Sticks and Stones

Exo 17:5-6 MKJV
(5) And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on in front of the people, and take with you the elders of Israel. And take your rod with which you struck the river, in your hand, and go.
(6) Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb. And you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Looking at our Salvation story through events in the Old Testament can be so exciting. Israel represented fallen man, hopelessly enslaved in Egypt. God used Moses to bring them out, through the Red Sea. They were free from Egypt, but only physically free. Mentally they were still enslaved to bitter, selfish souls. They were in the desert.

Notice what God says: take your rod with which you struck the river. The river? The river... which river was that, Lord... because... since we've seen the Nile we've WALKED THROUGH THE RED SEA. Why has God referenced a seemingly small event of the past instead of referencing the HUGE event of walking to freedom through a sea? Here is the verse:

Exo 14:16 MKJV
(16) But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

But no. God is reminding Moses to take the rod he used when he struck the Nile River, which probably seemed eons ago. Moses had struck the Nile in Exodus 7:20 and it turned to blood.

God usually allows mankind to obtain what he pursues, doesn't he? Pharaoh was out for blood. He had decreed the destruction of all the male Hebrew babies by what means? Throwing them in the Nile... But it was the Nile that floated their salvation: Moses. Now God was giving Pharaoh what he wanted - blood.

Back to God's reference. He said, even as you took the rod and struck the river, take the rod and strike the rock.

From here, we can take what we know and apply it. The rod is the cross that struck our Rock, Jesus Christ. From Him came water to nourish us and save us in the desert we were in. Understand, too, that rods have NO CHANCE against rocks. You'd no more set out to break a rock with a stick than you would digging a tunnel with a plastic spoon. Forget it. But the Rock split and water issued forth...

The cross... the Romans... the Jews... had NO CHANCE of killing Jesus unless He laid His life down for us. That He did.

1Jn 3:16 MKJV
(16) By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

But the river... what about it? This same cross that was used to bring us water in the desert was also used to destroy the enemy - ultimately bringing him exactly what he wanted. Blood. The cross brings life, but the cross brings death to those who reject it.