Episode 8- The Rock of Our Salvation

So excited you're here! We have readings from all throughout scripture to reflect on throughout the week. The main chunk of our story is going to be in Exodus chapter 16 & 17 as well as Numbers chapter 20: 1-13. Our supplemental verses will be found in 1 Corinthians 10:3, Hebrews 10:11, Matthew 18:6, John 1:17, and James 2: 17 & 26. Thank you for listening! 

Transcript

0:08

Hello and welcome to the Full Armor of God podcast. My name is Taylor, and I will be your host. I am so excited about today's message because we are talking about Christ as the rock of our salvation. And this story that we're focusing on today is when Moses strikes the rock in the Old Testament. The New Testament is revealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. It all connects, and we're going to be connecting some crazy dots today. For our readings today, our story is going to take place in Exodus chapters 16 and 17 and Numbers chapter 20. I encourage you to go and read these full chapters so that you can get like a full picture and the full background. But we're going to pick apart this story today. And then we're connecting the Old Testament to the New. And our New Testament readings are going to come from 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the book of John, the book of Matthew, and the Book of James. I'm going to put all of these verses in the notes. As always, I encourage you to read along with me as we go. But if you don't have the chance to, no worries. You can pop back into the Word throughout this week. I encourage you to read these verses and read these chapters. This is just an incredible story. And when we see it all come together, we really see God's hand on everything. It is so stinking cool. It is just out of this world. All right, let's jump right in. So where we left off last with Moses' story was Passover in Egypt, when Pharaoh said, like, that's it. This was the last straw. You guys gotta get out. That was the last thing that pushed the Israelites out of Egypt, out of slavery. And then what happens after that is it just an incredible thing. I encourage you to read it. It's Exodus chapters 13 and 14. And this is the incredible, amazing, one-of-a-kind story where God parts the sea and the Israelites walk through it. It's just, it's too good to not read it. We are gonna pick it up in Exodus chapter 16. The Israelite community is in the desert, and throughout their desert wanderings, they tend to get a little whiny, which I totally understand because they're tired, they're hungry, they're in the desert. It's probably not that comfortable. But they just came from the land of Egypt, where they were being brutally enslaved. Their children were being thrown into the Nile. So they've not only been set free from Pharaoh and the rule of the Egyptians, but they also got to witness God's power firsthand. They got to see the ten plagues of Egypt firsthand and how they were taken care of. And every time that one of those plays happened, God told Pharaoh, This is going to happen, so that you will know that I am the Lord God, I am the one true God, I am the I am. The Israelites should have seen that, could have seen that. They did see that. And I feel like they would have had this thought of like, yes, our God is on our side. He is for us, he is with us, he's got us. And they would hold on to that feeling, going into the wilderness with him leading them, being so confident and so secure in their God, who just brought them out of the worst of the worst circumstances. Just whatever comes next, he is for us, he is with us. But this is where rubber meets the road. It's where their sandals meet the sand in the desert. They are wandering and their faith is being put to the test on the 15th day of the second month after they'd come out of Egypt. Second month. They were literally just free. In verse 2, Exodus chapter 16, it says, In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt, there we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us into the desert to starve this entire assembly to death. So Moses goes to meet with the Lord, and he tells them, These people, they're not grumbling against me. They're grumbling against you, they're complaining against you. And God says, I know, I'm gonna provide bread from heaven every day, and I'm going to provide quail for them as meat, and the quail are going to cover the ground. They're not even going to be able to eat all of this meat that I'm about to send them. God still takes care of them at every turn, despite their grumbling against him. He proved to them in Egypt, he actually proved to everyone in Egypt that he is the one true God and that he is merciful and he is loving. And now when he's in the wilderness with him, he's not left them, he's not abandoned them, he's still with them, but their eyes are on the desert, their eyes are not on him, who provides for them, who protects them, who leads them, who loves them. Their eyes are on the problem and they're making the problem bigger than their God, who is very clearly bigger and more powerful than anything else standing in front of them. This is just a quick reminder for anyone who maybe just a couple of months ago, you were freed from your sin. Maybe just a couple of months ago, you were able to finally walk away from the thing that was holding you down. Maybe a couple months ago, you surrendered every area of your life to Christ. And now it feels like, okay, God, where are we going? What are we doing here? I feel like you're not with me. What am I supposed to do? The invitation here is to trust him and to continually look back on what he has done in our lives, how he provided for us then, and how he is going to provide for us now, just like he does for the Israelites, despite their grumbling against him. So the story continues, chapter 17. The Israelites set out again and they camped on a place with no water to drink. So they start complaining to Moses again. In verse 2, 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? But the people were thirsty for water there and they grumbled against Moses. They said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? Then Moses cried out to the Lord, What am I to do with these people? They're almost ready to stone me. Moses is saying, Why are you putting the Lord to the test? Hello. Did you not remember what we just did in Egypt? Do you not remember what just happened in the last place we camped out? Where he brought you more bread and more meat than you could eat? Chapter 17, verse 5. The Lord answered Moses, Go out in front 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. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will come out of it for the people to drink. So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. The rock is struck, water flows, all those who drink of it are kept alive. They're given life once again. They feel revived, they're finally refreshed. Now we're gonna fast forward to Paul's letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament, where he reveals that the rock in this story is Christ himself. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 3, Paul writes, they all ate the same spiritual food, the manna, and drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. So Jesus is the rock, and he was struck once for our sins, once and for all. This is so significant. God tells Moses, Go before the rock. I will stand before you, and you will strike the rock with the same staff that you struck the Nile with and performed all those signs. I'm going to be performing this sign and this wonder by you, through you, but you are going to strike the rock. This is foreshadowing Jesus Christ as the rock, being struck once for all the sins of mankind forever. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 11, it says day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again. But when this priest, Jesus Christ, had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. The rock was supposed to be struck by design, foreshadowing the coming Messiah, Jesus, who would be struck once by the wrath of God for the sins of mankind. And through that, man would experience new life and spiritual renewal and freedom. Think of that living water flowing from the rock. But it was only supposed to be struck once. Keep this in mind. So the story continues. The Israelites are still wandering in the desert. Now they're not just wandering aimlessly, even though it might seem like it when you're reading that. But the Lord is shaping the Israelites in the wilderness. He is showing them, one, who he is, two, who he's created them to be, and three, he's teaching them how to be set apart. He's teaching them how to follow him, how to worship him, and how to live in a world that doesn't necessarily follow him, like how to stay set apart when they enter the promised land, which they're being prepared for right now in the wilderness, how to stay set apart in the promised land when they're going to be living amongst people who do not follow the Lord because they just came from living in Egypt, where they were supposed to stay true to God, their one true king. However, they were surrounded by all of these false deities. They were surrounded by so many other thoughts and opinions and movements, and they did not stay true to the Lord. There were all these like practices that kind of weave their way into the Israelite community, and they ended up losing sight of who the one true God was. So God is showing them in the wilderness, this is who I am. I am still with you, I am still for you, and he's still shaping them, which means there are tests going on throughout the wilderness. So there is a lot that happens between Exodus chapter 17 and Numbers chapter 20, where we're picking up. There's quite a few years between the first striking of the rock and the second striking of the rock, which is what we're reading in Numbers. In between those two things, this is the whole book of Leviticus. If you haven't read Leviticus, I encourage you to do so. It is a challenging book, but it is an integral part of biblical history, and it does help set us up to understand and connect the dots a little bit better when we read the New Testament. It just kind of refers back and it all connects. So we're going to make some connections here. Numbers chapter 20. The Israelites are complaining to Moses once again, saying, There is nothing here, there's no food, there's no water. Egypt was better. We were slaves, but we should have just stayed in Egypt. Why did you take us out altogether? In verse 5, the Israelites are saying to Moses, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grains or figs, grapevines or pomegranates, and there's no water to drink. So Aaron and Moses go before the Lord. And in verse 7, the Lord said to Moses, 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 we just read in Exodus 17, God tells Moses to strike the rock. And we talked about why. In Numbers chapter 20, the Lord tells Moses to speak to the rock this time. He does not instruct him to strike it, but Moses, in his frustration, ends up striking the rock twice. It says Moses in verse 9 took the staff from the Lord's presence just as he commanded him. 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? You can hear Moses' frustration. Verse 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 frustration is definitely understandable, but there's a consequence to what Moses did. It continues in verse 12. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. He's telling Moses that he didn't represent the Lord well. He didn't honor the Lord as holy in front of everyone, and he didn't follow God's command to speak to the rock. Instead, out of frustration, he struck it. There are two things that I want to point out here. One, since our rock, Jesus Christ, has already been struck for us, all we have to do is speak to him. The first time the rock was struck, and it was by design, he was supposed to be struck once for all of mankind, forever. And then after that, there is no sin that can separate us from him. There is nothing that can separate us from him. And all we have to do is come to him. There is no sacrifice to be made on the altar. There is no incense to burn. Like there's nothing that can come between us and him. He is completely accessible to us at all times. All we have to do is speak to him. The Lord delights in us coming to him for anything, for everything. And Moses' story highlights how important it is to represent the Lord as an ambassador of Christ. If we lead others to believe that they need to perform works or get all their ducks in a row before coming to the Lord, instead of coming under the sacrifice that Jesus has already made, that Jesus has already paid, this is a misrepresentation of God's salvation, of his mercy, of the great exchange. Another way of saying it is if we imply that God is impatient or spiteful, instead of loving, patient, kind, we misrepresent the Lord. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. He was struck for our sins once and for all. And all we need to do is speak to him. That's such good news. You'll find that the Lord always has time for you. And he loves you so much more than you know. Even though Moses did not follow the Lord's instructions, the water still flowed to meet the people's needs. We don't need perfection. God doesn't ask us for perfection or striving. We just need him. He just invites us to come to him. The second thing I want to touch on at the end is that Moses didn't enter the promised land. This is huge and it's very symbolic. Moses disobeyed the Lord. Yes. God told them, You didn't trust me enough to honor me as holy in front of the assembly. I told you to gather everyone there so that you could show them all you have to do is speak to the rock. And that was a hundred percent foreshadowing what Jesus was going to do and the sacrifice that he was going to pay and the outcome that it was going to have for us who believe in him. It's so good. If you think about Moses and you read through Exodus, through Leviticus, through Numbers, Moses is the most faithful guy. He is the one who prays on behalf of the Israelites so many times when they are completely turned away from God. Moses is the one going to God and saying, please don't turn away from us. Please don't leave us. We're nothing without you. We can't do this without you. And when we read this for the first time, we can say, dang, Moses was the best guy out of all of them. He followed all the rules. He did all the things. He led all of the people, even when they weren't faithful. He spoke face to face with God. He was friends. He had a personal relationship with the Lord. But he messed up once and he didn't get to go into the promised land. There is a much deeper meaning here. Yes, leaders have a responsibility. They are held to a higher standard. In Matthew chapter 18, verse 6, Jesus says, if anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. The leaders have a higher standard. The leaders have a greater responsibility when they aren't teaching. And the little ones in this scenario is not necessarily just children. It can be someone new in their faith. It's not necessarily a child. It would be better for them to have a millstone hung around their neck. That is a stark picture. That is a high standard for anyone who is teaching the word of God, for anyone who is representing the Lord, for anyone who is an ambassador of Christ. That is important for us to keep in mind as we teach others, as we share the gospel, as we share more of the Lord. It's representing him as he deserves to be represented, reflecting his goodness, his kindness, his love, his mercy, his grace, all of those things, and obeying what he calls us to do. Now, Moses not entering the promised land. Yes, this was a punishment, and it really was showing like leaders are held to a super high standard, but there's something deeper here. It's not just a you messed up once, you don't get to go to the promised land kind of thing. It is foreshadowing Jesus. Once again, it all circles back to Jesus. It's so good. Moses is the one who led Israel out of Egypt. He led the Israelites across the desert for 40 years and he died at the border of the promised land. After everything, all of that, all of that work, he didn't enter. We're gonna take a look at John chapter 1 in verse 17. It says, For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Moses represents the law. Elijah, who we're gonna talk about later, represents the prophets. The law can show you the promised land, it can bring you to the border, it can describe what's on the other side. God takes Moses to the top of a mountain and he gets to see the promised land. He gets to view it from the top. He sees the bird's eye view and it's oh, it's God's promise. It's right there. I can see it with my own eyes, but he doesn't enter into it. And the law can show you all the things that God has promised for you. But it cannot take you in. No amount of obedience or good deeds can get you across to the promised land. Moses was the most faithful of all the Israelites, but he couldn't enter. So who led them into the promised land? If you know this story, which we are gonna talk about this story, the successor of Moses was Joshua. God tells him, You are not going to enter the promised land. You are going to raise up someone after you, one of the Israelites following you, who will be the one to lead them. And he's going to learn from you and be your successor until it is time for the Israelites to enter the promised land, and you will pass away, and he is going to be the one to lead them. That person that was chosen by God very specifically to lead the Israelites into the promised land in Moses' place. His name was Joshua. The Hebrew name for Joshua is Yeshua. Yeshua is another name for Jesus. The one who ushered the people into the promised land carried the name of Jesus. The law shows you the promised land. Moses brings you to the border, but only Jesus walks you into it. We can't be good enough for what only grace can give. John says the law was given through Moses, but the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a works-based faith. There is no amount of work or earning that we could do to earn the love of Christ, to earn the salvation that Christ gives. It is a free gift for us to humbly receive. I think James talks about this really well because when the early church began, the old laws were not abolished, they were fulfilled. Those who are following Christ knew what his sacrifice meant. And the thought was, okay, well, then I guess all of those laws from Leviticus, from Numbers, don't make a difference anymore. And we don't have to do them. But James is saying, no, we still have a moral code to live by. We still have work to do. The work is just a representation of our faith. The work is one of the ways in which we show our faith on the outside to others. Because there was this line of thinking, like, if Jesus forgives me, then I'm just going to do whatever I want because he's going to keep forgiving me. His forgiveness and his love never ends. So I can just kind of do whatever. But James brilliantly points out in the book of James, chapter two, verse 17, he says, in the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. So not works alone and not faith alone, but faith and works together. In verse 26, James says, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. It doesn't mean we throw caution to the wind. There is still work to be done. He does forgive us, always, forever, for everything. But that perfect, incredible, amazing gospel news should be transforming us from the inside out. To want to be a part of his kingdom come here on earth. We could say that those deeds that we do are not a means of earning our salvation because we cannot earn it. But those deeds are kind of like the fruit of the spirit that we talked about. It's just what comes up in us naturally by being rooted in Christ. It's like the natural reflex that we get by being rooted in Christ. We have more patience for others. We have more kindness for others. We have more love for others. All of those fruits of the Spirit are what the Lord grows in us as we are connected to Him. The deeds are a showing of our faith on the outside, not necessary for salvation, but a natural result of our faith working from the inside out. Our God is so good. He is always with us. Just like when he was with the Israelites in their desert wanderings, even when we can't see him, he is working on our behalf. He hears all of our prayers and he answers every single one of them. He is so good. And our love from him cannot be earned. It can only be received. That's why he invites us to come and speak to the rock to receive the waters, to receive our salvation. Just come to him and speak to him. That's all it takes. That connection to the vine, that speaking to the rock, he is so good. I know we were all over scripture today. Thank you so much for sticking with me through it. It is so exciting to see God's word in action. It is alive, it is active, and it is still speaking. I hope this was an encouraging message and that you heard the Lord speaking to your heart today. I pray that you would experience Jesus like the waters that flowed from the rock. He will fill you, he will refresh you, and your joy will be overflowing. God's got you, friends. I'll be praying for you as always. I can't wait to see you next week. God bless.