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Follow The Rocks• In our study this week…– We’ll look at “Rocks” in the Old Testament• Why?• Not because we’re studying geology, but because God

is speaking to us through these “Rocks!”– They’re very similar in nature to those we find in

the New Testament• It’s important that we’re able to learn the

parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament!

What Rocks Represented…

…In the Old Testament–The Strength of God–Physical Protection–Physical Buildings

in the Old Testamentin the Old Testament

represented the represented the

Strength of GodStrength of God

• Deuteronomy 32:3-4 – “Ascribe greatness to our God.4 He is the RockRock, His work is perfect”

• Deuteronomy 32:18 – “Of the RockRock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you.”

• Deuteronomy 32:31 – “For their rock is not like our RockRock”

God as a “Rock”

• Psalm 31:2-3 – “Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me. 3 For You are my rockrock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me.”

• Psalm 94:22 – “But the Lord has been my defense, And my God the rockrock of my refuge.”

God the “Rock” provided strength and defense

• Psalm 62:7 – “In God is my salvation and my glory; The rockrock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.

• Isaiah 17:10 – “Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the RockRock of your stronghold…”

• Psalm 95:1 – “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the RockRock of our salvation.”

God the “Rock” provided salvation

in the Old Testamentin the Old Testament

representedrepresented

Physical ProtectionPhysical Protection

Exodus 17:5-6 – “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical protection

Numbers 20:7 – “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical protection

Rock/Stone symbolized protection

• Exodus 24:12 – “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

• Exodus 34:1 – “And the Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.

• Joshua 7:13 – “thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”

• Joshua 7:25 – “So all Israel stoned him with stonesstones”

• Joshua 7:26 – “Then they raised over him a great heap of stonesstones”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical protection

• Jeremiah 4:29 – “The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocksrocks.”

• Isaiah 2:10 – “Enter into the rockrock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the Lord”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical protection

in the Old Testamentin the Old Testament

representedrepresented

Physical BuildingsPhysical Buildings

• Joshua 4:4-7 – “Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stonestone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stonesstones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stonesstones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical buildings

• 1 Kings 6:1 – “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

• Verse 7 – “And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stonestone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical buildings

• 1 Kings 6:11-13 – “Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: 12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

Rocks in the O.T represented physical buildings

Rocks/stones in the O.T. represented physical buildings

• Ezra 6:3 – “In the first year of King Cyrus (around 536 B.C.), King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, 4 with three rows of heavy stonesstones and one row of new timber.”– -By decree of Darius around the year 520 B.C.

What Rocks Represent…

…In the New Testament–The Strength of Jesus–Spiritual Protection–Spiritual Buildings