Question
What is the significance of the title given to Jehovah as the Rock in the song of Moses and as referenced by Paul in I Corinthians 10?
Response
Briefly put, my understanding of the title given to Jehovah as the “Rock” is more than a simple and obvious parallel between a physical rock and the stability and strength of the LORD, it is the specific context in which they occur when God uses this designation that determines the significance of the designation and the parallels. And the context has to do with godly sanctification and the opposition against it from the Satanic policy of evil. It’s the issue both with Israel when the designation is originally used by God when He brought them out of Egypt and they first confronted the policy of evil, as well as when the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 testifies against them for completely succumbing to it in their history; and godly sanctification and the policy of evil is also the issue with us today in I Corinthians 10 when Paul for us cites the example and grievous ensample of Israel when they first encountered the policy of evil against them.
Again, briefly and simply put, when Israel came out of Egypt they were God’s purchased possession; delivered from Satan’s possession and bondage, separated from his things and use, and sanctified unto God to be His godly nation for His singular use in the repossession of the earth. As such, and because of a policy of evil that would now assail their godly sanctification, as part of their fundamental education in the issue of God’s “Jehovah-ness” God educated them in Him being the “Rock” of their stability and strength in the face of that policy of evil against them. This education was part of the overall fundamental education set forth in Exodus 15–18. As their “Rock” in the face of that policy of evil, the Lord’s provisions for them in connection with who He had made them to be in His plan and purpose would not only provide stability and strength for them against the ploys and tactics of the policy of evil, but as their “Rock” He would also provide them with the means to put their godly sanctification into effect and practice in the midst of the ungodliness of the world, and also to put it into practice zealously. However, though the provisions were there and the “Rock” “followed them,” they failed to avail themselves of them. And they succumbed to the policy of evil against their godly sanctification.
That’s the gist of my understanding of the basics of this issue, and in view of it the “example” and “ensample” Paul makes of it in I Corinthians 10 for the Corinthians and for us isn’t hard to understand.
Keith Blades
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