By John Thiel, Hebrew Wilderness Wanderings Conference, Study 3, mp3

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The Figures

We have been and are still contemplating the wilderness wanderings of the Hebrews.  We are focusing not on the Hebrews but on the rock.  The rock that followed them and that rock was Christ.  The study that we have pursued has demonstrated that as we contemplate the story of the Hebrews which is a type and figure for those upon whom the ends of the world, it has come is resplendent with types, allegories and living realities portrayed by God as allegories.  When God uses allegories and figures, he uses reality living as deep lessons he wants to teach us.  For us to understand the gospel values, we are to study the allegories.  We are to study the figures.

1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples (FIGURES), to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (TYPES): and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The ends of the world continue after Jesus comes when Satan is released. We gain precisely the fact that Mount Sinai is an allegory.

Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

4:23 But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise.

4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The use of allegories in the old testament is to teach us the realities that the man that was born, the child born to Abraham namely Isaac is the line of the true children of God not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

The people that were in Jerusalem of old are identified as the ones born to the flesh.  They were born according to the flesh through Isaac’s line.  In biblical terms we understand that those that come from the natural line are like Ishmael.  Those that are born of Isaac are born according to the spirit.  This is a miracle that we are born of Jesus Christ.  They are the true children of God.  We are to glean the value of all these allegories.  Today the type, symbol and allegory of the rock is for us to appreciate.

Positives of the Rock

There are many references brought to mind in the scriptures in regards to the rock.  Can you think of some?  Scriptures that speak of the rock as a symbol.  The corner stone, the rock of my salvation, we are built on the rock.  The rock has different meanings to learn from dependent upon the circumstances that the term is used for.  We use the example of the rock upon which the house is built, a foundation.  We can use it as a figure for security.  There are positive and negative usages of this rock.  A positive is a hiding place and a shade in the dessert from the burning sand as per the hymn.  There is a huge rock and you can cool your feet in the shade of the huge rock. The rock can be a bit of an obstacle to stop you going the wrong way.

Negatives of the Rock

The negative as you walk or run along and you stub your toe on the block and you go flying.  That is a stumbling rock.  Or you are living below a mountain and an earthquake happens and a big rock falls.  Or you may fall off a cliff and instead of falling on a soft tree you land on a big rock.  Can Jesus be a type of all those things of all those experiences?  There is the rock is the negative type that Jesus is represented by.

Isaiah 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.

8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

Here he is as a negative. There are many people while they claim to be Christians, Israelites and Hebrews that they will be offended by this rock.  Jesus will become a negative experience to them.

Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Both negative experiences. There is an alternative where you can fall on it and be broken or it will fall on you and grind you to powder.  That is Jesus.  The corner stone that was rejected by the builders.  Those who were building a temple for the Lord in Solomon’s time, indeed it was rejected.  This seems so hard for us to comprehend that the real Jesus is rejected. They have plenty of false Christs which are accepted.   We can see it here today.If you really want to follow the pure way of Jesus Christ, you will find very few with you.  If you are going to follow Jesus you are not going to have the crowds with you. There is a choice between falling on the rock and letting it fall on you.  To have a negative experience with Jesus means to stumble at the word by being disobedient.

To them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,” Christ is a rock of offense. But “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Like the rejected stone, Christ in His earthly mission had borne neglect and abuse. He was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: . . . He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Isaiah 53:3. But the time was near when He would be glorified. By the resurrection from the dead He would be declared “the Son of God with power.” Romans 1:4. At His second coming He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. Those who were now about to crucify Him would recognize His greatness. Before the universe the rejected stone would become the head of the corner.  {DA 600.1}

And on “whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” The people who rejected Christ were soon to see their city and their nation destroyed. Their glory would be broken, and scattered as the dust before the wind. And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the mercy slighted. Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction.  {DA 600.2}

That which is used by God to bless me is turned to my destruction.  The majority of people drift off to sleep with it.

All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews’ crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The bloodshed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come. So it will be in the great final day, when judgment shall fall upon the rejecters of God’s grace. Christ, their rock of offense, will then appear to them as an avenging mountain. The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed.  {DA 600.2}

The rock will destroy the image to pieces in Daniel but it could have saved them. You have a choice with the rock.  You can either by saved or lost by it. The negative can be turned into the positive.  We have an option to fall upon the rock and if we will fall upon the rock, what will happen? When you fall upon a rock battered and you have some bruises;

Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight?

The negative experience of being torn and bruised and smitten, the very one who smites us by us falling on him is the one that will heal us.  He will bind us up.  The contrast of the breaking and healing power is so great.  Have you ever experienced it? You thought it was the end of the world and that you have no hope and that you can’t make it to heaven, you felt shattered and hopeless but then comes Jesus who says the reason you feel that way is because you have listened to me that you are a sinner.  That broken condition that is upon me can be healed.  It s the people that don’t feel rotten about themselves will the rock fall and crush but the one that makes me feel terrible about myself will heal.  Didn’t Jesus feel terrible about himself?

Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

What is that?  It is the death of Jesus.

To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. {DA 599.3}

We need submission to break the stony heart of resistance.  You know what it is like when you are told to do such and such.  You impress upon someone they have to obey, what do they have to do, you insist on someone to do as they are told but what will they do?  Have you tried to bring your children into obedience?  Is it easy?  They do the opposite of what you demand.  To break is to be in submission to Christ.

To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation.  {DA 599.3}

It is a constant submission of my own way.  We have to discern what his way is and what the way is.  Many Christians thinks there is my way and Gods way but it’s really my own opinion.  Jesus shatters your opinion.  As we contemplate the Hebrews as they interacted with the rock that was with them we have the object lesson.  What happened to the mixed multitude?  Were they broken and healed or crushed? They were destroyed.  The rebellious, what happened to them? The rock that followed them did them damage and destroyed them but the repentant were restored.

This surrender of all my idols will break my heart.” This giving up of all for God is represented by your falling upon the Rock and being broken. Then give up all for Him; for unless you are broken, you are worthless.  {1SM 329.2}

People are happy to give up something not so close to the heart.  The building upon that rock comes into focus. The rock becomes a sure foundation.

Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

Some people say it is lovely what Jesus said but are they doing it? My daughter was not doing what she was told but she said I love you mummy.  If you love mummy do what she is telling you to do.  Can you see to give up your own ways and break on the rock as it is suggested, you will do as you’re told.

The Rock Becomes a Security

The storms are blowing and you have nothing to worry about.  It becomes not only a sure foundation but also a hiding place.  When do you need a hiding place most of all?  To hide away from something.  There is something in the Hebrew story about this.  What was it when did the rock become a hiding place?

Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

33:22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

33:23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

God said I’m prepared to let you get a little glimpse of my glory.  I’m going to protect you from my glory because you will die if I don’t.  Where did he put him?  In the cleft of the rock.  The rock became a hiding place from the brilliant glory of God so that he could be prevented from dying under the brilliance of that brightness.  But he said you will see my back parts.  It is brilliant too but you can still live but not my face. At the coming of Jesus when he comes in his glory, when he comes, how will he come?  What will be the picture?  Do you know?  When he comes in all his glory.

Psalm 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

My saints will be gathered when I come and what will be surrounding him?  Tempestuous fiery display.  God is a consuming fire.  That glory, what will it do to the wicked.

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

It will destroy the wicked by the brightness of his coming.  Those who are human beings including those who are his saints they are all there.  As he comes in his glory that Moses was protected from, by hiding him in the cleft of the rock, those who are not in the cleft of the rock, will be destroyed by his brightness but those who are in will be protected.

Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

3:4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Jesus Our Rock

Those who are his saints, where will they be protected?  In the rock.  They will be hid in Christ.  The people who rejected Christ were destroyed and while that rock will destroy the wicked, then it will be a source of protection for the righteous. The very same rock.  We want to look at the most important part of the figure of the rock as in the Hebrew wilderness wanderings. The cleft of the rock, while it is a hiding place, while it was a cleft of the rock to the Hebrews we read;

Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink.

17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

17:5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

What happened?  The rock that was with them was smitten.  When it was smitten, what happened?

Psalms 78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as [out of] the great depths.

78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

Today they have found the rock.  It has a big cleft/crack in it.  Running down are the imprints of allot of water that eroding the surroundings.  He clave the rock. The rock was smitten.

Isaiah 48:21 And they thirsted not [when] he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

There in that dry and thirsty land, he the rock of our salvation poured out water.  What were the words of 1 Corinthians? They drank of that spiritual drink.  Here is the object lesson.  Here is the type, the figure.  Jesus is our spiritual rock from which we are to drink spiritual water. Let us not just know about it but indulge a worshipful basking of this.

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

This is a quenching of a thirst that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 5:6.  Blessed are they that thirst after righteousness.  The water of that rock, that spiritual water is what?  Righteousness.  To drink righteousness and our thirst will be quenched is what some people don’t want. They would rather drink of the cisterns that hold no water.

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

People are not really interested in righteousness and that is why they do not drink of that water.  But those who are thirsting for righteousness who yearn to be righteous with God will drink of that rock and will quench their thirst.  We are living on a planet of what?  A dearth of righteousness.  It is written in Isaiah that righteousness and truth is fallen in the street. It doesn’t exist, there is no water. We who have no righteousness, are to thirst for it.

Psalms 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

This is a song of experience.  My soul thirsteth for thee.  I will seek thee early, I will drink of that rock.  Is there such a thing as spiritual dearth?

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, [in] a salt land and not inhabited.

Do you wander why the spiritual life in the world around you is parched?  Who are they relying upon?  They depart from God in obeying him and they rely upon man.  Man’s opinions.  Man’s twist of the word and because it is not a thus saith the Lord but a thus saith a man’s interpretation they are a dry parched salt land. They will be travelling from one end of the earth to the other to seek it.  Why?  They will say I’m still thirsty.  How many people say I am still thirsting for the life giving righteousness of Jesus Christ?  As we uphold it some say I’ve never heard it like this it quenches my thirst and then they go back to the parched wilderness.

It is selfishness also that prompts the feeling, on the part of workers, that their judgment must be the most reliable and their methods of labor the best or that it is their privilege in any way to bind the conscience of another. Such was the spirit of the Jewish leaders in Christ’s day. In their self-exaltation the priests and rabbis brought in such rigid rules and so many forms and ceremonies as to divert the minds of the people from God and leave Him no chance to work for them. Thus His mercy and love were lost sight of. My brethren, do not follow in the same path. Let the minds of the people be directed to God. Leave Him a chance to work for those who love Him. Do not impose upon the people rules and regulations, which, if followed, would leave them as destitute of the Spirit of God as were the hills of Gilboa of dew or rain.  {5T 727.2}

What did these men do?  They made rules and regulations that were not found in the water of Christ and as a consequence the people under the teaching of these men were destitute of the spirit of God as were the hills of Gilboa.  You go to the middle east and you see it.  It is a spiritual desert.  When you rely upon human inflictions this is what happens.

Legal religion will not answer for this age. We may perform all the outward acts of service and yet be as destitute of the quickening influence of the Holy Spirit as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew and rain. We all need spiritual moisture, and we need also the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness to soften and subdue our hearts. We are always to be as firm as a rock to principle. Bible principles are to be taught and then backed up by holy practice.  {6T 417.3}

In other words legislation instead of education.  I’ve been in it.  I’ve grown up in the Seventh Day Adventist church and I was a minister in the SDA Reform Movement.  Seventh Day Adventists and Reformers can be the most legalistic and yet they are handling beautiful truth’s but they twist those truths’ into legal requirements instead of beautiful flowing water of love.  Showing what is written in the word as a beautiful path of obedience that will bring results.  That will bring a relationship with Jesus.  That will bring a satisfying of a thirst of the soul.  There is much we could study on that.  What it is that brings moisture to the soul?  It was the smiting of the rock that quenched their thirst.  Look upon Jesus sin sick soul, thirsty soul.  Watch him.  Gaze upon him as it is written in Isaiah 53.  Gaze upon him, just don’t know it.  We are meant to look and see the smiting of Jesus so the water can quench my thirst.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Psalms 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Matthew 26:42 O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

Isaiah 53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

When you read Lamentations and you hear his plaintiff cry, “Is it nothing to you all you that pass by? How he has wreathed the sins in me so that they come up to my neck.  Is it nothing to you?  I have been smitten.  Look at the detail of my smiting and let the water of that quench your thirst of sin sick soul.”

Remember when you said him first time, when you first had a beautiful glimpse of Jesus at the cross.  Can you remember how your soul was lifted up with this amazing love and you knew the meaning of what he had done for you?

Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, [and] the excellency of our God.

35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

35:4 Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompense; he will come and save you.

35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

35:6 Then shall the lame [man] leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

35:7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, [shall be] grass with reeds and rushes.

35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it [shall be] for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err [therein].

35:9 No lion shall be there, nor [any] ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]:

35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Did you notice that part of this had nothing to do with heaven?  While we often read yes the lame man shall leap and so on, but the lame spiritual man, when he came to Jesus Christ, did he leap?  When in your are in your spiritual dearth, you took hold of that beautiful and precious experience did not the desert become a blooming field for you?  You remember those occasions?  As the Hebrews travelled that water continued to replenish them continually.  As we travel on our way to Canaan that water must continue to flow.  Sometime later as they were coming very close to the borders, the waters ceased and straight away they complained.

Numbers  20:5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it [is] no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither [is] there any water to drink.

The Mistake

What happened?  Moses went back to God and said what?  What do I do Lord?  They are thirsty and they are murmuring again.  God said what to him?  Go to the rock and do what?  Speak to the rock and it will pour water.  What did Moses do?  He turned around to the murmuring people who really got him under his goat.  He said must we bring water out of this rock and he struck it. What was his mistake?  He struck the rock but he was supposed to talk to it. But what was the mistake?  Why could not Moses enter into Canaan?  What was the mistake? This is the most important lesson we need to take.

Just before the Hebrew host reached Kadesh, the living stream ceased that for so many years had gushed out beside their encampment. It was the Lord’s purpose again to test His people. He would prove whether they would trust His providence or imitate the unbelief of their fathers.  {PP 413.3}

They were now in sight of the hills of Canaan. A few days’ march would bring them to the borders of the Promised Land. They were but a little distance from Edom, which belonged to the descendants of Esau,.  {PP 413.4}

Before God permitted them to enter Canaan, they must show that they believed His promise. The water ceased before they had reached Edom. Here was an opportunity for them, for a little time, to walk by faith instead of sight. But the first trial developed the same turbulent, unthankful spirit that had been manifested by their fathers. {PP 414.1}

Their cries were directed against Moses and Moses in this terrible experience found himself doing what he did.

By his rash act Moses took away the force of the lesson that God purposed to teach. The rock, being a symbol of Christ, had been once smitten, as Christ was to be once offered. The second time it was needful only to speak to the rock, as we have only to ask for blessings in the name of Jesus. By the second smiting of the rock the significance of this beautiful figure of Christ was destroyed.  {PP 418.1}

In figure Moses was not permitted to go into the promised land.  In figure.  We know he was resurrected and he is saved but in figure Moses was not permitted to go into the promised land because he smote the rock when he should have spoken to it.  The powerful message of the ongoing lesson was destroyed.  If you smite Jesus again, what is written in the bible? If you have already been washed, Hebrews 9:24-28 tells you and Hebrews 6:6. If you have once tasted and drunk of that, and then you do what? If you turn against him, you again need that he die for you another time.  Can you be saved?  Not at all.  Moses represented that.  That’s why in figure he could not go into Canaan.  This is our lesson.  Jesus has already been smitten by me and my sins of the past but if I sin wilfully, I smite and persecute him afresh.

Summary

Jesus the rock that follows us is our constant source of life and joy.  We have travelled so long as pilgrims in this spiritual dessert.  We are about to arrive at heavenly Canaan.  By faith we see the signs of the homeland.  Can we see them already?  We don’t need much faith do we.  We can see it’s coming. Now our trust in the cross of Jesus Christ is just as essential now as it was when we first commenced.  When you look at the sanctuary service, the lamb was slain all through the year and it pointed to Jesus at the cross.  Then on the day of atonement a goat was slain representing the atonement of the heavenly since sanctuary in 1844.  Did Jesus have to be slain again in 1844?  There was a goat slain on the day of atonement.  It was the same scenario.  When the goat was slain it was the equivalent to Jesus being spoken to for original his death to be of benefit.  Exactly the same scenario.  If today Gods people lose sight of Jesus so very close to the borders, the very last generation is addressed by him.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

What are they meant to be saved?  You might open your door to him, but what must you do in verse 32?

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

We are right on the borders.  Here is a message we must pay close attention to that we do not smite Jesus again as Moses did.

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.

12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Pilgrims in a dry and thirsty land let us understand our present circumstance.  Let us learn from the Hebrew wanderings to rely on the rock that followed them.  Let us speak to him and not smite him anymore.  May God help us to be the wise virgins while the foolish are left behind.

Amen.