Matthew 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.”
The Father’s Greatest Secret was Guarded by Threats of Death: Two objects that if the Israelite looked upon them—death:
1. Yom Kippur (“The day of Atonement”). Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year but only after the most stringent preparations: Leviticus 16:12-13 “And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony [the Ten Commandments], so that he does not die.”
If he looked upon the Mercy Seat, he would be struct dead. Evidently, this covering of the Ten Commandments was so central to God’s heart that it could only be approached at the right time and under the right circumstances. The only other thing that must not be seen was the face of God. After the giving of the law, the golden calf debacle, and God striking down the people for the first time ever with a plague, Moses was devastated and asked God to show him His glory:
2. Exodus 33:20 “But” he said, “you cannot see my face, [only His back] for man shall not see me and live.”…Afterwards, He passed before Moses and declared: 34:7 “keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation”: a brief self-disclosure of His love and righteousness which satisfied Moses.
What did God’s “face” represent? His mercy and glory: Numbers 6:22–26 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
However the full extent of His glory would have to await His Messianic Son: Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Glory? John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 13:31 “Now is the Son of Man glorified (Through His death on the Cross, but how could such a death equate with His glory?)
GLORY? Romans 5:8–10 but God shows his love [His Glory] for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
The death He died, He died for us who had been His enemies. But now that we have become His beloved friends, we can be assured of His enduring love for us. His love in the pinnacle of His glory!
Why would the Messiah and the Glory of His Gospel remain hidden?
1 Corinthians 2:7–8 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Two examples:
Peter’s Rebuke of Jesus at His disclosure of His sacrificial death: Matthew 16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
Peter was not able to received the Gospel and wise Solomon could not even grasp it.
Solomon’s failed wisdom quest: Ecclesiastes 2:15–17 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving [grasping] after wind.”
Both Peter and Solomon had been so spiritually blinded that they were unable to grasp and receive the idea of a resurrection from the dead. The learned Nicodemus had initially regarded Jesus’ Gospel as absurd (John 3:1-7). In contrast, Christians have been blessed by the Knowledge of God’s Love:
It has become a joy to know and to participate in the understanding of our Savior. Prior to this, our very thought processes had been a source of torment: 2 Peter 1:2–3 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.
We can now embrace the love of Christ when torment finds us, and we experience His peace from knowing our Savior: Ephesians 3:19 …know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
What a blessing to know that being in God’s presence is a great joy rather than an overwhelming terror: Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (What does this mean to us?)
Romans 5:3–5 …we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
It is this Knowledge that has enabled us to rejoice even in suffering rather than understanding it as a curse. It was also this knowledge of God that had made all the difference for the tormented Psalmist Asaph: Psalm 73:18–28 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
While the revelation of God’s righteousness came through the law delivered at Mt. Sinai accompanied by thunder, lightning, and the terrifying voice of this God, He deemed that the revelation of His infinite love would come through Jesus the Messiah:
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts [not on a mountain covered by lightning] to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Go
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