Old Testament for February 27, Transfiguration Sunday

This window by Max Ainmiller, c.1855 is in Peterhouse College chapel, Cambridge. [photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.]

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Exodus 34:29-35 
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OBSERVE:

This is another of the great “theophanies” in the Scriptures, which describes God’s manifestation of himself to Moses.

In this case what we see is the after-effects of the encounter between God and Moses.  Moses has been on Mount Sinai in the presence of God for forty days, neither eating nor drinking, and recording God’s Laws.

Now Moses descends the mountain carrying the tablets of the covenant, and his brother Aaron and the Israelites are astonished — Moses’ face radiates with an unearthly glow.

Moses has been in the presence of the Shekinah, the “glory” of God.  God has made it quite clear to Moses in Exodus 33 that no man can look upon the face of God and live.  The presence of God is simply too intense for frail and fallible human flesh to endure.  But Moses has had a kind of oblique, indirect view of God’s glory as the Lord has imparted his revelation to Moses.  Apparently, this otherworldly view of God, even though it is partial, is so powerful that it has the effect of illuminating Moses’ face.

We should remember that this is actually the second set of stone tablets that Moses has carved.  When he first descended from Mount Sinai with the first set of tablets, he came upon the riotous revelry of the Israelites, worshipping the Golden Calf and engaging in bacchanalian orgies (Exodus 32).

Moses’ response to their debauchery was to shatter the tablets and punish the Israelites.

So, in this passage, when Moses puts on a veil in the presence of the Israelites, the pretext is that he is being merciful to them.  They cannot endure too much exposure to the omnipotent holiness of God, even reflected in a human face.

APPLY:  

As we will see when we read 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 in this week’s Epistle reading, there are somewhat different interpretations of Biblical events.

In Exodus 34:30 we are told:

When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.

When we consider the transcendent and terrible power of God’s holiness, this is a reasonable reaction to Moses’ transformation.

However, Paul interprets these events differently, as we will see.  He will use this passage as a symbol that suggests the superiority of the new covenant, revealed by Christ, over the old covenant revealed to Moses.  Paul says Moses:

put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside (2 Corinthians 3:13).

Other translations make it clear that the glory of Moses’ revelation was fading splendor (Revised Standard Version) or even more strongly, was passing away (New International Version).

Paul interprets Moses’ motives as an attempt to hide the fading glory!

Are these two views of the same event contradictory?  Not necessarily.  The two views of Moses’ radiant face and his veil may be snapshots of the same event taken at different times.

When the Israelites initially see the glow on Moses’ face, they are afraid.  Moses has obviously been in the presence of something so supernatural and so powerful that they shrink back from him.  After all, they have already seen the power of God at work many times.  So Moses covers his face initially because he is motivated by mercy.

But Paul’s interpretation is a snapshot taken some time after Moses has returned from the Mountain.  Moses sees that the glory is now fading, and he wishes to hide that fact from the people.

Initially, Moses put on the veil motivated by mercy.  But later, the veil becomes a disguise for his insecurity.

This tells me that two views of the same event may still both be true, depending on perspective — and time.

RESPOND: 

What would it be like to be so radiant with the glory of God that people could see it in my face?  To have been in the presence of God to such an extent that it becomes evident to others?

It appears to come with a cost.  Moses devotes time and self-denial to his relationship with God. What am I willing to risk for my relationship with God?

Lord, draw me to the Mountain where I may experience your glory. And help me to overcome the fear of your glory that I also feel.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Moses with the Tablets of the Law” by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.