The Smitten Rock

Q: What does the Bible say about the smitten rock?

The smitten rock in Exodus 17 represents Christ, who was struck for our sins, providing living water to His people. In Exodus 17, the smitten rock serves as a powerful symbol of Christ and the provision of grace. God instructed Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, from which water flowed to quench the thirst of the Israelites. This act prefigured Christ being struck in His suffering, as noted in 1 Corinthians 10:4, where Paul explains that the rock that followed them was Christ. Just as the Israelites received physical water, believers receive spiritual sustenance from the grace provided through Christ's sacrifice.

Q: How do we know Christ was the rock in the Old Testament?

1 Corinthians 10:4 explicitly identifies Christ as the spiritual rock that followed the Israelites. The apostle Paul makes a direct connection between the rock in Exodus and Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4, stating that all drank from the same spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ. This highlights the theological truth that the Old Testament events were not just historical accounts but also foreshadowed the work and person of Christ. The striking of the rock represents the necessity of Christ's suffering for our sins, as He bore the weight of our transgressions for our redemption.

Q: Why is the concept of the smitten rock important for Christians?

It illustrates Christ's atoning sacrifice and the provision of eternal life for believers. The concept of the smitten rock is crucial for Christians because it encapsulates the gospel message of grace and redemption. Just as Moses struck the rock to provide water for the Israelites, Christ was struck on the cross to provide eternal life and spiritual nourishment for believers. This imagery emphasizes that our spiritual thirst is quenched through the finished work of Christ, who died once for our sins and assures us that we can always come to Him when we are in need. The smitten rock thus serves as a reminder of God's covenant faithfulness and His provision for our deepest needs.

Q: What does the striking of the rock tell us about God's grace?

The striking of the rock highlights God’s grace in providing for His people despite their sins. The striking of the rock serves as a vivid representation of God's unmerited favor towards His people, even amid their rebellion and sin. Despite the murmuring and doubt expressed by the Israelites, God provided water from the rock as an act of grace. This demonstrates God's willingness to supply our needs and His faithfulness to keep His promises. It also portrays the essence of grace that, while we deserve judgment for our sins, God instead offers life and sustenance through the sacrificial death of Christ. The image of Christ as the smitten rock beautifully encapsulates how God's grace is manifested in Christ, meeting both physical and spiritual needs.

Exodus 17, we have a loved one who would like to confess the Lord Jesus Christ in believer's baptism. And we're in Exodus 17 tonight, not because this is the next Old Testament story that we would look at. It's because of another reason that I'll tell you about in a little bit. But we're going to look at the story of the smitten rock. That's what we're going to look at tonight, the smitten rock. Let's read the story first. Look at verse 1, Exodus 17, verse 1.

It says, And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin. After their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water, And the people murmured against Moses and said, wherefore is this that thou has brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord saying, what shall I do unto this people?

They'd be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel. And I rod wherewith thou smotest the river. Take in thine hand and go. 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.

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not? Now in verse one, it says, all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of sin after their journeys according to the commandment of the Lord and pitched in Rephidim and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses and said, give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, why chide ye with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord?

Every story so far concerning the children of Israel has begun with sin. Every story. Every story. Sin against their good and kind and loving God. And that is our story. That is our story. It becomes more and more clear to me that the Lord sometimes gives us many years on this earth. For learning more and more of our sin. And more and more of his grace. More and more of his goodness. But this is our story. This is where it begins. It begins with sin. No matter what story it is that we're talking about, if it involves us, it begins with sin. Sin.

Verse two says the people did chide with Moses. That means they were angry. They were filled with hatred. They were violent toward Moses and toward God. And he told him, you're not angry with me, you're angry with God. The end of verse two, he said, wherefore do you tempt the Lord? Verse three, and the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against Moses and said, wherefore is this that thou has brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They be almost ready to stone me." They're ready to stone me. He said, They want to kill me. They literally want to kill me.

Look at verse 7. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah. That means temptation and strife. Against God. Against God, this good and kind and loving God. Man is so wicked. Man is so evil. All men and women and boys and girls by nature are at enmity against God. That means the natural enemies of God. All men, all women, all boys, all girls. God's people naturally doubt God.

They do not believe God. Verse 7 says, He called the name of the place Massa and Meribah because of the chiding of the children of Israel and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Is the Lord among us or not? Because we don't think he is. That's what they were saying. We don't think he is. Now. Kids. What should God have done with them? Adults. What should God have done with them? What would you have done with them if they were doing that against you? What would you have done with them?

They doubted the Lord, and they tempted the Lord, and he opened the sea. And then they doubted the Lord, and they tempted the Lord, and he made bitter water sweet. And then they doubted the Lord, and they tempted the Lord, and he gave them bread. He rained bread from heaven.

And now they're saying, is God with us or not? Or in other words, this is what they're saying. What has God done for us lately? What has God done for us lately? Now, what should God have done with them? What were they worthy of? What did they deserve?

They deserved for God to say, Moses, you take your rod and strike the people. Strike the people. Strike them all. Strike them dead. Send every single one of them to an eternal grave. That's what they deserved. But what did they get? Verse four, and Moses cried unto the Lord saying, and watch this now, he's cried unto the Lord saying, what shall I do unto this people? Really get a hold of that. Really get a hold of that. That's not, those are not just random words. Moses cried unto the Lord saying, what shall I do unto this people? What needs to be done to the people? They be almost ready to stone me.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river. Take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. And thou shalt smite the rock.

What should you do to them? Those of you who know what I'm talking about. What should you do to them? What do I need to do to them? Here's what you do to them. Strike the rock. Don't strike them. Strike the rock. And there shall come water out of it that the people may drink.

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Lord, because of all their sin, all their hatred, all their unbelief, what should I do to them? What should I do to them? If we ever understand that sentence and that phrase, we will learn the gospel. What should I do to them? What do I need to do to them? The Lord said, here's what you do to them. Strike the rock. Strike the rock.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse one says, moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same spiritual meat. And it all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. That rock was Christ. That rock was Christ.

Look with me at Isaiah 32. Boy, this is a great verse of scripture right here. Isaiah 32, verse two, it says, and a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock, in a weary land. A man shall be our rock. A man will be our hiding place, our cover, our great rock.

Turn with me to Psalm 94. Psalm 94 verse 22, it says, but the Lord is my defense and my God is the rock of my refuge. He's the rock of my refuge. Look at Psalm 95 verse 1. Oh, come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. The rock of our salvation. Turn with me to Psalm 18. Psalm 18, verse 31.

For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock, save our God. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God, is that rock. He is that rock, the rock that the law had to smite. Moses represents the law. And Christ is the rock that the law had to smite because of the sin of God's people. The wages of sin demanded the striking blow of death. The law demanded someone has to die. Someone has to die.

And when the loving kindness, when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, the Lord Jesus Christ said, strike me. Strike me. The law, Moses, said, what should I do to the people? And the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, said, strike me. The law smoked. The law struck the rock.

Christ the Lord on the cross of Calvary. In the stead of God's people, Christ was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. They were all hiding in that rock. Hiding in thee, he bore the sins of his people in that rock. And then the law struck that rock. He was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. And by his stripes, by the glorious striking of God's holy law on him, we are healed. By the striking of that rock, the water of life freely flowed to the people because the rock was smitten. the water of life freely flowed to the people. Turn with me over to Psalm 105.

Now you know that we can't be at this story without me telling you about the time a four-year-old preached the gospel to me. I know I just told it recently, but I just can't, I can't be at this story and not tell you about the time a four-year-old preached the gospel to me. And honestly, it could have been one of the sweetest gospel messages I've ever heard.

Little Lucy. We were at their house for dinner. I've been thinking about the fact that, how old do you think Lucy is? 20, OK, 24, 20 years ago, I've been telling this story for 20 years. I was thinking about this today. Lord willing, I hope I'm still telling this story in 40 years. I'll be a little old at that point, but.

We were over at their house for dinner and Lucy So cute. Crawled up into the chair next to me and she was holding a picture that she had colored in her class. And I said, what a beautiful picture that is. And she said, thank you. Do you want me to tell you about it? I wish I would do that. Would you like for me to witness Christ to you? Out of the mouth of babes. She said, thank you. Do you want me to tell you about it? I said, I sure do. She held it up and there was a man and some people in a waterfall and some not so great coloring scribble.

She said, well, this is Moses and these are the children of Israel. And the children of Israel were whining and complaining. And they just kept on whining and complaining and whining and complaining. They kept saying, we're so thirsty, Moses. We're just so thirsty.

She said, so do you know what Moses did? I said, what? She said, he struck the rock. And she said, do you know what came out of that rock? I said, what? She said, living water. And the people drank, and they drank, and they were so satisfied. And she said, do you know who that rock was? I said, who? She said, Jesus Christ. And then she said, do you know what that rock did? And that one stumped me. I forgot. I said, what? She said it followed the Israelites wherever they went.

I think that's the sweetest gospel message I've ever heard in my life. Oh, what a good and loving God we have. What a good and loving God we have. Psalm 105 verse 1 says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him. Sing psalms unto him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth. O ye seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen.

He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant forever. The word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which covenant he made with Abraham. and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance.

Look at verse 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out. They ran in the dry places like a river, For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." That word and is in italics. He remembered his holy promise to Abraham, his servant. He remembered his covenant. He remembered his promise, his covenant. That's why he did this. The law said, what should I do to the people for this? Strike the rock. He remembered a promise. He remembered a covenant. The end of verse 45 right here says, praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Now turn with me to Numbers 20 and I'm gonna show you the true glory of this story. Numbers chapter 20.

Numbers 20, some of you may know this, some of you may not, but Moses was not allowed to enter into the promised land. He led the people out of Egypt for the purpose of taking them into the promised land. And Moses was not allowed to enter into the promised land.

And here's the reason why. This right here is almost 40 years later from Exodus 17. They were in the wilderness 40 years. This is about 38 years, almost 40 years later. Look at verse 1. Numbers 20, verse 1. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zan." Sounds close and familiar. Into the desert of Zan.

In the first month, and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses and spake saying, would to God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord. They're no better in the end than they were in the beginning. Verse four, they said, why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have you made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink.' And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And they fell upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock." Speak to it. Talk to it. Ask. Speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock. So thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him." Now look at the spiritual picture. Moses is the law. And we keep chiding the law and chiding the law. What does that mean? We keep sinning against the law and sinning against the law. We're sinners. We commit sins because we are sinners. And we're going to keep sinning. And Moses, representing the law, got sick and tired of it.

You know how David said, is thy mercies clean gone? If it was left up to the law, yes, they would be clean gone. Now watch this, verse 10, Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Here now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand with his rod, and he smote the rock. Twice means a second time. And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because you believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Because Moses struck the rock a second time, the Lord said, You cannot enter in.

And that is a picture of the fact that because our sin was stricken by God's holy law in Christ on the cross once, that sin cannot ever be stricken again. All of this sin that we're committing, all this sin you're going to spend the rest of your life committing just like me.

Christ was already stricken for it. He was already stricken for it. And if he was stricken for it once, that sin cannot be smitten again. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Romans 6 says, in that he died to sin, he died to sin once. Hebrews 9 says, But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Our Lord said, If any man or woman or boy or girl thirsts, Thirsts for Christ. Thirsts for his righteousness. Thirsts for forgiveness. Thirsts for mercy. He said, let him come unto me and drink. Let him come unto me and drink. If any man thirsts, if any woman thirsts, he or she can come to Christ. And that's what Sophia would like to confess to us. Based on my conversation with her, she wants to confess that the Lord has revealed to her that she can come to Christ.

And I can too. And you can too. What are the stipulations? You have to need Christ. How old do you have to be? Old enough to have a need. What all do you need to know? I need to know I have a need. I need him. I need him. The one who was smitten, stricken for me. I come to him. We come to him, don't we? We confess him. All right, you can go on back.

The Smitten Rock

What does the Bible say about the smitten rock?

How do we know Christ was the rock in the Old Testament?

Why is the concept of the smitten rock important for Christians?

What does the striking of the rock tell us about God's grace?

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The Smitten Rock

What does the Bible say about the smitten rock?

How do we know Christ was the rock in the Old Testament?

Why is the concept of the smitten rock important for Christians?

What does the striking of the rock tell us about God's grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Gabe Stalnaker

Comments

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