Shekhinah

In last week's Torah portion, Ki Tisa, Moses asks the LORD if he may see His Glory.

Exodus 33:18 "And he said: 'Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory.' 19 And He said: 'I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.' 20 And He said: 'Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.' 21 And the LORD said: 'Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock. 22 And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I have passed by. 23 And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back; but My face shall not be seen.'" (JPS)

God does what He says:
Exodus 34:1 "And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou didst break. 2 And be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to Me on the top of the mount. 3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.' 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; 7 keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.' 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

Shekhinah is Hebrew for the Glory of the LORD or the LORD's presence among us and literally means to dwell or rest on. God showed His Shekhinah to the Israelites in a cloud over the tent of meeting and it was this cloud that directed them on their journey:

Exodus 13:21 "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night: 22 the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people." (JPS)

This "cloud" occurs a number of times throughout Scripture.

Matthew 17:1 "Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' 5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!'"(NASB)

Compared to the Israelites, Moses had a much more intimate and personal encounter with the Shekhinah. When he came down from the mountain, Moses had to veil his face because it glowed so brightly. Thereafter whenever he returned from being with the Lord he veiled his face for the Israelites were afraid:

Exodus 34:30 "And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face sent forth beams; and they were afraid to come nigh him."

Have you ever noticed a person who has an unexplainable glow? Maybe he's in love? If it's a woman, maybe she's pregnant? Did you ever consider he or she may have just been in the presence of the Lord? If it happened a few thousand years ago, it happens today.