In the Cleft of the Rock

Last weekend, I was hiking with a friend of mine on Raven Cliff Falls Trial. (That’s kinda a mouthful.) It was an amazing hike, lots of waterfalls along the way, not too strenuous. But the end, the waterfall you are actually hiking to, is kind of hidden. You have to climb a really steep, rocky hill to find it, and the waterfall is hidden in between two massive rocks. (See photo.) My friend is the super curious, risky explorer type. I am too— maybe more at heart than anything else— but I also know my limits. I sat down and just took in the view of this unique waterfall, while my friend jump to another rock to get a closer look. As I was sitting there, I heard the still, small whisper of the Lord.

“I will hide you in the cleft of the rock.”

I wasn’t seeking or trying to listen and be all spiritual, I was just sitting there, drinking water and taking a breather.

“I will hide you in the cleft of the rock.”

There it was again. I knew it was a scripture. I knew it was something the Lord said when Moses was asking to see the glory of God. But I didn’t know why the Lord was saying it to me. So I held it. Chewed on it. Talked with my friend about it the next day, and with my sister later in the week.

Now, full disclosure, when I started writing this blog, I wrote a ton on the passage as a whole. I’m talking, context all the way back through Exodus chapter 32, illustrations, a whole thing. But as I continued on, I heard the same Holy Spirit whisper, “Simplify it.” Needless to say, I deleted most of what I had already written and we are going to focus on a very small piece of the passage. All of that to say, I’m well aware there is way more here than what I am pulling out of it.

“Moses said, ‘Please show me Your glory.” And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My Name “The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But’, He said, ‘you cannot see My face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Behold there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock, and while My glory passes by I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)

The first thing I find interesting is God’s response to Moses’s ask. Moses asked to see God’s glory and God says “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” I haven’t always related those two to be the same thing. Have you?

The glory of God is found in His goodness.

Then, there is the added precautions. God wants Moses to see His goodness, but He knows his little human-self couldn’t handle it. It would literally kill Him. (Side note: This was a thought I literally just had: Isn’t it something that we are not talking about God’s holiness? Like that would make more sense to me in this moment. If I behold God in all His holiness I would die. I think that’s what I’ve pictured my whole life. Like the Glory of God is this really, super bright white light that is going to blind me to death, and it is also somehow God’s holiness which is the other part that if I saw it or was even in the presence of it, it could kill me. Yea, I think that’s what I’ve thought this whole time, my whole life, with this passage. Not God’s goodness. Ok, side note done.)

So God is going to put Moses in the cleft of the rock. Which, by the way, I looked up pictures of “what a cleft in the rock looks like” and guess what?! It looks exactly like what I was sitting and looking at on our hike. I admit, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was what that was. The Holy Spirit is always smarter than us, guys.

Then, God is going to add another precaution by covering Moses with His hand. In other words, He is going to hide Moses, so Moses isn’t going to be able to take in all of His goodness at once. Finally, He will remove His hand and Moses will see His back. From my understanding, this is the equivalent of seeing a glimpse of what has already passed. Like maybe the “afterglow” of God’s goodness. I don’t think that is the right word to describe what I’m trying to say. Hopefully you get it though.

Maybe an “ok” parallel (and I mean like a very, small scale parallel) would be how we see stars. Stars are light-years away. Now, I’m not very good at science, but I did a little research, so if you sciencey people out there are like “you totally butchered that”, please tell me! (I’m not against writing up a retraction.) According to my research and understanding, if a star is 100-light years away, then what we are seeing when we look at it on earth, is as it (the star) was around 100 years ago. That is crazy!

With this in mind, I would like pull this story in a little closer.

It’s clearly not a secret that the Lord has had me writing a lot about waiting. I mentioned in With Wings Like Eagles, that it feels like pretty much everyone I know is in some kind of waiting season. Everyone is waiting on different things, but at the deepest root, we are all waiting on the same thing.

We are all waiting to see the glory of God. We are all waiting for His goodness to arrive and manifest as the said thing we are waiting for.

Using myself as an example. (A little vulnerability is always good right?) I am waiting on a husband. But really I am waiting on God goodness in my life in the form of a husband. I am waiting on God, not only because I want to give God glory in this area of my life, but also because I want to see God’s glory in this area of my life. However, right now, I see nothing.

But does this mean, God is doing nothing? I would confidently say no. Even after waiting on God for 20 years for this, I still believe He’s working.

What if this passage is a window into seeing what it looks like when we are waiting on God? (And before, I get a bunch of texts, I am well aware there is a lot more going on here in the Biblical story. But I also believe the Word is alive and active and is constantly trying to meet us in our realities.)

What if waiting seasons are God’s way of hiding us in the cleft of the rock, covering us with His hand, while all His goodness passes by us— knowing that if we saw it all, it would overwhelm us so much so it would kill us?

What if the goodness of God we actually see is only the “echo” of all His goodness that passed by while we were waiting? (Still not the right word.)

What if He really is working and pouring out His goodness the entire time we are hidden and waiting?

All for His glory. All for His Name. All for others to see Him through my life.

I am quite convinced of this. I am convinced the Lord, in His kindness, wanted to give me a visual perspective encouragement of where He has put me to protect me, and what He is doing while I wait. I am also quite convinced that one day when He does finally remove His hand and I see His goodness/glory in the form of a husband, it will only be an echo/afterglow to all of His goodness He actually poured out when I couldn’t see! And I most hopeful, that one day, maybe when I get to heaven, He will allow me the honor of getting to behold all His goodness in my life.

It’s amazing to think that we can sing the song “Goodness of God” with such an emotion of gratitude, awe, and conviction. Yet, in light of all this, what if we are only experiencing and singing about the echo/afterglow of His goodness. Just a thought.

Your encouragement for this week:

Use yourself and your own story as an example. See yourself in the cleft of the rock as God’s protection and love for you. Look back on seasons when He has removed His hand and shown you His goodness. Allow your heart to meditate on the goodness you saw and felt in those seasons being only an echo/afterglow to the reality of all He really did during that time.

Extra Credit:

See if you can come up with a better word than “echo” or “afterglow” to describe God’s back and comment/text it to me. 😊 And for extra, extra credit what does it mean by “God’s face?” No google allowed. ☺️