After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. – Revelation 18:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 1, 2015): Revelation 18

I love the story of Moses coming off of the mountain after meeting with God. Exodus says that “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law 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” (Exodus 34:29-30). I can imagine what it was like to see Moses, who had just met with God, and to know that there is no way I was ready to meet with God. It would be a very scary self-revelation, and probably one that I would not want to think about.  I think what has always struck me was that one comment that Moses “was not aware’ that he was radiant. So often that seems to be the case. We meet someone who is radiant, for whatever reason, and they never seem to realize their radiance. In fact, it often seems that when they do know it, they cease to be radiant. There is something about innocence that helps us to shine.

John says that he saw another angel come down from heaven. And there are two things that he notices – he had authority, and he shone. A lot of wasted effort has been spent on trying to identify the angel. Some have even suggested that the angel was really Christ. But the identity of the angel really isn’t all that important, and considering the way that Christ is described in the rest of John’s vision, it would seem very unlikely that the angel was Christ. But what we can infer is that the angel had been with God very recently. And because of he had been in his presence, he shone.

I understand what it might have been like to be Aaron, but I want to know what it was like to be Moses – to stand in the very presence of God and be able to innocently reflect the glory of God shining on me. I said I understood Aaron, but I really don’t think that I do. Oh, I am sure I would be scared in the presence of God, but deep down I am drawn to the idea. I desire it. I need it. I want to shine like that.

The thing is, and no we aren’t told this, but I think John shone after his vision. He had been in the presence of God, and in the presence of those who had just come from God’s presence. So how could he not shine – but I doubt that John even knew it.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 19