Exodus 17:1-7
When Israel journeyed through the desert, they faced a dire crisis: they had no water to drink. They grumbled against Moses, demanding water. In response, God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, and water gushed out, sustaining the people.
In 1 Corinthians 10:4b, Paul asserts that this rock was Christ: For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Just as the rock was struck to bring forth water, Christ was smitten on the cross to bring forth spiritual life for all who believe.
The imagery of God as a Rock is deeply embedded in Scripture. In Deuteronomy 32:4, Moses sings, He is the Rock, His work is perfect, and in Psalm 18:2, David proclaims, The Lord is my rock and my fortress.
In the New Testament, the title The Rock is directly applied to Jesus. 1 Peter 2:4-8 have this to say: Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious, but to those who are disobedient,
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,
and
A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offence.
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
Thus, the rock in Exodus 17 is a shadow of the true Rock – Jesus, the foundation of salvation.
In Numbers 20, Moses is commanded to speak to the rock to bring forth water. Instead, he strikes it twice, an act of disobedience that bars him from entering the Promised Land. This incident serves as a warning: Christ was to be struck once – His sacrifice is sufficient, and to strike Him again (by rejecting His atonement or seeking another sacrifice) is to incur judgment.
Christ the Rock also gives us Living Water. In John 4:10-14, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water…. Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
The water from the rock in Exodus 17 was temporary, but the water Christ gives is eternal – the Holy Spirit: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:37b-39).
Paul’s statement that the Rock followed them (1 Corinthians 10:4) suggests that Christ was present with Israel in the wilderness all the way. Just as the rock provided continuous water, more than that, Jesus Christ continually sustains us through the Holy Spirit.
The miracle of Exodus 17 was a prophetic sign pointing to Jesus Christ – the Rock of Ages, struck for our sins, from whom flows the river of living water.
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters (Isaiah 55:1).
And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Prayer for:
- a heart that trusts in Christ, our Rock.
- a deep hunger and thirst for the Holy Spirit.
- the Holy Spirit to flow through you to Others.
