And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
God set Moses in a place beside Himself to stand upon a rock while His glory passed by. He put Moses in a cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand, because no one can look upon His face and live, so Moses beheld only as much of the unveiled glory as mortal man could bear. His prayer to see the glory was not rebuked as presumptuous, but graciously answered by making all His goodness pass before him and proclaiming His name as merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and sin yet by no means clearing the guilty. The cleft is a hiding place in Jesus Christ, where those hid with Christ in God are sheltered by Christ's own covering hand to see and hear the proclamation of His character. All who know the truth are called to stand in that place upon the Rock hidden in God, for beholding His goodness while thus sheltered gives a right understanding of His character and transforms the beholder into His likeness by the Spirit.
Place, Rock, and Shelter
The Lord gives Moses a place beside Himself where he is to stand upon a rock while the divine glory passes by. That rock is the standing place appointed for the revelation, and from it Moses is put into its cleft and covered by God's hand as the glory goes past. The sheltering is necessary because no mortal can look upon the unveiled glory and live, and no one can see God's face and live. Moses therefore beholds only as much of the divine glory as he can endure and as much as his mortal state can bear.
This belongs to Moses' plea that the Lord Himself go with Israel and lead them to the promised land of Canaan. It follows the worship of the golden calf and Israel's unbelief with repeated murmurings and complaints, when Moses was troubled and afraid to rely on his own wisdom. Even the promise to go with him still left him unsatisfied and longing for more of God's presence. God answers by assuring His abiding presence and holding fast to the nation, strengthening Moses' fainting heart, summoning him again to the mountain summit, and giving assurance of success. That assurance Moses counts of infinitely greater worth than all the learning of Egypt and all his attainments as statesman and military leader.
The encounter is an extraordinary favor and unique honor in which Moses is entrusted with leading Israel and is specially led by the Lord. He is brought into sacred nearness on the mount and privileged to speak with God face to face in close communion. There he is permitted to see the bright light and glory surrounding the Father, and God shows him His excellent glory as He had never done to anyone else and as no other person on earth had experienced.
Prayer and Revelation of Goodness
Moses' plea to see the divine glory was not rebuked as presumptuous or as asking too much, but was graciously answered. He had pled step by step for one spiritual blessing after another, not selfishly but taking the people with him, holding firmly with the hand of faith and refusing to cease importuning, and his love and faith were thus tested and proved. The promise to go with him still left him unsatisfied and longing for more of the divine presence, and the answer joined assurance of success to the promise of abiding presence.
As He passed by, God revealed His glory by making all His goodness pass before Moses and proclaiming His name and character. That name is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and slow to anger, patient, abundant in goodness and loving-kindness and truth, keeping mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty. Sheltered in the cleft and covered by the divine hand because no man in mortal state can look upon unveiled glory and live, Moses beheld only as much as he could endure and only what was permitted. This display makes wondrous love known from generation to generation and calls for praise and thanksgiving.
The sight was meant to give Moses a true view of God, so that even while elevated and confident he would remain humble and childlike in faith. That revealed goodness was what Moses wanted and needed, to be received directly from Christ the Fountain Head by faith and then carried to the world. In that same sheltered revelation he was covered so that he could behold and live while being shown the heavenly pattern for the sanctuary. His limited glimpse contrasts with the promise that the redeemed will see the divine face.
The glory Moses longed to see was veiled in Christ, the infant presented in the temple. Christ fully revealed that same merciful, loving, compassionate character of the Father, so that seeing Christ was seeing the Father. The request is connected with Moses' words about the prophet God would raise up, identifying Jesus as the greater than Moses whose glory Moses had asked to see. Moses was enabled to endure as seeing Him who is invisible because forty years of humble shepherd discipline in the mountains had given him the meek, humble experience and trust in God alone needed to receive this. His being taken into close relation to see and feel that glory came after faithful and successful work and marked great privilege and trust, so his later sin in taking glory to himself was proportionately aggravating and highly displeasing, with defects in one so honored far more offensive than in those less favored and leading others who see the failure to take license to treat sin lightly.
Christ the Hiding Place
The cleft of the rock is a hiding place in Jesus Christ, and people behold God's majesty, love and glory when they are hidden in Christ. To behold the glory of Jesus Christ a person must hide in the cleft of the rock, and to stand upon the rock beside Him means to be hid there to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. God reveals His goodness while sheltering in the cleft, and this protection while His presence passes by enables endurance of His presence and transformation. All who look to Him with undivided hearts are greatly blessed and catch more distinct views of Jesus as sin-bearer and all-sufficient sacrifice, with lips tuned to praise, pardon upon the lips, and the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into heart and mind. Clinging to Jesus and praying to be hidden there means standing fast in faith, trusting the Lord with all the heart, going forward without doubt and worry, never taking the eyes off Jesus as helper, receiving spiritual power from Him, and standing in His strength as more than conqueror.
Being put in the cleft means being hid with Christ in God in close relation to Jesus. It is to be sheltered with God, unseen yet able to see and hear the proclamation of His character. From that sheltered place one is enabled to see Jesus and to be quickened by the Holy Spirit. The covering hand is Christ's own pierced hand, sheltering the humble seeker who waits in bowed attitude to hear what the Lord says. Moses was honored to see the glory of God only by being thus hidden in the cleft with the hand of Christ covering him, obtaining but a partial view of His majesty, since no one could look upon the unveiled glory of the face of Christ and live.
Only those so hidden will behold the glory of God. This requires losing sight of self in order to behold God's glory, and following Christ in all things. Fitness for the sight requires a character built after the Pattern of Christ, who took human nature, met every temptation besetting men without yielding, and maintained the full perfection of heaven's character. Fallen humanity need not remain enfeebled and degraded by sin, for the divine is to be united with the human so that beholders of Jesus become partakers of the pure celestial element and are changed into His likeness, formed daily by looking at the grace of the heavenly attributes revealed in His life, full of grace and truth.
The cleft covered by God's hand was the place where Moses was received and kept safe when God passed by. Safety therefore lies in the place God appoints, not in choosing a position or facing danger without a call from Him.
Walking With God Today
Walking with God rather than with self brings shelter in the cleft of the rock, and that hiding is part of spiritual education in which those in need discern God as Moses did. Hidden there, they see God as Moses saw Him, and through His power, presence and light they see and understand far more of Him than they thought possible. That close dependence opens the understanding to heavenly things, and enables them to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible.
Beholding His goodness while thus sheltered in the cleft enables a person to endure His presence and gives a right understanding of His character. Like Moses beholding the glory from the Rock, believers hidden in Christ look to Him and are changed into His likeness by the Spirit. The rock is the place of protection from which glory can be endured, and beholding God there transforms the beholder.
There is a place by God upon the Rock where all who know the truth are called to stand hidden in God and view His glory, placed there by God Himself and covered by His hand. God's chastisement upon the world is the call to enter that hiding place, because the night of trial is nearly spent and Satan is bringing in his masterly power because his time is short. Those who refuse this shelter will be caught unprepared and unable to understand the day of their visitation.
Being hidden is a lesson in humility and dependence for one whose work brings trials and responsibility and makes him a target for the opposition Satan devises, teaching him to hide in God rather than act from pride or overmastering passion. The humble seeker stands upon the Rock in reverence and godly fear with devotional love, clinging to Jesus, standing fast in faith and trusting with all the heart. Going forward without doubt and worry, never taking the eyes off Jesus as helper, he receives spiritual power and stands in the strength of Jesus as more than conqueror. With undivided heart he catches distinct views of Jesus as sin-bearer and all-sufficient sacrifice, with lips tuned to praise, pardon upon the lips, and the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into heart and mind.
God is very near and is to be approached while He may be found, with requests made known unto Him, for Jesus waits to be gracious. He speaks in these last days in storm and rolling thunder, in permitted calamities, earthquakes, floods, destructive elements and sinking ships, sometimes in whirlwind and storm, sometimes face to face as with Moses, and sometimes in whispered love to child and aged. When the still small voice that follows the upheaval and tempest that moves rocks is heard, all should cover the face because God is very near, hide in Jesus as their hiding place under His own pierced hand, and wait in bowed attitude to hear what the Lord says to His servants.
Those closely associated with God in His work will catch glimpses of the Holy One as Moses did. This comes by taking time to pray rather than pleading busyness, making God the entire dependence, and inviting the heavenly Guest to possess and control every worker. It comes by crying after God in sincerity and soul-hunger, wrestling with heavenly agencies until victory, and putting soul, body and spirit into the Lord's hands to be moved by His will, controlled by His mind and infused by His Spirit, so the eyes of understanding are anointed to see heavenly things clearly.
God took Moses as a mere atom of humanity, a creature of dust yet a mighty man of faith, by the hand that made the world and moves mountains, and set him in the cleft and covered him so His goodness could pass before him without consuming him. In this He shows He does not want His people to meet the opposition Satan devises without giving His presence, and that Jesus waits to be gracious.
God set Moses in a place beside Himself to stand upon a rock while His glory passed by. He put Moses in a cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand, because no one can look upon His face and live, so Moses beheld only as much of the unveiled glory as mortal man could bear. His prayer to see the glory was not rebuked as presumptuous, but graciously answered by making all His goodness pass before him and proclaiming His name as merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and sin yet by no means clearing the guilty. The cleft is a hiding place in Jesus Christ, where those hid with Christ in God are sheltered by Christ's own covering hand to see and hear the proclamation of His character. All who know the truth are called to stand in that place upon the Rock hidden in God, for beholding His goodness while thus sheltered gives a right understanding of His character and transforms the beholder into His likeness by the Spirit.
Place, Rock, and Shelter
The Lord gives Moses a place beside Himself where he is to stand upon a rock while the divine glory passes by. That rock is the standing place appointed for the revelation, and from it Moses is put into its cleft and covered by God's hand as the glory goes past. The sheltering is necessary because no mortal can look upon the unveiled glory and live, and no one can see God's face and live. Moses therefore beholds only as much of the divine glory as he can endure and as much as his mortal state can bear.
This belongs to Moses' plea that the Lord Himself go with Israel and lead them to the promised land of Canaan. It follows the worship of the golden calf and Israel's unbelief with repeated murmurings and complaints, when Moses was troubled and afraid to rely on his own wisdom. Even the promise to go with him still left him unsatisfied and longing for more of God's presence. God answers by assuring His abiding presence and holding fast to the nation, strengthening Moses' fainting heart, summoning him again to the mountain summit, and giving assurance of success. That assurance Moses counts of infinitely greater worth than all the learning of Egypt and all his attainments as statesman and military leader.
The encounter is an extraordinary favor and unique honor in which Moses is entrusted with leading Israel and is specially led by the Lord. He is brought into sacred nearness on the mount and privileged to speak with God face to face in close communion. There he is permitted to see the bright light and glory surrounding the Father, and God shows him His excellent glory as He had never done to anyone else and as no other person on earth had experienced.
Prayer and Revelation of Goodness
Moses' plea to see the divine glory was not rebuked as presumptuous or as asking too much, but was graciously answered. He had pled step by step for one spiritual blessing after another, not selfishly but taking the people with him, holding firmly with the hand of faith and refusing to cease importuning, and his love and faith were thus tested and proved. The promise to go with him still left him unsatisfied and longing for more of the divine presence, and the answer joined assurance of success to the promise of abiding presence.
As He passed by, God revealed His glory by making all His goodness pass before Moses and proclaiming His name and character. That name is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and slow to anger, patient, abundant in goodness and loving-kindness and truth, keeping mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty. Sheltered in the cleft and covered by the divine hand because no man in mortal state can look upon unveiled glory and live, Moses beheld only as much as he could endure and only what was permitted. This display makes wondrous love known from generation to generation and calls for praise and thanksgiving.
The sight was meant to give Moses a true view of God, so that even while elevated and confident he would remain humble and childlike in faith. That revealed goodness was what Moses wanted and needed, to be received directly from Christ the Fountain Head by faith and then carried to the world. In that same sheltered revelation he was covered so that he could behold and live while being shown the heavenly pattern for the sanctuary. His limited glimpse contrasts with the promise that the redeemed will see the divine face.
The glory Moses longed to see was veiled in Christ, the infant presented in the temple. Christ fully revealed that same merciful, loving, compassionate character of the Father, so that seeing Christ was seeing the Father. The request is connected with Moses' words about the prophet God would raise up, identifying Jesus as the greater than Moses whose glory Moses had asked to see. Moses was enabled to endure as seeing Him who is invisible because forty years of humble shepherd discipline in the mountains had given him the meek, humble experience and trust in God alone needed to receive this. His being taken into close relation to see and feel that glory came after faithful and successful work and marked great privilege and trust, so his later sin in taking glory to himself was proportionately aggravating and highly displeasing, with defects in one so honored far more offensive than in those less favored and leading others who see the failure to take license to treat sin lightly.
Christ the Hiding Place
The cleft of the rock is a hiding place in Jesus Christ, and people behold God's majesty, love and glory when they are hidden in Christ. To behold the glory of Jesus Christ a person must hide in the cleft of the rock, and to stand upon the rock beside Him means to be hid there to behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. God reveals His goodness while sheltering in the cleft, and this protection while His presence passes by enables endurance of His presence and transformation. All who look to Him with undivided hearts are greatly blessed and catch more distinct views of Jesus as sin-bearer and all-sufficient sacrifice, with lips tuned to praise, pardon upon the lips, and the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into heart and mind. Clinging to Jesus and praying to be hidden there means standing fast in faith, trusting the Lord with all the heart, going forward without doubt and worry, never taking the eyes off Jesus as helper, receiving spiritual power from Him, and standing in His strength as more than conqueror.
Being put in the cleft means being hid with Christ in God in close relation to Jesus. It is to be sheltered with God, unseen yet able to see and hear the proclamation of His character. From that sheltered place one is enabled to see Jesus and to be quickened by the Holy Spirit. The covering hand is Christ's own pierced hand, sheltering the humble seeker who waits in bowed attitude to hear what the Lord says. Moses was honored to see the glory of God only by being thus hidden in the cleft with the hand of Christ covering him, obtaining but a partial view of His majesty, since no one could look upon the unveiled glory of the face of Christ and live.
Only those so hidden will behold the glory of God. This requires losing sight of self in order to behold God's glory, and following Christ in all things. Fitness for the sight requires a character built after the Pattern of Christ, who took human nature, met every temptation besetting men without yielding, and maintained the full perfection of heaven's character. Fallen humanity need not remain enfeebled and degraded by sin, for the divine is to be united with the human so that beholders of Jesus become partakers of the pure celestial element and are changed into His likeness, formed daily by looking at the grace of the heavenly attributes revealed in His life, full of grace and truth.
The cleft covered by God's hand was the place where Moses was received and kept safe when God passed by. Safety therefore lies in the place God appoints, not in choosing a position or facing danger without a call from Him.
Walking With God Today
Walking with God rather than with self brings shelter in the cleft of the rock, and that hiding is part of spiritual education in which those in need discern God as Moses did. Hidden there, they see God as Moses saw Him, and through His power, presence and light they see and understand far more of Him than they thought possible. That close dependence opens the understanding to heavenly things, and enables them to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible.
Beholding His goodness while thus sheltered in the cleft enables a person to endure His presence and gives a right understanding of His character. Like Moses beholding the glory from the Rock, believers hidden in Christ look to Him and are changed into His likeness by the Spirit. The rock is the place of protection from which glory can be endured, and beholding God there transforms the beholder.
There is a place by God upon the Rock where all who know the truth are called to stand hidden in God and view His glory, placed there by God Himself and covered by His hand. God's chastisement upon the world is the call to enter that hiding place, because the night of trial is nearly spent and Satan is bringing in his masterly power because his time is short. Those who refuse this shelter will be caught unprepared and unable to understand the day of their visitation.
Being hidden is a lesson in humility and dependence for one whose work brings trials and responsibility and makes him a target for the opposition Satan devises, teaching him to hide in God rather than act from pride or overmastering passion. The humble seeker stands upon the Rock in reverence and godly fear with devotional love, clinging to Jesus, standing fast in faith and trusting with all the heart. Going forward without doubt and worry, never taking the eyes off Jesus as helper, he receives spiritual power and stands in the strength of Jesus as more than conqueror. With undivided heart he catches distinct views of Jesus as sin-bearer and all-sufficient sacrifice, with lips tuned to praise, pardon upon the lips, and the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into heart and mind.
God is very near and is to be approached while He may be found, with requests made known unto Him, for Jesus waits to be gracious. He speaks in these last days in storm and rolling thunder, in permitted calamities, earthquakes, floods, destructive elements and sinking ships, sometimes in whirlwind and storm, sometimes face to face as with Moses, and sometimes in whispered love to child and aged. When the still small voice that follows the upheaval and tempest that moves rocks is heard, all should cover the face because God is very near, hide in Jesus as their hiding place under His own pierced hand, and wait in bowed attitude to hear what the Lord says to His servants.
Those closely associated with God in His work will catch glimpses of the Holy One as Moses did. This comes by taking time to pray rather than pleading busyness, making God the entire dependence, and inviting the heavenly Guest to possess and control every worker. It comes by crying after God in sincerity and soul-hunger, wrestling with heavenly agencies until victory, and putting soul, body and spirit into the Lord's hands to be moved by His will, controlled by His mind and infused by His Spirit, so the eyes of understanding are anointed to see heavenly things clearly.
God took Moses as a mere atom of humanity, a creature of dust yet a mighty man of faith, by the hand that made the world and moves mountains, and set him in the cleft and covered him so His goodness could pass before him without consuming him. In this He shows He does not want His people to meet the opposition Satan devises without giving His presence, and that Jesus waits to be gracious.