replacing the veil that Christ removed

If not to re-establish the intimate communion with our loving Creator, then why did our Father go through such extreme measures to remove the veil?

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. (Exodus 34:29-35)

This is one of those passages that drives me to anger. Perhaps it is unfair to cast judgment upon a group of people that regularly demonstrated ignorance towards their God, and maybe I'm being naive here, but why wouldn't I want to see every ounce of His Glory that He allows?

This measure was a response to fear. They were afraid of what they had never seen. They were afraid to catch a glimpse of the supernatural. They worshiped before a cloud of smoke while Moses and Joshua entered the tent to meet with God personally. They made a god with their own hands -- they had no inhibitions about dancing in its presence.

How grieved God must have been! He delivered His people and called them His own. He made a covenant with them and promised to bless. He provided food from the ground and water from a rock.

God is far beyond our physical understanding of time, but how much jealousy engulfed Him as generations of His people turned to other gods and asked for a king -- to be like other nations? All God has ever desired was to father and protect a people that were set apart. This remnant would know His Glory and worship His mighty works and great love. They would stand as a beacon of light to other nations that did not serve their Creator. And they couldn't even look Moses in the face.

His desire has not changed. God wants us personally. He would prefer that none of us go astray. But He wants to be chosen. He wants to be worshiped in our obedience. Rather than keep His Son on earth for eternity, He longs for His people to demonstrate His Glory. He wants to ask the enemy if he has considered His servants and their blameless testimony of His grace.

He sent Jesus to remove the veil.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their heart. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faced all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)

If y'all wonder why I get so frustrated with Christianity's fixation with men, look no further than God's intent with the cross. So many are satisfied with their salvation, and while I am sure the Lord is grateful for an eternity with His children, how can He not be grieved when so many deny themselves the opportunity to turn to Him today? There is freedom to be claimed, glory to be reflected, and transformation to occur!

The greatest privilege God has ever granted His people was the opportunity to live as Christ among an unbelieving world. And we would choose to replace the veil and wait to read or absorb what somebody else has heard from the Lord? No! I will seek Him with all my heart. I will follow Him until I am given my heavenly body. I will worship Him through consecrating my life, through fulfilling the sanctity of His marriage covenant, through living as an ambassador of grace to the lost, through leading others to a personal understanding of His mysteries, through meeting the deepest needs of my community.

I'm tired of hiding a radiant face. I'm sick of pretending that God is elusive or distant. I want to share the audacity of Moses: to request as much of the Lord as He will allow in my life. I want His presence to overwhelming, that others might know that He is pleased with His child and has set me apart for a noble purpose.

What good is it to be ruined and yet lying in pieces? What do I gain by hearing from the Lord and wallowing in my fear? I welcome the design that He would construct, and pray that my life would be an honorable sacrifice.