Brief
outline of the chapter: God instructs the Israelites to depart from Mount Sinai
and proceed to the Promised Land. He assures them of sending an angel ahead but
announces that He will not accompany them due to their stubbornness. Moses sets
up the Tent of Meeting outside the camp, where he speaks with God face to face.
Moses intercedes for the people, asking God to go with them, and God agrees.
Moses also requests to see God’s glory, and God manifests His goodness while
shielding Moses from seeing His face.
Lessons
from St. Gregory of Nyssa (‘Life of Moses’):
St. Gregory compares
the soul’s upward movement to the natural downward movement of bodies. Just as
a body accelerates downward on a slope without resistance, the soul, once freed
from earthly attachments, naturally and swiftly ascends towards the divine. The
soul’s upward movement is driven by its desire for heavenly things as the
Apostle St. Paul says- “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to
what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13). The progress in virtues and other
spiritual growth renew the soul’s intensity and capacity for further ascent.
St. Gregory
cites Moses as the ultimate example of this spiritual ascent. Moses never
ceased to climb higher in his relationship with God. Each step he took-
rejecting Egyptian ties, avenged a Hebrew, embracing a solitary desert life,
leading the Hebrews his people to freedom, continually sought God’s presence
etc. revealed another step above, symbolizing the endless journey towards
divine perfection.
St. Gregory
reflects on Moses’s request to the Lord - “Please show me your glory” (v.18)
and wonders how can Moses for whom Scripture says that the Lord used to
speak to him “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (v.11) still need God to
appear, as if Moses had not yet seen Him? Despite Moses’ profound experiences,
he remains unsatisfied and continually thirsts for more. St. Gregory likens
this experience to a soul that loves beauty. Such a soul is always drawn from
the visible beauty to what lies beyond, constantly desiring the hidden and
ultimate beauty.
Moses beseeches
God to appear to him, not according to his capacity to partake, but according
to God's true being.
When this bold
request was made, God’s response was - “you cannot see my face, for no one
shall see me and live.” (v.20) According to St. Gregory, seeing God does
not cause physical death, as God is the source of life. However, the thought
process that one can fully comprehend or know God is a kind of spiritual death,
because it turns a person away from the true nature of God, which transcends
human understanding.
In the words
of St. Gregory- “The divine voice granted what was requested in what was
denied, showing in a few words an immeasurable depth of thought. The
munificence of God assented to the fulfilment of his desire, but did not
promise any cessation or satiety of the desire.”
In a profound
way, the request (of Moses) is granted through denial! Moses asked to see God’s
full glory, but God responded that no one could see His face and live. This leads
Moses to understand that the full essence of God cannot be comprehended by
human life.
St. Gregory
postulates that God would not have revealed Himself to Moses if such a vision
satiated Moses’s desire. Instead, the true vision of God is one that perpetually
fuels the desire for Him and that yearning never ceases. This desire is never
fully satisfied, as each glimpse of the divine rekindles the longing to see
more. There is no limit to the ascent towards God, as He is infinite and the
desire for Him continually grows. Therefore, what Moses requested is fulfilled
by the very things that leave his desire unmet. [The commentary on Moses’s
request to be continued in tomorrow’s posting].
In Christ,
Rincy
Ref: Gregory of Nyssa, Saint. The Life of Moses. Translated by A.J. Malherbe and E. Ferguson, HarperCollins, 2006, pp. 100-111. HarperCollins Spiritual Classics series. (Original translation published by Paulist Press, 1978).
Disclaimer: The content presented here is a
paraphrased summary based on my reading and understanding of the book cited
above and is intended solely for educational and devotional purposes during
Lent. They are not intended to replace the original work or represent the views
of the author or publisher. Readers are encouraged to refer to the original
book for a comprehensive understanding.
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