Water From the Rock

Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8

While wandering through the wilderness of Sin (what a name!), Israel stops in Rephidim and murmurs against Moses that they are thirsty, “Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3). God’s response to this murmuring was to command Moses to take his rod and smite a rock, so that water could come out of it and Israel could drink. God provided this water in spite of their complaining for He was dealing with them by grace and favor, not based upon their performance.

The rock in the wilderness was a “spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). God’s command to smite the rock was to be used as a shadow of things to come, with Jesus being the Rock. At Calvary, Jesus was “smitten of God” (Isaiah 53:4) and “came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). While a rock in the wilderness brought forth only that which satiated the physical thirst of man, the Rock Jesus provides blood for our redemption and spiritual water for our daily thirst, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38).

About 20 years later, while wandering through the wilderness of Zin (not Sin, but very similar), Israel stops in Kadesh and “chode with Moses, and spake, saying, ‘Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!’” (Numbers 20:3). Again, they are thirsty and they murmur against God. God’s response this time was to tell Moses to gather the assembly together and “speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water” (verse 8). Now that Israel is under the Mosaic Covenant, they deserve to be killed for their murmuring, but God is willing to show them New Covenant mercy and grace.

Instead of speaking to the rock in front of their eyes as he was instructed to do, Moses “lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice” (Numbers 20:11). Notice that it took two hits to bring the water out, as if God was holding it back the first time to give Moses a chance to re-think things and do it right. Because of this moment of anger and frustration, Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land, “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Numbers 20:12).

What was the big deal with smiting the rock? They got the water didn’t they? All things in the Old Testament are done as a shadow of the substance of the New Testament. There is an object lesson of the cross of Christ in this story that is important to see.

Jesus is the Rock, smitten for our sins. He needed to be smitten but once, and never again (Hebrews 10:12). Now that Jesus has paid for everything, we need but speak of Him and His loveliness. We need to speak of ourselves as His righteousness and see Him working in us. We do NOT need to put Him back on the cross every moment that we fail, for Jesus has already paid for our failures. He is alive, and so are we!

What you say of Jesus is always “before their eyes”. If you make God out to be mad and hard to please, then you fail to sanctify Him in the eyes of the people. God has already smote Jesus so that you and I can drink freely anytime that we need. May we cease to present God as slow to bless and quick to kill, and see our Jesus flowing with the blood for our sins and the water for our sanctification.

Living Water

John 7:37-39

On the final day of the great Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, all of Jerusalem would gather near the temple to watch the high priest go through the most sacred ceremony of the festival. He would draw water from the pool of Siloam in a golden vessel. This would be done at the time of the morning sacrifice (9 a.m.). He would approach the altar for all of the public to see and then pour the water on the sacrifice, spilling it over the altar and down onto the ground. These things were a shadow of the Great Sacrifice to come, which Jesus would make: the altar represents the cross; the fire on the sacrifice represents the judgment of God against sin; the water represents the Holy Spirit cleansing each believer.

Jesus was in the crowd on this particular “great day of the feast” (John 7:37), and due to what He says, we can assume that He must have timed His speech to coincide with both a large crowd and the pouring of the water upon the altar. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38).

The offer for water to all that thirst was nearly identical to what Jesus had said earlier to the woman at the well when He said that He would give her “living water” (John 4:10) and that this water would “be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). What makes John 7 even better is that here the proclamation is to the entire world, not just to one individual. It promises us that there is living water to be found in Jesus both for one man and for all men.

The deepest and most passionate cravings in the Old Testament had to do with water. Israel complained of their lack of drinkable water at Marah (Exodus 15:23), then of their lack of water entirely at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1). David was so fond of the waters of his homeland that he longed for a drink from the well of Bethlehem, and three of his mighty men broke through enemy lines just to bring him a cup (2 Samuel 23:15). That same David said that the Good Shepherd “leads me beside the still waters” (Psalms 23:2).

Only one chapter earlier while in Capernaum, Jesus had declared Himself to be the “bread of life”, solving man’s hunger (John 6:48). In Galilee, He had presented Himself as the rest for man (Matthew 11:28). Now, He is the “living water” speaking to the thirsty soul. While both of the first statements were spoken either in private or to a small audience, this proclamation in the temple is given for all to hear.

Jesus is not necessarily quoting any one verse when He says, “As the scripture hath said” (John 7:38). He does not say, “As it is written” which is the customary manner of quoting scripture directly but instead He is referencing the theme of the Old Testament as a whole. The Old Testament is about man’s hunger and thirst for God, while the New Testament is God responding to that hunger and thirst in the person of Jesus.

One such scripture that He could be citing is Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, everyone that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat”. Another might be Isaiah 58:11, “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”.

Jesus has already died at Calvary, so you have the well-spring of the Holy Spirit inside of you, giving you fresh water every day. He is constantly cleansing you from all unrighteousness, so that you are always viewed as clean in the eyes of God. Thank God for the living water!

Water From the Rock

Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8

While wandering through the wilderness of Sin (what a name!), Israel stops in Rephidim and murmurs against Moses that they are thirsty, “Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3). God’s response to this murmuring was to command Moses to take his rod and smite a rock, so that water could come out of it and Israel could drink. God provided this water in spite of their complaining for He was dealing with them by grace and favor, not based upon their performance.

The rock in the wilderness was a “spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). God’s command to smite the rock was to be used as a shadow of things to come, with Jesus being the Rock. At Calvary, Jesus was “smitten of God” (Isaiah 53:4) and “came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). While a rock in the wilderness brought forth only that which satiated the physical thirst of man, the Rock Jesus provides blood for our redemption and spiritual water for our daily thirst, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38).

About 20 years later, while wandering through the wilderness of Zin (not Sin, but very similar), Israel stops in Kadesh and “chode with Moses, and spake, saying, ‘Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!’” (Numbers 20:3). Again, they are thirsty and they murmur against God. God’s response this time was to tell Moses to gather the assembly together and “speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water” (verse 8). Now that Israel is under the Mosaic Covenant, they deserve to be killed for their murmuring, but God is willing to show them New Covenant mercy and grace.

Instead of speaking to the rock in front of their eyes as he was instructed to do, Moses “lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice” (Numbers 20:11). Notice that it took two hits to bring the water out, as if God was holding it back the first time to give Moses a chance to re-think things and do it right. Because of this moment of anger and frustration, Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land, “Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Numbers 20:12).

What was the big deal with smiting the rock? They got the water didn’t they? All things in the Old Testament are done as a shadow of the substance of the New Testament. There is an object lesson of the cross of Christ in this story that is important to see.

Jesus is the Rock, smitten for our sins. He needed to be smitten but once, and never again (Hebrews 10:12). Now that Jesus has paid for everything, we need but speak of Him and His loveliness. We need to speak of ourselves as His righteousness and see Him working in us. We do NOT need to put Him back on the cross every moment that we fail, for Jesus has already paid for our failures. He is alive, and so are we!

What you say of Jesus is always “before their eyes”. If you make God out to be mad and hard to please, then you fail to sanctify Him in the eyes of the people. God has already smote Jesus so that you and I can drink freely anytime that we need. May we cease to present God as slow to bless and quick to kill, and see our Jesus flowing with the blood for our sins and the water for our sanctification.

Living Water

John 7:37-39

On the final day of the great Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, all of Jerusalem would gather near the temple to watch the high priest go through the most sacred ceremony of the festival. He would draw water from the pool of Siloam in a golden vessel. This would be done at the time of the morning sacrifice (9 a.m.). He would approach the altar for all of the public to see and then pour the water on the sacrifice, spilling it over the altar and down onto the ground. These things were a shadow of the Great Sacrifice to come, which Jesus would make: the altar represents the cross; the fire on the sacrifice represents the judgment of God against sin; the water represents the Holy Spirit cleansing each believer.

Jesus was in the crowd on this particular “great day of the feast” (John 7:37), and due to what He says, we can assume that He must have timed His speech to coincide with both a large crowd and the pouring of the water upon the altar. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 38).

The offer for water to all that thirst was nearly identical to what Jesus had said earlier to the woman at the well when He said that He would give her “living water” (John 4:10) and that this water would “be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). What makes John 7 even better is that here the proclamation is to the entire world, not just to one individual. It promises us that there is living water to be found in Jesus both for one man and for all men.

The deepest and most passionate cravings in the Old Testament had to do with water. Israel complained of their lack of drinkable water at Marah (Exodus 15:23), then of their lack of water entirely at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1). David was so fond of the waters of his homeland that he longed for a drink from the well of Bethlehem, and three of his mighty men broke through enemy lines just to bring him a cup (2 Samuel 23:15). That same David said that the Good Shepherd “leads me beside the still waters” (Psalms 23:2).

Only one chapter earlier while in Capernaum, Jesus had declared Himself to be the “bread of life”, solving man’s hunger (John 6:48). In Galilee, He had presented Himself as the rest for man (Matthew 11:28). Now, He is the “living water” speaking to the thirsty soul. While both of the first statements were spoken either in private or to a small audience, this proclamation in the temple is given for all to hear.

Jesus is not necessarily quoting any one verse when He says, “As the scripture hath said” (John 7:38). He does not say, “As it is written” which is the customary manner of quoting scripture directly but instead He is referencing the theme of the Old Testament as a whole. The Old Testament is about man’s hunger and thirst for God, while the New Testament is God responding to that hunger and thirst in the person of Jesus.

One such scripture that He could be citing is Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, everyone that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat”. Another might be Isaiah 58:11, “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”.

Jesus has already died at Calvary, so you have the well-spring of the Holy Spirit inside of you, giving you fresh water every day. He is constantly cleansing you from all unrighteousness, so that you are always viewed as clean in the eyes of God. Thank God for the living water!