A HIDING PLACE...IN THE SHADOW OF A GREAT ROCK
A HIDING PLACE…IN THE SHADOW OF A GREAT ROCK
Sunday, October 19, 2014, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Surely even the most carnal of people know the earth is in judgment. “Wars, rumors of wars, commotions, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, plagues, fearful sights; mayors trying to deliver ministers into prison; great signs in the heavens; days of vengeance; nations rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms; distress of nations; signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; and they shall fall by the edge of the sword (beheading). (Luke 21: 8-38)
Luke 21:15: “I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”
Isaiah 32:2: “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
“Comfort you, comfort you My people, says your God.”
The prophetic voice cries out “repent” before a visitation of judgment upon the land. The east wind (Euroclydon) of God is moving across the nations. Ps. 18:10: “He rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind.
After judgment comes, then the prophetic voice changes to one of “Comfort” and encouragement: Isa. 45:3: “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, I am the God of Israel.”
Every house, life, family, ministry or nation is tested by the wind of the Spirit. But whosoever builds his house upon a rock, when the flood comes, and the winds beat upon that house, it will not be moved because it is founded upon the rock.
Isa 27:8 “…He stays His rough wind in the day of the east wind”.
As we are led by the Holy Spirit and ride upon His Holy Wind, we will be delivered to a safe place in the day of the tempest…as in the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
THAT GREAT ROCK IS CHRIST!
The image of a shadow is something very fragile. Yet throughout the Bible hiding under the
shadow is used to enforce the greatness of the protection, care, and security
of the believer in Christ.
Psalm 36:7: “How excellent is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
The Lord’s people are beautifully described as “those who dwell under His shadow”. The “weary” or “thirsty” land indicates those for whom these shadows from the heat are most needed, and these will have the most grateful hearts.
Historically it is in times of great tribulation, that the hearts of people turn to God. The Psalmist tells us the season when his prayer rises with devout intensity---“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”
In the Eastern desert sands, rocks rise as a solitary monolith (a single solid rock). A traveler can pull up his tent-pegs and shift or vary his position, so as to catch the constantly-moving shadow in its circular course.
So it is with the ever-varying shadows of the Rock of Ages. Christ is adapted to, and for, all the constantly-changing circumstances, needs, and crisis of His people; and for all ages and all experiences.
Psalm 57:1: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me; for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities are past. I will cry to God Most High; to God that performs all things for me.”
For the morning of life, at the base of this eternal Rock are shadows of hopeful trust and simple faith. For middle-life those “grounded and settled”---there are “rests at noon.” As with the literal rock in the wilderness where the evening shadows are the deepest of all, so, when the sun of life is going down in the western sky, is the greatest confidence and peace of the believer. Those of us who have walked with the Lord through all the seasons of life “know” and have absolute assurance of this place prepared for us.
Psalm 63:7: “Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.”
The sunsets of Texas are glorious, ablaze with oranges, gold, pinks, ruby and amethyst glowing with unearthly glory and splendor. The heavens “declare the glory of God”. In the sunset of life the Shadows of the Great Rock are grander and more real. We have experienced that in Christ there is no “variableness neither shadow of turning” .
During these times of tribulation, come let us seat ourselves under the Lord’s “munitions of rocks” which figuratively represent all that Christ is, all that He says and promises to His believing people. Christ, the bestower of pardon, peace, sympathy, consolation, strength, hope, and eternal life. Let us rest that He is faithful who promised---“The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defense…It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.”(Isa. 4:6)
The emblem of a Rock applied to the Divine Redeemer speaks of strength, durability, shelter, safety, protection and rest. It speaks of creation’s noblest monumental edifices sculptured by the Great Craftsman---older, grander, and more lasting than any architectural skyscrapers created by man.
Over these rocks have the winds of heaven continually swept. Age after age, these have weathered sun, resisting all changes, defying all elements, and outliving all political convulsions. Every peak remains immutably the same. Such is the rock of our salvation.
There is an intriguing scripture in 1 Cor. 10:4 regarding the journeyings of the Israelites in the Wilderness. “They did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.”
It is concluded that the Rock in the wilderness literally followed the tribes from encampment to encampment to the last hour of their wanderings. However blazing the sun and waterless the streams, there the mysterious, ever-present, accompanying Rock was, with its unfailing shadow and inexhaustible streams.
Psalm 91:1: “He that dwells 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.”
Christ---the Rock of Ages---ever present in the midst of His Church and people with the shadow of His protecting grace and love---even when the sun of life is hottest and its desert dreariest---during every stage and experience of the wilderness---on to the very brink of the “border river.”
Old Testament and New combine in uttering the same all-glorious promise---“In all places where I record my name, I will come unto you, and I will bless you.” “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
In our keynote verse, “A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
That MAN IS CHRIST---once suffering on the cross, now a living and glorified King on the throne!!! “A man shall be as the Shadow of a Great Rock in a weary land.”
From earthly things, we see the revealed Jesus in all of creation. The image of the tenderness of the shadows cast by the Great Rock of Ages is the tenderness of the Voices of the Brother-Man.
Our voices join with the psalmist, “You have given me the shield of Your salvation; and your right hand sustains me; and your gentleness has made me great.” (Psa. 18:35)
As we bravely continue on this journey called “life”, we as Christians are encamped under His shadow and live in that realm of “the peace of God which passes all understanding”. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”
Hosea 14:7: “Those who dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine---the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.”
Isaiah 26:4: “Trust in the Lord forever; for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.”
Daniel 2:44-45: “…God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, silver and gold…”
The Righteous King
Isa. 32: 1-4: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.”
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of John Ross MacDuff. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the view of those who I entered into their labors.