Bible Dictionaries
Rock

Holman Bible Dictionary

The use of rocky sites as places of refuge (Numbers 24:21; Judges 15:8; Judges 20:47 ) led to the frequent image of God as a rock, that is, a source of protection. Titles of God include: the “Stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24 NAS); the Rock ( Deuteronomy 32:4 ); the Rock of salvation (Deuteronomy 32:15 ); the Rock which begat Israel (Deuteronomy 32:18 ); “the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2 ). Isaiah 8:13-14 pictures the Lord of hosts as a “stone of stumbling” to the unholy people of Israel and Judah. Paul identified Christ as the spiritual Rock which nourished Israel in the wilderness ( 1 Corinthians 10:4 ). Other texts apply to Christ the Isaiah image of a rock which causes persons to fall (Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8 ). Jesus' teaching is the rock-solid foundation for life (Matthew 7:24-25 ). The identity of the rock upon which Christ promised to build the church (Matthew 16:18 ) is disputed. Possible identifications include: Peter, whose name means “rock”, the larger group of disciples, Christ Himself, and Peter's confession of faith. The different Greek terms employed (Petros and petra ) argue against a quick identification of Peter as the foundation. Both Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11 ) and the larger circle of apostles (Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14 ) are pictured as the foundation of the church elsewhere. It seems unlikely that Matthew presents Christ as both Builder and foundation of the church. Application of the foundation image to evangelistic work (Romans 15:20; 1 Corinthians 3:10 ) suggests that Peter's God-revealed confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16 ), is the foundation of the church which lays seige to the gates of Hades. See Keys of the Kingdom; Peter .

Chris Church