The ROCK
On
3/28/25 I was looking up King David’s story to see if what was shown on
Amazon’s House of David was in the Bible. The parts about David being a bastard
from another wife of Jesse is not true. However when I was searching 1 Samuel,
I found something very interesting. Saul is chasing David to kill him.
1 Sm 23: 22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see
his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is
told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the
lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the
certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the
land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul:
but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on
the south of Jeshimon (desert by Dead Sea) .
25 Saul also and his men went to seek him.
And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock (05553 lofty fortress, Sela or Cela), and abode in the
wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in
the wilderness of Maon.
26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain,
and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get
away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round
about to take them.
27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying,
Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.
28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after
David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth (05555 the cliff of
escapes, or division).
When I saw this, I
was moved in my spirit for the second rock that Moses struck with Aaron’s rod
for God to bring out water for the people was a cliff and the same Hebrew root. The
Strong’s number is 5555, four times Grace.
Nu 20: 1
¶ Then came the children of Israel, even
the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people
abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no water for the congregation:
and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake,
saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation
of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out
of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed,
or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water
to drink.
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of
the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell
upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly
together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their
eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them
water out of the rock: so thou shalt 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 (05553
lofty fortress, Sela), and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we
fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his
rod he smote the rock twice: and the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron,
Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of
Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I
have given them.
13 This is the water of Meribah; because
the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
Moses and Aaron were
not allowed to go into the Promised Land over this incident. You see, the Rock,
was to only be smitten once. That took place at the beginning of the wilderness
experience of Israel at the Rock of Horeb before the Sinai encampment. Where
Moses struck the rock and it split gushing forth water.
As you know Miriam,
Aaron, and Moses all died there at Kadesh Barnea (Holy desert). Their tombs are
in close proximity to each other. Moses was able to see the Promised Land from
Mt. Nebo, but not go in.
There are two places
suggested by scholars where Kadesh Barnea is: One is SW of the DS, and the
other is in Petra. Petra better fits the Biblical narrative.
The reason that the location inside Israel proper today would not allow for the crossing of the Red Sea by Israel at Nuweiba on the Gulf of Aqaba and then into Arabia where the real Mt. Sinai is located. The 40 years in the wilderness took place in that arena, not on the Sinai Peninsula.
From the center of
Petra, Miriam’s Tomb is supposed to be at the place where the Ad-Deir Monastery
was constructed, to the NW.
Aaron’s Tomb and
monument are WSW of Petra.
Moses Tomb, and
memorial is on Mt. Nebo E and N of the DS, about 50 miles N of Petra.
Miraim’s Tomb under
the Monastery
The carved structures of Petra were made from 4 BC to 2 AD by the Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs.
Aaron’s Tomb
Petra means Rock in
Greek. Many Bible scholars believe it will be the place of refuge for the Jews
from the anti-Christ in the last half of the tribulation.
It
is apparent to me that it is more than likely that the cliff where Moses was
supposed to speak to the rock, “the high cliffs of division”, and the place
that David escaped from the “high cliffs of escape”, are the same place. They
are the same root word in Hebrew, Sela.
David
pauses and says, Sela or Selah in many Psalms. Is this him thinking of the
escape from Saul that was obviously God’s doing? Some say it was something for
the musicians to take note.
Paul
tells us that the Rock that Moses struck is Christ;
1Cor 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.
Jesus tells us of the man who built his house on the sand and
another on the Rock, and when the
storms of life came along the house on the Rock stood fast, Mt 7.
Mt
16:13 ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said,
Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or
one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
There
is another Hebrew word that sounds similar, Selah. This word ends in Hey, where
Sela ends in Ayin. Selah Strong’s 5542 means High Exalted.
Our
Lord Jesus is High and Exalted. He is our refuge and strength. He is our way of
escape. Praise Him forevermore. He is the Rock.
Isa 16:1 Send ye the lamb
to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the
mount of the daughter of Zion.
On
top of Mt Nebo is a memorial which honors Moses death. There is a serpent on a
cross. This is a symbol of where Moses put a bronze serpent on a pole and all
who looked upon it were healed from the bites of the fiery serpents, Nu 21.
Jesus said this represented His crucifixion were those who look to Him would be
saved, Jn 3.
This “Great Stone” also on the top of mount Nebo is exactly the size of the stone that covered the Garden Tomb of where many believe that Jesus was buried and spent 3 days and nights, then rose from the dead. It was used as a table for communion in a building that was built at the crucifixion site in the 1st century; however, it ended up missing.
The
Son of Man, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, has always
been the ROCK.
In
1 Sam 17, it was the rock from
David’s sling that killed Goliath, and as a result defeated the Philistine
army. Samuel had anointed David to be King of Israel after Saul and the killing
of the giant paved the way for that to happen. God was the victor of that
battle with a rock.
David
took the head of Goliath and buried it in Jerusalem at the place called
Golgotha, which is the place of the skull.
A
thousand years later our Lord Jesus was crucified at Golgotha and defeated the
devil there to save mankind.
Jesus is our sacrifice that redeemed us, and is the everlasting King of the Universe. If you do not know him, ask him into your life today, for there is no other way to the Father except through Him.
Scriptures are from the AKJV, pictures from the Internet with no infringement intended.
