Desiring God’s Goodness

January 20, 2016

Exodus 33:12-23

Moses pleads for his people. He pleads for God’s presence to be in the midst of God’s people. As Moses was pleading with God, he revealed his true motive: to see God’s glory (Exodus 33:18).

God replied that He would cause His GOODNESS to pass by (Exodus 33:19). God says that we can see His goodness, but we can’t truly see His glory (Exodus 33:20).

God chooses to show us His glory but He reserves His glory for another time. We will see and experience God’s goodness in eternity. We can’t see God’s glory until we meet Him in Heaven. This is why God says that we can’t see His face and live (Exodus 33:20).

God’s goodness is a characteristic of His glory. It is only a part of it. God is kind, compassionate, and caring. He has many positive qualities for which we can depend upon. God wants us to depend upon these qualities from God. He also wants us to emulate these same qualities. Yet, God doesn’t allow us to experience all of his qualities. For example, God’s children are not expected to emulate God’s form of justice or judgment. There are parts of God which we can’t see. God’s glory is one of the parts of God of which we can’t see completely. We can only parts of God’s glory, but not the whole. This is why God says that Moses can see God’s backside – which is the backside of God’s glory (Exodus 33:23). We can’t experience all of God’s glory. But we can desire all of His goodness.