The Feast of Tabernacles was originally a seven day feast to which was later added an eighth and final day. The feast was celebrated with camping out in tents made of the limbs of trees and with special sacrifices. The people carried “lulabs” which were bunches of leaves arranged with palm leaves in the middle and those of myrtle and willow branch on either side. They followed the Pharisaical interpretation of Lev 23:40, which held that the worshippers were to actually take the aforementioned leaves in hand as they went to the Temple to worship. The Sadducees held that the interpretation was that the leaves referred to the building materials for the booths. The lulab symbolized different stages in the wilderness journey. The Feast was a time of great rejoicing and at various times in the services the lulabs would be shaken and there would be flute playing and dancing and great gaiety. Willow branches were placed around the altar so as to make a canopy over it. Each day a priest would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and would pour it out at the base of the altar, all the time accompanied by singing for joy from the priests and Levites to fulfill (Isaiah 12:1-3).

Isaiah 12:1-3 In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

This was done in thanksgiving to God for giving water in times past, but more specifically, for the giving of water to His people in the wilderness when He instructed Moses to strike the rock (Ex 17:6). In John we have seen Jesus as the fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder, the bronze serpent, the manna from heaven, and now the rock that gave forth water in the desert.

Ex 17:6  I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

“said in a loud voice” indicates loudness and emotion, which signifies the importance of that which follows.  

“stood” or “was standing” = The usual posture for a teacher was to be seated with His disciples seated around Him. The posture of Jesus, along with the volume of His voice, would not only allow the greatest number of people to hear what he had to say, but also would grab everyone’s attention and indicate the importance of what was to follow.

We are not certain if the water was poured out on the eighth day. If it were, then Jesus would have used the occasion to make His point by making His loud proclamation as the people were watching the pouring. If it were not poured out on the eight day of the feast, then the lack would have made the claim of Jesus all the more impressive.

Jesus uses words quite similar to those He used with the Samaritan woman in John 4:10. The rock which quenched the thirst of God’s people in the wilderness was a type of Jesus, Who abundantly quenches the thirst of those who are panting after a relationship with the living God (1 Cor 10:4).

John 4:10  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

1 Cor 10:4  and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

The account of the striking of the rock is found in (Ex 17:1-7). Now, a rock is the last place a man would look for water and a rock in Mt. Horeb, which means “dry place” or “desert” would be the most unlikely of water-producing places, but that is exactly where God told Moses to go.

Ex 17:1-7  The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The LORD answered Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the LORD saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

The order of Exodus 16 and 17 is interesting. Christ must descend from heaven, as did the manna, to be the bread of life for His people, but He must then be smitten before He can be the water of life for them.

Striking the rock was to be done this one time, but never again. Moses blew it in (Num 20:1-13) when God told him to speak to the rock and Moses lost his temper and struck it instead. Note that the process which had been right before was now wrong. You can’t keep doing the same things God told you to do years ago and think you are automatically honoring Him. The only way to be certain of what God wants you to do today is to ask Him. It is essential for us to walk in a living relationship with God. On the other hand, water came forth even though Moses used the wrong methods and for the wrong reasons. Be careful to never judge the rightness of a man by the success of his methods. God’s grace meets the needs of people even when they are wrong.

In Exodus 17 we are shown Christ on the cross; that is why the rock was struck with the rod that brought judgment on the Egyptians. He had to undergo the judgment of God in our place (Isa 53:4-5). In Numbers 20 the word for “rock” is different; this one is cela which means a cliff or crag and comes from the root word meaning lofty or exalted. In other words, in Numbers 20 we are shown Christ as exalted in heaven. No wonder God was so mad at Moses for striking it! Christ had already symbolically suffered the cross and now all that had to be done to receive life-giving water was to ask Him for it. That is why God told Moses to “speak” to the Rock.

Isa 53:4-5  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Note also that God let Moses disobey Him even though it ruined the symbolism of the Rock (Christ) being struck (killed) only once for mankind. God gives us free will to obey or to disobey Him, regardless of the outcome.

Moses had no idea that God was using his striking and then the second time around speaking to the rock to paint a picture of His son for all the future generations to come for all eternity. Moses just thought that God was meeting a need for water at one specific time. He didn’t eralize the incredible spiritual significance of what he was doing when he obeyed God, and neither do we when we do what God says. Don’t just think that you are doing an insignificant thing when God tells you to do something, for there is no telling how wondrous a thing God will make of it. Our part is to just trust and obey.

God led the Israelites to Rephidim though He knew there was no water for them there. They were following God’s direction and yet His provision was not in sight. This was a test. Would His people see that the God Who had delivered them through the Red Sea and destroyed their enemies, the same God Who had been miraculously leading them, and the same God Who had been feeding them manna from heaven, had the ability and the desire to give them water? Unfortunately, they failed the test and grumbled against Him. What about you? Do you pass the test when it seems that God has led you into a dead end? Do you trust Him when it seems that your needs are greater than His supply? Or do you join the ranks of the Israelites and grumble that He had failed you? The heart of man has not changed over the generations.

We have already seen that Jesus is the Rock that gives us life-giving water after He is struck down. Note also (Deut 32:15, 2 Sam 22:2, Psalms 95:1).

De 32:15  Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Saviour.

2 Sam 22:2 He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

Ps 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

He is the Rock of our salvation. Some of the characteristics of a rock are:

1. strength (Mt 7:25)
2. stability (also Mt 7:25)
3. durability (Mt 21:44, Heb 13:8)
   Mt 7:25  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
   Mt 21:44  He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
   Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

Our Rock of salvation is all of those things.

Interestingly, the murmuring of the Israelites is what prompted God to send the water. In other words, their sin caused His grace to abound (Rom 5:20). But note that this was grace acting on a righteous basis. The water didn’t spring forth until the judgment of God in the form of the striking by the rod, had occurred. God’s grace will always abound in the face of sin, but it must have a legal right to do so, and that right was purchased by Christ on the cross.

Rom 5:20  The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

Man’s problem has always been that we are spiritually thirsty and we try to satisfy it with the wrong things (Jer 2:13).

Jer 2:13  “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” 

The only thing that can satisfy that thirst is Jesus. He said that if anyone is thirsty he should go to Him and drink. He has given us a process for slaking that spiritual thirst. It is:

1. recognize your need (“if”)
2. go the Christ (“come”)
3. accept His salvation (“drink”)
4. abide in Christ (“keep on drinking”)
5. let the river flow out from you

If you do these things, you shall never thirst again.