The Rock of Salvation - How Women of Chayil Find Refuge in the Immovable Rock
“The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!" (2 Samuel 22:47)
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.' So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on."(Exodus 17:5-6)
In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Apostle Paul references Exodus 17 when he calls Christ the Rock.
"...and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ."
This is a powerful revelation. To understand what the Lord is revealing to us through Paul's statement, we must first return to Exodus 17 to learn what happened at the Split Rock (pictured above).
After their departure from Egypt, the people of Israel traveled through the wilderness following the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night. The Pillar of Cloud & Fire physically represented the Presence of the LORD leading His chosen people on their journey away from Egypt and toward the Promised Land. Their destination was a beautiful, fertile land handpicked by the LORD to be their everlasting possession. Unfortunately, on their arduous journey, they allowed their physical needs such as hunger, thirst, and shelter to negatively dominate their thoughts until they began to complain, grumble, and accuse the LORD of ill-intent.
The LORD is a good Father. He intimately knows our needs for food, water, and shelter because He created our bodies and instilled these desires within them. Therefore, the issue wasn't with their expression of these desires, rather with their response when these needs seemed unmet. They responded by beginning to condemn and assault the LORD's character.
"But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?'... 'Is the Lord here with us or not?'” (Exodus 17:3&7)
In the above Scripture, you can see them questioning the provision, goodness, and faithfulness of God. If He really is good, why did He bring them into the wilderness to kill them with thirst (dehydration)? If He really is good, why would He abandon them in the wilderness and let them thirst to death? Was delivering them from their Egyptian enemies and rescuing them from harsh and prolonged slavery not enough to give the Israelites a favorable opinion of the LORD? God's solution to this assault upon His character contains a cryptic prophetic shadow picture of Christ. Let's unpack it together...
"The Lord said to Moses, 'Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.' So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on." (Exodus 17:5-6)
In the ancient Hebrew culture, a staff was not only a symbol of authority, but also of judgment. The staff of Moses that is referred to in the Scripture above is the same staff that was used to bring judgment upon Egypt through ten plagues of disaster. It also represents authority because Moses, the Man of God, used this staff to perform the supernatural phenomena of parting the Sea of Reeds (also known as the Red Sea) allowing the Israelites to escape the pursuing Egyptian army.
The LORD tells Moses to take his staff, this symbol of God's power and judgment, and He instructs him to 'strike the rock' with it. This rock had to be something recognizable and set apart from the other million rocks in this dry, arid wilderness. The Split Rock located in Saudi Arabia is a massive rock of distinguishable size and shape. The Split Rock has visible channels flowing down the rock's mountainside where erosion occurred from a water source of great magnitude. If you search for the Split Rock on Google images, you'll realize how massive it is when you see a person standing beside it.
There is no way that Moses, in his own strength, could split this gigantic rock into two by simply striking it with his staff. The splitting of the rock was a supernatural event caused by the LORD's power. In fact, He tells Moses that He will stand before him on the rock at Mount Sinai when Moses goes to strike it.
Moses is promised two things by the LORD:
When Moses strikes the rock, water will come gushing out.
It will be enough water that the people, their children, and their livestock will be able to drink.
These two points are significant because there were at least hundreds of thousands (if not a million Israelites) present in the wilderness during the exodus from Egypt. There needed to be a significant amount of water disbursed from the rock for all of the people and their animals to drink and satisfy their thirst.
Let's turn to the prophetic shadow picture of Christ hidden in this narrative...
Christ as the Rock of salvation -
There are numerous Bible verses about God being a Rock. I have listed a few below:
Psalm 78:35
"And they remembered that God was their Rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer."
Genesis 49:24
"From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)"
2 Samuel 23:3
“The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me..."
Isaiah 30:29
"To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel."
2 Samuel 22:32
“For who is God, besides the Lord?
And who is a Rock, besides our God?"
Deuteronomy 32:4
“The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just..."
*If you would like to read more Scriptures about God, the Rock click here.
We clearly see typology in Scripture of the LORD being likened to the nature of a rock. Rocks are stable, solid, strong, immovable, and places of refuge, protection, and safety.
The LORD instructs Moses to strike the rock. A clear picture emerges from Scripture of the Messiah, the Rock of salvation, being striken:
Isaiah 53:4
"Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted."
Zechariah 13:7
“Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered..."
Paul directly relates the striken rock to Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4 when he writes, "...and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ."
This Rock of Salvation, Jesus Christ the Messiah, was stricken by God the Father on the cross. In the same way that Moses' staff, a picture of the authority, power, and judgment of God, struck the rock in the wilderness, Jesus also received the full judgment and wrath of God for the totality of mankind's sin and rebellion upon Himself. What was the result of His suffering? Living waters that gushed forth.
When Moses struck the rock in the wilderness according to the LORD's instruction, water abundantly gushed forth to relieve the Israelites' physical thirst. Similarly, when Christ was striken on the cross, a new, life-giving way to eternal life gushed forth to quench the spiritual thirst of mankind. Jesus prophesied this during the water libation ceremony that occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). I have an entire blog post about Jesus' statements in John 7. You can read it here.
Here's a quick snippet from that post -
"Therefore, on the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood among the thousands gathered at the Temple in Jerusalem and made a mighty proclamation regarding Himself:
'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'
John adds an important note after Jesus’ declaration: 'But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.'
Here we see Jesus abundantly offering spiritual life through the Holy Spirit to anyone who comes to Him - the “Sent One” from God. He is declaring that He is the long-awaited Messiah and is beckoning His people to come know Him & draw from His deep wells of salvation. He is the Source of salvation and will quench all spiritual thirst by pouring out His Spirit in our lives. If He is the source of the living water, then He has to be the promised Messiah!"
Living water symbolically represents both salvation & the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In the prophetic shadow picture, the rock is stricken and living water gushes forth. The substance of this reality is seen when Jesus breathes His last breath on the cross and a Roman soldier pierces His side. The Apostle John documents that he witnessed, at that moment, both blood and water pour forth from His side.
The sinless blood that purifies and cleanses us from all sin and our consciences from all guilt.
The living water that offers us eternal life and restoration with the Father.
Both are brought forth from the wound of the Striken Shepherd.
"Then Jesus shouted out again, and He released His Spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people." (Matthew 27:50-52)
In the first moments following Jesus' death, there is a massive earthquake that causes rocks literally to be split apart. It's interesting to note that Matthew includes that the earthquake caused tombs to be opened. This revealed the resurrection life (gushing forth of living water) that was birthed from Christ's death as godly men and women were raised from the dead!
A theme I've been intentionally pressing into this year has been becoming the woman of chayil (valor) that the Lord created me to be. In an email I sent back in February, I wrote :
"This year, my desire is to boldly step into the feminine, mighty woman of valor that Christ has empowered me to become."
If you missed that email, you can read it in its entirety here.
We can be mighty women (and men) of chayil {Hebrew word translated as valor} because of our immovable Rock of Salvation. We are women of strength because of His power that resides within us. We are bold because of the protection and safety He offers. He has given us authority to use His name against all power of the enemy and darkness.
The Rock of Israel - the judgment that Christ received on the cross is the proof of our protection.
He is our Provider.
He is our Protector.
His life flows within us through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit.
It is interesting that there is a second story found of a rock being stricken in the wilderness. This time, however, Moses does not follow the instructions of the LORD and the consequence of his disobedience is denial of entry into the Promised Land.
The LORD instructed Moses and Aaron to assemble the congregation of Israel. As the people watched, He told them to speak to the rock and it will pour out its water. He tells them it will be enough water for the entire community and livestock. However, instead of speaking to the rock, Moses and Aaron strike the rock twice. It's interesting how the LORD responds :
"Because you did not trust Me enough to demonstrate My holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” (Numbers 20:12)
It is so profound that the root cause of their disobedience was mistrust! They did not trust the LORD enough to obey His command of "speaking" to the rock. If they obeyed Him then they would have demonstrated His holiness.
The prophetic shadow picture is that the Rock is to be stricken once and only once. In that one blow of God's judgment, in all its finality, Christ paid for our guilt completely and perfectly. There is no room left for condemnation (punishment represented by striking). Instead, now, we are instructed to speak to the Rock (to ask Him for His life-giving water for whatever area of our life that is in need and He will give it).
We have been given authority to speak, "...in the name of Jesus."
"Behold, I give you the authority ...upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you." (Luke 10:19)
"You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it!" (John 14:13-14)
A woman of faith who exudes “chayil” has an internal reservoir of dependence on God. She is strong and courageous in the face of the “impossible” because she has, with diligence, stored up the Word of God in her heart. The Bible instructs, “…for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45). We can only speak what we know. We can only know what God's word says, and the truth contained within it, when we spend time with the LORD.
Speak to the Rock.
Read His Word.
Meditate on His truth.
Ask the Lord for wisdom to understand.
Allow the Rock of Salvation to reveal Himself to you.
Find refuge in His peace, strength, stability, and power.
With all my love & grace,
kate
