Striking the Rock Again

Please consider the story of Moses and the rock:

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you will smite the rock, and there will come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Numbers 20:
8 Take the rod, and gather you the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak you to the rock before their eyes; and it will give forth his water, and you will bring forth to them water out of the rock: so you will give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he struck the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Deuteronomy 32:
51 Because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
52 Yet you will see the land before you; but you will not go thither to the land which I give the children of Israel.

Moses and Aaron are two witnesses under the ministry of the law. The rock is Christ according to Paul:

1 Cor 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Moses is the minister of law. Christ Jesus is the minister of grace.

These things happened as prophetic warnings to us:

1 Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.

Striking the Rock is a symbol of crucifying Christ - a sacrifice which had to occur under the law, but only once.

Mat 26:31  Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

Is God really concerned about the idea of crucifying Christ more than once? Hebrews 6 says this:

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come,
6 If they will fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Please don't get the wrong idea here - Of course Moses will enter the true promised land - God was only using him as a warning example. What does this "promised land" foreshadow in the spiritual realm? The above scriptures from Hebrews show that it is much more than a free "ticket to heaven" and we have only seen a small taste of it so far. Christ cannot be crucified again physically - He is not even on Earth presently. But He said this in an end times parable:

Matt 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.

The above statement establishes the principal that doing something to a brother of Christ is the same as doing it to Christ.
It also leads to three results of these facts that apply to God's people:
  1. Whoever strikes the Rock again (This includes those who harm one of His brothers as well as those who just turn away from following Him.) will not enter the promised land.
  2. Whoever lives solely by law (Moses is a symbol for this.) cannot enter the promised land.   (Yes, this means those without oil.)
  3. Whoever fails to make God's holiness clear to His people will not be allowed to lead them into the promised land.
Matthew -
18:6 But whoever will offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Romans 3:
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there will no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

If it seems far fetched to conclude that God might see harming a brother of Christ this way or that it could lead to loss of the blessings of intimacy with God, then consider that Jesus warned us about this in his end times parables in Matthew 24

48 But and if that evil servant will say in his heart, My lord delays his coming;
49 And will begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And will cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(An earlier version of this message contained the false conclusion that Moses did not believe that speaking to the rock would produce water as God told him. A brother pointed out that this was not possible.)
Moses struck the rock rather than speaking to the rock as God had commanded him. Striking the rock produced water the first time and Moses struck the rock again. Water came from the rock but Moses was excluded from the promised land. God allowed this to happen as a warning to us according to Paul but why did He allow Moses to strike the rock twice? Consider this scripture about the two witnesses from the end of this age:

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These two witnesses are martyred after 3 and 1/2 years of ministry and in death as in life they follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus:

Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

The two witnesses represent the transition from the age of grace to the age of the Kingdom. They are the end times representatives of Christ Jesus. The ministry which the two witnesses represent is not like that of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors of the age of grace. The similarity of their ministry and death to that of Christ Jesus shows us they are from the promised overcomers who are "like Him" and will eventually replace the old ministries. This signals an overlap and division between the old and the new ages.  The response to the message of the two witnesses will result in one of two desires: receive the message or kill the messengers. Those who wish to harm the two witnesses will not enter the promised land. It seems that Moses striking the rock twice is a warning about the danger of choosing to reject their message and therefore the Lord himself.

The Key of David

What is the mysterious "Key of David" which Christ Jesus speaks about?

Revelation 3:
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;
8 I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

The most remarkable thing about the life of David is not killing Goliath or all the other marvelous things he did. It is something that he spoke about often and followed even at risk of his own life:

I Sam 26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?

David refused to take any action against Saul even though David was God's anointed because he knew that Saul was God's anointed also. Not once but many times. This was true even though Saul was often controlled by an "evil spirit":

I Samuel 18:
10    And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.
11    And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

This pattern of the old anointed ones trying to kill the new anointed ones has been around since Cain and Abel. As David pointed out though, you cannot touch the Lord's anointed and remain righteous. David refused to open a door that God had not opened for him. Even after Saul was dead, David ruled Judah in Hebron for seven years until God moved the rest of Israel to reject Saul and accept David as king. David would not take what God had not yet given him.

To be clear: The Key of David is a holy patience and faith which will die before opening a door that God has not yet opened. What is opened or shut with the Key of David cannot be shut or opened by man. Christ Jesus alone has perfected this key.

Conjunction

In any "civil war" among the people of God those who bear the sword against a brother will be found guilty before God. In time God will bring those who fight Him into submission or remove them. What is there to lose? Some may consider being judged by the fire a trivial thing but we know in our hearts that any part of us that fails to submit to Christ Jesus will not survive the fire of God. I am not talking about Spirit led reproof or correction here but rather persecutions.

What about the two witnesses killing those who oppose them? Is that a violation of the Key? Not really. Jesus miraculously handled attempts to kill Him before His 3 and 1/2 year ministry was completed without taking up a sword although His mission was to die for us. Peter spoke from his mouth words of the death of Ananias and Sapphira without taking up a sword and later willingly died for his Lord. The two witnesses do not defend themselves but rather the holiness of the message and ministry given to them. They do not use weapons but words anointed with fire until it is time to lay down their lives just as did Peter and the Lord.
 
Ultimately these things speak of Jesus defeating Satan on the cross not by fighting back but by letting Himself be slain so that God could open a door of life which could never be closed. They speak of the process that will eventually replace the first man (Adam) with the new man (Christ) just as David finally replaced Saul. But for this moment they are a strong warning about the end times battle we now face. These things are a test that God has determined. Just as the conflict between David and Saul brought David his mighty men, so too will this time bring Jesus His mighty men. The child that God is about to bring forth is without mixture and is from the kingdom age and is glorious and will be hated by many. Whoever touches the Lord's anointed will lose much. There is a time and a season when Christ's brothers must bear the sword but now is not the appointed time.

Matthew -
26:51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and struck off his ear.
26:52 Then said Jesus to him, Put up again your sword into his place: for all they that take the sword will perish with the sword.

Luke 22:36 Then said he to them, But now, he that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that has no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Rev 13:10 He that leads into captivity will go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Kermit Kiser
infire@seedofthewoman.com