So Close and Yet So Far?

Today is Day 27 of counting the omer – countdown to Pentecost or Shavuot.

Exodus 25:30 And you shall set the showbread (the bread of the Presence) on the table before Me always.

When the people of Israel cried out for bread He provided manna in their wilderness. When the people began collecting the manna they described it as “what is it?” (See Exodus 16) When Moses pitched a tent outside the camp of Israel – far outside the camp – the Exodus account records Moses speaking to God face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. What’s surprising is what Moses prays in Exodus 33:18-20, a mere seven verses later:

And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory. ¹⁹ And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.²⁰ But, He said, You can not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live. 

Yet, throughout the Bible, we are commanded to seek the Lord’s face: Psalm 27:8 You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word]. 

Many Bible scholars will say that this phrase is simply a Hebrew idiom for presence, serving as a metaphor for God’s Presence, intimacy, and favor. The Hebrew word for “face” is panim which is frequently translated as “presence”. You could conclude, “Well that issue is settled”. Or is it? John 14:8-9 records an interaction between Jesus and Philip in which the disciple is echoing Moses’ words almost verbatim: Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father [cause us to see the Father—that is all we ask]; then we shall be satisfied.⁹ Jesus replied, Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet, Philip? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say then, Show us the Father?

Did you catch what Jesus said? Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet, Philip? You could conclude that the Old Testament’s repeated exhortation was a command not to settle for what appeared to be God’s, “No!” Many are familiar with the Exodus 33 account. In response I frequently ask, Is Jesus God? Did the disciples see Jesus’ face? Often they seek to justify their ignorance by stating that they only saw Jesus as a human. I follow that question by asking, Was Jesus God following His resurrection – in His glorified state? That’s when the lights go on. The Old Testament exhortations to seek God’s Face were not limited to God’s invisible Presence. It was a clue that they were to seek for more. To seek for Jesus – the Manifest Presence of God the Father. Many followers of Jesus settle for the superficial forms of Christianity never questioning why they aren’t really satisfied. Forms of religion that deny His Power; His Manifest Presence. For many the best that can happen is to die and go to Heaven.

That’s why Scripture has been given by the Spirit Who leads us to the living Jesus. Exodus 25:30 gives us the clue: And you shall set the showbread (the bread of the Presence). Showbread is translated mysteriously as the Bread of His Faces. Why? Because the Hebrew word for Presence, panim, is a plural word used singularly. If you are making the grain of the Word count – you are seeing His Bread crushed into flour, “baked” into bread, rising into the Bread of His Face, revealing His Presence. All of this should lead us to the conclusion that if you are hungry enough you will want more than just words on a page (forms of religion). You will hunger for the Jesus’ Face. You will hunger to see Jesus. Are you hungry? How hungry are you? How badly do you want to see Jesus? Have you been with Jesus so long and you still don’t know Him?