sometimes called the Tabernacle of Moses, in which the Ark of the Covenant was to reside. It was also called the Tent of Meeting....
For everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, Exodus, 33:7.
When Moses would go into the tent, the people were so captivated and spellbound, they would stand and watch for the “the Pillar of the cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, Exodus 33:9.
This had to be spell bounding, and awe-inspiring that the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent, Exodus, 33:10.
Everyone but Joshua, that is!
It would appear that on these occasions, Joshua was allowed to go into the tent with Moses. But something interesting, took place when it was time for Moses to leave.
Exodus 33:11NIV The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
Joshua had been infected by his attraction to the God of glory. He was forever ruined on the mountain.
The Glory Exposure came upon Joshua. Moreover, because of this glory exposure Joshua would be the man that would lead the children of Israel into the promise land.
3 points to ponder:
Joshua’s faithfulness outside of God’s glory, became his spring board into, Glory Exposure!
Joshua became consumed by the presence of the Lord!
Jesus stated in, Luke 16:10NIV Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Point 2, Joshua was consumed.
God doesn’t choose people for big obligations who are not consumed.
Hebrews 12:29ESV for our God is a consuming fire.
In other words, He wants all of you, He wants to consume you!
Point 3, The glory you live with today, will eventually consume you tomorrow.
This great Glory Exposure was promised the early church:
Joel 2:28-32NIV And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem? there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
From the book of Acts 2, the 120 early disciples, who were faithful and waited 10 whole days, became consumed with what God promised. -The church was birth! The first message, 3,000 were saved. The next message 2,000 were born again!
Like Joshua, the early church became consumed. They believed the OT, and became exposed to the glory. Glory exposure consumed them.
In Christianity today, Philip Yancey writes, I remember my first visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone national Park. Rings of Japanese and German tourist surrounded the geyser, their video cameras, trained like weapons on the famous hole in the ground. A large, digital clock stood beside the spot, predicting 24 minutes until the next eruption. My wife and I passed the countdown in the dining room of Old Faithful Inn overlooking the geyser. When the digital clock reached one minute, we, along with every other diner, left our seats and rushed to the window to see the big, wet event. I noticed that immediately, as if on signal, a crew of boys, busboys and waiters descended on the tables to refill water, glasses and clear away dirty dishes. When the geyser went off, we tourist cheered while our cameras click; a few spontaneously applauded.But, glancing back over my shoulder, I saw that not a single waiter or busboy, not even those who had finished their chores- looked out the huge window. Old, faithful, grown entirely too familiar has lost its power to impress them.
Benediction. If you’ve received Glory Exposure, like Joshua, nothing else will do.
Did you know that there has been babies left at CECC, because of Glory Exposure. Mom’s and dad’s get half way home and forgot the child!
Two words, “Glory Exposure.”
