I was re-reading the story of the Resurrection the other day and something caught my eye.
The appearance of the angel.
Here’s the passage, I’m referring to…
Mt 28:1–7a – “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb (where Jesus had been buried). 2 And (while they were on their way) behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.”
Angels, heavenly beings, cherubim, seraphim, archangels, all of them are fascinating to me. There’s a whole other race of created beings that already walked a familiar path that we are currently walking. Like us, they were created by God, and at one point it seems, everyone was on the same team. Then one day a group of them tried to take over the throne room and were kicked out. We refer to them as Satan and his demons, but really they are rebellious and excommunicated angels.
The angels that remained serve the Lord in various ways. Some are messengers (the actual meaning of ‘angel’), some warriors, some workers. I can’t tell you what role the angel played that was at the tomb that day, but I can tell you that he was stunning.
I believe that angels are always beautiful and impressive, although they can cloak it to minister unawares (Heb 13:2). As beautiful and awe-inspiring as they are, they are not to be worshiped (they are very serious about enforcing that), but it’s difficult when you see one in its glory, according to the Apostle John (Rev 22:8).
The angel at the tomb wore pure white clothing. Why? It’s the color of heavenly garb (Rev 7:9-17). In Hebrew literature white represents purity, righteousness and holiness. This angel came from heaven to tell the women a message about the risen Lord.
And he looked like lightning.
The Old Testament prophet Daniel noticed the same thing when he saw angels (Dan 10:6). He described the angel’s skin that stood before him as, like beryl. The Baker encyclopedia of the Bible describes Beryl like this…
“Beryl, a silicate of aluminum (Ex 28:20; 39:13; Sg 5:14; Dn 10:6). It is usually green in color (Rv 21:20), but can be blue, white, or golden and may be either opaque or transparent; the latter variety including the gems emerald and aquamarine.”
I’m not sure what any of that means to be honest other than it can be pretty much any color, but tends to be green like an emerald gem.
What’s fascinating to me is that ‘his appearance was like lightning’.
The word for appearance in Greek is idea. It’s not what someone is really made of (schema, form, essence), or what form they take on (morphe), but “something conceived in the mind without an objective reality…an appearance formed in the mind.” (Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament). In other words, the angel wasn’t green. The angel wasn’t made of gems. The angel just looked stunning, flashing, brilliant and shimmering.
Did you know God shines? (Ezek 1:26-28; 10:4; Dan 7:9-10; Rev 4:1-6, etc.). Jesus showed a snippet of His brilliant glory on the Mount of Transfiguration: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” (Mt 17:2). His glory radiates.
And this is where things get really interesting.
All this talk about God and angels shining made me think of the face of Moses after he had talked to God. Did you know that Moses’ face began to shimmer, his ‘appearance’ changed and his skin shone?
Check this out.
When Moses first met God in a form, it was through a Burning Bush (Ex 3:1-6 – flames emit light). That story tells us that Moses, at 80 years old, a shepherd in the middle of nowhere, comes across a bush on fire. He gets closer and a voice comes out calling his name. You know the story.
But have you ever considered verse 6? It says that after God revealed who it was that Moses was talking to, that, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” There’s something about looking upon glory that makes mere mortality turn away and want to hide their eyes. There’s something scary about purity when we don’t fully know God. There’s something weird about the supernatural.
Clearly something changed with Moses and God because by the time we get to Exodus 33, Moses gets to talk with God in the Tent of Meeting, ‘face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.’ (v. 11). He went from fear and turning away from God, to talking with Him at length face to face. What changed?
Relationship. Friendship. Worship. Intimacy.
As a matter of fact in the next chapter we see that proximity to God had a significant impact on Moses physically.
Ex 34:29–35 - “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.”
What happened?
Moses’ skin changed. The skin of his face was ‘shining’. And it was freaky. Notice that everyone backed up and avoided him. Just as Moses hid from God’s glory, they hid from Moses’ glory. They couldn’t handle it and Moses had to put a veil over his face just to shield them from it for a time. It doesn’t say that it lasted for the next 40 years, but it does say that for a while Moses was so close to God that he was changed from the inside out. Literally.
Why do angels shine and shimmer? They stand in the presence of the glory of God. Why don’t demons? There’s no clear evidence that they do (although Satan comes to deceive as an ‘angel of light’). We would say, well, it’s because they don’t stand in the presence of God and yet we see in Job 1:6 that Satan (and likely, others) does stand in the presence of God at times (maybe not any more, but he did). Besides, Moses wasn’t the only one who was in the presence of God. The elders got to get near God at one point and they didn’t shine (Ex 24:9-11; Num 11:25). What makes the difference between those who see God and are changed, versus those who see God and don’t?
The posture of the heart. The Calling on the life. The receptivity of the spirit.
The Pharisees spent time with Jesus. The disciples spent time with Jesus. The Holy Spirit put tongues of fire on the heads of the followers and not those of the critics.
The angels that still reside in heaven know and receive God as King. The glory sticks to them.
Moses spent a little bit of time with God in the right posture and it stuck to Him.
What would it look like if you and I spent more time sitting at the feet of Jesus, kneeling before the throne of God with the right heart and right spirit?
Would we shine more?
Would people notice? Would it be only in the supernatural or would it be visible to other people? Would it make some people uncomfortable and draw others?
I don’t know.
All I know is that I want to shine. I want my skin to shimmer. I want to have a heart and spirit that makes my bodily temple porous enough to soak up the glory of God. I want to shine like Jesus shone.
But the shine on the outside begins with a conversation in the prayer closet. If I’m truly wanting to shine, I must press in. Only time will tell how serious I am about glowing.
What about you?
