Week 27/2024
A word fitly spoken is like APPLES OF GOLD in a setting of silver [Proverbs 25v11]
We continue our series of Christ in every book of the Old Testament and today we consider the rock that supplied life giving water for the Israelites whilst they travelled in the desert as recorded in the Book of Numbers chapter 20 verse 8. God told Moses: “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 that they and their livestock can drink”. In the barren wilderness, God constantly provided a never-ending supply of life-giving water – all the people had to do was ask in faith. Paul makes it clear that this is a picture of Christ as seen in 1 Corinthians 10v3: “They all ate the same spiritual foodand drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ”.
Friends, wherever we are and whatever our situation, Christ is waiting to refresh and restore our souls and satisfy our spiritual thirst as He told the Samaritan woman in John 4v14: “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life”. Those of us who drink constantly from the spiritual rock of Christ can testify to how this water satisfies our souls. However, we live in a society that promises that material things and attaining the lifestyle of the rich and famous will give us satisfaction, but we know this satisfaction is fleeting. When I was growing up, there was a famous advert featuring a brand of cigarettes being smoked by a famous sportsman who proclaimed: “After action, satisfaction”. Many believed and copied him and for a while it seemed to be true, but the result was an epidemic of lung and heart disease. In contrast, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (see Romans 5v5), we are the channel which God uses to supply the life-giving water that Christ wants everybody to drink to satisfy their thirst for contentment.
In conclusion, our verse clearly teaches that the life-giving water is for the whole community for them to satisfy their thirst. That means we have a duty to ensure we make everybody aware of the “rock, which is Christ” who offers water welling up to eternal life, so they never have to thirst again for significance, satisfaction and meaning for life.
Amen
Graeme Greenwood