Friend of God - Israel Houghton
The shining face of God
“The Lord
bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face towards you
and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26, ESV
These are the words the LORD
instructed High Priest Aaron to use to bless the people of Israel. Is it surprising
that the highest blessing the LORD can bestow on His favoured people is that His
face will shine upon them?
What? Just His face, nothing
else? What about wishes for good health, or for them to prosper and do well? Or
even those things that we expect the Almighty to wish, for obedient hearts and that
His people’s faces are turned towards Him? Yes, all of those; and more. It is
all about His face.
The aspect of a face is important.
When my 8 month old granddaughter and I get to see one another on FaceTime her
little face lights up when she realises that it me; it shines! She delights in
me and shows me favour, irrespective of whether I deserve it. It makes me feel
good and I am blessed. How like the Lord’s attitude! It makes me want to be the
sort of grandmother that meets my granddaughter’s expectations. And the Lord’s
favour makes me want to match up to the delight and trust He displays in me.
Of course, the Lord’s “eyes are too pure to look on evil; He cannot
tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:13, ESV) so
it is important that I keep an eye on myself and confess and claim forgiveness through
Jesus when I have done wrong and sinned. Otherwise His eyes will be turned away
from my sin and the light of His face may not shine through.
By contrast, when someone I
know, someone that I know has seen me, studiously ignores me and walks past
without a look, smile or even a nod, then I feel neglected and rejected, particularly
if that person is a friend. So must the Lord feel when I fail to respond to His
face turned in radiance towards me.
The light of God's face brings joy and strength
It
is such a good thing to walk in the light of the righteousness that Jesus
provides through His death and resurrection. It is such a good thing to
consciously lift up my face towards the Lord in response to the love, grace and
favour shown in His face shining towards me. It brings amazing benefits. As the
psalmist Ethan the Ezrahite wrote in Psalm 89 (here in The Voice translation,
where the words in italics have been added to aid understanding):
15How happy are those who have learned how to
praise You;
those who journey through life by the light of
Your face.
16 Every hour of the day, they rejoice at the sound of
Your name.
They are lifted up and encouraged by Your
righteousness.
17 For You are the beauty of their strength.
On account of Your favour, our strength, our
horn, is increased.
18 For our shield of protection comes from the Eternal,
and the Holy One of Israel has given us our
king.
Ethan
knew that walking in the light of the Lord’s face brings joy, encouragement,
increasing strength and the Lord’s protection. Wow - all this! It is indeed all
about His face.
And that was before the cross
of Jesus. I think I fail to appreciate just what a tremendous privilege I have
as a Christian, the privilege of gazing on the face of the Lord without
encumbrance and in doing so actually be changed to be like Him:
And we all,
with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the
Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
Friendship with God!
And not only gaze but relate
as friends. In the Old Testament it was
said of Moses that “the LORD
used to speak to Moses face to face.”
(Exodus 33:11, ESV), the privilege now accorded to Jesus’ disciples whom he calls friends
(John 15:15). I am a friend of God! I can speak to Him face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. What an honour!
It is all about His face, His
favour, His friendship. May I walk in the light of that daily, with my eyes
turned to His eyes.
Bible passages taken from English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
