Cleft in the Rock
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in Thee
During
the storms of life, Augustus knew that he could run to the Rock, climb into a
cleft which God had made just for him, and hide.
Isn't it so good to know that God is your Rock, and that He’s got a cleft in His side just for you
to hide in during the storms?
Job went
through a storm in his life. He lost almost everything that he loved in
one day. He lost his oxen and donkeys and sheep and servants and all of
his children. He broke out in painful boils all over his body. Then
his friends and neighbors turned against him. The only person he had left
was his wife and she told him to curse God and die.
That was
a storm. And we read about his storm in the book of Job. The book
of Job has 42 chapters in it, and in most of the chapters, we read how Job
feels about the storm. He feels that it isn’t fair; he feels that God has
unfairly hurt him, and he demands to know why.
I was
reading through Job the other day, and I noticed a chapter that I had never noticed
before. It’s chapter 28, and in the NIV version, it’s actually got a
title- “Interlude.” That got my attention. An interlude is like
taking a break from something. In Job’s case, all the chapters are
focused on Job's storm, except chapter 28. In Chapter 28, Job doesn’t
talk about his problems at all- not even once.
Instead,
he talks about a place under the ground that most people never see. It’s
a place of rocks and blackest darkness that lies hidden under the ground.
But Job says that some people actually go there, and search in the darkness,
search in the rocks, and you know what they find? Treasures, like gold,
silver, iron, and lapis lazuli.
It’s
like God is telling us- in the middle of your darkest storm, there are
treasures if you look. Job came to realize this. At the end of the
book, after raging at God for days, Job said this:
Surely I spoke of things I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me to know… My ears had heard of you but
now my eyes have seen you. (Job 42:3-5) (NIV)
Job
found a treasure in the storm. In Isaiah 45:3, God says:
I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches; and you
will know that I am doing this—I, the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who
calls you by your name. (TLB)
When you
are going through a storm in life, go to Jesus, the Rock of Ages, and hide
yourself inside. Not only will you be protected from the storm, you will
find secret treasures.
David
also called God his Rock.
David
lived in a literal Rock, a cave, for 10 years while Saul was trying to kill
him. But for those 10 years, David wasn’t just hiding in a literal rock
- he was also hiding in the Rock of Ages.
It was a
difficult time for David; he was rejected by his country, his family… he lost
his right to live in public. He was depressed, lonely, and scared.
But it was in the cave where David began to seek God like never
before.
He was
seeking God’s protection, but more than that. He was also seeking God’s
heart, God’s love, God’s wisdom…
Just
like the hymn says -
Rock of
Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in Thee
And it
was in that dark cave where he truly found God.
Another
man who found God in the cleft of a rock was Moses. In Exodus 33, we read
this:
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I
will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my
name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
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 33:12-23) (NIV)
Moses
went to God asking for assurance that God was going to be with him. And
God said, “yes, I will go with you.”
But then
Moses asked for something much bigger. He asked to see God’s
glory. It’s like Moses was saying, “Who are You, God?”
Most of
us usually ask for normal things, like healing, or money to pay the bills, or
for salvation for people. But Moses
asked a bold thing- “show me your glory.”
Only a
handful of people in the Bible saw God’s glory. Ezekiel did. He
wrote:
I looked, and I saw a
windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning
and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing
metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures… Fire
moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and
lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back
and forth like flashes of lightning…
Spread out above the heads of the
living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like
crystal, and awesome…
…Above the vault over their heads
was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the
throne was a figure like that of a man.
I saw that from what appeared to be
his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from
there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the
appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance
around him. (Ezekiel 1:4-28) (NIV)
Isaiah
also saw the glory of God. He wrote:
I saw the Lord, high and
exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled
the temple.
Above him were seraphim, each with
six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their
feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one
another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole
earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:1-3) (NIV)
And John saw the glory of
God. He wrote:
And … I saw … someone like a son of
man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash
around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in
a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
In his right hand he held seven
stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged
sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his
feet as though dead. (Revelation 1:13-17) (NIV)
To see
the glory of God is apparently something God only reserves for a very very
few. It’s a very special treasure.
Especially
in the time of Moses. In the Old Testament days, when people still lived
under the curse, people were afraid of God. They tried to please God by
sacrificing animals and obeying all His commandments, but most people were afraid
to even talk to God.
Korah
and his whole family got swallowed alive by the earth because Korah had
sinned. And here comes Moses asking, “let me see your glory.”
How bold of Him.
And God
responded, “I will have mercy and compassion on those I want to.” In
other words, “Okay, I’ll show you my glory.”
But He
didn’t want Moses to see His face, because if a person saw God’s face, he would
die. So where did God tell Moses to go so that he would be
safe?
He 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.” (Exodus 33:21) (NIV)
Again, a
cleft in a Rock. A tiny little cleft in a great big Rock where Moses went
to be safe. The symbolism here is obvious and beautiful.
Jesus is
our Rock, our strong place that never shifts or changes or moves. Jesus
is our Rock.
Going
into a cleft of the Rock would be for us to crawl into the very heart of
Jesus. Moses and David found God as they crawled into a literal cave –
but they also crawled symbolically into the very heart of God.
And in
the heart of God, what did they find?
Treasures!!
Compassion, mercy, favor, friendship, comfort, love, wisdom, joy, the glory of
God.
You and
I can climb into the cleft of the Rock anytime we choose, and we can also find
that same compassion and mercy and wisdom and joy and glory of God that they
found. The treasures of God.
The
cleft of the Rock is still there. The Rock has not moved.
The Rock
is Jesus, and He calls out to us- “Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) (KJV)
In the
Song of Solomon, God calls to us- His church, His bride, and He says:
…in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your
face is lovely. (SOS 2:14) (NIV)
In other words, “Come
into my heart and talk to me!!!”
If you are ever in a
storm in this life, like Job, or David, or Moses…
If you are empty, tired,
hurting, scared, confused…
If you ever need a
friend, or advice, or comfort, or love… Go to the cleft of the Rock.
The Rock is Jesus, the
cleft is His heart. He’s calling to you today-
Let me hear your voice,
let me see your face.
Go to the cleft of the
Rock.
You will find His
protection, His love, His mercy, His joy, and who knows?
You might just see His
glory.
Scripture
quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,
NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by
permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved
worldwide.www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version”
are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by
Biblica, Inc.
Scripture
quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.
All rights reserved.
Comments
Post a Comment