Scripture Guide

Exodus 34:29-35

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Author

Andrew Van Kirk

Keywords (12)

Scripture (4)

Updated

Dec 5, 2024

Preaching Commentary

Between God and God's People

This passage is often linked with the Transfiguration of Jesus and is included with lectionary passages related to it. It is part of a constellation of texts which raise questions like:

In what way has God been present among us in the past?
How is God present now?
How will we know?

This Exodus passage gives one answer, albeit an answer located in a specific place and time: the Israelites would know God is present by the shiny face of Moses. Moses was the mediator, the go-between shuttling between the presence of God and the body of the people. His glowing visage proved it.

Today we live a great distance in time and space from shiny Moses, and so it can…

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Related Image

Statue of Moses by Michelangelo (1475–1564), located in the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, Rome.

One of the most famous statues of Moses in history, Michelangelo depicted him with two triangular horns, following Jerome's translation of "qāran" as "horns" in the Vulgate, the standard Latin translation of the Bible.

Photo credit: Jörg Bittner Unna (CCA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons

Author

Andrew Van Kirk

The Rev. Andrew Van Kirk is the 2nd Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in McKinney, Texas, where he has been on the clergy staff in one capacity or another since 2013. St. Andrew's is a growing suburban church committed to serving the community, compelling Biblical preaching, and building relationships with one another that lead to Christ. Andrew leads a staff of 11 that support a vibrant and generous congregation doing the work of ministry.

Father Andrew grew up in Dallas before attending Duke University (B.A. History and Computer Science) and Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM – New Testament). In between institutions of higher education, he wrote software for Amazon.com and was on the launch team for Amazon Prime.

Prior to coming to St. Andrew’s, Andrew served as the Associate Rector at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Dallas and as Director of Christian Education at All Saints’ Church in Princeton, New Jersey.

He and his wife Stephanie, who also has an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, have three children, Henry, Addie and Drew. The older two are now teenagers, which is strange because Andrew does not feel that old.