In the Figurative sense, the hardness of the rock gives the image of one whose mind is set. As examples, Isaiah 50:7 says: “…therefore have I set my face like a ‘flint’ (stone), and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” In Jeremiah 5:3: “…They have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.” Another figurative way is to show God’s power by the shattering of the rock in Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not my word like a fire? Saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”
The enduring quality of the Rock makes it an apt name for Yahweh (God) as it depicts permanence and stability. God is a mighty Rock who protects and saves. In Deuteronomy 32:4 Moses states: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect…” In I Samuel 2:2 in Hannah’s prayer she says: “There is none holy like the Lord; for there is none beside thee, neither is there any Rock like our God.”
In the New Testament, in Romans 9:33 and I Peter 2:8 Christ is called the ‘stumbling stone and Rock of offense.” He is also referred to this in Isaiah 8:14 as “a rock that will make them fall.” Jesus was the Rock over which the Jewish people would stumble and reject, yet He would become the capstone (Matthew 21:42) and the Cornerstone for the foundation of the Church. Jesus Christ came to be our Rock-Messiah, in which we can rest, believe and be saved. David said in Psalm 18:1,2: “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my Rock, in Whom I take refuge.” Throughout the Bible it says God is the Rock and that Jesus is the Rock. Therefore, we know that Jesus is God Incarnate, and He is our Rock.
“You are the Rock and there is no other
A tower of strength, You are my shelter
Lord, You are my hope eternal
You are the Rock that is higher than I
Lead me to the Rock, lead me to the Rock
Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I,
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