Transfiguration and Moses — Following Imperfectly

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord and so I am reading the following Scripture passages:

Matthew 17:1-13 - The Transfiguration of the Lord
Exodus 24:12–18 - Moses ascends the mountain and enters the cloud
Exodus 34:29–35 - Moses face shines
Daniel 7:9–14 - the glorious Son of Man
2 Peter 1:16–18 - Peter’s later interpretation of the event

The one thing that completely caught me by surprise was the passage about Moses face shining after speaking with God. Scripture says that he didn’t even realise it had happened, yet the Israelites were so afraid of his radiant face that he began wearing a veil.

[…] Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. […] that the skin of his face was shinning; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Exodus 34:29-35

What amazed me wasn’t only that Moses face shone, but that he didn’t even know it. It was everyone else who noticed first. There is something beautiful about that. The more time Moses spent in God’s presence, the less his attention seemed to be on himself.

Reading this alongside the Transfiguration made the contrast even more striking. Moses reflected God’s glory after speaking with Him, whereas Jesus face shone with His own glory. The One who revealed His glory to Moses on Sinai now stands on another mountain with that same divine glory openly revealed.

It also reminded me of Revelation, where God’s glory is no longer reflected in one man’s face, but fills the whole of the New Creation so that there is no need for the sun or moon, ”[…] no need of the sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb”(Revelation 21:23). A few verses later, John adds that ”[…] there will be no more night; they need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light […]”(Revelation 22:5).