Text Copyright © 2022 Ronald Ray Lambert
All Rights Reserved
In the prophecy of Daniel 2, the kingdom that God will set up was symbolized by "a stone…cut out without hands" which "struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them." Then it "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (verses 34, 35; NASB)
When Jesus talked about the Kingdom He was founding, he used the figure of a stone: "Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: `The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.'" (Mat. 21:42-44; NKJV)
The apostle Paul also used this figure of a stone: "19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22; NASB)
Have you ever wondered why this symbol of a stone is used in this way? If we investigate the origins of this symbol, we will discover a greater depth of meaning than we may suspect.
How did God lead the nation of Israel through the wilderness? We remember from reading the story in Exodus, that God led them by a pillar of smoke by day, and by a pillar of fire by night. But that is not all. There is another way that God led them that is often overlooked.
Do you remember the rock? "3But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, 'Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, 'What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.' 5Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." (Ex. 17:3-6; NASB)
Notice two things here: Water for the people was to come out of the rock, and God said "I will stand before you there on the rock." Why would God stand on this rock?
We have not paid much attention to this rock. But could it be that there is something special about this rock on which God was standing? Consider the way the rock was mentioned again later when Moses asked to see God's glory: "21Then the LORD said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.'" (Ex. 33:21)
Again, a second time Moses was instructed by the Lord to bring forth water out of the rock, for the people of Israel to drink. There is something very interesting implied about this rock, as we read the account in Numbers 20:6-8: "6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7The LORD said to Moses, 8'Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.'" (NIV)
Now, where does this passage imply that the rock was? Where were the people assembled together? Where then was the rock, that God pointed out by saying, "that" rock?
Perhaps now we may have a better idea what the apostle Paul was talking about, when he said that God led the people of Israel through the wilderness by a rock! We read this in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3and all ate the same spiritual food; 4and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." (NASB)
Paul drew this from Deuteronomy 34:3, 4, and 12-14: "3I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! 4He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he…. 12The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. 13He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, 14with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. " (NIV)
What is going on here with this repeated mention of a rock?
There is still another mention of stone, rock, or something similar to it, early in the Exodus:
Exodus 24:9-12 (NKJV):
9Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them."
Here is how the same passage is rendered in the NIV:
“9Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, {Or lapis lazuli} clear as the sky itself. 11But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. 12The LORD said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.'" The English Version Good News Bible says: "as blue as the sky."
Easton’s Bible Dictionary #3220: Sapphire Associated with diamonds #Ex 28:18 and emeralds #Eze 28:13 one of the stones in the high priest's breastplate. It is a precious stone of a sky-blue colour, probably the lapis lazuli, brought from Babylon. The throne of God is described as of the colour of a sapphire
According to Pastor Mike Oxentenko, from whom I first heard this study about the blue stone, and who is knowledgeable in Hebrew and Greek, the original Hebrew in this passage indicates that what God actually said, literally, was: "I will give you tables of the stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction." Most translations put the definite article with tables, when in the original, it goes with stone. In other words, God was saying He would cut out the tablets on which He would write His law, from "the" stone.
What stone was mentioned in the passage? In verse ten we were told that under God's "feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone…."
What kind of pavement, or rock, or stone, would God be standing on? And keep in mind that its color was said to be blue. Let we look for a clue in Ezekiel's vision of God's throne. We read:
Ezekiel 1:26 (NIV):
“Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, {Or lapis lazuli} and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.”
Here is how the New Revised Standard Version translates the same verse:
"And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it."
The Living Bible renders it this way:
“For high in the sky above them was what looked like a throne made of beautiful blue sapphire stones, and upon it sat someone who appeared to be a Man.”
Is this coincidence? Or could there be a connection between the stone on which God stood, the rock from which water flowed, the rock by which Christ led Israel through the wilderness, the stone from which the tablets were cut out that God used to inscribe His Ten Commandments--and the throne of God?
Let's go back again to the story in Exodus 17 where the people of Israel get water to drink, that flows out of the rock. Verses 8-16 tell us that the Amalekites wanted to take the water hole by force. Battle broke out. Israel prevailed as long as Moses' hands were upraised, and finally his companions held up his hands for him until the victory was won. Notice what is said in verses 14-16: I read from the NIV:
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.' 15Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16He said, 'For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The {Or 'Because a hand was against the throne of the LORD, the} LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.'"
Some translations do not bring out clearly the idea that the throne of God was involved. They did not understand how it could make sense to translate it literally, and so they chose to interpret it or paraphrase it as something like "the Lord has sworn." According to Mike Oxentenko, the word "throne" is in the original Hebrew, and the NIV and the old KJV have it right.
In Ezekiel's vision of a river of life flowing from the sanctuary toward the east, given in Ezekiel 47:1-8, we see that the water gets deeper and deeper, and everything it touches comes to life. Now, since this river of life has its origin in the sanctuary, where specifically, in the sanctuary would it come from?
Was not God's throne in the sanctuary? Did not the "Mercy Seat" on the Ark of the Covenant represent God's throne? After all, here is where the "Shekinah" glory of God would appear from time to time.
And what is directly beneath the "Mercy Seat" of the Ark? Within the Ark were placed the tables of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger--on rock He cut from the pavement on which He Himself stood.
Where does the River of Life originate in the Book of Revelation? We read in Revelation 22:1: "And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb…."
You may ask, what is the significance of all this? Perhaps there was an actual rock that moved around with the people of Israel in the wilderness, and perhaps that rock was in some sense associated with the throne of God. And perhaps that rock was the source from which the tablets were cut on which God inscribed the Ten Commandments. What should this mean to us? How can we use this knowledge?
Here is something the Lord told the people of Israel to do with it, in Numbers 15:38-40: "38Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 39And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, 40in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your God."
Did you catch that? A cord of blue was to remind the sons of Israel of what? —Of "the commandments of the Lord." Now, why should the color blue be reminiscent of the commandments of the Lord?
Obviously, it is because the Ten Commandments were inscribed upon stone that was blue—the very blue of God's own throne, as seen by Ezekiel.
The following questions then beg to be asked: If God wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger on stone that was cut out from His own throne, then does that not indicate that this Law is the basis of His government—for His very throne is established upon it? And consequently, is it likely that this Law could ever be changed? To attempt to change the Ten Commandments is to challenge God's own throne! For anyone to think to trample upon God's Law, is also to trample upon God's throne!
SEE NEXT TOPIC
Comments