Christ and the Rock of
Horeb
A Sermon preached at Grace Community Church
pm 30/4/06
At Horeb, the Lord Almighty stood there, unseen by all the grumbling people.
What would you consider to be the most significant
phrase in Exd 171-7
the scripture that has just been read? Would it be:
"But there was no water for the people" ?
Or "So they quarrelled with Moses" or "They grumbled against Moses" ?
Would it be that "Moses cried out to the Lord" ?
Or perhaps the instruction, "Strike the rock and water will come out of it"
?
Or maybe the final conclusion, "They tested the Lord" ?
We could well consider any one of these - or even all of them!
But without neglecting these, may we focus on the phrase in verse 6,
where the Lord tells Moses,
"I will stand there before you ..."
And there he commanded Moses to strike the rock.
Years later Jesus, 'the Rock of Ages' came to earth.
He was struck hard
and lifted high upon a cruel cross.
You lived to die, rejected and alone,
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me, Above all.
At Horeb the people 'tested God'. And at Calvary,
men again tested God.
They subjected the willing, Almighty God
to the worst punishment
ever devised by men.
And God used the act, which he had planned from before
the dawn of time,
to redeem us all from
sin and death and hell. O outrageous grace!
How do I react to God's testing and discipline? Do
I grumble or submit?
As the Lord God stood before them at Horeb, what did
he provide?
Water, not just a cupful each, but tons and tons
of it.
There is nothing mean or stingy about this amazing
God.
Why do we think the
kindness of Jesus is so limited, so restricted?
There was so much water they could not only drink to the full, but wash in
it too.
1,500 years after this event there was a sinful woman who stood before Jesus
at a certain well.
Unlike at Horeb, it was Jesus who initially asked
the Samaritan lady for a drink.
But it soon turned
so that it was the woman who was asking Jesus for water.
He had told her,
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty
again,
but whoever drinks
the water I give him will never thirst.
Indeed, the water
I give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal
life." Jn 413,14
She responded, "Sir, give me this water ..."
And Jesus did so.
The Rock of Ages gave this thirsty woman water to
drink.
She now worships her
mighty Saviour with a glad and grateful heart.
The 'stricken Rock
with streaming side' welcomed her into his kingdom.
Tragically the people at Horeb
differed in two vital ways from this woman.
1. The Samaritan needed water to drink,
but
she was also thirsty for the water of life,
longing
for eternal life, for Jesus.
2. She saw the very Lord of Glory standing before
her.
At
Horeb, the people were only thirsty for water.
They
did not see him, neither did they have any interest in him.
If we desire what our gracious and generous God provides
for an easier, happier
life;
let us be sure we never
become careless concerning him.
When Christine Tipper was asked why she was returning
to India so soon,
She replied, "I am
afraid that if I become too comfortable here
I
might never return!"
What a great
lady, and a good example to us all.
When Jesus was in Jerusalem he spoke directly to
the religious leaders,
They were so busy about
the Law, about rituals, church affairs, religion ...
Jesus told them,
"You diligently study the Scriptures ...
these
Scriptures that testify about me,
yet
you refuse to come to me to have life."
Jn 539,40
The Lord Almighty, the very Son of God stood before
them,
but their eyes were
closed. They had no hunger for God himself.
May Jesus Christ himself
always be our objective.
As F.Brook, the hymn-writer
wrote, "My goal is God himself,
not
joy, or peace or even blessing, but himself, my God."
Today we are surrounded by uncertainty, injustice and
raw wickedness.
Do you need the shelter of a Mighty Rock from the
storms of life?
Do you feel alone, insecure, fearful of the future?
Taste the kindness of God who stands before the Rock that cannot be moved.
He who promised, I
am with you always will never walk away
from you.
Men may break their promises, but God cannot break
his Word.
As David declared after
the Lord enabled him to evade king Saul.
The
Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my
God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He
is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Ps 182
and Ps 621,2
Do you feel crushed between a rock and hard place, with no escape?
Do you long for a better life? Are you tired of the
battle, longing for relief?
Are you thirsty for the water of life?
Hear what the eternal God of grace, who stands before
you, declares:
"Come,
all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
And you who have
no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and
milk without money and without cost ...
Come to me; hear
me, that your soul may live." Is
551,3
Come and stand before Jesus, the mighty Rock of Horeb.
Stand before the Rock that Paul says was Christ. 1Co 10 4
Come, not grumbling
and complaining that your life is hard.
Come pleading "Sir, give me this water,
the
water that washes away all my corruption and shame and guilt,
the
water that is eternal life.
O
Sir, please give me this water."
The sovereign Lord who stands before the Rock of
Horeb is 100% faithful.
Will he not willingly, graciously pour out all the
water you need?
This same mighty Saviour who was struck on Calvary's
Cross,
Did he not pay in full
what he thought you were worth?
Did not the water and
the blood flow from his side
so
that we may be set free.
Yes, he did it all
for you and me.
Hear his infallible promise:
On the last and greatest
day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and
drink.
Whoever believes
in me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living
water will flow from within him."
Jn 737,38
Then the abundant life that he gives to you so freely,
will enable you to give the life of God to others,
to any who stand in the desert, before the Rock,
thirsty, maybe grumbling,
but in their hearts
longing for forgiveness and real life.
As Christ has given to you, so give to others.
Today, as always down the ages, Jesus stands before the Rock,
as he also stood before the closed door of the church
of Laodicea,
patient, kind, arms outstretched,
to a careless, complacent, disobedient, rebellious,
people.
The Sovereign Lord is always so ready to forgive,
so outrageous is his
grace,
so abundant is the
water of life eternal.
Why not stop and drink of the water of life
from the hands of him
who was stricken and who stands before us now.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee!
Let the water and the blood,
From thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
Not the labours of my hands,
Can fulfil thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked come to thee for dress;
Helpless look to thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyelids close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See thee on thy judgement throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee.