Chainsbrokenatthecross.com
Inspiration For The Journey
Hiding in the Cleft
Exodus 33:18-
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
God gives his best to those who will settle for nothing less than his very presence!
Moses had just been on the mount with God for forty days and spoke face to face with God. Always though, there had to be a cloud to veil God’s face because “no man can see my face and live”. Moses apparently just wished the cloud would go away!
Here we find God’s gracious response to Moses’ desire after him. He said there’s a place close to me, I’ll put you there in safety while I pass by you, so you can get a glimpse of my glory. That place was the cleft of the rock. Toplady captured the right meaning in his song, when he says, “Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee, Let the water and the blood, from thy riven side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from it’s guilt and power”.
Man is on course for a meeting with God but God says it won’t be good because; “No man can see my face and live”. But God has provided for us a place of safety close to his heart, the cleft of the rock, Jesus Christ.
Man’s best recourse is not to run from God, but rather to flee to God, and hide in God, in Jesus Christ!
When we repent of our sins, accept by faith the blood of Christ as atonement for our sins, God hides us in the cleft; sets us in a place of impregnable safety, and shows us his glory! In the cleft we have rock beneath us, rock above us, rock behind us, and rock on either side of us; and that’s not ordinary rock, it’s the Rock of Ages! The exposed side is covered by God’s hand.
When I first came to know God, in Christ he indeed made all his goodness pass before me! He must have removed his hand because I saw his love, his grace, his mercy, his awesomeness like I never saw it before, glory be to God!
John 6:37b (KJV)
; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
