12:8 mouth to mouth. Contrast the way God revealed His will even to Elijah (cf. 1 Kin. 19:9–18). No other Old Testament figure had as intimate a relation to God as Moses, and this description in turn highlights the greater privilege of the Christian—in Jesus Christ, the glory of God’s goodness and mercy that was withheld even from Moses is displayed to believers through the Spirit (Ex. 33:19, 20; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 3:18). But the believer also looks forward to a yet greater visio dei (vision of God)—seeing Christ “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:4).

clearly, and not in riddles. With respect to the clarity of divine revelation given to him, Moses stands above all other Old Testament prophets (cf. v. 6). The characterization of prophetic revelation as “dark speech” or “riddles” implies that prophetic materials in Scripture are sometimes to be understood figuratively rather than literally.