God, Our Rock

“May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock, His works is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity.” –Deuteronomy 32:2-4 (ESV). “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides You, there is no rock like our God.” –I Samuel 2:2 (ESV). “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.” –Psalm 61:1-3 (ESV).

In the scripture verses selected for our consideration today on the theme of “God, Our Rock,” we hear the heartfelt expression of three songs lifted in praise and adoration to God. From Deuteronomy is the noble song of Moses lauding God for choosing Israel and leading the host of people to freedom into a promised land. In I Samuel 2:2, is a part of Hannah’s song of praise. She had reason to rejoice in God the Rock. Her prayer for a son had been answered and out of her barren estate came the child Samuel, a gift from the Lord. The song of David in Psalm 61 is not the only expression of God as Rock in the Psalms, but this particular song is a powerful prayer that all of us should earnestly pray: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Ps. 61:3).

Rock, a frequent name for Jehovah God, expresses His absolute and steadfast faithfulness. David referred to God the Rock on several occasions. Psalm 18: 1-3 is another strong testimony: “I love you, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in Whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

In seeking to ascribe attributes to God, the writers of both the Old and New Testaments used Rock as a metaphor for God. A Rock is laid in Zion that becomes the foundation of hope and is a prophecy of the Messiah: “Therefore, thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not be in haste.’” (Isaiah 28:16. ESV). “The stone which the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Psalm 118:22, ESV). “And He shall bring forth the top stone amid shouts of 'grace, grace to it!’ (Zechariah 3:7b, ESV). Old Testament writers looked forward to the fulfillment of prophecy when Christ would establish His kingdom, an everlasting kingdom. We live on the side of fulfilled prophecy after this promise of the true Rock came to pass in Jesus Christ. Thank God that the Stone of whom Peter wrote is fulfilled: “For it stands in Scripture: Behold I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” (I Peter 2:6, ESV). How majestically did Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778) express the truth: “My God is the rock of my refuge" from Psalm 94:22 in the words of his beloved hymn:

“Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure.”

Thank God! In life and in death we are safe in the “Rock of Ages”!

Aaron – Moses’ Brother, Spokesman, Priest

“The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister.” –Numbers 26:59 (ESV). “Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, ‘Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.” –Exodus 4:14-15 (ESV). “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” –I Peter 2:9 (ESV).

When Moses was tending his father-in-law Jethro’s flock and God spoke to him through the burning bush to go back into Egypt and free the Israelite people from slavery, Moses had excuses to offer, one being that he could not speak. God countered every excuse Moses presented. For a spokesman, Moses’ older brother, the Levite, could speak well and, after Moses’ forty years in the wilderness, was even then coming to meet Moses. God’s arrangements were all in order for the union of brothers Moses and Aaron to the impossible-without-God task he had assigned these sons of Amram and Jochebed.

Here we touch only highlights of a union of brothers assigned to a mammoth job. Recalling their encounter with Pharaoh, they were able to perform miracles that confounded even the best of the Egyptian magicians (see Exodus 7:8 and following). These two brothers weren’t young when God called them: Aaron was eighty-three and Moses was eighty. We know how, after the ten terrible plagues that beset the Egyptians, the Israelites escaped and safely crossed the Red Sea. In the wilderness they still encountered troubles. A touching story is that of Aaron and Hur supporting Moses’ hands when Joshua was fighting the battle with the Amalekites: “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. So the hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshus overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.” (Exodus 17:11-13, ESV).

Aaron had the task of setting up the priestly role for the new nation, and he became the first high priest. But Aaron, even in his position of spiritual leader and advisor for the Israelites, did not always himself follow the direction of God. On record is the abominable golden calf recorded in Exodus 32. Moses was away a long time On Mount Sinai receiving the tables of the law from the Lord. The people murmured and complained and Aaron relented, using their gold to make a golden calf before which they danced and worshiped. After this fiasco, Moses himself prayed the high priestly prayer we find in Exodus 32: 32: “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin-but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” With all his human failings, Aaron stood as God’s representative at a crucial time in the history of God’s people. Think of the bravery and determination needed for the tasks God assigned to Moses and Aaron! According to the mandate of God, neither could enter the land intended for the Israelites. Aaron died on Mt. Hor at age 123 after passing his priestly office on to Eleazer, his son. His life and work gave a foretaste of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who would come to forever be our bridge to God and allow believers to go directly to God for their own intercession and fellowship. (I Peter 2:9, ESV). Praise be to God!