1717. The Smitten Stone
The Smitten Stone
"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" (Exo_17:6).
1. We have before us a striking scene. The children of Israel are in the "Wilderness of Sin;" they are thirsty, for there was no water there; they are quarreling with Moses and murmuring against him, because, said they: "Thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst" (Exo_17:3).
What could Moses do? He had no water to satisfy their thirst. Therefore he cried unto the Lord, and the Lord said:
"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" (Exo_18:6).
What a marvelous picture of grace! The people are thirsty of soul. There is no water which men can give them to satisfy their longings. There is but one fountain of water–there is but one Living Stone–one precious side, which can be smitten and from which can flow the waters of refreshing and salvation.
The woman of Samaria said: "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (Joh_4:15).
Christ said: "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" (Joh_4:14).
"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (Joh_7:37).
The Old Testament Prophet caught the vision when he said:
"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (Isa_55:1).
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Smitten Rock.
2. We have before us a New Testament corroboration. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, wrote concerning the children of Israel in the wilderness: They "did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1Co_10:4).
Jesus Christ cried with a loud voice, and yielded up the ghost. When He was pronounced dead, one of the soldiers took a sword and pierced His side, and there came forth water mixed with blood.
Yes, Christ was the Smitten Rock.
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the Blood,
From Thy riven side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure;
Save me from its guilt and power."
3. We have before us Moses breaking the symbol. The children of Israel were now in the desert of Zin. Once more there was no water for the congregation. Once more the people quarreled with Moses, and once more Moses cried before God.
Then the Lord told Moses to speak unto the Rock before their eyes, "and it shall give forth its water" (Num_20:8, \1911 Bible).
Moses, however, took the rod and "he smote the rock twice," crying as he smote it, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" In answer to the double stroke of Moses, the waters abundantly came out, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also; but the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying: "Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."
God smote His Son but once–Moses smote the rock on two occasions, and the second time, he smote it twice, although God expressly commanded the second time that he should speak unto the rock.
Moses paid the penalty of breaking the type of the Cross by being refused the privilege of entering into Canaan. The Lord Jesus our Rock was smitten but once.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR