Numbers 20:1-11
In the Old Testament, salvation is used variously. It refers to everyday regular types of deliverances – from enemies, disease and other forms of danger. It also refers to those major deliverances that are specifically interpreted as being a definite part of God’s unique and special involvement in human history as well as special revelations of his character and will. A good example is the exodus. A whole nation was delivered from bondage in Egypt, travelled safely to the Promised Land, and settled there as a new people in a new relationship with God.
The image of the Rock is used severally in reference to the LORD. For example, when David was delivered from all his enemies and from the hand of King Saul, he wrote a song saying, “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies” (Psalm 18:1-3).
In the NT, the term salvation is used to denote the divine work of Jesus on the cross and the benefits thereof. Jesus came to save the world from sin and its consequences, from Satan and his power. Consequently, when a person repents and believes in the name of Jesus, he receives God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. “... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
The ultimate work of salvation will be experienced at the end of time, in the Judgment. It is a future hope that assures us that through Christ we will be saved from God’s wrath through at the last judgement (Rom 5:9), as Peter wrote of the salvation “that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). Salvation, which belongs to our God (Rev 19:1), includes everything that God will do for and to his people as he brings them to the fullness of life in the new heaven and the new earth of the age to come.
Throughout human history, what remains constant in the past, present and future is the presence of God. A rock is a good symbol because of its unchanging nature. A rock is rather steadfast and immovable. The Rocky Mountains for example have the demeanor of being ageless. Therefore, David is right when he calls the LORD his ‘rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, stronghold, the horn of salvation’. This is because David had found the LORD steadfast in bringing him the help he needed when his enemies, even King Saul assailed him. He had discovered that the LORD doesn’t change and hence could be trusted.
May we like David find the LORD to be our Rock – steadfast and immovable; our fortress, shield and defender; our horn of Salvation and our stronghold. May we acknowledge Him. May we trust him to fight our battles, great and small. May we find Him to be our stable ground when all around us shifty and shaking. May we also believe in Him and confess Him with our mouth so that we find salvation in the now, and at the end of time. “For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great” (Psalm 18:31-35). Amen.
