The Stricken Rock

Poor Moses. Did you ever feel sorry for him when God didn’t allow him to go into the Promised Land for striking a rock twice, instead of speaking to it? We all make mistakes.

But after looking at the scenario more carefully, there’s more than what meets the eye.

This was the second time Moses drew water out of the rock for his thirsty people. The first time occurred in Exodus 17:6. The Israelites quarreled with Moses and demanded he give them water to drink. Moses, fed up, cried out to God and said, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” God told Moses he would stand before him by the rock at Horeb, and said, “strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

The second time occurs in Numbers 20:8. The people are parched again, and fussing at Moses again. They want water, and fast! This time the LORD tells Moses to speak to the rock, and water will pour out. Instead, Moses “raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff.”

The Hebrew word for struck in both passages is “nakah.” It’s interesting that this word doesn’t mean “strike” or “hit.” The translation is “to kill, slaughter or wound.”

Now, let’s turn to 1 Corinthians 10:4. Referring to the Israelites it says, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”

Was the rock that Moses struck, Jesus himself?

I believe Moses’ “killing” of the rock was a foreshadowing of our rock, Jesus, being stricken for our sins so we could quench our thirst with his living water. This sacrifice could only happen once, therefore the rock could only be struck once. So in the second case, when Moses “killed” the rock twice instead of speaking to it, it was blatant disobedience toward God.

God was trying to send his people a prophecy, but it was intercepted. Repeated animal sacrifices would no longer be needed. Our rock, Jesus, would be crucified, stricken one time for our sins, and would pour out living water into our lives. Because of his sacrifice on the cross, he would also bridge the gap between God and us so we might have open communication with the Almighty.

God wanted Moses to speak to the rock, and he wants us to do the same.

Jesus was stricken (nakah), wounded and killed for our transgressions one time, and once was enough.

Did Moses understand the message? I believe he did.

Although Jesus had not been physically born yet, Moses knew him. In John 1:45, after meeting Jesus, Philip located Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

In Acts 3:22 Peter told the Israelites, “For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

Moses knew Jesus. God was a friend of his, and I’ve got to believe he introduced him to his Son, who was with him from the beginning, and who Scripture says accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness.

Before we judge our friend Moses, we can be just as guilty of striking the rock twice.  We do it when we return to a sin that we’ve repented of. We do it when we have a lukewarm faith, believing some days, not believing others. We strike the rock two times when we don’t take advantage of a relationship with God that Jesus paved the way for.

Instead of striking the rock twice, let’s speak to the rock and embrace the rock’s teaching. Let’s stand on the rock, the precious cornerstone of our life, Jesus.

Are you thirsty for more than this life has to offer? You don’t have to run around, dry, in the wilderness anymore. Jesus’ one-time sacrifice provides a lifetime of spiritual quenching.

“Now to you who believe, this stone is precious, But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2: 7-9).

It’s not just any rock. This rock is everything, and was stricken so we can bathe ourselves in his goodness, his teaching, and one day spend eternity to him.

During this Holy Week, choose to speak to the eternal rock, Jesus, because the Promised Land awaits you. (LBW)