By MYRA D. COLGATE
CHEROKEE PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation, the one who trusts will never be dismayed.”
“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.”
Isaiah 28:16-17 (NIV)
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone,
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2: 19-22 (NIV)
Moses, as deliverer of the Israelites, while bringing an estimated three million of them out of Egypt, became angry with them at Mt. Horeb. They had made and then worshiped an idol in the image of a golden calf while he was up on the mountain. He had been there on the mountain for 40 days receiving instructions for them from God, against doing that very thing. His anger was in sync with God’s anger at the time, but as he destroyed what God had given him to bring to the people, he was also told to replace the now broken stone rock tablets for God’s reiterated instruction of the Ten Commandments.
However, after 40 years in the wilderness, at the waters of Meribah (meaning “contention”), he became angry with the people again. Moses himself rebelled against the specific instructions given him by God to ‘only speak to the Rock’ and bring honor to God. This time he was not to strike the Rock with his rod, as he had done once before. He ended up doing so twice because of his anger. For his disobedience, God told him he would not be allowed to lead the people to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
He told the people, “But the LORD was angry at me for your sake, because of my angry response to your complaints. He loves you and I had disobeyed Him. Moses knew he had not honored God before the people as he should have and so God honored and sanctified Himself before the people.
The moral of this incident is a lesson for each of us to learn. “First, speak to The Rock—of our Salvation—don’t do anything or make a decision without speaking to Him first. Realize that God sees us only through and according to the Grace of our Lord and Savior. He is our High Priest, and as such, He is always looking, and is more interested in, what is coming out of our hearts.
Christ Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. He is our Rock, our tested Stone, our Head, who holds the Body of Christ together, directs our next steps, leads foremost in all decisions to be made each moment of every day. He is the Rock that is higher than you. Touch base with Him and speak to the Rock often. We are not to be self-occupied, but instead Christ-occupied.
All sin was already punished in the Body of Christ. In the Priestly grace and holiness, He maintains that sin shall not have dominion over you. (See Romans 8:31-39.)
Rev. Joseph Prince, from Singapore, recently explained that on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, Mt. Herman, which is half in Syria and half in Israel, meant to him that Jesus met Moses, (representative of The Law) and Elijah (representative of the prophets) there, just before He was to suffer the Passion of the Cross. Nevertheless, the Voice of God said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:1-13)
Speak to the Rock—Jesus—for He is greater than the Law or the Prophets. He is our High Priest. Remember that the waters come out of that Rock abundantly. Do you have a need? Do you need a healing? (Look at Proverbs 4:20-27.) Are any of your children in some kind of trouble? (Read Romans 8:31-39.)
“Nobody fully understands God’s grace. Speak to the Rock and the waters will flow. We are all still learning.” says. Rev. Prince. “Moses did go into the Promised Land—but only with Jesus.”
