The Flinty Rock
“Out of the flinty rock” (Deuteronomy 32:13).
Twice in the wandering of Israel through the wilderness, Moses provided water by striking a rock. The rock in each case is widely considered to be a picture of Jesus, and striking the rock a picture of his death. The first case was soon after the Israelites entered the wilderness, and the second case was near the close of the 40 years of wilderness wandering.
The first is recorded in Exodus 17:6. There God told Moses, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
The second case is in Numbers 20:8-11. There God told Moses, “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation … drink. (9) And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as he commanded him. … (11) And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.”
The first smiting of the rock symbolically indicates that it was necessary for Jesus to be smitten, to die for the sin of the world, in order for the water of truth and life to refresh the saints of the Gospel Age. The second case, when Moses was told to “speak” to the rock, symbolically indicates that to provide the water of truth and life for the world in the Kingdom, Christ need not die again. He will respond to a word of instruction and issue forth a river of blessings for mankind.
However, on the second occasion Moses smote the rock — he smote it twice. For that infraction Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan into Canaan. It is a symbol that any who reject the once-for-all death of Christ, and as it were require a second smiting of Jesus, will fail to gain eternal life. This much is well known and oft discussed.
FLINT
Recently, in a local class study, one of the sisters noticed a comparison that had escaped our attention. Sr. Ruth uses the Lamsa version (from the early Aramaic version), a unique translation. She uses it not because it is better (though it may be in some cases), but because it is often different, and helpful for comparison. In Exodus 17:6 it adds a word, twice, that is not in the common version. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the flinty rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the flinty rock, and there shall gush water out of it, that the people may drink.”
Moses strikes the Flinty Rock — a picture of the death of Christ
No other version we could find includes the word “flinty” in this verse. The word “rock” is from H6697, “properly a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally a rock or boulder; figuratively a refuge; also, an edge (as precipitous).” The reference to “flint” or “flinty” apparently is not intrinsic to the Hebrew word. Why, then, would Lamsa, uniquely, describe it this way?
Perhaps the word in this case is borrowed from another reference to the same episode. Years later Moses reminded the Israelites of this experience. That reminder is in Deuteronomy 8:15. “Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint.” In this text Lamsa says “flinty rock” — the same expression that it uses twice into Exodus 17:6.
The word rendered “flint” in Deuteronomy 8:15 is H2496, “challamiyah, probably from H2492 (in the sense of hardness); flint.” Apparently the only instances of this word in the Old Testament are the five following cases:
- Deuteronomy 8:15, “water out of the rock of flint.”
- Deuteronomy 32:13, “and oil out of the flinty rock.”
- Psalms 114:8, “Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.”
- Isaiah 50:7, “For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”
- Job 28:9, “He putteth forth his hand upon the rock [flint].”
Notice that in Psalms 114:8, apparently referring to the same episode as Deuteronomy 8:15, the word “flint” is used to describe the rock that was smitten. This provides a second instance of the word “flint” associated with that experience.
“I SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT”
What engaged our collective attention is that Isaiah 50:7 uses the same word when referring prophetically to Jesus. This text is prophetic of the resolve that Jesus would exhibit in resolutely enduring his closing, intense experiences, without wavering. Jesus would set his “face like a flint” when facing the very experiences represented when Moses struck the “rock of flint.”
It is a reminder to us of the acute nature of the ordeal that Jesus faced. His mind was set to endure the affliction. Jesus had confidence in the faithfulness of God to bring the promised outcome. “Jehovah will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded … I know that I shall not be ashamed.”
In Jesus’ last journey to Jerusalem, he knew what awaited him. He explained it to his disciples in Matthew 20:18,19. “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, (19) And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and [he added without doubting] the third day he shall rise again.”
That Jesus set his “face like a flint” is observed, in other words, in Luke 9:51. “When the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
Could we have any better example? If we face difficulties, trials, adversities, in our Christian life, or in our mundane affairs, let us face them with confidence that God will give us necessary fortitude, if we meekly set ourselves to the experience.
— Br. David Rice