Moses in Drag

Exodus 34:29-35

After Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, his face was "radiant." When the Israelites saw him, being the solemn people they were, they were astonished, and afraid to get too close, lest this joyousness be contagious. So Moses took to wearing a veil. However, he would take the veil off in God's presence- and put it back on again when he left to be around his people.

Now to be fair, I don't think this radiance is just Moses in hap-hap-happy mode. The Message translation says that the skin of his face glowed. So- it might have looked like Moses had been in front of the microwave a bit too long, they may have been justified in wanting to keep their distance, but metaphorically there are some pretty cool ideas here.

Moses' reaction to seeing God is to literally be beaming. His face shines from being in God's presence. God's love is so bright that it leaves a mark- He leaves us in a state that we are visibly changed.

However, the natural inclination is to be wary of folks in such a state. What's he so happy about? Let's not get too close, that dude is weird.

So Moses adapts, and hides himself (partially) from his people. He's still beaming, but he's striving to be a little subtle about it. But when he's in God's presence, he's free to be himself. The veil comes off, all pretending is gone, here I am God, this is me.

Metaphorical or not- it's pretty cool to envision time with God as a joyous time where you can be yourself.