Redeemer, and he was told that, as our Lord now appeared in the Spirit so He the flesh. This vision passed. What he now saw was the spiritual body of the Moriancumer had been given a prophetic view of the appearance of our Lord in would appear in the flesh. Also, that man had been created in the image of this spiritual body.
At the exodus from Egypt, the angel of Elohim went before the Camp of Israel, and when the Egyptians pursued, this divine Personage "removed and went behind them," so that He stood in the fiery cloud between Israel and the pursuers. (Exodus 14:19-20) This Angel of Elohim was Jehovah, for so we read: "And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way. (Ibid., 13:21)
Jehovah, the great Angel, or Messenger of Elohim, the representative, in other words, of the great Council of Elohim, in which the Plan of Salvation was accepted, and on account of which He was afterwards known as the Wonderful Counselor, (Exodus 32:25), then He threatened to withdraw entirely. At this critical juncture in the history of Israel, Moses went up on the mountain and pled before Jehovah for Israel, whereupon Jehovah, in answer to His faithful servant, gave him the promise that He would send His angel with him. From this time Jehovah withdrew, and left one of His angels, or representatives, in charge.
Who this angel of Jehovah was, we are not expressly told, but since Daniel says that "the great Prince which standeth for the children of Thy people" is Michael (10:13 and 21), there can be no harm in the suggestion that Michael, our venerable ancestor, was possibly the angel of Jehovah, who already at this time had performed the mission of which Daniel speaks. But be this as it may, Jehovah withdrew, and as a sign of this, the tent in which religious ordinances were performed and which hitherto had stood in the center of the Camp, was now removed a long distance from it. The cloudy pillar in which the angel of Jehovah manifested his presence, rested there.
A remarkable interview between Moses and Jehovah took place at that tent, away from the Camp. Moses reminded Jehovah that although He had commanded him to be the visible leader of the people, He had not instructed him regarding the journey ahead of them. "Show me now," Moses said, "Thy way." Jehovah answered, "My presence shall go with thee." (Exodus 33:14) That is to say, Jehovah would not entirely abandon the people. He would be near just as Jesus promised to be near His Apostles, even after He departed. In the same sense, Jehovah would be present and manifest Himself from time to time as circumstances required. This promise was fulfilled throughout the entire journey in the wilderness.
After having obtained this promise, Moses said, "I beseech Thee, show me now Thy glory." In answer to that prayer, Jehovah explained to Moses that he could not see His face, but that He (Jehovah) would show him all His goodness and proclaim or explain, His Name to Him, and also permit him to see His back as He was passing by a certain place.
This last expression is in all probability a misunderstanding by the translators of the Hebrew word. The word may here mean behind in point of time, afterwards, and in that case we may understand the meaning to be Moses was given the privilege of seeing Jehovah in the form in which He afterwards would appear in the flesh. This human form, we know was His glory for John says: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (His body) as of the Only Begotten of the Father." If we understand the text in Exodus the same way, it is clear. Moses saw Jehovah, just as John saw the bodily form of the Word, all but His face. (Ibid., 33:20-23)
This agrees perfectly with the beautiful narrative in the Book of Ether concerning the interview of the Brother of Jared with our Lord. The Lord showed Himself unto him in the body of my Spirit, in the likeness of which He, Jesus Christ, had created man, (Ether 3:14-16) and the Lord said: "The time cometh that I shall glorify My Name in the flesh." (v. 21) That was His glory, and that was, we may feel sure, the glory which Moses, as well as the Brother of Jared, saw.