Cliff over Ramon Makhtesh in Israel’s largest national park, the Ramon Nature Reserve. A makhtesh is an erosion-formed crater unique to the Negev and Sinai deserts.
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has over 64 million followers on Facebook—impressive. But that’s only a tiny fraction of the 2.2 billion people who follow another Rock!
This Rock embodies deliverance, protection, and uprightness. This Rock saves, rescues, and has laid a foundation for a kingdom that will endure forever.
And this Rock is mentioned over 200 times throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
Who is this Rock?
“For who is God besides YHVH? And who is the Rock except our God?” (Psalm 18:31)
This Rock is YHVH—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel).
Yet, in this neatly packaged illustration, God was preparing His people for another aspect of His nature, which King David wrote about in Psalm 89:26:
“You are my Father, My God, and the Rock of my salvation [Yeshua].”
Little did David realize the depth of God’s plan of salvation, whose meaning is derived from Hebrew name Yeshua. Nevertheless, he and the prophets continued to write about Him, all the while longing to truly know Him.
Let’s journey through God’s plan of salvation for the Jewish People and the world as revealed through His mighty creation—the Rock.
This split rock at Mount Horeb in Saudi Arabia is thought by some to be the rock from which God supernaturally made water gush forth for the Israelites in the wilderness (see Exodus 17:1–7; Numbers 20:1–14). — (Youtube Capture: Fair Use)
Our Rock Is a Redeemer Who Rescues Us
To redeem something or someone is to buy them back or rescue them in some way.
As Israel cried out for deliverance from enslavement in Egypt, Father God acted mightily on behalf of His children:
“He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.” (Psalm 78:13–16)
From the earliest days of Israel’s new life in the wilderness under the protection of God’s cloud in the day and fire at night, God also manifested His supernatural protection as a rock, providing life-giving water to His children.
“He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.”
Moreover, “they remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their [kinsman] redeemer [ga’al].” (Psalm 78:15, 35)
The Marriage of Ruth and Boaz, by Jean-Baptiste Auguste Leloir (1809–1892) depicts Boaz acting as kinsman redeemer in marrying Ruth, the widowed daughter-in-law of a relative. Through this act of redemption, Ruth becomes a great-grandmother to King David, a forefather of the Messiah.
This idea of God the Rock being a kinsman redeemer (ga’al), as the psalmist writes above, is significant as we follow God’s plan of salvation.
In ancient Hebrew culture, a kinsman redeemer referred to a male relative who acted on behalf of a relative in need.
Our Father God is still acting today on behalf of all of His children to redeem, deliver, and save us.
Let’s take a look at some more ways He has come to the rescue.
Ein Gedi Nature Reserve along the Dead Sea in Israel, where David fled to as King Saul pursued him.
Our Rock Is a Fortress Who Protects and Defends Us
King David was an expert in fortresses—conquering them and hiding in them.
He hid in the caverns of Ein Gedi as King Saul desperately pursued him with murder on his heart and in his hand.
Though these seaside mountains afforded David some natural protection, he understood that it would not be this rock nor his own military skill that would provide the safety and security he needed to save his life.
David confessed, “I will say of YHVH, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:2)
One of many waterfalls at the Ein Gedi Nature Preserve (YouTube capture)
When God is involved in our protection, the world sees us and wonders, “How did they do that?”
And that is what David said to his God: “I have become a marvel to many, for You are my strong refuge.” (Psalm 71:7)
May the world see the marvelous work that God has done in our lives when He becomes our refuge and fortress.
And just as David did, may we praise God continually for His protection and deliverance.
“I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.” (Psalm 71:14–16)
Solomon’s Pillars in Timna Park, located in Israel’s southern Negev (about thirty minutes north of Eilat) covers 15,000 acres of steep cliffs and sandstone formations. It is home to ancient copper mines and mining shafts as well as smelting furnaces dating back to imperial Egypt 6,000 years ago.
Our Rock Is a Righteous Judge
“Righteousness” means to be found fair, right, and just.
To illustrate this in terms of a rock, we can say that a rock “stands its ground.” It does not waiver to the left or to the right, regardless of the influences pushing against it.
And that is an excellent description for our God:
“The LORD [YHVH] is upright; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (Psalm 92:15)
Because of His unchanging, just, and fair nature, the Lord is the standard-bearer for right and wrong. God alone is the judge who issues fair punishment and just reward based on His standards alone.
This is one of the reasons why we are to trust Him alone as our guide throughout life, as David wrote:
“For you are my Rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me.” (Psalm 31:3)
We may want to stop for a moment and ask ourselves, “Who is guiding my life today?”
Rappelling down Keshet Cave in the Upper Galilee
The Rock of Our Salvation
Although King David, the Israelites, and the prophets understood YHVH to be the “Rock of my salvation [Yeshua],” for them, His salvation was limited to the physical-moral sphere.
As we’ve seen so far, God saved the Israelites in the following ways:
- He delivered them from enslavement.
- He provided life-giving water in the wilderness.
- He defended David from his enemies.
- He set the standard for righteousness.
This helps us understand why the Jewish People missed their Messiah when He finally arrived. They were expecting a physical salvation from their Roman oppressors.
And they were expecting an immediate installation of the Messianic kingdom.
While they were offering lambs and goats as a temporary covering for their sins, they missed significant prophecies about the perfectly Righteous One who would do what no lamb or goat offering could do—become their final sacrifice:
“He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to His own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5–6)
This rocky hill near Damascus Gate at the Old City of Jerusalem has the appearance of a skull, leading some to believe that this is “the place of the skull” where Yeshua (Jesus) was executed. (See Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; Luke 23:33; John 19:17)
Isaiah 53 says that God would provide someone to become the guilt offering that would bring us peace and heal our wounds. Because of His suffering, our sins can no longer keep us separated from God (Hebrews 10:10; Romans 6:10, 22–23).
“Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.” (Romans 6:22–23)
It is this spiritual salvation through Messiah Yeshua that God was trying to prepare the Jewish People for through the many illustrations of Himself as the Rock.
Let’s look at how those illustrations pointed to Yeshua.
The Rock in the wilderness was Messiah Yeshua:
“All drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Messiah.” (1 Corinthians 10:4)
The Kinsman Redeemer, our Father God, saved His children Israel out of Egypt and protected and provided for them through their wilderness wanderings. The Kinsman Redeemer, our Brother Yeshua, saved us and delivered us from the wages of sin and gave us a new identity as children of God:
“He redeemed us so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Messiah Yeshua, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)
Yeshua Is Tempted, by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834–1890), depicts Yeshua’s victory over Satan’s attempts to lead Him into sin (see Luke 4:1–12).
Yeshua is our Refuge from the accusations of the enemy, for Yeshua paid the wages of our sin on our behalf.
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua.” (Romans 8:1)
Yeshua is the Righteous One—the One who is our High Priest and sits at the right hand of the Father. For this reason, “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua HaMashiach, the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)
And as we will see next, Yeshua is the Foundation Stone / the Cornerstone upon which we build a spiritual house that will last for eternity. Peter said,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6)
Our Rock Is a Foundation / Cornerstone
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1)
Yeshua, our Salvation, is not another rock (or another god). He is one with God. In fact, Yeshua is so much a part of God that He is the Word of God that “became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
The Word of God entered the world to teach us how to stand upright, without wavering to the left or to the right. Yeshua told us how to do that:
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”” (Matthew 7:24–25)
A modern home built atop a cliff.
The Word of God, Yeshua, is the foundation stone that God spoke of:
“See, I am laying in Zion a Foundation Stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: ‘One who trusts will not panic.’” (Isaiah 28:16; see also 1 Corinthians 3:11)
Of course, Believers understand this stone to be Messiah Yeshua.
And the Jewish sage Rashi (AD 1040–1105) also believed this sure foundation, this cornerstone, referred to King Messiah. He writes:
“Behold, I am He Who has already laid [a stone in Zion. Already] a decree has been decreed before Me, and I have set up the King Messiah, who shall be in Zion as an אֶבֶן בּוֹחֵן, a fortress stone, an expression of a fortress and strength. … a foundation of a foundation, which is a solid foundation.” (Rashi’s commentary on the Bible)
Yet, Rashi and Jewish People worldwide do not agree that this foundation is, indeed, Yeshua, and that causes them to stumble.
In AD 70, the Second Temple that was built by man was destroyed by man and replaced with a new and improved Temple, Yeshua (John 2:19).
Our Rock Is a Stumbling Block
The revelation that Yeshua is the foundation stone of an eternal and spiritual salvation is too difficult to bear for many people, especially if they have not studied Messianic prophecies like Isaiah 53.
The Jewish People, for example, are still looking for a physical savior. And have been stumbling over the foundation stone for 2,000 years, just as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied would happen:
“He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel He will become a rock one stumbles over—a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 8:14)
Mountain goats at Ramon Makhtesh Nature Preserve
Yet, there is a divine reason for why the Jewish People are stumbling:
“Through their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” (Romans 11:11)
It is time for Believers to make Israel very jealous!
How do we do that?
We can hold an open house to show off the marvelous works that God has done in our spiritual homes. We can point people to our home’s foundation, Yeshua, the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1).
“As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua HaMashiach.” (1 Peter 2:4–5)
It’s time to hear and do the Word so that our inner Spirit will demonstrate how we have been hewn out of the mighty salvation power of Yeshua.
The Garden Tomb: This ancient tomb just outside Damascus Gate at the Old City of Jerusalem had been hewn out of the rock surrounding it and is thought by some to be the tomb where Yeshua was laid to rest and from where He resurrected. (See Mark 15:42–16:8; Isaiah 53:9.).
What started out as one foundation stone and twelve disciples has grown to a following of over 2.2 billion living stones, representing the largest building of any kind in the world.
Sadly, 99% of the Jewish People don’t see Yeshua as their Foundation Stone. And they don’t see Him as Messiah in the Torah, the Prophets, or the Psalms because much of Scripture that foreshadows Him is not taught in Yeshiva (Jewish seminary), nor is it read in the weekly Shabbat readings in the synagogues.
You can help us change this reality and bring eternal life to the Jewish People through the development of the Messianic Prophecy Bible and more articles such as these.
