Cleft

Exodus 33:12-23
Moses Pleads with God
 
Moses is away with God for forty days and forty nights. The people get impatient. They go to Aaron, who is in charge while Moses is away, and pressure him into making a Golden Calf for them to worship. Aaron is a people-pleaser and gives in to them. Before the “ink” is dry on the tablet, they break the covenant with God. They break the first and second commandments. The people ultimately held on to what they experienced in Egyptian worship, and they wanted a God they could see.
 
God is angry. Just as God had shown the people who God is, the people showed God who they are – fickle, self-serving, stubborn or “stiff-necked.” God told Moses that it was time for them to leave Mount Sinai and go to the land of Canaan. However, God would not be going with them.
 
Moses pleads with God. First, he begs to make atonement on behalf of the people, and then he begs God to go with them. At this point in the story, God’s presence is in the tabernacle but also accompanies them. The “tabernacling presence” is the one that God says will not go with them. Yet, Moses persuades God to change God’s mind. God promises to go with them after all.
 
Moses then asks, “Please show me your glory” (v.19). We can assume that Moses is really asking to see the face of God, especially since God refers to no one living after seeing God’s face. The passage ends with God declaring that “my face shall not be seen” (v.23). Yet, God creates a way for Moses to see God’s back as he passes by. God puts Moses in a “cleft,” a space or hiding place, which would allow Moses to see God. Moses asked God for something that wasn’t really possible, but God created a way to make a similar action possible.
 
God’s love and tenderness are seen when God puts Moses in a safe place and covers him with God’s hand, just so Moses can get a glimpse of God. God also explains that he can see God’s glory through other ways than seeing God’s face. God said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord,’ and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (v.19). God will proclaim or announce to him that God is before him, and Moses can see God pass before him through goodness, grace, and mercy. 
 
Faith is believing in a God that we can’t see. The Israelites were desperate to worship a God they could see, and even Moses begged to see the face of God. Humans still try to find God in facts and evidence. God teaches in this passage all the proof we need: God is not limited to what we can see. We can listen for God’s voice. God will tell us when God passes before us, and God will put us in a safe place to see a glimpse of God through goodness, grace, and mercy.
 
Reflection questions:
Have you ever pleaded with God and felt that God had a change of heart and answered your prayer?
 
Have you ever asked God for something that really wasn’t possible? Yet, God created a different way for a similar act to happen?
 
Where is your “cleft,” a hiding place or sacred space where you have gotten a glimpse of God’s presence?
 
Have you ever felt shielded by God’s hand?
 
Action: Spend some time this week in your “cleft” next to God and wait for God’s glory to pass before you. Did this experience strengthen your faith?