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| November 2009 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| "The shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land." --Isaiah 32:2 |
| Rock of Ages The Image of God as Rock |
| The lands of the Bible tend to be wilderness and desert, hot and dry. With few trees for shade and few streams for refreshment, shelter often comes in the form of rocks. That may be the reason the image of a rock is so often used for God. Its use symbolizes several characteristics of our Heavenly Father.
First, there's protection. God as Rock offers protection—from God himself, from enemies and from the storms of life. We see it during the period of the Exodus, when the Israelites are in the wilderness. When Moses asked to see God, God hid him in the cleft of the rock and covered him with his hand, because “no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:18-22). God is a fortified rock. Early fortifications were built on the tops of rocks which commanded a view of the land below. One famous fortified rock in the Holy Land is Masada, where a handful of Israeli defenders held off the Roman army for months until an assault ramp was constructed. By the time the Romans reached them, the people on Masada had burned the buildings and committed suicide to avoid slavery or defeat. Second, God offers refreshment and spiritual sustenance. When the Israelites grew thirsty in the wilderness, God told Moses to take his staff and speak to the rock. Water poured from it to sustain them (Numbers 20:6-8). “I will proclaim the name of the Lord,” Moses sings in Deuteronomy 32:3-4. “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Moses goes on to say that the people had forsaken God, but still he cared for them. “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.” (Deuteronomy 32:10-11). “He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,” (Deuteronomy 32:13). But “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock, his Savior" (Deuteronomy 32:15). “You deserted the Rock who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth" (Deuteronomy 32:18). Finally, God gave them up. “They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?” (Deuteronomy 32:30). In the time of the kings, Hannah prays, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). We see the image repeatedly in the Psalms. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). And again, “For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?” (Psalm 18:31). God is protection in time of trouble. “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5). The psalmist, like so many people since, called out to God. “To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me,” (Psalm 28:1). And again, “Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me” (Psalm 31:2-3). “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Psalm 62:1-2, 5-6). Eventually, God's people did return to him. “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer" (Psalm 78:35). Even the prophets use the image when speaking of a day to come: “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, and streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land” (Isaiah 32:2). However, God as rock isn’t solely an Old Testament image. In his Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-27), Jesus used it to teach the sort of foundation we should build our lives on. The wise man built his house on the rock, and it stood firm in the storms of life. But the foolish man built his house on sand, and “it fell with a great crash.” Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth, explained the water that flowed from the rock during the Exodus. “For they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). God is our shelter. He protects us from being overwhelmed by his majesty and overcome by despair. Our refuge and strength, he protects us from our enemies. We can cry out to him when things are difficult, knowing that he always hears and rescues. We can look to him for protection, guidance and refuge. He provides shadow and refreshment. He is a firm foundation to build our lives on. |
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| "I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand." --Exodus 33:22 |