Sabbath School Summary

By Elder Dr MASIMBA Mavaza

“Please, Show Me Your Glory”

Lesson 12

Memory Text:

“And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation’ ” (Exod. 34:6, 7, NKJV).

Introduction

We all need to grow in our walk with God. Without growth, we are dead.

The apostle Peter declares: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18, NIV).

We need to be willing to grow. We are daily in God’s university, where there is no graduation but a constant learning process. In each stage of growth, you can be perfect if you allow God to mold you into the person that He calls you, in Christ, to be.

Think of a school

If first-graders learn how to read and count to 100, they receive a passing grade because their knowledge is perfect at that stage and scale of growth.

However, if this same level of knowledge, and no more, were detected in a high schooler, it would indicate a colossal failure in his or her education.

It is similar to our growth in the grace and knowledge of God.

In each stage of our development, we can be as perfect in our sphere as Christ was in His.

This week, we study how Moses, through knowing and following God’s instructions, was growing in his walk with the Lord.

SABBATH:

Do I know more of Christ today than yesterday? We are to grow in the grace & knowledge of Christ (2 Pet. 3:18).

Moses, by knowing & doing God’s will, was growing in his walk with God. We’re daily in God’s university where there’s no graduation.

Just as first-graders can be rightly knowledgeable for their age, a high schooler with the same knowledge level would indicate a failure, showing that spiritual maturity varies by stage. In each stage, one can be perfect in their sphere with Christ.

The Tent of Meeting

SUNDAY:

Moses pitched a tent outside of Israel’s camp, where he met with God to know more about Him. It was called the “tent of meeting” (Exod. 33:7-11).

This was different from the tabernacle. Moses strengthened his friendship with God by meeting with Him.

He learnt of His power, love, & character. Before Mt. Sinai, God used Moses; from writing Job & Genesis in Midian, the burning bush & Red Sea encounter, to leading Israel to Sinai & Canaan (Deut. 34:5, 18:15, 18, Josh. 1:1).

Moses was a humble agent.

That I May Know You

MONDAY:

No one is required to do the work of a lifetime at once. We are to live but one day at a time. Moses’s growth in the Lord was steady.

Daily, he got closer to God to reflect His image. One day, he found out He didn’t really/fully know God & prayed to know Him (Exod. 33:12-17).

He climbed a mountain, went to the top, got near & entered a cloud to know God.

In 40 days, he was given the Decalogue & commands on how to build the tabernacle (Exod. 19:3, 20, 20:21, 24:18, 12; 25-31; 32:20-32, John 17:3).

“Please, Show Me Your Glory”

TUESDAY:

The golden calf apostasy led Moses to offer humble & pitiful prayers to God to forgive the sins of the people.

He also wanted to know God better. He hoped to see God’s glory & received it.

In response to Moses’s prayer, God said He’d show him His “goodness”.

That’s, God’s glory is His goodness; character (Exod. 33:18-23; AA, p. 576; COL, pp. 414, 415; PK, p. 313).

It’s the glory of God to see all men & women reach the highest standard of faith (AA, p. 530; PK, p. 688).

We’re to reflect Him (1 Cor. 4:9; Rom. 2:4).

The Self-Revelation of God

WEDNESDAY:

There’s no greater thing than to know the Creator. He sought to reveal Himself to Moses after Israel’s sin (Exod. 34:1-28).

Moses took with him 2 tablets of stone, like the first he broke as he climbed to the mountain for the 7th time (Exod. 19:3, 7; 19:8, 14; 19:20, 25; 20:21, 24:3; 24:9, 12-18; 32:15; 32:30, 31).

We get a deep glimpse of who God is here & a repetition of John 3:16 (Num. 14:18, Neh. 9:17, Ps. 103:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2).

God promised Israel Canaan, but they had to obey (1 John 4:19).

The Shining Face of Moses

THURSDAY:

Moses’ face was radiant when he returned to the camp of Israel after meeting God.

This happened because he met with God several times & at this instance, he got to know fully God’s love, kindness, & character (Exod. 34:29-35).

He was unaware of it, for when one gets closer to God, they see their flaws compared to the holiness of God (2 Cor. 3:18).

Moses is a model for us to reflect the glory of Christ (Heb. 3:1, 12:2, Rom. 6:4, 2 Cor. 3:12-18).

Further Thought

FRIDAY:

On a gloomy day, a father & son visited a cathedral and marveled at the stained-glass windows depicting biblical scenes.

When sunlight shone on one of the windows, the small boy asked his father who the figures were. The father replied, “These people are Christians.”

This memory stayed with the boy. When his teacher asked about Christians, he confidently answered, “Christians are shining people.”

Jesus bid His followers to let their light shine; i.e., only shining people can be agents of change.

—Carefully read Ellen G. White, “Idolatry at Sinai,” pp. 327–330, in Patriarchs and Prophets & Matthew 5:16.

Keywords

The Tent of Meeting- In other Bible versions, it is also called “The Tent of Tabernacle”.

This is different from the tabernacle in the camp of Israel.

Moses- After the experience resulted in his shining face, he led Israel for another 39 years, to the brink of the Promised Land.

The biblical message states that Moses was a faithful servant of God.

After spending 40 days and 40 nights with God and receiving the Decalogue and instructions on how to construct the tabernacle, he spent another 40 days and nights with the Lord, interceding for sinners.

Jesus Christ- He became human to make God known.

AA- The Acts of the Apostles

PK- Prophets and Kings

COL- Christ’s Object Lessons

The Cross- Here, we have the greatest revelation possible of His goodness and character.

The Promised Land- Canaan.

God as a Friend- A friend is a person we can consult and openly discuss most everything with and trust that he or she will never reveal it to others.

A friend is one of the nicest things to have and one of the nicest people to be.

“The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exod. 33:11).

Discussion Questions

📌 “If we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind and courteous and tenderhearted and pitiful, there would be one hundred conversions to the truth where now there is only one.”

—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 189. What powerful message is here for all of us about how our characters, our actions, and our attitudes impact our witness?

📌 Exodus 34:6, 7 is rightly called the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. Why?

📌 How can you explain the beauty of God’s character, based on the self-revelation of God in Exodus 34:6, 7, to people who ask who your God is?

📌 In class, let people discuss how the character and actions of people professing Christ impact their walk.

That is, what has been the influence of those who were kind, gracious, humble, and forgiving on your own experience?

At the same time, how have unkind, unforgiving, and arrogant “Christians” impacted your walk with the Lord?

For September 13–19, 2025. Happy Sabbath!