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.” (Exodus 33:21-23)
The sign of hope – the LORD said to Moses, “There is A PLACE near me where you may stand on A ROCK. The sign that justifies our salvation and in that sign is our hope. He has a place near him where we may stand on a rock to see His glory – the rock of our salvation.
What is this place near Him?
In that place is a rock where we may stand on, and as His glory passes by, He will hide us in the cleft (- a usually narrow partial opening caused by splitting and rupture) of the rock and cover us with His hand. There is a place in the LORD where all our troubles are laid before Him, and He gives us hope that all will be well. Even amid worries, He gives us hope in that place. That place is Jesus Christ. As you journey to the place of Christ, He will take on all your troubles and give you peace within. He will show you the path to Him. Christ is the place where all our hope should be. God places us in Him so that His glory will shine on us as He passes by. The splendor of the LORD is with us, even in our deep sorrow. He is with us, regardless. The rock of our salvation!
In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses asked of the LORD to show him His glory. God answered him; He will cause all of His Glory to pass in front of him and proclaim His name, the LORD to him. God agreed to show Moses His glory, but first, He placed him in a place near Him, and in that place was a rock which he stood on. When His glory passed by, God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand till He passed. He removed His hand after for Moses to see His back, as no one lives after seeing His face.
There is a place in God where we all have to be. A place where we will stand on a rock to see all of His glory passes. There is a place in God where all our worries sit, and this place is in Jesus Christ. He is the rock of our salvation. In Him is life, and in Him is our salvation. As His glory passes by, He hides us in the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ and covers us with His mighty Hand. God protects us from the wrath of the enemy. He plants us in Christ for our salvation.
I am scared if I am strong enough to stay put in this place. As I write this text, I feel this anguish and fear in my heart, that I may not be able to meet my side of the bargain. I am scared of what is required of me to do so. I feel it’s not possible considering the world we live in and the nature of man. Would I be able to live outside the world’s demands? How can I be in the world and not love the things of the world? (1 John 2:15-17; John 17:6-9). That is our weakness; being in the world, and not loving the things of the world. How do we live such a life?
But the answer lies in the Word of God. The solution to our problem lies in His Son, Jesus Christ – the redeemer of our faith. He has come to teach and show us the way to God. He has set His rules, and the journey is tedious. We have to live by His example. We do not know the “how,” but He has been born to show us – Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Living God among His people, therefore, the importance of living by His principles –the sermon on the mount.
To establish our greatness, we have to live by His principles (Matthew 5-7). Building the Kingdom of God is where Jesus comes in, to create greatness in us.
To fellowship with God is a great desire, but to follow His principles needs the grace of God, which is Christ, our Lord. The desire to worship God lies in our faith, but we are on the brink of our faith.
I have to look up to the cross at Calvary, the stripes on Jesus’ back, and His sufferings to enjoy God’s promises. The same back was seen by Moses when the goodness of God passed by him to show His Glory. Moses only saw His back. God hid the link (Moses; the Covenant made) to His Promise in the cleft of the rock, and that rock is the Son of God. In Him is the Covenant to the Promised Land; in Him lives the Covenant of God.
Jesus is the rock on which Moses stood and hid him in its cleft as God showed him all of His goodness. He invested His word in Jesus. As the goodness of God passes through this land, his faithful children will see the back of His Glory, in the same way as Jesus walked the Earth. Jesus passed by, traveling through the Earth, leaving His marks and picking up our marks on His back. And at the end of His journey, all we can see are the wounds on His back acquired from us.
In those wounds are our healing – by the stripes of Jesus, we are healed. In those stripes is the resurrection of our faith. Jesus showed us the back of God that Moses saw when He showed him all of His goodness. Moses walked the path that God walked and saw His goodness. He descended from the mountain after spending forty days and nights in the presence of God with the reflection of His Glory on his face (Exodus 34:29-32).
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:1-2)
These are part of the words of a song David, the servant of the LORD, sang to God when He delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and that of Saul.
In the promises of God is His salvation!
If I am to see the glory of God, then I have to place myself in Jesus Christ and stand on His Word.
Worship and serve Him alone as my God!
Appreciation
Psalm 18:2-3 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress. My God is my protection, and with him I am safe. He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. I call to the Lord, and he saves me from my enemies. Praise the Lord!
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Written by
Eunice Forson
