This is part 1 of a 3-part series. View the entire series here.
You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. – 1 Peter 1:8 NLT
Dangerous Holiness
There’s a passage from C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in which Susan is talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver about Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, who is a representation of Christ. She asks if he’s safe, and Mr. Beaver replies, “‘Safe?...Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.’”
In Exodus chapter 33, Moses asks to see Yahweh’s glory. He’s about to lead the Israelites through the wilderness, and he wants tangible proof that God’s going to be with him. God replies,
“I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will call out My name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at My face, for no one may see me and live.” The LORD continued, “Look, stand near Me on this rock. As My glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and let you see Me from behind. But My face will not be seen” (Exodus 33:19-23 NLT).
There’s a common thread between these two passages: God’s holiness is dangerous to fallen, imperfect humans.
Perfect Holiness
We understand danger in terms of the threat it poses to us. Our instinctual priority is to protect ourselves at all costs. We avoid reckless behavior, we steer clear of certain places after dark. But no matter how much we try to avoid it, there’s a level of unpredictability to danger; we never know exactly when we might find ourselves, despite our caution, in a dangerous situation, and that’s part of what makes it so scary.
But while God’s presence is dangerous, it’s not unpredictable, nor are His actions ever unwarranted or unjust. In the Old Testament, God gave His people very specific instructions on how they were to approach Him, and any disregard of those instructions was dealt with severely (see 2 Samuel 6:6-11), because His perfect holiness demands respect. His glory is regularly described as appearing “like a consuming fire” (Exodus 24:17).
So God doesn’t withhold His full glory from Moses just to be cruel. He does so because the fullness of His presence is, quite literally, too much for a human being to withstand—“No one may see Me and live.” Our imperfection can’t stand before His perfection. Our weakness can’t stand before His power.
God could’ve said to Moses, Sorry, I’m too powerful and too holy for you to look upon, and just left it at that. But in His infinite kindness and infinite goodness—all parts of His perfect holiness—He passes before Moses, covering his eyes so he’s protected from the full force of God’s presence, and then God allows Moses to see Him from behind.
The truth of Aslan that Mr. Beaver shared with Susan is also true of God—He’s not safe, but He’s good.
Holy Ground
Earlier in the book of Exodus, when God first reveals Himself to Moses in the burning bush, God says, “‘Do not come any closer…Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:5-6 NLT).
Moses understands his position in relation to God: God is perfect, Moses is not. God is the Creator, Moses is the created. The only proper response when we’re standing before a holy, glorious, perfect God is fear.
