Word of Encouragement (12/14/2022)
“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. 5 They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. 6 Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deut. 32:4-6)
After the invocation and a preliminary petition, Moses begins his song. He does so by addressing God as “the Rock.” Why? Was he simply using an analogy here, presenting God as strong and firm as a rock or a boulder? As a matter of fact, Moses’ descriptions of God, which follow, seem to go well with that understanding. All His ways are just. He is faithful and without iniquity. He is just and upright. In contrast, the people of Israel dealt corruptly with Him. They are a crooked and twisted generation, foolish and senseless. We can understand why these divine attributes will be the basis of God’s righteous judgment on Israel’s waywardness.
But we could not have read through the Old Testament up to this point and not recall a special, redemptive-historical reference this divine title has: the rock, which was cleft when Moses struck it with his staff, out of which water flowed to quench the thirst of the Israelites. It was a powerful and memorable instance of God’s grace. For the Israelites at that time were not just thirty; they were not only grumbling against Moses for the lack of water but also accusing him (and therefore God) for bringing them out of Egypt only to kill them in the wilderness (Ex. 17:3). Yet, God graciously provided water for them. So, when Israel dealt treacherously with God, they did so not simply by violating God’s commandments but also by betraying His grace.
What an unlikely emblem of God’s grace was this rock! Grace is not what comes to our minds when we think of a rock, is it? But that was not all. God told Moses, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Ex. 17:6). What a puzzling arrangement! God stood in such a way that, when Moses struck the rock, he was in effect striking the LORD! Why? The people were grumbling to the point of accusing God, their Deliverer, of genocide! They were the ones, who deserved the striking. But God stood before the rock as if He was receiving the blow! What a shocking picture of God’s grace!
We see this realized in the cross of Jesus Christ, don’t we? This is why Paul said, “they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). So, when Moses says, “his work is perfect,” we can understand it to be particularly His work of redemption, not just all His work. Regarding this, John Gill says, “the law is perfectly fulfilled, justice is fully satisfied, a perfect righteousness is wrought out, a complete pardon is procured, perfect peace is made, full atonement of sins obtained, and the whole work is finished; and is so perfect that nothing is wanting in it, or can be added to it, nor can it be unraveled or undone again.” How secure we are because we are saved by His perfect work! Let us give thanks to the Lord for our perfect salvation!