God is the Rock
Reflections on Deuteronomy 32
Israel on Trial
The Israelites regularly complained against God. Their rebellion was an accusation that God was unfaithful to them. In Numbers 21 we get some reasons for their rebellion:
They hate God’s timing: “the people became very impatient” (21:4).
They hate God’s messenger: “why have you brought us up out of Egypt” (21:5) (referring to Moses).
They hate God’s ways: “why have you brought us up out of Egypt“ (21:5)?
They distrust God’s covenant faithfulness: “to die in the wilderness” (21:5).
They hate God’s provision: “there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread” (21:5).
One might be tempted to sympathize with the Israelites. Wandering in the wilderness while regularly being attacked was no picnic. Israel’s verdict was and will continue to be that God is not trustworthy (Heb. 3:19).
As the Israelite’s wilderness wandering is coming to an end, God foresees that Israel will continue to reject him (Deut. 31:29). He tells Moses to write a song witnessing against Israel when they reject him. As his witnesses, God tells Moses to “call heaven and earth to witness against them” (Deut. 31:28). Moses begins his song by telling his two witnesses to listen to his testimony (Deut. 32:1).
Now Moses, heaven, and earth will bear witness to what actually happened. Their verdict is as follows:
God the Rock
The Bible never describes God as a rock until Moses’ verdict in Deuteronomy 32:4. Before this, “rock” is mentioned mainly in the event at Horeb where God gives the Israelites water from the rock (Exod. 17:6) and when God’s glory passes by Moses and he hides Moses in the rock so that Moses doesn’t see God’s face and die (Exod. 33:21-22). Then, Deuteronomy 32 makes a full embrace of God as a Rock (Deut. 32:4, 15, 18, 30).
In summary, Moses, heaven, and earth consider God’s ways in the wilderness and conclude that “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice” (Deut. 32:4). God’s ways were so faithful and so just that God will now and forever be called “The Rock.” Looking further at this song, Moses draws our attention to at least 4 things about God as a rock.
First, God provides. Moses has in mind the rock at Horeb when he writes this song. He tells Israel to “remember the days of old” (Deut. 32:7), when God made him “draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock” (Deut. 32:13). I’m not quite sure what honey and oil refer to here. In Horeb, only water came out of the rock. Maybe oil and honey were also included? Maybe the water was as honey and oil to a wilderness-wandering nation that was thirsty?
Drawing from the event at Horeb, we can at least conclude that God provides. Water, oil, and honey flow from him, the Rock. He refreshes the weak (water), he energizes the downcast (honey), and he anoints and empowers (oil). God provides for his people.
Second, God is the Rock of salvation (Deut. 32:17). God gives his people a sure foundation to stand on—salvation. God delivers his people from enemies, evil, and sin throughout the entire Pentateuch. Rather than bringing them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, his goal for them is salvation.
Third, God as a rock produces his people (Deut. 32:18). This means less that the rock itself is a producer, but that the God who produced them is sure and steady. Their God is not like a piece of grass; he’s like a rock. His people are founded on a rock, on a God who is a rock. They can be confident if they believe it.
Finally, God is a righteous Rock. When God’s people rebel against him, their Rock sells them to captivity (Deut. 32:30). Having a God who is steady like a rock is great as long as you remain faithful to him. If you rebel, his rockness righteously acts against you.
The verdict rendered in Deuteronomy 32 is that God is a rock. Moses, heaven, and earth consider God’s works with Israel and can only conclude that God is the Rock. From this point forward, the Scriptures testify to the faithfulness of God by remembering that he is the Rock (2 Sam. 22:2; Ps. 18:2, 31, 95:1; Isa. 30:29; Hab. 1:12).
Remember
The point of the song is that we would “remember the days of old” (Deut. 32:7) and not harden our hearts like the people of Israel (Heb. 3:7-19). When tempted to think that God is inconsistent, absent, not at work, not kind, straight-up mean, or unfaithful, head outside, stare at a big rock, recall the work of God in the Old Testament, try to move the rock you’re staring at, and remember that God is a rock, and soften your heart.