The Final Events.
Living Water from the Rock.
Part Forty-four in a Series.
https://www.secondcoming.org/blog/
They “did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that Rock that followed and went with them and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4.
Water is one of the most essential to life. It is an emblem of life. Without a proper supply of water both animals and plants soon cease to exist. The Israelites in the desert would soon have perished if water had not been provided for them. It was therefore life to them. Everybody who has suffered from thirst can vividly realize how the spirits of the children of Israel revived, and a new life sprang up in them as they drank of that fresh, sparkling, living water that gushed from the smitten rock.
“And that rock was Christ.” Many times, the Lord is represented as a Rock. The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my Deliverer. Psalms 18:2 “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalms 42:15.
“Ascribe ye the greatness unto our God. He is the rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” Deuteronomy 32: 3,4.
Jesus Christ is the Rock upon which the church is built, the “living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious”, upon whom if we come to Him, we are built up a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:4,5. Both the prophets and apostles built on Him as not only “the Chief Cornerstone.” Ephesians 2:20, but as the entire foundation and the only one that can be laid. 1 Corinthians 3:11. Whoever builds not on Him builds on shifting sand.
The rock which the people saw in the desert was but a figure of the rock Jesus Christ, who stood upon it, but whom they did not see. The flinty rock could not free furnish water. There was no exhaustless supply stored up within it, which, once given opening, would continue to flow ever fresh and sweet. It had no life. But Christ, the Author of life, stood upon it, and it was from Him that the water came. We do not need to theorize in this case, for the scripture plainly tells us that the people drank from Christ.
The water was given as a direct answer to the unbelieving question, “Is the Lord among us or not?” By supplying them with water out of the solid, flinty rock in the dry and barren desert, the Lord showed the people, that He is really among them; for none but He could have done it.
It made all the difference in the world whether the people recognized Christ as the source of their life. If they did, if they drank in faith, they received spiritual life from the Rock. If they did not recognize the Lord in this gracious gift, then the water was no more to them than it was to their cattle.
“Man, that is in honor and understands not is like the beasts that perish.” Psalms 49:20
But when the people with their superior abilities did not recognize God in His gifts any more than their cattle did, they showed themselves even less discerning than the cattle. “The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people doth not consider.” Isaiah 1: 3
The Final Events will end with the splendor of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also known as the Parousia. The Signs of Parousia are detailed in the Final Events Blog series and emphasize the Imminent Return and Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and the Love of the Father for all mankind.
The Psalmist said of the Lord, “He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” His life is righteousness. Therefore, those who live by faith in Him live righteous lives. The water which came from the Rock, in the desert, was for the life of the people. It was Christ’s own life.
If therefore in drinking it they had recognized the Source whence it came, they would have been drinking in righteousness, and would have been blessed with righteousness: for it is written: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6. If we thirst for righteousness, and are filled, it is only by drinking in the righteousness for which we thirst.
Jesus Christ is the fountain of living water. When the woman of Samaria expressed surprise that He should ask her for a drink as she came to draw from Jacob’s well, He said to her: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, give me to drink, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you Living Water.”
And then, as she still wondered at His words, He added “Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:10 – 14
This living water maybe drunk now by “whosoever will.” For “the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22: 17
This water of life which all are invited to drink freely, is the “pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Revelation 22: 1. It proceeds from Christ, for when John saw the throne, from which the water of life comes, he saw in “the midst of the throne” “a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Revelation 5:6.
If we look to Calvary, we shall see this made still more plain.
As Jesus hung upon the cross, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side and forthwith came there out blood and water.” John 19:34 Now “there are three who bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three agree in one.” 1 John 5:8. We know that “the blood is the life.” Leviticus 17:11,14, and that “the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10; Therefore, since the Spirit and the water and the blood agree in one, the water must also be the water of life.
On the cross Christ poured out His life for mankind. His body was the temple of God, and in His heart God was enthroned; so the same water of life which flowed from His wounded side was the same water of life that flows from the throne of God, from which meet we may all drink and live. His heart is the fountain opened “for sin and for uncleanness.” Zechariah 13:1
The Israelites, in the days of Moses, had no excuse for not knowing the Lord, for He made himself known unto them by many mighty miracles. There was no excuse for their not recognizing Him as “the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”, for they had daily evidence (manna, water, sanctuary, miracles) that He was their life; the smitten rock continually spoke to them of the Rock of their salvation pouring out His life for them from His smitten side.
When the Lord gives us Himself there is nothing more to give.
“He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.” Romans 8:32.
God gives Himself to us in giving us His life in Christ; and this was expressed to the Israelites in the giving of the water of life, which came from Christ. Therefore, we know that everything which the Gospel of Christ has for men, was there for the children of Israel in the desert. Sadly, most could or would not see Jesus. May the Lord open our eyes that we may see the goodness and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, each moment, each day of our lives.
The Final Events.
Living Water from the Rock.
Part Forty-four in a Series.
The Final Events will end with the splendor of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also known as the Parousia. The Signs of Parousia are detailed in the Final Events Blog series and emphasize the Imminent Return and Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and the Love of the Father for all mankind.
