"When the Israelites thirsted in the
desert, they were given water from the rock to drink (Exod 17). Who gave
them that water? God, of course, the prophet Isaiah tells us: 'They
thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow
for them from the rock; he cleft the rock and the water gushed out' (Isa
48:21).
"But perhaps it's not quite so simple.
When Moses told God about the Israelites' complaint of thirst, the Lord
replied: 'Take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and
go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you
shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people
may drink.' (Exod 17:5-6). It was Moses, then, who opened the rock so
that water flowed forth, by the power given to him by the Lord. He was
God's instrument, and so truly both he and God performed this miracle. . . .
"At first glance, the water from the rock
seems to be a fairly straightforward story about the Lord's miraculous
care for his chosen people. And it is that. But is also much more, as
Scripture returns and reinterprets the story over and over again, each
time discovering a new layer of meaning or a hidden prophetic utterance."
In a recent commentary, Brother Hyacinth Grubb, O.P., reflected on the depth of richness and vitality in Holy Scripture
To access Br. Hyacinth's complete post, please visit:
Dominicana: Read it Again (24 JUL 19)
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