Israel, who God delivered out of Egypt with a powerful arm and a mighty hand, had stony hearts, and were constantly disbelieving in Him; they had just been redeemed from Egypt by Moses, and then wanted to stone Moses who rescued them; as it is written of them, " They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” " (Exodus 17:3-7)
So in the people's stony hearts is revealed the content of their stony hearts by wanting to physically stone Moses. Their anger, unbelief, and hardness of heart was toward Moses, for they wanted to stone him with stones; as the proverb says, "Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness." (1 Samuel 24:13) Moses was God's representative, he spoke on behalf of God, so the people's anger was actually directed toward God - they were actually angry with Him; as Moses says, " The LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD. " (Exodus 16:6-8)
So God could have rightfully given the people what they deserved, since they repaid Him evil for good; but instead of striking the rock of the people's stony heart and wounding them, God struck a different Rock through Moses, a spiritual Rock that traveled with them, which was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4); and out of that Rock came spiritual water for the people to drink. This is spiritual water because water doesn't flow from a rock, and everything abnormal is spiritual; everything contrary to nature is supernatural - the supernatural is from the spirit - whether good or bad; for the supernatural comes not from the physical, but the spiritual. So by God's grace, the people were not smitten, but the Rock was struck instead; a spiritual drink came from the Rock, and it is spiritual because water doesn't normally flow from rocks - no. Water doesn't come from rocks, but from springs; and Jesus didn't come from earth, but from heaven; He who descends from heaven is spiritual, but we are from below, earthly. The water He gives is His Spirit, the water from above, which He gives, becoming a well of water inside those who believe, springing up to everlasting life; for our confession of Christ is salvation unto us who believe; and by this Living Water, we never thirst again; this is the heavenly water which God separated from the beginning which is above the expanse. They who drank the water from the Rock later died, but we who drink of God's Spirit will never die. As He commands us, “I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.” (Psalms 81:10)
As Moses spent 40 days and nights on a mountain with God, drinking no food nor water, so he was the first to taste of the Living Water of Christ; on that mount he received tablets of the covenant, the Words of God written on stone. But to the people whose hearts were stone, the covenant had no effect on them, for it was made ineffective because of the flesh; however by Christ it says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) And, "This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33) For the new heart and the new spirit is made possible through Christ, who was struck by God in our stead, and by His going to the Father. It was God's good plan, and that, to preserve life rather than destroying it; as the prophecy in the Gospel of John says, " You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. " (John 11:49-52)
So Christ died to save us; and His cross has become unto us who believe, the death of the sinful nature. For the staff of God which Moses had in his hand is a piece of wood; and by the wood, Moses worked many miracles with it. And by the cross, which is wood, Christ saves. A staff is no weapon at all, but God is powerful and He works wonders by that which is no weapon at all to show His great power towards us who believe. God commanded Moses, "Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile", and so it is the cross which opens up a way for us out of the captivity of this world to God; as Paul says, " May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. " (Galatians 6:14)
And where the people resided was a wilderness with no water and no food. There they received a better water, a better food, both from heaven, from the spiritual. So likewise, apart from the world, God has much better things for us in Christ Jesus.
At another time, Moses struck the rock again when God told him to speak to the Rock to bring forth water (Numbers 20:1-13). Moses disobeyed; being angry with the people, he struck the rock twice instead; as a result he was banished from entering into the land promised because he did not honor God in front of the people and sanctify the miracle before them. And this is a warning for us today: Christ was sacrificed once. If we struggle against sin, let us pray to the Rock and get deliverance through the cross, instead of striking again by continuing in willful sin. Let us not be comfortable in sin, especially now that Jesus saves us from sin; He has set us free to be free, and sin is not anything to coddle; for it is deadly and repugnant - and it is the danger. Sin has lost its power, and it has been rendered powerless by the grace of God in Christ Jesus; so therefore if we continue in sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, it's because, " The light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil. " (John 3:19)
There is no sacrifice for willful sins, but a fearful looking for of judgment and firey indignation which will consume the adversaries of God (Hebrews 10:26-30). So take heed! That which is powerless shall not master over you, for you are no longer under law, but under grace. Sin can only be our master if we willingly submit to it; but rather, obey righteousness, obey Christ. Test yourselves. Do you love the light of life? For Christ gives us the grace to do the good we want to do: that is, saying, "No" to sin, and "Yes" to God. The following warning ought to keep us from sin in the fear of the Lord, as the writer of Hebrews states, " For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and [then] have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way." (Hebrews 6:4-9)
For Jesus is the Rock of our refuge, a city of refuge, in which one flees for protection from the onslaught of the enemy. Just as a man in the time of war after being defeated flees back to his stronghold, so Christ is our safety from our enemies, from the powers of wickedness, from the wolves - whose power is in their mouth, that is, in their lies. As it says, " And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. " (Psalm 34:22)
And, " Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. " (Romans 8:1)
As the LORD God declares concerning this very time: " If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me. " (Isaiah 54:15-17)
For just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, so the shelter of the Most High is a protection against the striking of the sun under the shadow of His wing; as it says, " The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. " (Psalm 121:5-8)
For when the seasons change and the trees lose foliage, the grass withers and dies, but the Rock remains unchanged forever; as it says, " Those who trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. " (Psalm 125:1)
And, " It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. " (Psalm 118:8-9)
Or again, " Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. " (Psalm 146:3-6)
For, "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) For He is our defense, our shield, our shelter against the firey darts of the enemy; He is the protector of our lives, the tower of eternal salvation. He girds us with the whole armor of Himself so that we would withstand the enemy in the day of evil; He is a refuge of salvation to everyone who flees to Him. He is our Defense and our Offense, our weapon for battle, that we may take up the Word of Him, that we may fight against the enemy by Him; "Blessed be the LORD, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle; My lovingkindness and my fortress, My stronghold and my deliverer, My shield and He in whom I take refuge, Who subdues my people under me.” (Psalms 144:1-2) He is a precious corner stone to the believing, but a stumbling block to the disobedient; " For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. " (1 Peter 2:6-8)