Shadow of the Rock (part 2)

Hannah knew about holding on to a rock. The baby she had yearned for, prayed for, wept for finally came. And yet she still kept her promise to give him back to the Lord. In 1 Samuel 2:2 she prays, “ . . . there is no Rock like our God.” If you've never read her prayer, take a look. Wow, she knew Who God Is!

David faced so much opposition in his lifetime, before and after he became king of Israel. In 2 Samuel 22:2-3 he said, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior."


In the Psalms, David refers to God as “his rock” or “the rock” 18 times:

18:2, 31, 46		42:9		92:15
19:14		62:2, 6, 7		94:22
28:1		71:3		95:1
31:2-3		78:35		144:1
		89:26

and talks about being set “on a rock” 3 times: 27:5; 40:2; and 61:2

In the first part of talking about the Rock, I mentioned pieces of the puzzle. Here's another piece that fits right into the whole: one of the OT rocks was the rock that Moses struck to get water for the Israelites -- water from a rock. (See Exodus 17:1-6) Jesus is our Rock and from Him we get living water so that we will never thirst again. I have heard people say that the Bible is just a collection of stories, that it is not divinely inspired. It would be very hard for one person to be so consistent over such a large work, much less for so many men over so long a period of time.

Exodus 17:6 “ . . . I will stand before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10:4 . . . for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was Christ. (speaking of Moses and the children of Israel.)

The Rock is amazing. But a rock is not really a personal thing. Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “BUT, there is something awesome about this great shadow. A very large rock is often so high that it is overwhelming. There is massive greatness but no gentle fellowship.” (p.20)

The next shadow of God that we will look at is more intimate. It is the shadow of the tree.