The Bible is true
“They pierced my hands and my feet.” Psalms 22:16.
“Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many…” (Hebrews 9:25)
“..we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all..” (Hebrews 10:6), “..after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God..” (Hebrews 10:10), “… for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14).
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed because of our iniquities… the Lord hath made to light on Him the iniquity of us all… He bared His soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors… Yet He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:4-6.12.
“And with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.
“From Him cometh my salvation
He only is my Rock, and my salvation
My high tower,
I shall not be greatly moved.”
Psalm 62:2.3.
(All texts Masoretic)
Today God is revealing His treasures in the desert
to increase faith in His Word
and as hard evidence for those who doubt
Smite the Rock
“And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, by their stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. (Rephidim is in the Sinai--Horeb area)
Wherefore the people did strive with Moses, and said, “Give us water that we may drink”. And Moses said unto them, “Why strive ye with me? Wherefore do ye try the Lord?”
And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Wherefore has thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst”.
And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, “What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me."
And the Lord said unto Moses, “Pass on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go”.
“Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel”.” Exodus 17:1-6. (Masoretic Text)
Instead of commanding Moses to lift up his rod and call down a terrible plague, as came upon the Egyptians, the Lord in His great mercy made the rod His instrument to work their deliverance.
As the multitudes of Israel watched, they saw Moses ascend the hill in Rephidim, and stand beside a huge upright rock that was upon the hill.
Found: The Split Rock
They saw Moses lift his rod high into air, and then he brought it down upon the rock, striking it only ONCE.
To the astonishment of the watching people, the huge rock split in two, and water began to gush from its base. In torrents it flowed, cascading down the rocky slopes to the plain below.
“He cleaved rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the great deep. He brought streams also out of the rock; and caused waters to run down like rivers.” Psalm 78:15.16.
Although it was Moses who smote the rock, it was the Angel of the Lord, veiled in the cloudy pillar, who stood beside Moses, and caused the life-giving water to flow. (The angel of the Lord is God’s only begotten Son before He came to this earth)
The hill at Rephidim rises 34 metres (110 feet), and on its top towers the huge upright rock, rising another 15 metres (50 feet) into the air, in all a height equivalent to a 16 storey building.
Today, the split rock can be seen standing high above the flat floor of the desert, a wonderful testimony of the mighty works of God.
Unfortunately, the Saudi Arabian government does not allow visitors into the area. However, people working in the country have secretly entered the area and taken videos. Now the evidence is recorded for all to see.
“From the smitten rock in Horeb first flowed the living stream that refreshed Israel in the desert. During all their wanderings, wherever the need existed, they were supplied with water by a miracle of God’s mercy. The water did not, however, continue to flow from Horeb.
Wherever in their journeyings they wandered, there from the clefts of the rock it gushed out beside their encampment…
The flowing of the water from the rock in the desert was celebrated by the Israelites, after their establishment in Canaan, with demonstrations of great rejoicing… It became a most impressive ceremony, taking place on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the people from all the land were assembled at Jerusalem.
On each of the seven days of the feast the priests went out with music and the choir of Levites to draw water in a golden vessel from the spring of Siloam.
They were followed by multitudes of the worshipers, as many as could get near the stream drinking of it, while the jubilant strains arose, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”. Isaiah 12:3. Then the water drawn by the priests was borne to the temple amid the sounding of trumpets and the solemn chant, “Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem”. Psalm 122:2.
The water was poured out upon the altar of burnt offerings, while songs of praise rang out, the multitudes joining in triumphant chorus with musical instruments and deep-toned trumpets.” Patriarchs and Prophets p411.412.
Providing Water Again
Just before the Hebrews reached Kadesh, the living stream ceased that for so many years had gushed out beside their encampment. It was the Lord’s purpose again to test His people. He would prove whether they would trust His providence or imitate the unbelief of their fathers.
“Then the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin… and abode in Kadesh…. And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
And the people strove with Moses, and spoke saying, “Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the Lord! And why have ye brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle?
And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and SPEAK ye unto the rock before their eyes; that it give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.
And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, “Hear now, ye rebels, are we to bring water out of the rock?”
And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, “Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Numbers 20:1-12. (Masoretic Text)
Moses punished: Why?
Firstly, notice that Moses was told to speak to the rock, rather than strike it. Not only that, but he struck it twice!
In anger he said, “Are we to bring water out of this rock?”
The power to bring water from the rock was not in Moses or Aaron, it was in God.
Instead of sanctifying the Lord in the eyes of the people, Moses elevated himself.
But there is another reason why Moses was not permitted to lead Israel into the promised land.
Symbolism
The whole of the Bible is filled with symbolism, and God is symbolised by a ROCK.
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all his ways are justice: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Deuteronomy 32:4.
“For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.” Deuteronomy 32:31
“And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.” 2 Samuel 22:2
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my Rock, in Him I will take refuge; my shield, and My horn of salvation, and my high tower.” Psalms 18:2.
When Moses was told to speak to the rock, it was vital He follow God’s instructions, for it was this ROCK who gave them “bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst.” Nehemiah 9:15.
Who is the Rock? ‘… that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4.
So when Moses angrily struck the rock and said, “Must we bring forth water…” he was usurping the place of Christ before the people in symbol as well as in fact.
Smitten once only
The rock struck by Moses the first time represented Christ, the “stone which the builders refused…”, and when he struck it the second time, he destroyed important symbolism. Psalm 118:22. (This rock was in Kadesh not Rephidim, but the symbol remains the same)
It is absolutely vital that God’s symbols remain as He has chosen, for they represent the plan of salvation for mankind. To have a symbol changed by man is straight out defiance, and God could not let this pass without punishment.
The Rock would only be struck ONCE, and would “become the chief corner-stone”. Psalm 118:22.
When Moses struck the rock once, as God had said, it represented the death of Christ on the cross, something that only happened once.
The remarkable thing about this huge rock is that there is a water-erosion channel coming from the TOP of the hill, between the split. It shows that large amounts of water once descended from the top of this 34 metre high hill, out of the rock!
Truly God “brought streams out of the rock”, as it says in God’s Word.
Climbing up the hill, one can walk between the split and see a channel worn from the water in the rock. It runs down both sides of the hill, giving evidence of a large amount of water.
The Bible says the waters “ran down like rivers.”
The channels continue out to the plain where the Israelites were camped. No water is in the region today, and as a result it has remained uninhabited. (Information from ‘Update International’ No.8. Dec-Jan 1994.5)
Some might wonder where this rock is located. It is not in what is known as the Sinai Peninsula, because that is not the true Mount Sinai.
Horeb and Sinai are in Arabia.
(Read Galatians 4:24.25. This reveals that Sinai is in Arabia as shown in the map below)
Descending from both sides between the split, there are dry channels where much water once flowed.
(Aaron Sen, a friend, standing at the split rock)