Are you not from everlasting,
Habakkuk 1:12
O LORD my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment,
and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
Last week we looked at how Habakkuk described God as “my Holy One”. This week I want to look at the last line of this verse, where he calls God a rock. What does that mean?
God as the Rock
The Hebrew word for “Rock” in this verse is צוּר (tzur). There are two other synonymous words (sela and eben) commonly also translated as “rock” or “stone”. I will focus exclusively on tzur in this post.
Habakkuk is not unique in calling God a tzur. The metaphor originates in Moses’s song throughout Deuteronomy 34. For instance:
The Rock, his work is perfect,
Deuteronomy 32:4
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
Others describe God this way, too, like Hannah (1 Samuel 2:2), David (Psalm 18:2, 2 Samuel 23:3), and Isaiah (Isaiah 30:29, 44:8). He is an “everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4).
As you can see, it is a common motif (and these don’t include references to sela. or eben). Nevertheless, what does this image teachus about God? Let’s look at some other places this word pops up.
The Land of Rocks
Tzur is strewn throughout the Scriptures, talking about literal rocks. Rocks are plentiful in the land of Israel, an image everyone was well acquainted with. They may be big enough to stand upon for a good vantage point (Numbers 23:9) or smaller stones (Job 22:24). When Moses asks to see God’s glory, he instructs Moses, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock (tzur), and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock (tzur), and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:21-22). People can use a tzur as a shelter (Job 24:8, Isaiah 2:19).
Isaiah uses the imagery of walking through rocky territory to describe how God can also trip us up. God “will become a sanctuary and a stone (eben) of offense and a rock (tzur) of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 8:14). The apostles Paul and Peter both refer to this (Romans 9:32-33, 1 Peter 2:6-8) as describing Jesus. The people of Israel in their day had rejected their Rock by not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. Instead of being a shelter or a firm place to stand, they stumbled over him.
Water from the Rock
The word first appears, however, after crossing the Red Sea. On their way to Mt. Sinai, the Israelites run out of water. They cry out to Moses, who in turn cries out to the Lord, who instructs him, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock (tzur) at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock (tzur), and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Exodus 17:6). This significant event continued to be remembered. Moses, in his final speech, reminds the people how God “brought you water out of the flinty rock” (Deuteronomy 8:15). The Psalmists recount the wanderings in the wilderness and God’s provision, including bringing water from the rock (Psalm 78:20, 105:41).
When Moses (and others) refer to God as a Rock, I wonder if they have this episode of his provision in mind. In a similar way, the apostle Paul saw this life-giving rock in the desert as symbolic of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:4).
To Ponder…
What image comes into your mind when describing God as the Rock?
Do you see the Rock as a refuge and sanctuary or as a stumbling block? Do you cling to him as the source of life and protection?
