What's His Face?

When our four children were younger my wife and I did our best to teach them how to greet and address grown-ups. We would say things like, “stand to your feet when a grown-up walks into a room.” We instructed them to, “look people straight in the eye” whenever someone introduced themselves. We all know the sensation we get when addressing someone who refuses to look you in the eye. “Shifty,” “dishonest,” and “untrustworthy” are just a few descriptions that come to mind.

In Numbers 6 God commands Moses to tell Aaron how the leaders are to bless the people of Israel. The words of the Aaronic blessing are familiar to many:

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn His face toward you and give you His peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

I was struck by the idea of God “turning His face toward” a person. The psalmist reflected a similar idea when he wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.” (Ps. 40:1). God turns to sinners and looks us full in the face. Moses and Aaron were to bless God’s people by invoking the Lord to “turn His face toward” them.

To “turn the back” or “to turn away” is an affront. It indicates displeasure, disapproval, withdrawal from relationship, loss of communication--even offense. We all know what if feels like to get the “cold shoulder.” God commands Aaron however, to call upon God to “turn His face toward” His people. It’s no coincidence that the word “repentance” carries this idea of “turning” to another level. Repentance means to “do an about face.” To sin is to “give God a cold shoulder.” When I sin, essentially what I do is ‘turn my back on God.‘ I refuse to look Him in the face--I’m shifty, dishonest, and untrustworthy. When I repent, I do an about FACE. I turn my face toward God--not away. Repentance means a change of direction--I’m willing to “look God in the eye.”

But my capacity and ability to “look God in the eye” is predicated on God’s initiative. As I seek after God, I discover much to my delight, God has already been seeking me! God is always the initiator in the divine-human encounter. All the commands in Scripture to “turn my heart” toward God are predicated on the sublime truth that God has already “turned His face toward me.”

S t r e t c h e d

originally posted on my old blog on May 4, 2008