Okay, I’ve gotten used to liking the points people are trying to make even when I can’t connect to the support they offer for the point. I don’t know why it surprised me to find it here, but Bell has been so close with so many points that to see him so off in this chapter . . . and off in a way that makes me want to yell, “Did you read the Torah? The whole thing?”
In a nutshell, Bell is addressing the issue of “the rock” from which the Israelites received water in the wilderness is Jesus–and we know this because we’re told by Paul in the epistles. And He explains that the spiritual source of everything is Jesus. And we can trust this. And with the point of this chapter I mostly agree.
But he’s not understanding the rock!
on pp 142-143 he speaks of God telling Moses to strike the rock in the wilderness to provide water for the people and animals. Then on pg 143 he writes:
“The story goes on, telling us about their continuing journey, the obstacles in their way, God’s patience with them, and Moses learning how hard it is to lead people and not lose your sanity in the process.
But the rock–we don’t hear any more about the rock.
Until more than a thousand years later.”
BUT WE DO! If you keep reading the story about the Wilderness journey of the Israelites you find that the rock travels with them. And it is this rock that Moses is later told to speak to and when he, instead, hits it again, he loses the privilege of going into the Promised Land. This rock is a huge deal! And it undermines the Scriptures to minimize it to one encounter where Moses is told to strike it.
When the people come to Moses in Numbers and complain about being thirsty and needing water, Moses goes to God and tells Him that the people and animals need water. In the Hebrew God responds with a correction–the animals need water to drink, the people need spiritual water. So in order to provide it Moses is told that he is to go and speak to the rock. Instead, Moses strikes the rock–it worked before, right? The sages suggest that Miriam, Moses sister, had been carrying the rock and that she had died so they didn’t know which rock it was. This is supported with the fact that in the Hebrew it is called “the rock” and not “a rock.” They state this indicates a known rock. For whatever reason–whether he didn’t know which rock it was, or he just got frustrated, he didn’t do what he was instructed to do.
And the observation from the sages is interesting. But before I share the commentary from the Chumash (the Hebrew Scriptures broken into Torah portions with commentary), let me explain the amazing significance of “et”, or, in Hebrew, aleph tav.
Yeshua said, “I am the alpha and omega.” Well, actually he didn’t. That’s the Greek of what he said, but what he really said is, “I am the aleph and the tav.” Alpha and aleph are the first letter of the Greek and Hebrew alphabet respectively. Omega and tav are the last letters. Proper translation. But “alpha and omega” doesn’t have nearly the meaning that “aleph tav” has. See, there is one word in Hebrew that *to this day* the rabbi’s do NOT know how to translate. It is usually treated as a direct object, often translated into English as “to”, but if you look at a Hebrew interlinear Bible you will find symbols under the aleph and tav to indicate that they do not know how to properly translate this word. This “word” that was “in the beginning”–as in, literally in the first verse of Genesis! And when he said, “I am the aleph and the tav,” Yeshua was making the claim that HE is the WORD they do not know how to translate!
That may take some time to sink in–no doubt it was a very shocking statement to the Pharisees and Torah teachers of his day! But why share that here?
Well remember that I said Moses asked for water for the people and the animals. Listen to what the sages say about that:
“Here, in God’s command to Moses that he bring water to the nation, the word [aleph tav] separates assembly from animals. However, the word [aleph tav] does not appear in verse 4, which contains the nation’s grievance, or in verse 11, which recounts the appearance of the water. These variations are significant. When the people asked for water, they equated themselves with their animals, implying that the physical need for water is the same in all living beings — but God did not want that. He wanted the nation to realize that if He wills it, there is a spiritual blessing in food that enables people to be nourished and satisfied, that people are not like animals. God inserted the word [aleph tav] in His command to Moses to indicate that there should be a difference in kind between the drinking of the assembly and that of their animals. In reality, however, that failed to happen. Moses and Aaron did not sanctify God’s Name . . , so that the people did not become as elevated as God had wanted. Consequently, when the water flowed and they drank (v. 11), there was, tragically, no [aleph tav] to differentiate between the assembly and their animals (Meshech Chochmah).” pp 843-844
The rabbi’s KNEW that the Israelites didn’t get the message and were missing something important. And they knew that the important thing they were lacking was something they didn’t know how to translate. Paul knew that Yeshua is the aleph tav–the Word that John explains was in the beginning–and the rock that Paul makes a big deal about.
So, yeah, there are rocks everywhere–but there is only one Rock.
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