|
|
|
|
JESUS, OUR ROCK: PROVIDING, PROTECTING, PROVEN, PROVING (TLB--unless otherwise specified)
The Providing Rock Prophetically pointing to Christ, the smitten Rock from Whose side would flow rivers of living water, God commanded Moses, "Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink" {Ex. 17:6 KJV}. ...he clave the rock...and the waters gushed out {Is. 48:21}. Besides the water of life, that same Rock provides sustenance, sweetness and anointing. Of God's provision for Jacob, Moses records, "He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields, and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock" {Deut. 32:13}. Disobedience, however, restricted the fullness of provision and blessing God's people received from the Rock, for of them he reflected, "Had Israel obeyed, ...out of the rock should I have satisfied thee" {Ps. 81:16 KJV}. An obedient people "hid with Christ in God" {Col. 3:3}, find abundant provision in Him Who is their Rock. The Protecting Rock Combined with his picture of the providing Rock, the prophet Isaiah adds the image of the protected respite and peace afforded by a mighty boulder: "Look, a righteous King is coming with honest princes. He will shelter Israel from the storm and wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cooling shadow of a mighty rock within a hot and weary land" {Is. 32:1-2}. "And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" {Is. 32:2 KJV}. Just as Job refers to those who "...are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of shelter"{Job 24:8}, so the Psalmist describes God as a protective Rock. As a refuge from his enemies, David declared, "The Lord is my fort where I can enter and be safe; no one can follow me in and slay me. He is a rugged mountain where I hide; he is my Savior, a rock where none can reach me, and a tower of safety. The Lord is my rock, and my high tower" {Ps. 18:1-2}."Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident...in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock" {Ps. 27:3,5 KJV}. Safe is that retreat, for it is "...out of the reach of all my enemies" {Ps. 27:5}. David calls repeatedly for the Lord to be to him "a Rock of safety" {Ps. 32 2} from his foes: "...be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress..." {Ps. 31:2-3 KJV}. May we declare with David, "Jehovah is my rock, My fortress and my Savior. I will hide in God Who is my rock and my refuge." {2 Sam. 22:2a}. The Proven Rock Through years of waiting (patient endurance), trusting and testing, God's people have found Him ever faithful, their only source of deliverance and strength. "Truly my soul waiteth upon God...He only is my rock and my salvation..." {Ps. 62:2 KJV}. "Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress" {Ps. 62:2a}. In his final song, Moses proclaimed of his God, "He is the Rock. His work is perfect..."{Deut 32:4}. Prophesying of the coming Messiah, Isaiah recorded, "Behold I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation" {Is. 28:16 NKJ}. Jesus, the Son of God and the son of man, Who now intercedes for us as our great High Priest "...was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" {Heb. 4:15 NKJ}. Even Pilate declared, of the "sinless, spotless Lamb of God," {I Peter 1:19}, "I find no fault in Him" {John 19:12 NKJ}. The Proving Rock Referring to Himself, Jesus said, "...Did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner... Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard... they perceived that he spake of them." {Matt. 21:42-45 KJV}. For Isaiah had prophesied, "And he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense...for a gin and for a snare...And many shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared and taken" {Is. 9:14 KJV}. As illustrated in the Old and New Testaments, many come to the Rock, but most cling to Him only temporarily. "Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee" {Deut. 32:18}. In spite of all His mighty acts, "...the people kept on sinning and refused to believe in miracles. So he cut their lives short and give them years of terror and disaster. Then at last, when he had ruined them, they walked awhile behind him; how earnestly they turned around and followed him! Then they remembered that God was their Rock...But it was only with their words they followed him, not with their hearts; their hearts were far away. They did not keep their promises" {Ps. 78:23}. Paul records, "...all passed through the sea; And were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat: And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness" {I Cor 10:KJV}. "Come to the Rock!" The cry echoes through the centuries: "Come to Christ, who is the living Foundation of Rock upon which God builds; though men have spurned him, he is very precious to God who has chosen him above all others...As Scriptures express it, 'See, I am sending Christ to be the carefully chosen precious Cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in him.' Yes, he is very precious to you who believe; and to those who reject him, well--'The same Stone that was rejected by the builders has become the Cornerstone, the most honored and important part of the building. And the Scriptures also say, 'He is the Stone that some will stumble over, and the Rock that will make them fall.' They will stumble because they will not listen to God's Word, nor obey it, and so this punishment must follow--that they will fall" {I Peter 2:4-8}. We determine our standing with God by whether we embrace or reject the Rock He has provided. May we, along with the Psalmist, respond, "Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Give a joyous shout in honor of the Rock of our salvation. Come before him with thankful hearts...Come, kneel before the Lord our Maker, for he is our God! We are his sheep and he is our Shepherd. Oh, that you would hear him calling you today and come to him!" {Ps. 95:1,2,6-7}. - Ruth French
May 1996 Newsletter | A Love Story for Moms | Choose to Love | Pastor's Journal - May 1995 Freedom | Jesus, Our Rock: Providing, Protecting, Proven, Proving Revised: June 25, 2008. |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
|
|
Copyright © 1995-2007 Living Word Christian
Fellowship, Inc.
|
