Jesus In Exodus

Chapter 17   The Smitten Rock

· Exodus 17:1-3 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"

One would think that after the experience they had at Marah with the water situation that they would have more confidence in God and look to Him to meet their needs. But no. They are faced again with a testing of their faith in God. They have no water and they begin to complain again to Moses. Moses chides them, wondering why they are testing God. God knew that there was no water at Rephidim, yet He led them to this place, because He was testing their faith.

· Exodus 17:4-6 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." 5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Instead of replying in anger to the Israelites, Moses turned to God. This is a good example for us. He asked God what he should do rather than relying on his own judgment.

We have here in what follows, a beautiful type of Jesus. To validate this claim lets look at:

· 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

The first thing for us to notice in this passage is that the rock was smitten. This of course speaks of the death of Jesus. And we should note the order of the typical teaching in chapters 16 and 17. In 16 we have pictured the incarnation of Jesus; that is, He was the manna that came down from heaven for His people to feed upon. He became the Bread of Life. But the Divine judgment fell on Him and He was smitten on the cross and thereby became the Water of Life, the Living Water.

Now there are some further details that we should not let slip past us. First, the rock was to be smitten by the rod of Moses. The rod, or staff, in the hands of Moses has been a symbol of judgment. When he cast it to the ground it became a serpent, a reminder of the curse. With his staff the Nile was turned to blood, and so on. Second, only the elders of Israel witnessed the smiting of the rock. this emphasizes the governmental character of what was being foreshadowed. Third, God Himself stood by the rock while it was being smitten. Here we see a portrayal of our Substitute being smitten by the rod of Divine justice, held in the hand of the Father of the universe.

Out of the rock flowed water. This is a typical picture of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember that the Scriptures tells us that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out! The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was a consequence of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Interesting are the verses in John.

· John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

There is no such thing as a believer in Jesus as Lord and Savior, who has not received the Holy Spirit.

Much of the importance of this type would pass unappreciated if we did not notice the occasion when the stream of living water gushed from the smitten rock. Israel was murmuring and complaining. They were ready to stone Moses and they were filled with unbelief. The giving of the water then was God acting according to His grace. Not until the rock was smitten did the water flow. And not until Jesus had been bruised by God was the Gospel of His grace available to all people.

One further comment is necessary.

· Numbers 20:7-8 The LORD said to Moses, 8 "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

What is recorded here in Numbers occurred forty years later. And almost everything here is in sharp contrast to what we are seeing in Exodus. The rock in Exodus is referring to Jesus on the cross; the rock in Numbers pictures Jesus, the exalted Jesus on high. Next, we notice that Moses was told not to strike the rock but to speak to it. In Exodus the rock was smitten before the elders of Israel; in Numbers Moses is to speak to the rock before the whole assembly of people.

So an interesting interpretation of the Numbers passage tells us that the rock was not to be smitten a second time, for Jesus died once for sinners and death has no more authority over Him. But sad is the sequel.

· Numbers 20:9-11 So Moses took the staff from the LORD's presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

The rock must not be smitten a second time, for that would spoil the type. Here this great man of God, Moses, fails. He was now angry and instead of speaking to the rock he strikes it, not once but twice. But notice that though Moses disobeyed God, the water flowed anyway. Sometimes, even though man’s methods are not the same as God’s, God gives the blessing anyway.

The experiences of Israel in the wilderness were a series of real testings of their faith. Now we are to see another aspect of the Christian life strikingly set forth. Israel was called upon to do some fighting. And it becomes important for us to see the occasion of this fighting and the stage of Israel’s history in which it occurred.

The order of these events shows us the presence of God’s hand in these matters. We have just seen the smitten rock from which water flowed and of which the people drank. This typified the death of Jesus on the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit. But after the Spirit comes into our lives we experience a strange conflict between the spirit and the flesh.

The typical scene before us is of great practical importance. Many have been taught that when a sinner receives Jesus as Savior, that God will change his heart from then on he will be a complete victor over sin. But the Bible does not teach this. God does not change anything. But something new is created. The Christian is one who has been born again and the new birth is neither the removal of anything from man nor the changing of anything within him but the imparting of something new to him. The new birth is the reception of a new nature. This new nature is created by the Holy Spirit.

This helps to explain.

· John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

The “water” is symbolic of the pure Word of God. When the new nature is communicated by God to the one born again, the sinful nature remains, and remains unchanged until death when it will be destroyed. That is when the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

In the Christian then there are two natures; one sinful, the other sinless; one born of the flesh, the other born of the Spirit of God. These are opposed to each other.

The two natures in the Christian are illustrated in the life of Abraham. He had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael represents that which is “born of the flesh”, and Isaac represents that which is “born of the Spirit”. Ishmael was born according to the natural, or common order of nature. Isaac was not. He was born as a result of a miracle. God supernaturally enabled Abraham and Sarah to bear a child. But when the second child was born there was conflict in the family.

The two natures of the Christian are also illustrated in the life of Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob had two names: one which he received from his earthly parents and one he received from God. God called him “Israel”. From that point on the history of Jacob-Israel is a series of strange paradoxes. His life exhibited a dual personality. One moment we see him trusting God and the next we see his evil heart at work. In Genesis we should notice that sometimes the Spirit refers to him as “Jacob” and at other times “Israel”. When “Jacob” is referred to it is the activities of the old nature; when “Israel” is mentioned it is the fruit of the new nature. Let’s look at the closing words about him.

· Genesis 49:33, When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Now notice:

· Genesis 50:1-3, Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, 3 taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

At death only the new nature is preserved.

Now a question for you: Has God not made provision for the Christian to walk in the Spirit so that we will not give in to the lust of the flesh? Well, of course He has. Let’s see if we can read that from the following passages in this chapter.

· Exodus 17:8-13 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands." 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Why do you suppose the Amalekites attacked Israel? Well, what has just happened before this passage? Answer- Water had come from the rock. The possession of water was frequently the source of conflict in those days. Not much has changed!

“Amalek” means “warlike”, an appropriate name for those whose lusts are always against the soul. The Holy Spirit calls our attention to the time when this occurred. It was when Moses struck the rock and the waters came forth. Then for the first time Israel was called upon to fight. They had done no fighting in Egypt when they were in bondage. But now that that which typifies the Holy Spirit has been given, their warfare begins. It was that which typifies the Holy Spirit that caused the Amalekites to attack Israel.

It is not until the Christian has been made a partaker of the new nature that the inner conflict begins. Until the Holy Spirit begins to shed light into our sinful hearts, we don’t realize the power of evil within us. The unregenerate man is entirely under the domination of the flesh. But as soon as we receive the new nature the conflict begins.

Did you notice that it was not the Israelites who attacked the Amalekites, but the Amalekites who attacked Israel? The Devil delights in robbing the believers of their joy, and works on the flesh nature to attack us.

· Galatians 5:16-17, So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

It is evident that the actions of Moses and Joshua point to the provisions God has made for us to combat the flesh.

· The first thing to observe here is that Israel’s success against the Amalekites was determined by the uplifted hands of Moses. The uplifted hand is symbolic of prayer.

· Second, see that Moses’ hands grew tired. How easy is it for us to get tired as we pray. As soon as we lose the spirit of depending on God, the flesh gets tired.

· Third, Moses was not left to himself. Aaron and Hur were with him. Aaron was head of Israel’s priesthood, and this speaks of our dependence on our great High Priest. “Hur” means “light”, the emblem of God’s holiness, so this points us to the Holy Spirit. The symbolism here shows that we are supported in both heaven and earth. Jesus who sits at the right hand of God in heaven intercedes for us and the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities when we do not know how to pray. He makes intercession for us in our daily lives on earth.

· Fourth, in verse 13 the “sword” points to the Scriptures. It is not by prayer alone that we fight against the flesh. The Word is also needed.

· Finally, notice that Amalek was not completely destroyed and defeated. We read only that Joshua overcame him. It is very important to understand the type here. There is no way of destroying or eradicating the evil nature in us. Though we grow into spiritual maturity, we continue to live with the old nature. And as we grow spiritually the more we defeat day to day the darts of Satan that are continually aimed at us.

· Exodus 17:14-16 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." 15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16 He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

There are several interesting things in these few verses. We have already mentioned the occasion in Numbers 20 where Moses is told by God to “speak” to the rock and in anger he “strikes” the rock, and because of his disobedience God will not let him enter the Promised Land. So notice that Moses is told to make sure that Joshua hears what is written on the scroll. This is just a hint that Joshua needed to know what was on the scroll because he was the one to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.

In promising to blot out the memory of Amalek we see the anticipation of God’s final victory over Amalek, which as we have said earlier, is a type of Satan. Now the next time you see people in a worship service raising their hands, remember this scene from the Exodus where Moses lifted up his hands during the battle with Amalek as directed by God. Do not be offended by this gesture. It is called “lifting up holy hands to God”. And why did Moses lift up his hands? He lifted his hands to the throne of God in praise of the God who had obviously controlled the battle so long as Moses obeyed Him.