Speak to the rock

When our two older children were of the age of restlessness and endless energy  we would, in an effort to exhaust them before bedtime, make regular visits to the Ulster Museum in the grounds of Botanic Gardens in South Belfast each Sunday for an afternoon’s outing. There was at that time a permanent geological display which seemed to be as much visited as the exhibition of modern art on the top floor. I guess most people still prefer dinosaurs to rocks and art any day don’t they?

In the course of time and in an attempt to increase the rock ratings the museum management devised what they assumed would be an instant crowd puller. It amounted in fact to nothing more however  than a small dimly lit room with some display cabinets exhibiting a few glowing rocks which, upon entry into the room, one would be greeted with the gentle tones of a man’s voice cautioning us about the dangers of the radiation we had unwittingly been exposed to.

That was 20 years ago, and thankfully the exposure was minimal and has left no permanent damage. For all I know the display may still be there, but in any event that that room became affectionately known by our children as the place of the ‘talking stones’

Talking stones and talking to stones is however not new  and I am not just referring to the realm of geological academia. I have been reading through Luke’s gospel of late and came across the following  text. It describes the temptation of Jesus just after His baptism.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”(Luke 4.3)

Earlier in ‘s gospel we read that at His baptism the Spirit descended on Jesus in bodily form like a dove and the words came from heaven:

“You are my son, the beloved in whom I am well pleased” (Luke 3.22)  

At other occasions during the ministry of Jesus voices did come from heaven and on those occasions He himself remarked that they came for the benefit of the people who were with Him at the time. But on this particular occasion the fact that God was addressing Jesus Himself confirms that the voice was indeed for His benefit. At the start of His ministry comes confirmation from the throne of heaven that He is God’s son, the beloved one, the chosen saviour of His people.

It is hardly surprising then that when the devil first arrives on the scene to tempt Him his opening remarks are ‘If you are the son of God’.  The similarities with his temptation of Adam and Eve in the Paradise of Eden are obvious, with the objective to cast doubt on the word of God.  Jesus had been in the desert for 40 days and was by now hungry so the devil continues ‘talk to this stone and tell it to become bread’

When I read this I am reminded of another occasion when someone else was instructed to ‘talk to the rock’. On that occasion it was Moses in the desert when God told him to ‘speak to the rock’ that it bring forth water for the children of Israel who after wandering for 40 years in the desert were naturally complaining of thirst .

  “Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water (Num 20:8)

Moses names the place where this incident occurred ‘Massah’ which means ‘testing’  and ‘Meribah’ meaning ‘quarrelling’.  For him this test was the turning point in his career that would in fact prematurely terminate his ministry just at the time the Israelites were poised to enter  the promised land of milk and honey.

When Moses spoke to the rock it is recorded that he did not glorify God but took the glory for himself. As a consequence of his action God told him that he would not lead the congregation of Israel into the Promised Land, for that privilege would go to another.

Moses pleaded with God to reconsider, presumably on numerous occasions for we read in Deut 3:26 God says ‘Don’t talk to me anymore about this, my decision is final’

What is even more intriguing is that the rock that Moses addressed and that followed the children of Israelite in the desert was none other than Christ Himself.

“and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4)

Where Moses failed and was rejected by God to complete the deliverance of His people, Jesus faithfully succeeded. What if He had turned the stone to bread? He would have failed God in the time of temptation and disqualified Himself from being Israel’s deliverer. But He resisted the temptation, giving God honour and glory.

As for Moses, well, the irony is that in the end he did enter the promised land, albeit some 1300 years later.  It’s recorded in the gospels that when Jesus was transfigured Moses was brought to Him along with Elijah.

“Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30)

The irony here, lost in the translation into English, is that the word ‘departure’ is in fact in the Greek text  none other than the word  ‘exodus’. How appropriate!

In the account of the transfiguration the face of the Lord far outshone that of Moses in his day, no veil being needed  and the voice from the cloud this time affirms ‘This is my Son whom I have chosen, listen to Him’.

Truly one greater even than Moses had arrived.

The Scribbling Scribe

19th Sept 2009