Exodus 17:6
“I will stand there 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. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 78:9-39 and John 7:37-39
The Israelites are again on the move and again they come to a place where there is no water to drink. And again they grumble against Moses. Moses rightly continues to push back at them to warn them that their grumbling is not with him but with God. Moses asks them why are they testing God? But for now God is patient and will satisfy their thirst and also reveal yet another sign of future things to come.
The Lord instructs Moses to create a scene so that the Israelites will know it is YHWH that provides the water. God tells Moses to get some of the elders and the staff and stand by the rock at Horeb in front of the people. God also stands there for all the people to see. Moses strikes the rock as he was told and water came out for all the people to drink.
It seems significant to me that the LORD stood before Moses by the rock so that the Israelites would know that it was God that provided the water but also so that the Israelites would associate the rock with God. God is symbolically linked with a rock throughout the Scriptures. For instance, Psalm 78:35 says of these Israelites, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.” The real source of Israel’s food and water on this journey is not anything other than YHWH himself. YHWH is the Rock.
As we have studied over the past few weeks, John builds the case throughout his gospel that Jesus is the greater Moses. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the events that occurred during the exodus from Egypt. In particular, Jesus presents himself as the source of living water (John 4) and the bread of life from heaven (John 6). Paul then reiterates that case in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 when he concludes that the Israelites “drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.”
Just like God saved his people from Egypt and then provided for them in the wilderness, God is saving us through Jesus and will provide for us in Christ until we reach eternity. Better than manna from heaven and water from the rock, God gives us Christ himself as the bread of life and the living water. And when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit as the fulfillment of the water from the rock.
Lastly, I think it’s significant that God stood by the rock and had Moses strike it to produce water. This seems to me that it would give the appearance that Moses struck God. Whether it appeared that Moses struck God or the rock, the parallel to the crucifixion here is hard to miss. The rock is symbolic of Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross “one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 19:34).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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