In Exodus, chapter 33, when Moses asked to see God’s face, God graciously agreed to let Moses see His presence but He told Moses that His face could not be seen. God placed Moses in the “cleft (a long, narrow opening) of a rock” and, in addition, covered Moses with His hand to protect him from certain death by catching a glimpse of God’s face.
The Bible / Old Testament (Exodus 33:12-23)
12 Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You call me by name and tell me I have found favor with you.
13 Please, if this is really so, show me your intentions so I will understand you more fully and do exactly what you want me to do. Besides, don’t forget that this nation is your very own people.”
14 And the LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses. I will give you rest— everything will be fine for you.”
15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t go with us personally, don’t let us move a step from this place.
16 If you don’t go with us, how will anyone ever know that your people and I have found favor with you? How else will they know we are special and distinct from all other people on the earth?”
17 And the LORD replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend.”
18 Then Moses had one more request. “Please let me see your glorious presence,” he said.
19 The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, ‘the LORD,’ to you. I will show kindness to anyone I choose, and I will show mercy to anyone I choose.
20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 The LORD continued, “Stand here on this rock beside me.
22 As my glorious presence passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed.
23 Then I will remove my hand, and you will see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”
Centuries later, God gave a vision to the prophet Isaiah about the future of Judah and Jerusalem that involved God’s enemies hiding in “clefts” in the rocks trying to escape certain death from the punishing hand of God.
(Isaiah 2:19-21)
19 When the LORD rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty.
20 They will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats.
21 They will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs. In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth.
We see in the incident with Moses that God’s presence can be blinding and fearful because of His holiness. According to God’s own words, even viewing the face of God would bring certain death. We see in the incident described in Isaiah’s vision that God brings terror to the heart of man before God ends his life in judgment for his sin.
The words of a hymn, A Wonderful Savior, penned by Fanny Crosby in 1918 speak about God protecting us from a death that is the result of God judging our sin. This protection involves the death of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ who died in my place; dying a death I deserve as a penalty for my sin. The words Fanny Crosby wrote almost one hundred years ago can still comfort our soul today. They tell us about a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross of Calvary for me protects me from spiritual death. In effect, the cleft or broken rock of the Bible’s Old Testament as a hiding place from physical death is a picture of Christ’s cleft or broken body as a hiding place for me from an eternal, spiritual death because of my sin.
The Bible / New Testament (Colossians 3:3)
3 For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Listen as Amy sings, “A Wonderful Savior”.
“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, a wonderful Savior to me.
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.”
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.
And covers me there with His hand.
“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He taketh my burden away.
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved, He giveth me strength as my day.”
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.
And covers me there with His hand.
“With numberless blessings each moment He corwns, and filled with His fullness divine.
I sing in my rapture, O glory to God, for such a Redeemer as mine!”
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.
And covers me there with His hand.
“When clothed in this brightness, transported I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky.
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I’ll shout with the millions on high.”
Chorus
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.
And covers me there with His hand.