What Did Moses See In The Clift of The Rock?

When I would open my Bible and begin to read about the life and journey that Moses made, I would always draw myself to one particular passage in the Scriptures. In Exodus 33:18 it says,

"Moses asked the Lord to show him, His glory."

And also if you read on it goes on to say in the same chapter in verses 19 through 23,

"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."

Here we have Moses speaking with God, asking the Lord to show Moses, His glory. The Lord told Moses that no man could look upon His face and live. He did tell Moses that He would allow him to see His back parts.

The Lord gave Moses instructions on what to do. The Lord said, "there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock."

I believe the place by God was on Mt. Horeb (Ex 33:6 said they were "...by the mount Ho-reb.") The children of Israel were commanded, to take off all their ornaments, by God and verse six says by Mt. Horeb. Then afterward Moses began to speak to the Lord in the tabernacle.

Then the Lord told Moses, He would put him in the clift (cleft) of the rock as His glory passed by, and God would cover him with His hand as He passed by.

***clift - neqarah (nek-aw-raw') from 5365; a fissure: -cleft, clift. naqar (naw-kar); to bore (penetrate, quarry): -dig, pickout, pierce, put (thrust) out.)***

I believe the Lord told Moses to go to a place upon Mt. Horeb and this certain place had a cave or some type of crevice for Moses to get in.

Then the Lord said as He went by He would take away His hand and allow Moses to see His back parts: but His face would not be seen.

***Back - achowr (aw-khore') or achor (aw-khore'); the hinder part; hence (adv) behind, backward; also (as facing north) the West: -after (-ward), back (part, -side, -ward), hereafter, (be-) hind (-er part), time to come, without.***

***Parts - yad (yawd); a prim word; a hand (the open one [indicating power, means direction, etc]...mine, ministry, near, x of, x order, ordinance, x with (him, me, you), parts, pain, power.***

I do believe that the back parts that the Lord showed Moses and the glory Moses seen was that of Jesus Christ. The Lord showed Moses of a time of ministry that was to come or what would happen "hereafter". The hereafter I am referring to is of Moses' time.

1 Kings 19:8-12

Elijah had traveled to Mt. Horeb (Sinai) the mount of God.

verse 9 "And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?"

Elijah goes on to be full of pity and explain to God what was wrong. He had the woe as me mentality because they wanted him dead (Jezebel wanted Elijah dead).

verse 11 "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake;"

verse 12 "And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

We here have Elijah on Mt. Horeb (Sinai) the mountain of God. Verse 9 says he came to a cave. I believe this cave is the cleft of the rock on Mt. Horeb that Moses was also in when the Lord showed Moses His glory. Verse 12 said there was a still small voice that Elijah heard. It doesn't say what the voice told Elijah but after he heard it he wrapped his face in his mantle.
(After Moses was in the presence of God he had to place a veil over his face because of the brightness of God's glory.)
I believe just as Moses had seen the glory of God, something had happened to Elijah here as well. I believe he got a future glimpse or vision of things to come.

Matthew 17:1-3
".....and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him."

Mark 9:2-4
".....and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus."

I believe this was the moment that Moses and Elijah had experienced when they were in that cave on Mt. Horeb.

It said Jesus' raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow. This would be the reason why when Moses and Elijah had been in the presence of God, Himself, they had to cover their face because they beamed with radiance. You are not going to get into the presence of God and not glow!!! And in Exodus 33:19 it said God would proclaim the name of the Lord. I believe Moses and Elijah became aware of the name of Jesus. If not His name at least of His person. They beheld the glory of God.

John 1:14
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

I just thought I would share what I came across while studying. I welcome comments or discussions on this.