IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK
SCRIPTURE READING:
Exodus 33:21-23 Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.’
1. THERE IS A PLACE FOR YOU CLOSE TO GOD
– Exodus 33:21 Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near Me…’
– Moses had a desire and a request. His desire was to experience God in all His glory and to see and experience the glory of God firsthand for himself.
– Exodus 33:18 Then Moses said, ‘Now show me Your glory.’
– As the Lord began to speak to Moses He tells him, or reminds him, of a place where there was the possibility of knowing the closeness of God. It may have been a place where Moses had often gone to pray or speak with God – the scripture does not give us exact clarity on the location.
Perhaps it was a place that Moses was familiar with.
– The truth of the matter was that there was probably a place or a position, or certain conditions where Moses could experience the closeness of God.
– The Lord longs to make Himself real to each one of us.
– He has prepared a place for you that is close to Him.
– He does not desire that we would experience Him as being afar off.
– There are things, like sin, which can separate us from God, but there is also a place where we can find ourselves in right-standing with Him, where His presence can be real, perhaps almost tangible.
– There is a place near to God for you!
2. GOD WANTS US TO STAND IN HIM
– Exodus 33:21 Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near Me where you may stand…’
– I just love this phrase: ‘A place where you may stand…’
– Years ago, I had the privilege of travelling to Italy. We were able to see some of the great church buildings and enjoy their splendor and magnificence. We came to one building where there was a long flight of wooden stairs going up from the entrance foyer. People were crawling up and down the stairs, praying, crying and pleading with God. They would often stop on a particular step and weep. As I stood watching I was dismayed that people were almost groveling in the hope of moving God’s heart towards them. We had just returned from a conference where we had enjoyed a touch from the Lord and His presence was so real to me. Now to see these many people moving like ants up and down this staircase disturbed me. I realised that in all likelihood they were desperate and would do anything for God to intervene in their lives. As I stood there I just asked the Lord to touch each one and make a way for them in the situation they were facing.
– In the story of Moses, the Lord tells him that there is a place close to Him where he can stand. Not a place of groveling or crawling around, but a place where he could stand tall because he knew he belonged to God and that God loved him.
– Sometimes when we are desperate we can also resort to approaches that are not what God intended for His children.
– Hebrews 4:16 ‘So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.’
– Ephesians 3:12 ‘Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.’
– There is place for you, near to the Lord, where you can stand and boldly come into His presence.
3. HE PLACES OUR FEET ON SOLID GROUND
– Exodus 33:21 Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock.‘
– There is a great old hymn with the following words: ‘On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.’
– The solid Rock on which we can stand is Jesus Christ our Lord.
– The Lord gave Moses a position of security, a rock, on which he could stand secure.
– The Lord does not desire for us to be standing on sinking sand.
– Our relationship with God places us on a sure foundation.
– Sometimes life can drag us down and we can find ourselves stuck or struggling in the miry clay, but HE comes to lift us up and place our feet on solid ground.
– Psalm 40:2 ‘He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.‘
– May you know the ROCK on which you stand. May you know the security of standing on solid ground, and may you realise that the Lord wants to make your way secure.
4. THE LORD WANTS US TO EXPERIENCE HIS PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES
– Exodus 33:22 ‘As My glorious presence passes by…’
– Here the Lord tells Moses that His glorious presence is about to be revealed to him and that he will see and experience the glory of God passing in front of him.
– There is another old song with the following words: ‘Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. You will find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry. He is passing by this moment your needs to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.’
– The truth of the matter is that God and His presence is always ready to pass by.
– As we look back in history and in the Bible we see how God’s presence became a reality to so many people.
– With the coming of Jesus, His presence could become more than just a passing glimpse, but rather it could become an ongoing experience or reality in our lives.
– Matthew 1:23 Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.‘
– Today, God is with us. He is with you, and He wants you to experience His life-changing presence in your life.
5. THE LORD IS YOUR SAFE SPACE
– Exodus 33:22 ‘I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand…’
– There are times in our lives when we need the protection and the hand of God to be very present in our lives.
– In this verse we see how God takes Moses from the rock on which he was standing and places him in a cleft in the rock.
– A cleft in a rock represents a place where the rock has split or broken open so that there is a place you can go into where you can be protected and secure.
– It is in this place of shelter that God can give us a sense of security and protection so that we can focus on God’s goodness and presence in our lives.
– Jesus Christ is the One Who was broken so that we could find our lives in Him.
– Our Rock was torn and scarred so that we could find our safe place in Him.
– Think about what He went through, so that we could find a safe hiding place.
– He is that safe space where we can know the closeness and the protection that only His hand can supply.
– Colossians 3:3 ‘…your life is now hidden with Christ in God.’
– Let Him place you in that safe space that He has prepared for you and let Him cover you with His hand of protection and provision.
6. THE LORD WANTS TO BE A LIVING REALITY IN YOUR LIFE
– Exodus 33:23 ‘I will remove My hand and you will see…’
– Moses had this awesome moment when God passed by right in front of him and he could see some of the glory and wonder of the living God.
– In a world where there is so much negativity, wickedness and despair, the Lord wants to make Himself real to us so that we will see things from a different perspective.
– There is another song with the following words: ‘Open the eyes of my heart, Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You, I want to see You. To see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love, as we sing holy, holy, holy.’
– I tell you, when His presence and the light of His glory is real to us, all the darkness is dispelled, and we are changed.
– In that moment, His Holy Spirit comes to make Jesus real to us so that we are changed and can begin to reflect His glory into a dark and troubled world.
– John 1:14 ‘The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’
– May you become more aware of the Lord and begin to ‘see’ Him ever-increasingly in your life.
– May He become more real to you than the person sitting next to you.
– When your life is hidden in Him, in the cleft of the rock, He will become that living reality that you so long for in your life.
By Andrew W Roebert
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