SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE SMITTEN ROCK

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: EXODUS 17:1-7; I CORINTHIANS 10:1-4




INTRODUCTION:


  1. Under the direction of God, Moses had led the Israelites into the wilderness where there was no water (Exodus 17:1).
  2. Moses, being a man of faith, was persuaded that God could provide anything they needed. According to the Bible, the pathway of faith is full of trials. God was testing the Israelites once again (cf. 15:23-25).
  3. God had proven Himself to them over and over. He parted the Red Sea for them. He made the bitter waters of Marah sweet. He sent the manna down from heaven. But yet they kept murmuring (17:3).
  4. The apostle Paul says that "all these things happened unto them for examples" (I Cor. 10:11).
  5. Here is the lesson: Like the Israelites wandering around the desert, we are wandering around this weary land, and we need the same thing they needed -- "that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (I Cor. 10:4).
  6. Today we will see that the Bible gives us several important facts about the Rock.

  1. THE ROCK WAS NEEDED
  2. THE ROCK WAS SMITTEN
  3. WHEN THE ROCK WAS SMITTEN, WATER CAME OUT
  4. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ROCK
  5. THE ROCK COULD ONLY BE SMITTEN ONCE

 

I. THE ROCK WAS NEEDED (17:1-4).

  1. The people were murmuring; they were discontented; they were "almost ready to stone" Moses (17:4).
  2. Things have not changed much in the past 3,500 years! God put them there -- it was "according to the commandment of the LORD" that they pitched in Rephidim (17:1). But they gave Moses a hard time and they kept on murmuring (17:2-4).
  3. God put them there. And God knew there was no water there. We need to remember that in whatever predicament we may find ourselves -- God put us there. So let us not murmur and complain!
  4. God was directing Israel. They had left Egypt but their hearts were still in Egypt. Unbelief was the cause of their murmuring.

 

II. THE ROCK WAS SMITTEN.

  1. The LORD instructed Moses to take his rod (representing the judgment of God) and smite the rock (17:5, 6).
  2. A rock is the last place anyone would expect to find water, but the smitten rock is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, smitten for us on the cross (cf. I Cor. 10:4). The Jewish rabbis had a tradition that this rock accompanied the Jews throughout their wilderness journey and provided water for them.
  3. That’s a nice story but there is no Biblical basis for it. In fact, it would contradict I Cor. 10:4 where Paul says it was a "spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
  4. It was not a literal rock that followed the Israelites, but something much better -- the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor. 10:4).
  5. The smitten rock is a picture of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The smitten rock points to the smitten Christ who paid the penalty for all our sin.
  6. When Jesus was smitten up on Calvary, He paid the full penalty for our sins. But there are many misguided people who believe they have to do their part in salvation. A new convert gave his testimony in church and He gave all the glory to God -- God convicted him of his sin, God saved him, God forgave him, God blessed him, etc. An older man questioned him and said, "That’s very nice, but what about your part?" The young convert said: "I was a wicked sinner running away from God. That was my part. God chased after me and caught me, and saved me. That’s His part!"
  7. Someone has suggested that in many churches today, the old hymn, "Jesus Paid it All" should be changed:
          "JESUS PAID A PART,
          AND I A PART, YOU KNOW;
          SIN HAD LEFT A LITTLE STAIN,
          WE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW."
  8. No -- the hymn-writer had it right when he said:
          "JESUS PAID IT ALL,
          ALL TO HIM I OWE;
          SIN HAD LEFT A CRIMSON STAIN,
          HE WASHED IT WHITE AS SNOW."
  9. The rock had to be smitten or we’d all be lost forever.

* "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4, 5).

 

III. WHEN THE ROCK WAS SMITTEN, WATER CAME OUT.

  1. First, the rock had to be smitten; this speaks of Christ’s vicarious death. Then the water came forth; this pictures the gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Ex.17:6; cf. Psalm 78:19, 20; 105:41; Isa. 48:21).
  2. The water which flowed from the rock was a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit who was given to believers after the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and glorified (John 16:7).
  3. This was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17, 18, 32, 33).
  4. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is often compared to water (John 7:37-39; cf. John 4:13, 14).
  5. Some churches teach that there are certain Christians who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. This is contrary to what the Scriptures teach. "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. 8:9).

 

IV. THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ROCK.

  1. When I was a child, I was taught that the church is built upon Simon Peter, and that Simon Peter is the rock. But I Cor. 10:4 says, "that Rock was Christ."
  2. In Deuteronomy 32:15, Moses says Jeshurun (Israel) "forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." In that same chapter, in verse 31, the Bible says: "For their rock is not as our Rock."
  3. David said, "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" (II Sam. 22:2).
  4. There are many, many other Scriptures which teach that Christ, and only Christ, is the rock of our salvation. The Psalmist wrote, "O Come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation" (Ps. 95:1).
  5. Is He the rock of your salvation?

 

V. THE ROCK COULD ONLY BE SMITTEN ONCE (NUMBERS 20:7-13). {nearly 40 years later}

  1. Christ has already been smitten; He was crucified once for our sins.
  2. The Bible says, "For in that He died, He died unto sin once" (Rom. 6:10).
  3. Hebrews 7:27 says, "For this He did once, when He offered up Himself."
  4. Hebrews 9:28 says, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many..."
  5. It was nearly 2,000 years ago that the Lord Jesus hung on that cruel Roman cross and cried out, "It is finished" (John 19:30).
  6. The RC Mass is contrary to the Bible. The rock could only be smitten ONE TIME. The sacrifice at Calvary was never to be repeated.
  7. Christ should not be crucified afresh; He was to be crucified but one time. In Numbers 20:8, the LORD told Moses, "Speak ye unto the rock."

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. Many of us are thinking today of Bro. McCoy -- cut down, unexpectedly, in the prime of life.
  2. He left his home Friday morning, but did not return. Thank God he is now in heaven. But what about the other driver? Where is he?
  3. Each person should give this some serious consideration. If I got into a wreck like that, where would I be -- heaven or hell?


| Customized by Jun Gapuz |