CHRIST AS THE ROCK
[p. 376] CHRIST AS THE ROCK
Exodus 17: 3 - 6; Exodus 33: 21 - 23; Numbers 20:2; Numbers 20:7 - 11
When the New Testament cites types of the Old Testament we get the spiritual significance indicated, and so in 1 Corinthians 10 we have allusions to these passages, that is, the passage in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. The apostle Paul says that they all, that is, Israel, those who came out of Egypt, “drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ”, so that the passage is made very plain and applicable to the present moment.
The passage indeed in Corinthians treats of all who came out of Egypt; they did not all go into Canaan, in other words, many profess to have left the world, profess to believe in the Lord Jesus and are baptised, who do not go to heaven, who are not saved. A very solemn consideration, and especially as this passage is cited to establish that, that they even drank of the Rock! You may say, Did they then, mere professing persons, get the Holy Spirit? Receiving the Holy Spirit in the sense that He is given to believers, those who are subject to Christ, as is stated in Ephesians, “in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” Ephesians 1:13,14 — that passage refers to genuine believers who will never be lost. They have the earnest of the inheritance, awaiting the redemption of the acquired possession, awaiting the coming of the Lord.
But that is not what the apostle alludes to in the verse I have cited, but rather persons who nominally believe in Christ and take their places by baptism in the ranks of christians, attend (it may be) christian [p. 377] meetings, participate in christian society, and taste in that way of spiritual things which real believers have, but nevertheless come short. They have not an indwelling Spirit, they are not sealed with the Spirit, and may be lost eternally. It is formally stated in Hebrews 6 that there were those who had been partakers of the Holy Spirit and yet had fallen away and should find no place for repentance, that is, should be lost. A very solemn and searching scriptural fact; so that each of us should see to it that not only is he happy in a measure whilst in the society of christians, and in attending meetings, but that he is permanently so, that he has the spring of happiness in himself — that although he were in a wilderness alone, he would be happy, he would have the assurance of the love of God in his heart, he would have hope in his heart, he could sing of his salvation and of the coming of the Lord with the fullest confidence. It is well to compare ourselves thus, dear friends, and see to it that we are not merely participating in heavenly things, spiritual things, in an external way. Sooner or later we shall be tested, and we shall turn away to the world, as many have done, and falsify the truth that they once professed to enjoy.
Now that is what the apostle has in mind: he says, in spite of these things they fell in the wilderness, God was not well-pleased with them. But still, there is the great fact that the Rock which they drank of was Christ, and it is viewed as following. We can hardly arrive at that fact by reading Exodus and Numbers, but the Holy Spirit makes plain to us in the New Testament that it was Christ, and that there was active following, for Christ in service is not stationary but active; the allusion is to the most menial position as a water-carrier. The position of Israel, indeed, was this: the ark, the symbol of divine power and vigilance, went before and sought out a resting place, and the Rock followed them [p. 378] with the water bringing up the rear in lowly service, the service of grace — the Rock followed them, and the Rock was Christ. How beautiful, therefore, is the passage in Exodus 17, and how touching! It is Christ: the Rock is Christ! The subject begins here, and from this point we get the following, that is the service of grace in Christ. Typically at the present time the Lord Jesus is following with these gospel meetings, and with little booklets causing reproach to those who give them away to needy souls; by words spoken by the wayside or in the railway train or in the workshop or restaurant, causing the persons who speak to be under reproach, to be sufferers, but notwithstanding serving in the way of following in grace — the Rock that followed was Christ. That is to say, the Rock that follows is Christ, for these types are written for us; these passages were written so as to be gospel texts for the present time, for preachers to have material, means, furnishings, for the announcement of the gospel.
So the first feature of the Rock is here in chapter 17 where it is smitten. Moses was to go and take his rod — not the priestly rod yet, there was no such thing as the priestly rod yet, that is the rod alluded to in Numbers; but this is the rod of Moses, the rod of authority, the rod of God! If that rod were allowed to come upon us sinners, it would be eternal separation from God! It was used in Egypt, it became the symbol in Moses’ hand of the authority of God, and if the authority of God be applied to unrepentant sinners it means eternal separation from God. That is the rod of God! It may be used now in discipline since it has been employed in the smiting of Christ; but primarily it is God against sin, and God against sin means God against the sinner, and there is only one result if God is against the sinner: the sinner has to go down, has to be banished from the presence of God, and lie under the wrath of God, for ever.
[p. 379] But instead of that this wonderful type teaches us that that rod fell upon Jesus. It was carefully thought out. Moses was to take it under great pressure, for the opposition of the people was manifest, they were about to stone him. Such are our hearts in the presence of this divine proposal! Such is the way that God meets the uprising of wickedness in the human heart against Him. He says to Moses, “Take ... of the elders of Israel; and thy rod”. All are to be brought in — the responsible element; no priest is mentioned to go with Moses, it is unmitigated judgment, not against the rebels, but against Christ! Most remarkable, most touching, most appealing — it is against Christ! God says, I will be there, I will stand there upon the Rock; God was there, it was the action of God, it was the judgment of God!
So Moses does as he is told; he does not deviate a hair-breadth from the commandment here, he does it exactly. He smites the rock. God was there, Moses was there, the elders were there; that is to say, there were competent witnesses. God Himself is a witness to the sinner, Christ is a witness, the Holy Spirit is a witness, select servants like the apostles are witnesses; all to the one end that this great transaction occurred. It is, beloved friends, the sufferings of Christ in order that we should drink. Is there one here tonight with a complaining heart against God and against Moses (it usually shows itself against the Lord’s people now)? God would meet your complaint tonight in this way, with abundant testimony that He has visited His wrath not on you or others like you, but on Christ, on the Rock!
I hope to show you the important distinction between this passage and that in Numbers, that it does not say they drank here; the smiting was in order that there should be water. It does not say the water flowed — I do not doubt that the water did flow — but the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures is extremely [p. 380] accurate, and if He is dealing with one thing we have to notice that; if He is directing our attention to one thing, let us not introduce others, let us not miss the point. The point here is that there was smiting, and there can be no gospel without smiting; and that the smiting was in the presence of witnesses, and that it was the smiting of God, it was under His direction and He was present Himself at the Rock. So rebellious hearts must take notice now that this is how God meets rebellion, meets murmuring. Why should you murmur against God, against Christ, and against the people of God? Has God ever done anything against you — really? Since you began to know things in this world, can you cite anything in which God has shown Himself against you? You cannot! Were you observant you would have to cite multitudes of evidences that He is for you, that God is for you This very book brings it out, in the most manifest and striking way, that God said to this same Moses earlier, “I am come down to deliver them”. He had heard their groanings, He had seen their sorrows, and He Himself came down; and then that He bare them on eagles’ wings and brought them to Himself. That is the testimony that God was for them, and for them in the most manifest and powerful way.
Now He shows — it had already been shown in the passover lamb — that He smites His own beloved Son, for the Rock was Christ! It is no fanciful interpretation, there is nothing mystic about it. The Holy Spirit calls this Rock “Christ”, and He is smitten, “smitten of God and afflicted” Isaiah 53:4. God does it Himself, does it with the greatest deliberation, and in the presence of competent witnesses and many of them, so that there should be no doubt about it in our hearts. Is there any unbeliever here? Any unbeliever in the death of Christ? Is there any unbeliever in the judgment of God meted out against Christ? The witnesses are competent and they are [p. 381] many; we are here tonight in order to witness to it, to this great fact that the Rock has been smitten in order that the water should flow.
I want you to take in the idea of the smiting, for many of us are very shallow in professing to believe because we do not believe in the smiting, that is to say, in the unmitigated judgment of God poured out on a feeling Jesus! He was a real man, as real as any, sin apart. He felt physical suffering, but He felt moral suffering. He felt persecutions from men, but when it came to God — God’s judgment unmodified was poured out as He alone could pour it out, upon His beloved Son, when He hid His face from Him — when He cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1 I was speaking about that passage the other evening, and one was touched by it. Some of the standers-by did not hear rightly when the Lord, citing the current Hebrew, cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” Matthew 27:46 They thought He called for Elias. Their hearing was imperfect, and more than imperfect — they thought He called for Elias; He was not calling for Elias. Many hear the gospel in that way, and get nothing out of it. They jeered at Him and persecuted Him, even whilst He was bearing the wrath of God! But there was one man there who did not mishear the Lord’s words, that was the centurion who stood by; the Lord cried twice with a loud voice, and the centurion said, “Truly this man was the Son of God” Mark 15:39. Is that the faith of your heart? He is the Son of God. His voice in death has power in death; no one could cry like that in dying save the Son of God, but He died under the judgment of God, He was forsaken, as it says, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” That is what is so needed in our souls initially, if we are to be feeling christians, if we are to be repenting sinners all our lives, for that is the idea. If we are to be judging ourselves, the flesh and sin in us, we have to discern that Jesus was [p. 382] forsaken, abandoned by God in that hour. That is the thought here, not the drinking so much, but the smiting, for, as I said, the point is the smiting, so that a right foundation might be laid in the believers.
But then there is the other side — Numbers 20 — a very similar transaction, and yet very dissimilar in many respects. The first variation I would notice is that the rod is not the same one as was used at Rephidim; and the second is that there was to be no smiting at all; and the third is that the water actually flowed at the time, and was actually drunk at the time, not only by the people, but by the cattle. Then another variation, and a sorrowful one, in Numbers 20, is that Moses called the people “rebels” that were to drink the water. He called them rebels, and moreover he said, “Shall we bring forth to you water” — we, as if he could do it! Then another variation on the divine side is that there was a priest present on this occasion, Aaron was present. I want to go over these details so that you may see how that it is no longer a question of smiting. The gospel has two parts: it must announce the death of Jesus or there can be no gospel, there must be the death of Jesus under the judgment of God or no gospel, because sin must be dealt with — it would be intolerable to have it in the world that God has in His mind. It will not be there. “The Lamb of God ... takes away the sin of the world” John 1:29 — it cannot be there, it must be removed.
But the other side is that there is a risen, glorified Christ; there is no smiting in that connection. He was “raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” Romans 6:4 — how very different from smiting! The glory! Instead of the rod of God, the forsaking of God, the Father raises the Son by His glory. Language would fail to define what that means, what was involved in that holy transaction of the Father in taking the Son out of the grave; it was a question of [p. 383] His nature, all His affections entered into it! He was robbed of His Son for the moment; now He takes Him out of the grave by His glory, and not only takes Him out but sets Him in heaven. It is a wonderful position — Christ in heaven, and not only Christ in heaven, but the Holy Spirit on earth as sent down by Him. That is another side, the positive side, but we shall not come into the positive side save as we accept the smiting, and that it was due to us, which makes us ever repenting, ever solemn as to the fact of sin and sins, that they had to be dealt with in that way, and they have been dealt with in that way, and they will never be brought up again before me or God. They are dealt with finally, for He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. Romans 4:25 - Romans 5:2 And further, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” Romans 5:5.
Well now, that brings me to Numbers 20. The water flowed and the people drank and their cattle, that is, it is the present moment, and peculiarly so because Moses and Aaron here typify the official class in the ministry; thousands have been hindered because of them. I am not wishing to say one word against these great servants of God personally, but like many others they have to take their place as types, and as types here they represent the official class. If I take the official class in its outstanding feature, I would take Rome. I am not here to traduce the religions around, but simply to help souls; if there is anyone here under the influence of the official class, I want to help you — they do not help you. If it were not for the abounding sovereignty of God at the present time, the water would be shut off from us all by the official class. But God overrules and [p. 384] He causes the water to flow in spite of the official disobedience. Moses was not altogether disobedient, for he did actually take the rod that he was told to take, that is Aaron’s rod — it is called the rod here, as much as to say there is no other, for now we are on the principle of grace not judgment. Smiting is over for the believer, we are on the principle of grace, and it is not now a time of smiting, of judgment, but of speaking to the Rock.
Did you ever speak to Jesus? If there is anybody here with soul trouble, I would ask you, do you ever speak to Jesus about it? “Jesus” is the most touching of His names; it may be lisped by a little child, and yet it is “Jehovah the Saviour” — simple as it seems to be, that is what it means. As it has come down to us it is the essence of simplicity; it may be lisped, as I said, by a little child, and lisped, too, on the principle of faith. Many have confessed the Lord Jesus in very early youth, and the Lord has supported them, for He is Jehovah the Saviour, that is to say, all the power of God is behind that Name for the little child, for He took the little children into His arms, as you know. I believe in ministry for the little children, the Lord certainly ministered to little ones as little ones; they were little ones that He could take up in His arms, and He blessed them.
So that I would urge if there is anyone here with soul trouble — you may not have told it to anyone, any man or woman in this world; but I would include Jesus, you may not have told it to Him! Why not? Numbers 20 refers to the time of speaking, speaking to the Rock. Is there any question in your mind as to the Rock? It is Christ, “the Rock was ... Christ” 1 Corinthians 10:4 — that is what the Spirit of God says. How suitable a passage it is, therefore, for the gospel that you can verily speak to the Rock. Do you speak to Him? Why not do it? The Lord’s ear is open as the Saviour; He is saving people constantly, and on this principle [p. 385] that people speak to Him — by the thousand, people are coming to Him. Why not you? The way is open — speak!
Moses added to that and smote; he falsified the position, and I believe that is what the official class is very largely doing — they are falsifying the position, and we have to be on our guard that we do not allow ourselves to be darkened or hindered by them, but come straight to Jesus Himself. Moses smote the rock, and in spite of that the water flowed, for God is not going to allow the dispensation to be abolished by this official class. It is God’s dispensation. The apostle Paul in writing to Timothy in view of this very official class, that they should not be allowed amongst the people of God, says, “God’s dispensation which is in faith” 1 Timothy 1:4, that is the principle of it; and it is a dispensation, the word really implies that God is dispensing in relation to His house, so that the most favourable conditions exist for the sinner. God is not dealing out through a citadel or a prison, He is dealing out through a system of affection, and that encourages the sinner to come, to ask, to speak, and the needs of the soul are met. God says, I will not allow the official class to abolish My dispensation, it is too great a matter; it cost God too much to establish it to admit of an official class abolishing it. They well-nigh abolished it in the middle ages, but God has set that iron rule aside, and He is causing the waters to flow!
They drank, the people drank and the cattle drank. Have you drunk? Is there anyone here who has not drunk? You are worse off than the cattle! God thinks of cattle; the very last word in the book of Jonah is ‘cattle’, written down by the Spirit of God. I am not saying that cattle are to be saved, but I am saying that God cares for His creation, and the gospel is to be preached to all the creation, and that there is result for God, and the cattle represent [p. 386] that side. They may be unintelligent, but they know how to drink. In fact I think they are much better connoisseurs in that way than men; they know how to drink, you never hear of cattle or pigs or dogs getting drunk, they are discriminative. The people drank and the cattle drank; why should not you?
The water is free and flowing, there is plenty of it — much water. It is not now a question of the smiting, but of the actual flowing of the water and the drinking of it. It is a long period; the smiting was a short period, thank God. Whilst the Lord Jesus hung upon the cross, those three hours of darkness. But the water flowing is a long period. Thank God, we are included in it. How many of us think of it, that God has lengthened out this dispensation so that we should be brought into these things, and drink? As the Lord cried, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, ... saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” John 7:37; and almost the last words in Revelation are, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” Revelation 22:17. “Let him take” — it exists here in this world; not in the world as such, but it exists in certain relations; it is flowing out through believers, the Holy Spirit is here, the river of grace is flowing! Why should you not drink? Why should you be worse off than the cattle? — for really you are far worse off than the cattle. The cattle drank, we are told; it denotes the bountifulness of it, how unrestricted it was; it was there, and mark you, it was there in spite of Moses, and in spite of Aaron!
So we are here tonight in spite of these official elements. God would cause the water of life to flow. Is there anybody here who has decided he will not drink? Is that your resolution? It is a terrible resolution! Others are drinking, even the cattle, as I said, persons whom you might look upon as unintelligent, but they are drinking, and you are not, and you [p. 387] will be left out. Oh! I do urge upon you to look into this matter, and brush away the official class, do not allow them to interfere; God has got the water flowing for you, He wants you to drink. The Lord, as I remarked already, cried about this matter; it is one of His cries, there are about five of them, and this is amongst them. It means the urgency of it, and the power that is in Him in regard to it. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink”.
Well now, the other scripture Exodus 33 — still is Christ. I beg you to bear in mind that these passages are speaking of Christ by the authority of the Spirit of God Himself. So now, after the idea of smiting and the sufferings of Christ, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, and the Spirit of God here to be drunk into, we come now to a fixity as to position, which is, I think, a step further. Moses was on wonderful terms with God in this chapter, I would commend it to every christian here to see the beautiful liberty and confidence marking the relations between God and Moses; but they are not to be compared with the dignity and liberty and confidence that belongs to the christian at the present moment, they are not to be compared. But still, they do furnish a type, and inasmuch as the Rock is Christ, I am entitled to proceed and to point out that in the drinking there is fixity of position. Moses said he would like to see the glory of God. A very normal desire; anyone who has come into the benefits of which I have spoken surely would desire to see the glory, and oh, how much there is to be seen! The glory! Moses wishes to see that, and God would show it to him, but the time for that had not come. But how beautiful it is that the desire was there, in this saint, to see the glory of God, and God says to him, You cannot yet. But it is not so with us; we can see it, “we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from [p. 388] glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit” 2 Corinthians 3:18. Do you ever look at that glory? I am speaking now to christians — the gospel today is generally for persons who are believers, so that they may be real believers, and really enjoy the things that they profess to believe. Moses was really going in for things; many of us do not! He was pursuing, he was pressing on to things. He knew they were there, and he would get all possible. There are no limitations now; there were then, so that Moses is a wonderful example of what I am saying; he would push on to see all possible, and what could be greater than the glory? Now it is in the face of Jesus, then Moses could only see the back parts; now we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. That is what is for us; how many of us have looked into it? “We all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory”. I do not know how that is to end, I cannot say, one glory after another — just as one wave of grace after another comes into the believer’s soul, as John says, “grace upon grace” John 1:16, so one glory after another comes into his view. “From glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”. Well now, how Moses would enjoy that if he were with us tonight! It is written that we might be stimulated in regard of this point.
Then the Lord says to Moses, ‘There is a place by Me’. Did you ever think of that — a place by God for you? It is a question of our position. ‘There is a place by Me’, He says, and what is the place? It is the Rock; you are to stand on the Rock. It is a question now of foundation; hitherto it has been drinking, now it is solid ground and where is the solid ground? By God; it is in very nearness to God. May I encourage you here, christians and all, to think of this — “There is a place by me”, God says, “there shalt thou stand on the rock”. Let me invite you, in the spirit in which this scripture is written, to [p. 389] draw near and stand on that solid ground, on the Rock.
Now a foundation is a fixed position in nearness to God, and not only that, but God says, ‘I will put you into it’. I am coming on now to an advanced position as taught in Romans, what it is to be in Christ. Did you ever think of that? It is beautifully interwoven in the epistle to the Romans. “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ” Romans 6:11. That is the position, God puts you in that. How blessed is that position, how safe! How much could be said about it! God has put us into Christ — God did it. It may be our faith is little, but begin by reckoning that you are in it, and presently you will enter into it in the power of the Spirit; so that you reckon you are in that position, in Christ, and go further and say that you are in Christ in heaven. “God ... has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6. That is brought out in Ephesians in connection with the gospel, mark you! That is what I call the gospel of place, that God not only delivers us from this world but He gives us a new place, a place in Christ, and a place in heaven, too. He put Moses into Christ (I may as well use the word ‘Christ’ as ‘Rock’ — the Rock is Christ). Moses is put into Christ figuratively — not another piece of rock put over, but God’s own hand, the hand of care and protection. The hand is the touch of love, “I ... will cover thee with my hand, until I have passed by”.
But the type fails, for now it is all a question of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. I wish to specially urge the idea of place — a place by God, and the position in Christ, so that we are no longer in Adam, we are in Christ, we have a place outside the world altogether; we have a new status, and God has put us there, He has put us in Christ.
[p. 390] May God bless these thoughts to us; they involve a full gospel, so that we may not only be saved from the judgment to come, but that we may be in fixity. God has put us into Christ, and “there is then now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1.