There is a reason the mountains in which I live are called the “Rocky Mountains.” Rocks are everywhere. They protrude from the ground; they are buried in the ground. They are massive and beautiful in formation. They are solid and secure. Because of the great benefits rocks provide, it is no wonder that God is said to be our “everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4). That is not the only place the Bible speaks of God being our rock. The Bible is filled with passages which compare God to a rock to teach us great lessons.
Messages from the Rocks
One can immediately see comparisons between rocks and God. He is solid. He is beautiful. He is everywhere. There are also other phrases connected to the word “rock” which convey great spiritual messages. One of the most graphic usages of the picture of the “Rock” is David’s song of praise for the victory God gave him. “He said, ‘The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence’” (2 Samuel 22:2-3). Often when mountain climbers are in the mountains electrical storms occur. They find refuge in the rocks. In times of battles, rocks form a refuge for protection from the enemy. God as a rock is a stronghold to protect us when we are weak or under attack.
Christ, the Rock
In I Corinthians 10:1-11, Paul teaches Christians to be faithful and not sin as the children of Israel did in the wilderness on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. During those years of wandering, God gave them water to drink from a rock (Exodus 17; Numbers 20). Paul gives a great insight into the water they received. He said, “all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ” (v. 4). Christ still give us the water of life (John 4:13-14).
The Church Built on the Rock
When Jesus asked Peter, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus said, “upon this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus made a play on the word “rock.” Peter’s name (petros) means “rock,” but it is a small rock. The word “rock” (petras) that Jesus used is feminine in form and means a huge, massive bedrock. Jesus was going to build His church on the fact that He was the anointed one of God which is a massive rock. Rocks are used as foundations for buildings and so it is appropriate that Christ is the foundation of the church (I Corinthians 3:11). This was foretold by Isaiah. “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed” (28:16).
Everyone is urged to build on the rock of Christ. Jesus expressed this message in these words. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The promise that comes to the one who builds on this rock is: “And the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (7:25).
What a promise! Whatever the storms of life that come upon the one who has built on the rock, cannot cause him to fall.
The Rock Can Be Rejected
When it came time for Moses to die, God told him what His people would do in the future. They were going to worship other gods and forsake the everlasting rock, who is God. Moses was told to write a song and teach it to the people so that when they departed, they might sing that song and be reminded of what they had done. It is called “The Song of Moses.” In this song, is the first time in the Bible that God is spoken of as “rock.” Near the beginning of the song it says, “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Later in the song, Moses foretold what would happen. “But Jeshurun (the nation of Israel) grew fat and kicked – You are grown fat, thick, and sleek – Then he forsook God who made him and scorned the Rock of this salvation” (32:15). The problem was that when Israel grew rich, they forsook God. That is true so often. When an individual gets wealthy or gets comfortable as he or she lives, they forget that it was God who blessed them. They think they no longer need God.
Moses goes on to explain the source of their problem. “You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth” (v. 18). We get so busy with life that we may not intend to leave God, but we just neglect Him. We don’t make ourselves take the time to honor our Rock.
Moses gives a third problem. The Israelites, as well as we, make other “things” our rock. It might be our wealth or our business or our family or our physical pleasures. Moses explained, “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock” (v. 31). But, when they or we make other “things” our rock, God’s judgment of condemnation comes upon us. Moses helped them see this by asking, “How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight unless their Rock had sold them and the LORD had given them up?” (v. 30). When individuals or nations neglect the Rock or find another “rock” to guide them, the true Rock gives up on them and let’s others conquer them.
The New Testament portrays the same message when Jesus is spoken of as “A stone of stumbling and a Rock of offence” (I Peter 2:8). People stumble over Christ when they do not want to obey His commands. They are offended by what He desires of them.
Our Plea
As we think about God, our everlasting Rock, and as we think about Christ the Rock upon which we build, and Christ, the rock foundation of the church, we ought to have the same plea that the psalmist expressed. “Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given command-ments to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress” (71:3). God is a rock in which we should live; not just a rock to which we seek when we are in trouble. We need to continually come to the Rock. The other psalm says, “From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (61:2). Have your burdens made you faint? Don’t fall, but let the Lord lead you to the rock that is higher than the rock of trouble you face!
Wayne Burger
