The Great Rock of Horeb!
Like Manna in the Wilderness, truth lies scattered about the
camp of all who search the Scriptures and bother to gather it in daily. The
Children have traveled from Egypt and the Wilderness of Sin enroute to Sinai,
the Mount of the giving of the Law. Just as a pot of Manna was placed in the
Ark, alongside the Tables of Commandments, so, too, are grace and law kept in
balance to complement one another in the Kingdom of God. Horeb means ‘desert;’
but is also sometimes used to refer to Sinai. The Law, in its deepest meaning,
is pure grace though to our meager understanding and obedience, it has become a
curse. Have you ever considered that you were saved through the provisions of
the Law – and that such salvation was a means of Grace and Law combined? How
so, you may ask?
God gave the Law at Sinai, and man could not keep that law
or satisfy its demands. The Manna (Bread of Heaven) and the Water of Life (from
the Rock of Horeb) were given as a contrast to the inviolate law of God at
Sinai as an expression of that pure grace manifested in the Manna and Water
from the Rock at Horeb. This is further illustrated in the present travels of
Israel being hallway between Sin (Egypt) and Sinai (Law). The only means by
which we can approach obedience to the Law of God is by the means of Grace. Who’s
Grace? The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! He came and lived a sinless life. He
died a substitutionary death for us (under the terms of the Law) - for the
wages of sin is death, and those wages MUST be satisfied. Christ satisfied that
requirement and death sentence by the unimaginable depth of Grace He had in His
Heart for you and me. He purchased us, not as slaves, but as brothers and
sisters, friends, in the Kingdom of Heaven. His grace and love were sufficient
to satisfy that debt. So you see we were, indeed, saved under the terms of the
Law of God. But, at the same time, we are saved by that immeasurable Grace of
Jesus Christ – not by any good works on our part, but all on His.
As
Israel approached Mount Horeb, a great stone held vigilance over them and the
valley below – the Rock of Horeb! What is that Rock so very important to our
understanding of the whole Counsel of God? It is because that Rock symbolizes
our Lord Jesus Christ – His love and grace despite our self-will and
disobedience. Chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians is particularly illuminating on the
subject and we have not space or time to expound upon all of it; however, read
what Paul says of the Rock at Horeb: 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and
all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses
in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same
spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same
spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and
that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was
not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. (1 Cor
10:1-5) Is it not
amazing how consistent and unified are the Scriptures from Genesis to
Revelations! It is not possible to understand the import of what Christ
accomplished for us fully without an understanding of the first Passover, and
an understanding of our own Wilderness journey (and that of Israel). It is not
possible to fully comprehend the Passover in Egypt without discovering its
fuller meaning in the sacrifice of Christ at Mount Calvary (the same range upon
which Abraham intended to sacrifice his dearly beloved son, Isaac).
1 And all the congregation of the
children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys,
according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there
was no water for the people to drink. (Ex 17:1) There is a profound observance
to be made here: The Children of Israel murmured in the Wilderness of sin for
bread. God rained bread down from Heaven upon their stiff-necked heads. They
were faithless even after witnessing the strong arm of the Lord in their
salvation in Egypt and in the dividing of the might waters of the Red Sea! If
Bread can be compared to the Word of God, and it is so for Christ is the Bread
of Heaven, and He is also the Word Incarnate, then Water may be compared to the
Spirit that animates the Word. As Jesus said to the demurring Woman at the
Well, after establishing the Truth (Word) of the prophesied Messiah: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24) The Word (Body) is Truth, and
the Spirit (Love) is the Water – both essential for life of the spirit of man.
So the people murmured and whined for Bread while they were yet not far from
their bondage in sin (Egypt). God, by His Grace, provided that Bread. Now, they
murmur for want of WATER! What miserable creatures are they – and we – without
faith in the works of God.
2 Wherefore the people did
chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said
unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there
for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this
that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our
cattle with thirst?
(Ex 17:2-3)
Does this not begin to sound like a broken record? There is a great distance
between the grace of God and the tolerance of man. If I were God, I would
probably have snuffed these miserable miscreants out on the spot – but lucky
for them, I am not God. God is long suffering and full of Grace. Moreover, He
is working out His amazing plan of salvation in the lesson He teaches us
through Israel’s experiences. Though impertinent and nagging, He shows a level
of mercy that they would have received from no earthly potentate – and they are
precisely like you and me as our fears often grow and our faith falters!
When the people murmur against a Godly minister, he has no
other resort than to the Lord: 4 And Moses cried unto the
LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone
me. (Ex 17:4) Yes, they killed the prophets
of God and came close to stoning Moses after all he had done through the
guidance of the Lord for them.
The Lord will always answer directly the earnest prayers of His chosen and
anointed: 5 And the LORD said unto
Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and
thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 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. 7 And he called the name of the
place Massah (Heb:
temptation), and Meribah (Heb: strife), because of the chiding of the
children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD
among us, or not? (Ex 17:5-7) There is to this day on Mount
Horeb (a large Rock reputed to be the same that Moses struck. It is of
tremendous size, but is clean-split from top to bottom. God will always stand
before His ministers if they serve Him in both Spirit and in Truth. Jesus
Christ was broken for you and me. We observe the breaking of that Body (Bread)
in the Communion service. Out of Christ springs forth effulgent Springs of
Living Water.
Sin and Doubt Precede War and
Struggle:
8 Then came Amalek, and
fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua,
Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the
top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said
to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of
the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses
held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek
prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and
they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur
stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side;
and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword.
The Body is One – the Church is the Body of Christ. God has granted us the
privilege to serve Him as ministers, and if not ministers of the Word, then we
are allowed to hold up the hands of the ministers of God. The holding up of the
hands of Moses was tantamount to those of the Lord, for Moises was God’s
anointed. God made Moses worthy of his Calling in Christ.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for
I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and
called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD
hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to
generation. (Ex 17:8-16)
Woe unto those nations who forget their heritage in God. We
are to write the miraculous salvation of armies and nations in a book for our
children to read that they forget not that it is the Lord who is the Captain of
Battles, and not we ourselves. Have we done so for our dear American children.
Are they taught the manner in which God established us as a nation, foremost
among the nations of the earth? Have we allowed our children to wander from the
old paths in which our fathers walked? “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the
ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk
therein.” (Jer 6:16) Dear Christian patriot: Have we declined to obey the
Lord in walking in the old paths and teaching our children to do the same? The
name Moses gave the place of victory against Amalek, Jehovahnissi – the Lord is
my Banner!
Is He YOURS?
