Face to Face (Part 3)
As we began our examination of the eight (8) usages
of “face to face” that describe men interacting with God, we limited
our focus to its first mention—Jacob. It included a high-level
summary of events that culminated in his wrestling match at Peniel,
after which he came to this conclusion: “I have seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:30). An additional word
or two about his assessment are in order.
The primary sense of “my life is preserved” is
awareness that he had survived exposure to God’s
up-close-and-personal presence and lived to tell about it. That’s
the ‘backward’ look. I believe those words had a ‘forward’ or
prophetic look as well. “Is preserved” meant “has been” and “will
be.” Jacob’s long-harbored fear of Esau was replaced by a confidence
that nothing would or could nullify God’s promises or endanger his
life. His face to face transitioned him from fear to faith to
fearlessness! What would a similar encounter do for you and me?
We now turn our attention to a man—a prophet—that had
no peers. That is what scripture tells us: “There arose not a
prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face” (Deuteronomy 34:10). So we observe once more that the life
lived with habitual face-to-face interludes with God endows one with
a spiritual prowess that is otherwise unobtainable. Did you get the
phrasing? “Whom the Lord knew”! The fact that a man knows God is
important; but God knowing the man is paramount!
Paul understood this truth well. In admonishing the
Galatians and contrasting their former and current spiritual status,
he wrote: “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are
known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements…?
(Galatians 4:9). In fact, when final judgment comes and we all stand
before the Lord to give account, any claim that one has known God
will avail nothing! The only criterion that will matter is whether
God ever knew the individual (see Matthew 7:23). According to Jesus,
for the one who claims to know the Lord without the Lord knowing
them, all of his or her religious activity done in God’s name will
be counted as “iniquity.” Now that’s a sobering thought indeed! A
spiritual relationship consists of two-way knowledge; but one-way
knowledge leaves the claimant in a state of spiritual death! Got
two-way knowledge?
The reference we cited from Deuteronomy 34:10-12 is
essentially an epitaph for this great man of God. It speaks of “the
signs and the wonders” that “the Lord sent him to do.” Pharaoh and
his servants were witnesses to God’s great power as was Israel. The
words “all the great terror” capture both the grand scale on which
miracles were executed and the effect upon witnesses. A Moses-like
lifestyle in our day might not produce spectacular results on a
scale comparable to that of Moses, but I’d love to see what effect a
generation of Moses-like pastors might have on their churches and
upon a nation that would become eyewitness to God’s glory in those
churches!
If we turn back the clock about four decades, we find
this reference: “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a
man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but
his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of
the tabernacle” (Exodus 33:11). No pastor since Moses has had a
tougher flock. Israel was plagued with lust, doubt and rebellion on
a scale that included millions. Do you think any man packs the
wisdom to pastor that many earthy folks without heavenly resources?
For that matter, what man can claim self-sufficiency for a flock
consisting of hundreds…or dozens?
For Moses, the answer for the infamy in the camp was
the face-to-face intimacy he found in the tent. There the God of
Israel granted an audience and his full attention to a single
man—HIS man! Every turning again into the camp required a return
trip to the tent for replenishment of divine resources. Nothing will
frustrate, discourage and or “burn out” a man of God faster than
neglect of the tent while making excursions into the camp!
We know that the young man Joshua would one day
replace Moses and lead Israel into the promised land. Is it any
wonder that Joshua was his successor? Joshua served Moses in the
context of his service for God. And what a mentor was Moses! All of
those face-to-face encounters rubbed off on protégé Joshua. I like
to think Joshua might have looked Moses’ way as he headed out to the
camp, looking for an indication as to whether he should
follow…hoping that Moses would go alone. Joshua cultivated a
face-to-face lifestyle early on in his walk with God, and it served
him well all his days! Perhaps Moses looked his way, and said: “Stay
here, son of Nun! Get all the face to face you can get while you can
get it! You’re going to need it down the road!”
In conclusion, there is a
question we must ask: Is our need for “face to face” encounters with
God any less than it was for Moses and Joshua with regard to the
race set before us? From the greatest to the least of God’s people,
we are all equally dependent upon divine resources to effectively
execute the spiritual tasks God assigns. In the next Pen, we’ll
conclude our study of “face to face” encounters.
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