1 Cor. 10:1-5, That Rock was Christ (1)

We now are beginning a study of an amazing OT word, generally translated “rock.”  There are several Hebrew words for a stone or rock.  “Eben” refers to a rock you might pick up from the ground.  “Selah” refers to rock you might build on, bedrock.  Our word is “tsur” and refers to a cliff or sharp edged rock. 

The first use of “tsur” is in Ex. 17:6 where it appears twice: “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in 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.  Speaking of this passage, the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 10:4 said, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 

We have noted that the rock “followed them,” a possible reference to Jewish tradition that the rock stayed with Israel during their wilderness wanderings.  But the second time the LORD brought water from a rock (Num. 20:8,10,11) the “rock” was “selah,” and “selah” is not used to refer to the first “rock.”  Our point is that “tsur,” the rock that Paul said was “Christ,” is, in fact, regularly used of things that show us Christ in the OT.  I don’t mean to say that “selah” is not an important term, but “tsur” is truly profound!  Note these occasions where the two appear together, and see if you do not see Christ in “tsur.”

·       Deut. 32:13: He made him draw honey from the rock (selah), And oil from the flinty rock (tsur).

·       Judges 6:20-21: The rock of Gideon’s sacrifice.  Lay the meat on the rock (selah), and fire came out of the rock (tsur) and consumed the sacrifice.

·       2 Sam. 22:2-3: The LORD is my rock (selah) and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my rock (tsur), in Him will I trust.  Psa. 18:2 is a repeat of this Psalm and the NKJV translates “tsur” as strength in which I trust.  Ps. 31:2-3 is similar, though reversed: be thou my strong rock (tsur) … for You are my rock (selah) and my fortress.  Again, Ps. 71:3 says, Be my strong refuge (tsur), To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock (selah) and my fortress. 

·       Psa. 78:15-16: In terms of the two rocks from which brought forth water this seems to fit.  He clave the rocks (tsur) in the wilderness, and gave them drink … He also brought streams out of the rock (selah), And caused waters to run down like rivers.  The plural fits “tsur” as coming from the cleft of the rock, a crack in the rock making a divided rock.

·       Isa. 2:21: This shows the two rocks, speaking of Israel going into hiding in the clefts of the rocks (tsur), And into the crags of the rugged rocks (selah), From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.