"FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CLEFT"

Exod 33:11-14  And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.  And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people. And he said, My presence shall go [with thee], and I will give thee rest.

Exod 33:18-23  And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Exod 34:5-7  And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

• God saw the idolatry of Israel, while MOses was getting the Ten Commandments, and thousands of Israelites were slain in judgment.
• Then God said that Israel would go into Canaan, but God would not personally lead them in.
• He would send an angel.
• Moses replied, (v. 12), I do not know this angel you will send.
• And in verse 13, Moses said SHOW ME YOUR WAY THAT I MAY KNOW YOU.
• Verse 18.. pressed it more... SHOW ME YOUR GLORY.

• I WANT TO KNOW YOU.
• SHOW ME YOUR GLORY.

• Not christianettes who enjoy a sermonette.
• Hard core "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM" Christians.
• Not people who come to see if they might catch a miracle.
• Some people only want to see a miracle.
• Reminds me of Herod who called Jesus was was disappointed Jesus did not perform a miracle for him.

• He does not need to perform a miracle to keep me around!
• I WANT HIM.
• Not just blessings, but the blesser.
• Not just gifts but the GIVER.

Exod 33:21-23  And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

• A cleaving is the opening up of or the breaking open.
• A smiting occurs by an earthquake or similar, and the rock opened and left a CLEFT.

Moses also smote a rock at one point and from a cleft where he smote it, water gushed forth.

• Jesus is the Rock.
• The rock was in HOREB.
• A mountain range in the wilderness.
• It is the same Rock formation, or range, where Moses smote the Rock also.


1Cor 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

• Jesus is the Rock that was smitten.

• Paul said we were crucified with Him.
• We were buried with Him.
• We were risen with Him.


Roma 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him],

Roma 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:

Colo 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

That is why it is so important for us to see that we died with Christ.

• There are depths to this death with Christ that so many have not come to yet.
• Implications that many have not even delved into yet.

• Tonight some people are going to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
• The way the Apostles did it.
• The NAME is so vital.
• Col 3:17 told us to do all, word or deed, in the Name of Jesus, giving thanks to the Father by Him.

• In world war II, in the trenches, a man overheard two others chatting.
• One was dying.
• And he told his pal, "I am dying.  I won't last here much longer.  You have a life of crime and convictions, and I don't.  Go back into society with my name.  Your name has a history of convictions associated with it.  Mine doesn't.  Take my name.  Live under my name... take my history with you."
• I was a sinner, but Jesus was perfectly righteous.
• My history was criminal.
• All that died in a battle one day that Jesus experienced on the cross.
• In the place where that soldier died, another soldier took his name and walked home after the war was over with his dark history behind him, under a new name.

• You don't pay your debts, your name means mud in the bank's eyes.
• But allow someone to walk in that bank who holds the name belonging to a rich wealthy family, and that man can do anything he wants with their finances.
• HIS NAME IS HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER.

• Rockefeller, Irving (nearby), McCain....
• If you were in  that family and had that name, you could pull some weight around.
• But JESUS NAME IS HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER NAME.
• Their names might be good for finances and business, but there is not salvation found in any other name besides the name of Jesus.
• Of all names given to men under heaven, there is no other name by which we must be saved than JESUS CHRIST.

• The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily.
• The Irvings have businesses and enterprises galore in their name.
• But THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD is bodily in JESUS CHRIST.

• The point of your union with Jesus is in His death.
• No enemy can conquer you when you face hell from that standpoint.

• Where He was smitten.
• In the cleft of the ROCK.
• By standing there, I am declaring I know why Jesus died.
• Right here, where Jesus died and was smitten, I STAND.
• And it is because HE WAS SMITTEN AS ME.


Isai 53:4-5  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

• The reason so many people fail in their christian walks is because they don't really get it....
• They do not learn exactly what Baptism into Christ's death means.
• UNION WITH HIM.
• They never see glory for they do not look at things from that perspective.

Exod 34:6-7  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

• We may know mercy if we sin and know God forgives us if we repent and ask forgiveness.
• But you do not know ULTIMATE MERCY until you see yourself as one WHO DIED WITH CHRIST.
• Stand in His death and say THIS IS MY DEATH.
• Our rightful position is in Christ, crucified, buried and risen again.
• THIS MERCY WILL REWRITE YOUR LIFE.

• They see mercy when they see him go into a thieving, rich publican, despised among Jews as a traitor, helping Rome take their money.
• BUT THE MERCY OF GOD WAS WHEN JESUS WENT ON THE CROSS AS YOU.
• When He died, He would look to you and say YOU DIED.
• THAT IS THE GLORIOUS MERCY.


Song 2:14  O my dove, [that art] in the clefts of the rock, in the secret [places] of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet [is] thy voice, and thy countenance [is] comely.

• The secret places of the stairs.
• Hebrew reads the secret places of the steep places.

• SECRET PLACE.

Psal 91:1-6  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by day; [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday.

• IN HIM shall I trust.
• He is the SECRET PLACE.
• He is the Rock and I am in the CLEFT of the Rock.
• The place where you unite to Jesus is in His death, burial and resurrection.


Isai 49:16  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my] hands;

• Why?
• How?
• He took it as Us.

• They are not standing IN THE PLACE where Jesus was smitten, as though THEY WERE SMITTEN.
• WE DIED WITH HIM.
• UNION.

• And from a wound made in his side, a rib was removed and the BRIDE was made.


Gene 5:2  Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

• And IN THE DAY THEY WERE CREATED, THEIR name was called Adam.
• Adam was the first universal name.
• That is the reason Paul calls all lost mankind ADAM.
• All IN ADAM SHALL DIE. (1 Cor 15:22)
• ALL IN CHRIST SHALL BE MADE ALIVE.
• The woman got her own name after she was without her husband and yielded to the serpent's lies, and God cursed them all.

Gene 3:20  And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

• The DAY they were created, THEIR NAME WAS ADAM.
• After sin that was lost.

• And we so much lose our old sinful histories that we even take upon us HIS NAME, Jesus in BAPTISM.
• Why is it so essential in Baptism?
• Because  IN HIS DEATH WE UNITED WITH HIM.

• Like Adam, he laid down his life.
• BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH, and take upon us HIS NAME.
• At a council in Jerusalem, to determine what to do about Gentiles getting saved, James said,


Acts 15:14  Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Acts 15:7-9  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men [and] brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as [he did] unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

And let us go back and see how this ties in.

Acts 10:45-48  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

He took out a people for HIS NAME.

• Someone to give HIS NAME TO.
• Someone to UNITE to.
• Like a bride and husband.

• This refers to physical UNION.
• ONE FLESH.
• Ultimate Intimacy.
• And children were born.

• According to God's will in Gen 1.. multiply...

She came from His body and returned to His body and ADAM KNEW HER.

Moses said, "I WANT TO KNOW YOU."

So God said, "Okay, go to the cleft of the Rock."

• And Moses saw glory.

• If you want to know me....
• Go to the cleft of the Rock.
• Go to the place where you were made new creatures.
• Go to the smitten Christ on the cross of death.
• Go to the death, burial nd resurreciton.
• Consciously realize THAT IT WAS YOUR DEATH.
• FROM THAT STANDPOINT, you will know me.

Phil 3:9-10  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

• Moses learned that in order to KNOW GOD, he must STAND IN THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK and FROM THAT VIEWPOINT.
• DO YOU HAVE HIS NAME?
• Those being baptized, stand in that viewpoint of CO-BURIAL in His death and always look at everything from that perspective.