Message 40
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 17:1-7; Num. 20:1-13; 1 Cor. 10:1-4
Having already covered the heavenly manna in chapter sixteen, we come in this message to the living water out of the smitten rock (17:1-7).
We need to pay attention to the sequence of events in chapters sixteen and seventeen. In chapter sixteen we have a clear picture of manna, and in chapter seventeen, the record of the living water flowing out of the smitten rock. This sequence is not accidental; it is according to the Lord’s sovereignty. The same sequence is found in John 6 and 7. In John 6 we read of the heavenly manna, and in John 7, of the living water. This is a further indication that the sequence of the manna and the living water is according to God’s sovereign arrangement.
In His work of creation God prepared the rock spoken of in Exodus 17 and placed it in exactly the right spot geographically. When the children of Israel came to that place, the rock was waiting for them. In chapter seventeen we are not told that Moses was commanded to look for a rock or to bring a rock to the people. Rather, there is the clear indication that the rock was already there. Just as God had prepared the Red Sea to serve as a baptistry for the children of Israel, so He had prepared a rock, probably a very large one, to serve as a type of Christ in chapter seventeen.
After God created man, He placed him in a garden with the tree of life and a flowing river. The tree of life corresponds to manna, which satisfies man’s hunger, and the flowing river corresponds to the living water, which quenches man’s thirst. In Genesis 2 the tree of life is mentioned before the river. But in Revelation 22, the river of water of life is mentioned before the tree of life. According to Revelation 22:1 and 2, the tree of life grows in the river. Why does Genesis speak first of the tree of life and then of the river, whereas in Revelation 22 the order is reversed? In the beginning stage the tree of life is followed by the river, but in the ongoing stage the tree of life grows in the flowing river.
This is a picture of our spiritual experience. When we first heard the gospel, we received God’s word. To receive the word is to receive manna. After we received the word, the Spirit began to flow in us like a river. This was the sequence at the beginning of the experience of salvation. Now as we go on in spiritual experience, the Spirit as a flowing river brings us the supply of the word, the manna. At the beginning of our Christian experience we have first the word and then the Spirit, first the manna and then the living water. But as our experience of salvation continues, the order is changed, and the Spirit supplies us with the word. Psalm 36:8 says, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” This verse refers to the initial stage of the experience of God’s salvation. Here the fatness of God’s house (the word) precedes the drinking of the river of God’s pleasures (the Spirit).
It is significant that the children of Israel had the experience of living water recorded in chapter seventeen after they had begun to eat manna. Immediately after they began to partake of manna, they were led to a place where there was no supply of water. Far from being accidental, this sequence of events took place according to God’s sovereign arrangement. This sequence is part of the accurate and complete picture of God’s full salvation presented in Exodus. As we have pointed out again and again, Exodus is a book of pictures portraying God’s salvation. As we consider these pictures, we need to worship God for His sovereignty. In His creation He made the necessary preparations. Then, at the proper time, He led His people into the place where the rock was waiting for them.
In 17:1 we read that the children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord. They did not travel according to their own opinion or choice. The commandment of the Lord was no doubt related to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, by which the people were led in their journeys. The pillar signifies the Lord Himself, who took the lead and guided the people on their way. There was no need for God to tell the people when to move or where to go. They simply had to follow the pillar. Day and night, a tall pillar stood between heaven and earth. By day the pillar had the appearance of a cloud; by night it had the appearance of fire. In 13:22 we are told that the Lord “took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.” According to Numbers 9:17 and 18, “when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of Jehovah the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of Jehovah they pitched” (Heb.). This indicates that the commandment of the Lord is related to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. Whenever the pillar moved, either by day or by night, the children of Israel journeyed. Thus, through the pillar God silently commanded the people concerning their travels.
In leaving the place where they first ate manna, the children of Israel simply followed the Lord’s leading. They did not move according to their preference, and they did not know where they were going. They just followed the pillar as it led them to a dry place, a place where there was no supply of water, but where there was a huge rock. Here in this place God’s people were to experience His salvation.
When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they saw God’s almighty power displayed in the plagues brought upon the Egyptians miraculously by divine intervention. Furthermore, they experienced the Passover and the exodus, through which they were delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny. Having made their exodus from Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea. In the words of 14:22, “the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” Then, at Marah, God’s people experienced the changing of the bitter water into sweet water. Passing on from Marah to Elim, they experienced the seventy palm trees growing and the twelve springs of water flowing. After this, in chapter sixteen, they partook of manna as the Lord’s provision. In a short period of time, the children of Israel had seven outstanding experiences: the plagues in Egypt, the Passover, the exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea, the changing of bitter water into sweet, the seventy palm trees and the twelve springs, and the heavenly manna. If we consider our spiritual history, we shall realize that we also have had these basic experiences.
After the seventh experience, the experience of the heavenly manna, the pillar led the children of Israel into a place where they would have still another experience — the experience of the living water. This indicates that even after we have experienced Christ as our manna, we still need to experience Him as our living water. In both spiritual life and physical life we need to drink as well as eat. We cannot live without drinking. Thirst is even more serious than hunger, for a person will die of thirst sooner than of hunger. As we eat our food, we need something to drink. We also need to drink at other times during the day. Although we need to eat and to drink, drinking is more necessary than eating. Hence, in a sense, the living water flowing from the smitten rock is more crucial than manna.
Drinking is also necessary for proper digestion. If we eat solid food without ever drinking any fluid, our stomach will not be able to digest our food. For the digestion and assimilation of food, water is necessary. The same principle applies when unbelievers respond to the preaching of the gospel and open to receive the Lord. If they take in the word of the gospel without experiencing the Spirit, they will not be able to digest the word. After receiving the word, they need to experience the Spirit to help in the digestion of the word.
An important difference between manna and the water from the rock is that the manna does not present as clear a picture of the death of Christ as does the water. This does not mean, however, that Christ’s death is not indicated in the experience of manna. In chapter sixteen we are told that the manna was ground and beaten. Grinding and beating portray the death of Christ. In order to be our food, Christ had to suffer death. But this picture of Christ’s death is not as clear as that of the smiting of the rock to release the flow of the living water. The smiting of the rock is a clear, complete, and full picture of Christ’s crucifixion.
Although it is rather easy to grind coriander seed, it is difficult to smite a rock so that it splits open. It is one thing to beat manna with a mortar, but it is quite another thing to cause a huge rock to be cleft. The Lord told Moses to use his rod to “smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink” (17:6). We need to pay careful attention to the fact that the rock was smitten by the rod of Moses. In typology, Moses signifies the law, and the rod represents the power and authority of the law. The rock, of course, typifies Christ. The smiting of the rock by the rod signifies that Christ was smitten by the authority of God’s law. In the eyes of God, the Lord Jesus was put to death, not by the Jews, but by the law of God. During the first three hours of His crucifixion, Christ suffered under the hand of man. But during the last three hours, Christ suffered because He was smitten by the power of God’s law.
In many places the Bible tells us that God is our rock. Deuteronomy 32:18 refers to God as the rock who begot us. This indicates that as our rock God is our Father. This rock is a begetting rock, full of life. In 2 Samuel 22:47 and Psalm 95:1 we see that God is the rock of our salvation. Furthermore, this rock is our strength (Psa. 62:7) and our refuge (Psa. 94:22). This rock is our hiding place, protection, covering, and safeguard. Isaiah 32:2 speaks of the Lord as “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” When we are weary, we can rest under the shadow cast by this rock and be refreshed. This rock, which was waiting in a dry place for God’s people, has been smitten so the people may have living water to drink.
The water flowing out of the smitten rock typifies the Spirit. John 7:37 and 38 say, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” This word was uttered on the last day of the feast of tabernacles. John 7:39 goes on to say, “But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive.” This indicates clearly that the flowing water signifies the Spirit.
Many years ago I read an article which said that in Jerusalem in ancient times, when the Israelites celebrated the feast of tabernacles, they set up a rock. According to this article, over the rock waters were flowing as a reminder that the forefathers of the Jews had wandered in the wilderness and had drunk of the waters which flowed out of the smitten rock. Near the rock there also may have been tents showing that the forefathers lived in tents and wandered in the wilderness, but had the smitten rock with the living water to quench their thirst. Such a picture may have literally been in the background when the Lord Jesus stood up to call the thirsty ones to come to Him and drink.
Another reference to flowing water is in John 19:34. Here we are told that after the Lord had died on the cross, “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” This was prefigured by the water flowing out of the smitten rock.
Paul speaks of the water from the smitten rock in 1 Corinthians 10:4, where he says that the children of Israel “all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” Paul boldly tells us that the rock followed God’s people in their journey through the wilderness. Whenever the children of Israel journeyed, the rock went with them.
I have spent a good deal of time to find out what ground Paul had to say that the rock went with the children of Israel through the wilderness. All I have been able to find is a hint in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. In Exodus 17 the rock was in one place, toward the south, in the wilderness of Sin. But in Numbers 20 the rock was in Kadesh, toward the north, in the wilderness of Zin. Because there was quarreling at both places, the same name — Meribah — was used on both occasions. The rock that was smitten in the south eventually appeared with the children of Israel in the north. Furthermore, the record in Numbers 20 describes an incident that took place approximately thirty-eight years later than what is recorded in Exodus 17. With these facts as his basis, Paul could say that the rock followed the children of Israel.
We need to believe Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 10:4. Otherwise, we are short of faith. Instead of placing so much trust in science, we should trust the word of the Bible. The concepts of science may change, for they are altogether devoid of divine revelation, but God’s word never changes. According to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 10:4, the rock followed the children of Israel all the way from Horeb to Kadesh.
We have pointed out that this rock is a begetting rock and that it is also our salvation, refuge, strength, rest, and refreshment. This rock is truly everything to us. Through incarnation, Christ came to earth as the rock. At Calvary, the appointed place, He was crucified, smitten by God’s law with its power and authority. His side was cleft, and living water flowed forth. This living water is the Spirit, the ultimate issue of the Triune God.
This is not our interpretation of 17:1-6; it is the interpretation presented by the Bible itself. When we put together various verses like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, we see a picture showing the significance of the smiting of the rock by the rod of Moses. This picture reveals that Christ is the rock who begets us. He is the rock of our salvation, refuge, strength, and rest. Having been smitten by the power of God’s righteous law, He was cleft, and living water came forth for us to drink. The living water is the Spirit as the ultimate issue of the Triune God. This water quenches our thirst and fully satisfies our being. This is the proper understanding of the picture portrayed in 17:1-6.
