Yahshua (Jesus) is the Rock Who Pours Out Living Water
Honor Me as Holy
- Numbers 20:12 -
“Listen, now you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod””
An important example for us to humbly take to heart is recorded in the book of Numbers. At this time the Israelites were still in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. “There was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron” (Numbers 20:2). Instead of fearfully trembling, they started quarreling again with Moses. Every time it came to their flesh, they said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead [in the plague] before Yahveh (the Lord). Why did you bring Yahveh’s community into this desert that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” (Numbers 20:3-5). They seem to have forgotten about the manna, quail, and all the things He had done to provide for them and they are grumbling, murmuring and complaining.
“Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of Yahveh (the Lord) appeared to them; and Yahveh spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink’” (Numbers 20:6-8). The rock will give of its water. All you have to do is speak to it. So Moses took the rod from before Yahveh, just as He had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. “…And he said to them, ‘Listen, now you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?’ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.
But Yahveh said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them’” (Numbers 20:9-12). Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as Yahveh (the Lord) in Yahshua also has forgiven you.” Yahveh had forgiven Israel, Moses hadn’t—“You rebels! You want water, you will get it!” That is not what Yahveh said, He said the water was going to pour out life mercifully as you speak to it. That was referring to Yahshua (Jesus).
“Anger is a foothold for the devil. He wears us down, irritates our flesh, and then we begin taking matters into our own hands””
In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, there is a pertinent key, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank from the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Yahshua (Jesus).” That is why He said, “Speak to the rock, it will pour out.”
“We are to trust in Yahshua (Jesus) enough to honor Him as holy in the sight of others””
Anger is a foothold for the devil. He wears us down, irritates our flesh, and then we begin taking matters into our own hands. We can do almost the right thing, but almost is “a way that seems right to us, but the way therein leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). We have to do it Yahveh’s (the Lord’s) way. Yahveh said, “Speak, Moses.” Yahveh is the One who avenges. He will repay. He did not tell Moses, “Call them a bunch of rebels and strike that rock with your anger,” even though their opposition and quarreling with Moses was a recurring problem. “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (John 7:18). This was the issue Yahveh had when He said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites…” (Numbers 20:12 NIV).
“Yahshua (Jesus) is the Rock. First, He had to be struck; then later, just speak to Him, and He will pour out rivers of living water upon you””
Exodus 17 tell us that after they began their wilderness journey, the Israelites camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we might drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahveh?” But the people thirsted there for water, and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to Yahveh (the Lord) saying, “What shall I do to this people?” Then Yahveh said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock….” Now, at this time, forty years prior, He said strike the rock and water will come out of it for the people to drink.
As we read these two scenarios, one forty years prior when Yahveh said to strike the rock, we are to think of Yahshua (Jesus). He was pierced and He was struck, and His life poured out for us. This symbolism points to our Savior. We just read Yahshua (Jesus) was with Israel, He was and is the Rock. First, He had to be struck; then later, just speak to Him, just talk to Him, and He will pour out rivers of living water upon you. Yahshua (Jesus), the Rock who gives us water, who was originally struck on our behalf. HalleluYAH!
