The Spiritual Rock that Followed Them Was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4)

First Corinthians 10:4 says, "The spiritual rock that followed them was Christ." What does this mean? Read on to learn about this beautiful type of Christ. This is Part I. Here is Part II. Table of ContentsComplaining Instead of Asking (Exodus 17:1-7)A New Generation Sounds Like the Old (Numbers 20:1-13)A Heart-Breaking, but Necessary JudgmentThe Spiritual Rock that Followed Them Was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)God’s Glory in Christ Throughout my life water has been so available to me that it never seemed that valuable. There was only one time it seemed to dramatically increase in significance. After my senior year of high school, during the summer, prior to going to college, I worked as a wilderness firefighter. This is when I learned I didn’t want to be a wilderness firefighter! When they trained us they couldn’t stress water’s importance strongly enough. They told it was more important than our tools, tent, food and even the other firefighters with us, because it was something we needed to stay alive. There was an unwritten rule that we could ask for help, borrow food and tools from people, but we could never ask people for any of their water. We went to our first fire in Los Angeles. The temperature was over 100°. We were traveling up and down mountains wearing helmets and boots while carrying our backpacks and tools. It was hot and exhausting. That was the moment water seemed much more valuable. For years after that I never viewed water the same. Let’s think about water’s value and what it’s like being in the wilderness without any to understand the Israelites’ situation when they were in the wilderness without any water: All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone him me.” Exodus 17:1-7 Complaining Instead of Asking (Exodus 17:1-7) Exodus 12:37 says there were 600,000 men, which means there were anywhere from three to four million people. The need for water for a group this size would have been an immense problem. There was nothing wrong with the people asking for water but there was a problem in the way they asked—they “quarreled with Moses” and demanded: “Give us water to drink.” Although the Israelites probably thought they only contended with Moses, he responded that they tested God; they were like children trying their parents’ patience. Despite Moses’s warning, they persisted, going so far as to bring the outrageous accusation that God was trying to murder them: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” After everything Moses did for them—such as being used by to God deliver them from their bondage, perform numerous miracles including unleashing the plagues, part the Red Sea, and provide miraculous food from heaven—unbelievably they were ready to stone him. At a loss, Moses turned to God: And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the 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, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5-6 To encourage Moses and give him confidence, God had him take the rod he used to perform previous miracles: turning the rod into a serpent and the waters of Egypt into blood, bringing hail and locusts, and parting the Red Sea (Exodus 4:4, 7:20, 9:3, 10:13, 14:16). Ironically, it would be this same rod that would get Moses in trouble forty years later. When Moses parted the Red Sea, he held the rod over a body of water and it became dry. Now almost the opposite happened: he would strike a rock in a dry desert, and water would come out of it to drink. This was completely testable. Moses would walk before the people, strike the rock, and water would come for, or it wouldn’t leaving him looking foolish in front of an already hostile nation that wanted to kill him. Moses trusted God, went before the people, and the LORD provided. Psalm 105:41 recounts what happened: “He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.” The people had plenty to drink and water their flocks. Likely the water from the rock became a steady source. Had the people not behaved so horribly, God would have provided the water in a context of blessing and the names for the place would have been positive. Instead, we read, “He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7). The names mean testing and quarreling to describe what happened and rebuke Israel for their faithlessness. A New Generation Sounds Like the Old (Numbers 20:1-13) The rock is not mentioned again until approximately forty years later when the new generation of Israelites made their second attempt at entering Canaan. In Numbers 13 and 14, the twelve spies returned after spending forty days examining the land. They shared their report with the nation, that while the land was as wonderful as God said, it was also filled with enemies. Ten of the spies said Israel couldn’t defeat the enemies, but Joshua and Caleb said God would give them victory. Tragically, the people believed the ten spies, instead of leaving God; therefore, God said they couldn’t enter. What was about to be a wonderful blessing for them in the future, ended up being a moment of historic discipline. Israel was forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years—one year for each day the spies were in the land (Numbers 14:34). The generation of unbelief would die, but their children, whom they accused God of trying to murder, would enter the land (Numbers 14:3 cf. Numbers 14:31). It is these children—the new generation—in the following verses: The people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. Numbers 20:1-13 Moses’ sister, Miriam’s death, is significant because it shows that nobody was above the decree that the old generation would not inherit the Promised Land. Soon, Moses will find out that even he is not above God’s judgment. The year isn’t given, but Numbers 33:38 states Aaron died on the fifth day of the fortieth year after the exodus from Egypt, so the new generation should enter the land soon. The event with the twelve spies approximately 40 years earlier took place at Kadesh where the Israelites find themselves again. In other words, the new generation is at the location where their parents rebelled. You would think that being at this location would remind the new generation about what happened with their parents and cause them to be on their best behavior. Instead, the new generation also asked for water, but sounded like the grumbling, faithless previous generation, even going so far as to again accuse God of murder. As was typical with Moses, he humbly interceded on the people’s behalf. But sadly Moses’ humility and compassion didn’t last through the account and he pays for it dearly. Although he was told to take his rod like forty years earlier, he was only supposed to speak to rock this time. Instead, Moses spoke the people and struck the rock. As the mediator, or man who stood between God and the people, Moses represented God. The people understood God through Moses. What Moses seemed like to the people is what God seemed like to the people. When Moses fell on his face and cried out to God, and God answered, God looked merciful....