Sweet Sisters,
When I was growing up, Prudential Insurance Company used the Rock of Gibraltar as its logo. John Dryden who owned the company in the 1890’s was looking for a way to advertise. An advertising company came up with the idea of using the Rock of Gibraltar because a century after the Great Siege, it was still the most famous fortress in the world. Prudential continues to use the “rock” as their logo.
When I read a verse in the Bible that talks about God being our rock and our fortress, the image of the Rock of Gibraltar still comes to my mind.
Our lesson this week is very simple. I want to look at scriptures from the Old Testament that refer to God as our rock. Then I want to move into the New Testament and put a twist on a concept that maybe you haven’t thought of before. I’m not going to comment on the scriptures I want you to read until we get to the ones in the New Testament. I want you to get a “feel” for what this concept meant to the Old Testament writers.
Let’s start with Deuteronomy 32:3 – 4:
3
I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!4
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
II Samuel 22:2 – 3 (Easy to Read Version):
2
The Lord is my Rock, my fortress, my place of safety.
3
He is my God, the Rock I run to for protection.
He is my shield; by his power I am saved.
He is my hiding place, my place of safety, high in the hills.
He is my savior, the onewho rescues me from the cruel enemy.
Psalm 18:2:
2
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 31:2 – 3:
2
Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.3
Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
Psalm 78:35:
35
They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
Psalm 94:21 – 22:
21
The wicked band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.22
But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
Psalm 95:1 – 2:
1
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.2
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 144:1 – 2:
1
Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.2
He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
Isaiah 26:4:
4
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 28:16 (New Century Version):
16 Because of these things, this is what the Lord God says:
“I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem,
a tested stone.
Everything will be built on this important and precious rock.
Anyone who trusts in it will never be disappointed.
Isaiah 44:7 – 8:
7
Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
and what is yet to come—
yes, let them foretell what will come.8
Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”
Habakkuk 1:12 (Easy to Read Version):
12
Lord, you are the one who lives forever!
You are my holy God who never dies!
Lord, you created the Babylonians to do what must be done.
Our Rock, you created them to punish people.
I have been studying a lot lately in the Psalms. I have become very aware of the concept of God as our Rock. The other day I happen to be reading in Matthew 16 and came across a passage that jumped out at me in a way it had never done before.
Look at Matthew 16:13 – 19. Peter tells Jesus that “He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus responds that “on this rock” He will build His church.
Sweet Sisters, what is “this rock”? I think “this rock” is the statement that Jesus is our Messiah (our deliverer), the Son of God. Peter’s statement is the foundation (the rock) of everything we believe.
I find it very interesting that at the end of his life, as Peter is writing I and 2 Peter, that Peter pens these words.
I Peter 2:4 – 6 (Easy to Read Version):
4 The Lord Jesus is the living stone. The people of the world decided that they did not want this stone. But he is the one God chose as one of great value. So come to him. 5 You also are like living stones, and God is using you to build a spiritual house. You are to serve God in this house as holy priests, offering him spiritual sacrifices that he will accept because of Jesus Christ. 6 The Scriptures say,
“Look, I have chosen a cornerstone of great value,
and I put that stone in Zion.
Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”
In Peter’s eyes, Jesus was the “living stone”, and when we put our trust in Him, we will never be put to shame. Did you notice that Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16 which we looked at earlier in this lesson?
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The rock of our salvation in the Old Testament is the rock of our salvation in the New Testament!
Debbie
APRIL 5, 2022
