EXODUS 17:1-7
The water flowing from the rock indicates the provision for life. The psalmist said, “Behold, he
smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed” (Ps. 78:20). The smitten
rock pointed to the smitten Christ who paid the penalty of sin. The gushing streams of water
picture the gracious supply of life through the Holy Spirit.
God smote His Son and raised Him from the dead, thereby sending forth the life-giving stream,
but man must come and drink. Although Jesus Christ has paid the penalty of sin for all (1 John
2:2), only those who personally receive Him as Saviour have forgiveness of sin and eternal life
(John 1:12; 5:24).
When God provides, He provides abundantly. When God provided water for the Israelites, the
psalmist said, “He opened the rock and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a
river” (Ps. 105:41). Concerning the life that the Lord Jesus Christ provides, He said, “I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
This coincides with the way Jesus compared the Spirit to the abundance of running water (John
4:14; 7:37-38). So the rock in the wilderness prefigured Jesus Christ.
But whosoever drinketh 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 4:14).
Theodore Epp
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