Ben Fourie
“... but here is a place beside me where you can stand on a rock. When the dazzling light of my presence passes by, I will put you in an opening in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back but not my face.” Exodus 33:21-23,GNT
At once the Spirit took control of me. There in heaven was a throne with someone sitting on it. His face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian, and all round the throne there was a rainbow the colour of an emerald. Revelation 4:2-3, GNT
Moses and John – two people who lived in different eras, more than a thousand years apart, but who in a very special way experienced God as a “Person”. We all have a picture of God, maybe yours is influenced by the one that Michelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Nobody really knows what God does look like, but what we know from these and other Bible verses is that he is a person.
What we read about in the first verse for today happened a few hundred years after the Israelites arrived in Egypt. During this time, they were exposed to a new way of life and the religion and gods of Egypt. Moses himself grew up in the palace of the pharaoh. When he first met God at Horeb, all he saw was a burning bush and he heard a voice. At Sinai, which is the same mountain as Horeb, he saw God in person.
When John was on the island of Patmos, the Spirit of God took control of him and he saw a throne with someone sitting on it. This “someone” is described as follows: “His face gleamed like such precious stones as jasper and carnelian”.
Both Moses and John saw God as a person. Why is it so important that we think about God as a person and not just as a being? Because that is how he revealed himself in the Bible to help us to encounter him as Moses and John experienced.
We as humans would have found it very difficult to relate to a being rather than to a personal God. The closest humans could ever come to God was when he came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ who came to live amongst us. “We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.” (John 1:14b)
Prayer: Dear Lord, it is difficult for us to understand who you are. Please help us to see you as a person through your Word. Amen
Ben Fourie
Die Here het verder gesê: "Maar hier by my is ʼn plek waar jy op die rots kan staan. As Ek in my magtige verskyning verbykom, sal Ek jou eers in ʼn rotsskeur sit en jou met my hande toemaak totdat Ek verby is. Dan sal Ek my hande wegvat sodat jy My van agter kan sien. Niemand mag My gesig sien nie." Eksodus 33:21-23, 1983-vertaling
Onmiddellik is ek deur die Gees meegevoer. Ek het gesien daar staan ʼn troon in die hemel en op die troon sit daar Iemand. Sy voorkoms was soos opaal en karneool. Om die troon was daar ʼn reënboog soos smarag.” Openbaring 4:2-3, 1983-vertaling
Moses en Johannes. Twee mense wat meer as ʼn duisend jaar uit mekaar geleef het, maar op ʼn besondere manier God as “Persoon” beleef het. ʼn Mens het iewers in jou kop die beeld van God soos Michelangelo Hom in die Sistynse kapel in Rome uitgebeeld het. Natuurlik weet niemand hoe God lyk nie, maar wat ons uit hierdie en ander verse kan aflei, is dat Hy ʼn “Persoon” is.
Die gebeure van ons eerste teksvers vind plaas ʼn paar honderd jaar nadat die Israeliete in Egipte aangekom het. Tydens die verblyf was hulle blootgestel aan ʼn totaal nuwe leefwyse en talle nuwe gode. Moses self het in die paleis van die farao grootgeword. Sy eerste ontmoeting met God is by Horeb wat net ʼn ander naam is vir berg Sinai. By Horeb sien Moses net ʼn brandende bos, maar by Sinai sien hy God as Persoon.
Wanneer Johannes op die eiland Patmos deur die Gees meegevoer word, sien hy ook Iemand wat op die hemeltroon sit. Die Bybel vir Almal vertaal Openbaring 4:3 as: “Die Persoon op die troon het gelyk soos ...” Die Persoon of Iemand skitter soos die verskeie halfedelstene wat hier genoem word.
Albei van hulle sien God dus as ʼn “Persoon”. Hoekom is dit so belangrik dat ons aan God as Persoon dink en nie net as ʼn Wese nie? Omdat hy homself so in die Bybel openbaar om ons te help om met hom kontak te kan maak. Dit is presies wat Hy hier in Eksodus en Openbaring doen.
Ons as mense sou baie moeiliker by God aanklank kon vind as ons net aan ʼn onsydige Wese moes dink. Die naaste wat ons aan God kom is juis wanneer Hy in Persoon as Jesus Christus op aarde tussen ons kom woon. Dit is dan wanneer ons sy heerlikheid van naby sien. (Lees: Johannes 1:14)
Gebed: Ag Here, ons is so dom in ons verstaan van U. Help ons deur die Woord om U as ʼn Persoon te ervaar. Amen
Ben Fourie
You ask how I dare question your wisdom when I am so very ignorant. I talked about things I did not understand, about marvels too great for me to know. Job 42:3, GNT
One cannot but understand Job when he struggles to understand who God is and what he does. Job is not alone in this struggle. We all have difficulty really understanding the who, what and how of God. We can only speak of God in human terms and that is why we keep searching to understand something about a Being who is so much greater than and different from us. He is actually beyond anything that we can comprehend.
To try and understand something about God, we have to look for certain human qualities or characteristics of his in the Bible, things that we can understand on a human level. Then we can use the qualities and characteristics that fall within our comprehension to put together a picture of God. We will look at him as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and many other characteristics during the coming month.
Many of the words that we use to describe God do not appear in the Bible but are our own creations to try and understand something about God.
We should always be cautious about the words that we use. As Job said; we are after all speaking of things that we do not fully understand, but it is all that we have. Without grappling with concepts and characteristics to the best of our ability, we will never even come near to understanding who God is, even if our creations sometimes have to overlap.
Everywhere in the Bible we meet people and see things happening that shed light on who God is and help us understand what Job calls: “marvels too great for me to know.” We are going to look at a verse from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament each day. People in the Old Testament saw things different than those in the New Testament and we, in the year 2026, think differently than people from a few thousand years ago. This different way of looking at the same thing will help us to understand the Lord better.
Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, please help us understand more about you so that we may come to know you better. Amen
Ben Fourie
Wie is dit wat u bedoelinge wou dwarsboom sonder dat hy die insig gehad het? Ek het oor dinge gepraat wat ek nie begryp het nie: u wonderdade was te groot vir my, ek het dit nie verstaan nie. Job 42:3, 1983-vertaling
ʼn Mens kan nie anders as om volkome met Job saam te stem wanneer hy sukkel om God en sy wonderdade te verstaan nie. Ons sukkel almal om werklik te begryp wie en wat en hoe God is. Ons dink en praat in gebrekkige mensetaal oor God. Daarom bly ons steeds rondsoek na Hom wat soveel groter en anders is as ons, eintlik soveel groter en anders as wat ons enigsins met ons menslike verstand kan bedink.
Om Hom hoegenaamd te verstaan moet ons ten einde laas maar na eienskappe of kenmerke, wat vir ons op menslike vlak bekend is, in die Bybel gaan soek. Dan kan ons aan God eienskappe of kenmerke toeken wat binne ons begripsveld val. Ons gebruik woorde soos almagtig, alwetend, alomteenwoordig en nog baie ander waarna ons hierdie maand gaan kyk.
Baie van die woorde of eienskappe staan nie so in die Bybel nie, maar is skeppings in mensetaal om iets van God te probeer verstaan.
Soos Job hier sê, kan ons planne en skeppings om God te verstaan dalk selfs sy bedoelinge dwarsboom. Ons praat immers ook oor dinge wat ons nie volkome begryp nie, maar daarsonder sal ons nooit meer van God verstaan nie, so ons moet na die beste van ons vermoë probeer, al oorvleuel die eienskappe soms ook.
Dwarsdeur die verhaal van die Bybel ontmoet ons mense en sien dinge gebeur wat lig werp op God en ons help om iets te verstaan van wat Job hier God se wonderdade noem. Ons gaan by elke eienskap of kenmerk van wie God is ʼn vers uit die Ou Testament en een uit die Nuwe Testament gebruik. Mense in die Ou Testament het anders gedink as die in die Nuwe Testament en ons in 2026 dink anders as die mense van duisende jare gelede. Hierdie verskillende denkwyses gee aan ons ʼn groter verstaan van wat ons met al God se eienskappe bedoel en op die ou end dink ons almal saam oor wie God is.
Gebed: Ons Hemelse God en Vader, help ons om meer van U te verstaan sodat ons U al beter kan leer ken. Amen
Ruanne van Zyl
Wees veral versigtig met wat in jou hart omgaan, want dit bepaal jou hele lewe. Spreuke 4:23, 1983-vertaling
Die hart waarvan hierdie vers praat, is nie net emosies nie, maar die sentrum van ons gedagtes, begeertes en motiewe. Alles wat ons doen, begin hier. Daarom sê God ons moet dit “veral versigtig” bewaak.
Ons harte word daagliks beïnvloed deur wat ons sien, hoor en oor dink. Negatiewe woorde, vergelyking met ander, vrees en bitterheid kan stil-stil wortelskiet. As ons dit nie aanspreek nie, begin dit ons houding en optrede beheer. 'n Onbewaakte hart lei tot 'n onrustige lewe.
Om jou hart te bewaak, beteken nie om koud of afgesluit te wees nie. Dit beteken om doelbewus te kies wat jy toelaat om jou binneste te vorm. Dit vra dat ons gereeld ons gedagtes aan God se waarheid toets. Wanneer leuens soos “ek is nie goed genoeg nie” of “niks sal verander nie” opkom, moet ons dit vervang met wat God sê.
'n Gesonde hart bring lewe. Dit lei tot geduld, liefde en wysheid in moeilike situasies. Wanneer ons hart vol vrede is, reageer ons anders op druk en konflik. Die kwaliteit van ons lewe word dus direk beïnvloed deur die toestand van ons binneste wêreld.
God is nie net geïnteresseerd in ons dade nie, maar in wat dit dryf. Wanneer ons Hom toelaat om ons harte te reinig en te vernuwe, verander Hy ons van binne na buite.
Gebed: Here, wys my wat in my hart nie van U af kom nie. Help my om my gedagtes te vul met u waarheid en my hart te bewaak sodat my lewe U eer. Amen.