Biblical Storyline: Water from the Rock (Exodus 17)

Exodus 17. Here's the scene. God has rescued his people out of slavery to Egypt and is leading them to the Promised Land. He has just promised to provide them manna from heaven for the duration of their travels through the wilderness so that they will not starve to death. Now, the Israelites are thirsty. They are thirsty and begin to grumble against Moses and, ultimately, God. Surprising, huh? God has just proven himself faithful to his people, yet they still believe that they would have been better off if they were left in Egypt. How quickly I can forget the God's faithfulness.

Despite the grumbling and unbelief, God is merciful. He tells Moses to take his staff and strike the rock at Horeb, which God himself will be standing on. Once Moses strikes the rock, God promises that water will flow from the rock to quench Israel's thirst. Needless to say, Moses does just this, God is faithful, and the people drink.

Here's the big picture... This is another pointer to Jesus, who is the greater and better water. Listen to the words of Paul as he gives us the inside scoop on what was happening in Exodus 17.

"For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ." - 1 Cor 10:1-4

The Rock was Christ. Moses struck the rock and water flowed that quenched the thirst of God's people so that they would not perish. But Christ was struck on the cross for our sins, and from him flowed living water that gives everlasting life. One drink of him, and we will never thirst again.

"A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again." - John 4:7-13

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