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The Rock Which Followed Them By Greg Sargent What does the "rock" symbolize in scripture and did a rock really follow the children of Israel?
oday, (January 27, 1999) the Pope is visiting the city of St. Louis. Television commentators noted that the Pope is "Peter among us," referring to Matthew 16:18 where Christ seemed to name Peter as the rock upon which God's church would be built. According to the theology of the Catholic (which means "universal") Church, the Popes have succeeded Peter. This assertion brings to mind some questions. Is Christ building His church on a man? Did Christ really mean that Peter was the rock on which God's church would be built? Is God depending on a succession of men from the apostle Peter on whom He will build His church? The symbol of a rock has important meaning in God's Word. God often uses analogies to help us understand truth. Sometimes the analogies are literal; sometimes they are figurative. Nevertheless, when we read about many of the Biblical references concerning the "rock," we can easily understand who the "rock" of Matthew 16:18 truly is.
The first reference to a rock on which God places any significance can be found in Genesis 28 when Jacob was near the city of Bethel (formerly Luz). He had stopped there for the night. Instead of placing a soft pillow under his head, he used a rock. That night, Jacob had a dream in which he saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder, which led to heaven. When he awakened, he realized he was in a special place. Perhaps Jacob had not initially realized that his grandfather Abraham had camped just to the east of this site, had built an altar and had called on the name of God (Genesis 12:8). After visiting Egypt, Abraham had returned to this same site (Genesis 13:3). Jacob was clearly moved by this nocturnal experience. Scripture tells us: "And Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, 'Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.' And he was afraid, and said, 'How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first" (Genesis 28:16-19). Notice that Jacob claimed this place was "the house of God." He gave it the name "Bethel," which in the Hebrew language literally means, house of God. He also recognized the location as "the gate of heaven." Finally, he anointed the stone he had used as his pillow and set it up for a pillar. Inspired by God, Jacob was summoned to Bethel on his return from Harran and both built an altar and set up a pillar, reiterating the name he had given before (Genesis 35:1-15). It was also on this occasion when God said that Jacob's name would be changed to "Israel" and pronounced the blessing that a nation and company of nations would come from his loins. But Genesis 28:22 makes an even more direct statement, "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that you shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto you." Jacob called the stone, "God's house." You can find the name "house of God" used in the Old Testament books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and Zechariah. Whether speaking of the tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon's temple or the restored temple, all were the "house of God." In the New Testament, the apostle Paul described the house of God as the "church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15). Since Jacob equated the rock with the house of God, the rock would also be equated with the church of the living God. There is more interesting history to this unique rock. Israel (Jacob) blessed his twelve sons before he died. Genesis 49:24 relates this blessing given to Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh. During this blessing, Israel prophesied, "But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence [Hebrew-- out of that place] is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)." The only stone of Israel, or Jacob, referred to up to this point is the stone which Jacob anointed at Bethel. Here the stone is called "the shepherd." Who is the shepherd? Jesus Christ is the "good shepherd," the "great shepherd," and the "chief shepherd" (John 10:11,14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4). He is also the shepherd who was prophesied to be smitten (Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:31). It's also very meaningful to realize that living water (the Holy Spirit) would come through our shepherd Jesus Christ, once He was crucified and resurrected to ascend next to God the Father (Acts 2:23,33). Some have speculated as to whether or not the Bethel rock followed the children of Israel through the wilderness into the promised land. "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). In other words Israel was under a cloud by day; they passed through the sea; they ate manna; they drank water from the rock. Since the early analogies can be proven to be literal, why not the last one? Is it possible that the rock from which Israel drank was the Bethel rock? It was not a stationary rock. It was a rock which followed them. Furthermore, the language used by God in both Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8 indicates Moses did not smite just any rock. Rather, in both instances he was told by God to smite "the" rock.
Upholding this possibility that Moses struck the Bethel rock, is the story of Israel desiring to go through the land of Edom, using the King's Highway--"[t]he name given to the direct road running from the Gulf of Aqabah to Damascus in Syria, East of the Dead Sea and Jordan valley." It is interesting to note that Moses promised the King of Edom that Israel would not "drink water from wells" (Numbers 20:17). If Moses knew Israel had access to water from the Bethel rock, no water would have been required from the King of Edom's land. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that the rock Moses struck symbolized Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). When the children of Israel possessed the promised land, the prophecy of Israel (Jacob) concerning Joseph came true. Bethel was allotted to the tribes of Joseph, who captured it, but particularly to Ephraim (1Chronicles. 7:28). One interesting tradition maintains that during the building of Solomon's Temple, Jacob's pillar stone was rejected by the builders. In reality there was a pillar stone upon which the kings of Israel were coronated, thereby literally signifying the "head of the corner". (See 2 Kings 11:13-14 & 2 Chronicles 23:13-- Companion Bible renders the wording "upon the pillar" rather than "at the pillar.") Whether Psalm 118:22, ("The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner"), was literal and prophetic, or simply prophetic, it confirms that Jesus Christ is the rock on which the church is built. Regarding Christ, Peter stated, "This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11-12). Christ was raised up to sit on the very throne of David (Acts 2:30) and will be the King of all kings (Revelation 17:14). God's church is not being built by or on any man. The literal Greek translation states the following: "Also I but to you say that you are Peter, and on this the rock I will build of me the assembly and the gates of Hades will not be strong against it" (Matthew 16:18). The Greek word for Peter is "petros" which means small pebble. But Christ was going to build His church on "the rock" (from the Greek "petra" which means a large rock). "The rock" is Christ. Christ proceeded to tell Peter that He (Christ) would give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Remember how Jacob called Bethel, "the gate of heaven"? The Bethel stone signified the way by which mankind would eventually enter the kingdom from heaven. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). No one can come to the Father but by Him. Jesus Christ represents "the house of God"-- Bethel, since we were "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom [Christ] you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20 ? 22). Christ is called "an high priest over the house of God" (Hebrews 10:21). When we review the Biblical analogies concerning the rock, we see Jesus Christ:
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Origin of article "The Rock Which Followed Them"
Keywords: rock Biblical rock Bethel
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