Bible Studies

ROCK MY WORLD

by Jeff Van Hatten
11/07/20
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

Matthew 16:13-18 – “When Yeshua and his disciples arrived at Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets’. ‘But who do you say that I am?’ he asked. Simon Peter replied, ‘You are Ha’Mashiach, the Son of the Living God.’ And Yeshua said to Peter, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter [Petros G4074] and on this rock [Petra G4073] I will build my church, and the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it’.”

Many prophecies have dual or multiple fulfillments. This statement of Yeshua’s, or prophecy if you will, is one of them. Let’s examine the possibilities:

The Three Common Expositions
1. Simon Peter Is The Rock (According to the Roman Catholic Church)
Simon Peter is the rock is the position upon which the Catholic Church has established its authority. According to their doctrines, Peter was the first Pope of Rome. This is stated by several sources:
• Council of Ephesus: “Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See in Rome, said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’.”
• Pope Leo I: “Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has placed the principal charge on the blessed Peter, chief of all the apostles.”
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, #552: “Because of the faith he confessed, Peter will remain the unshakeable rock of the Church.”

This is the position upon which the Catholic Church has established its authority, but this position is not supported by the Greek text. Simon is called Peter: Petros [G4074] in the Greek.

The masculine word Petros means: a piece of rock; a pebble, a grain of sand, a detached stone or boulder, a stone that might be thrown or easily moved. And an easily moved pebble is exactly what we see with Peter who doubted when he walked on water (Matthew 14:27-31), who denied Yeshua (Matthew 16:23, Mark 8:33 and Luke 4:8, Luke 22:55-60), and who Paul rebuked when Peter acted hypocritically by eating differently when Jews from Jerusalem were present (Galatians 2:11-14).

2. The Confession Is The Rock (According to many)
Luke 8:13 – “But the ones on the rock [petra] are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy . . . .”
This position may have warrant. The feminine word Petra [G4073] means: a mass of rock, a boulder, literally a living rock, a bedrock! The feminine petra occurs several other times in the Newer Covenant scriptures:
• the petra of soil upon which belief grows or withers (Romans 8:5-8);
• the petra of rock upon which a house is built (Matthew 7:24-25, Luke 6:46-49).
In essence, Yeshua may have been saying: “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, also called Petros [rocky easily swayed pebble that thou art], for the confession you have made is the Petra, [the bedrock] upon which I will build my church.”

3. Yeshua Himself Is The Rock (According to the Scriptures)
1 Corinthians 3:11 – “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Yeshua Ha’Mashiach.”
Another common position taken by many is that Yeshua, himself, is the rock and this has warrant and can be easily supported. Yeshua referred to himself as the stone [Lithos G3037] “upon which many would fall and be broken” (Matthew 21:44, Luke 20:18). Isaiah 28:16 calls Yeshua a stone ['eben H68]: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,” and Daniel 2:35 also calls Yeshua the stone ['eben H69] “that smote the image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

However, those stones (lithos G3037, 'eben H68, H69) are not the same Greek or Hebrew words as Petra [G4073], although the metaphors are appropriate. Petra can metaphorically be:
– a picture of Yeshua
– a picture of the Bride of Yeshua, or the church.

Other scriptures call Yeshua the spiritual petra, the petra that is Yeshua and a petra of offense:
• 1 Corinthians10:4 – “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Yeshua.”
• Romans 9:33 – “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence . . .”
• 1 Peter 2:6-8 – “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient . . . ”

A Fourth Explanation
4. Abraham Is The Rock (According to Mark Biltz)
Isaiah 51:1-2 – “Look to the rock [tsûr] from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain. When he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
Again, this position may have some warrant. The word tsûr [H6697] means: a cliff, a rock, a boulder.
• the tsûr: Abraham’s promised seed who is Yeshua (Genesis 12:7, Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 19:9, Galatians 3:14).
Mark Biltz believes that Yeshua is referencing scripture pointing back to Abraham. He further believes that Yeshua is also stating that Hades will not be able to prevent the righteous dead from rising when Yeshua calls for their resurrection. However, the rock from which Abraham is hewn is a tsûr, not a petros, nor a petra!

The Fifth Exposition
5. The Ground At Caesarea Is The Rock (According to Yeshua)
Ray Vanderlaan and Rob Skiba have both expounded upon the ground at Caesarea as the actual rock that is being highlighted by Matthew 16:18 – “On this rock I will build my church, and the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
The Gates of Hades is the term describing the entrance to the underworld. According to Jewish tradition, it is a gloomy desolate place situated in the centre of the earth, the place where the dead reside. Gates are also the place of deliberation and counsel. Kings sat in the gate to pronounce edicts and make judicial rulings. Lot was sitting at the city gates when the angels arrived. Boaz sat in the gate when he purchased Ruth.

Caesarea Philippi, which stood at the base of Mount Hermon, was perhaps one of the most evil cities of the day. Historically it is the place where Jeroboam built the golden calf. By the time of Yeshua it had become the religious center for worship of the Greek god, Pan, and was know to the Greeks as the city Panias. The cliff walls above the city, called by scripture the “high place”, had been carved out and dotted with many shrines and temples to Pan, and the cave entrance formed what many considered the gate to the underworld where Pan and the fertility gods lived during the winter. At that time, water flowed out of the cave to form one of the main tributaries to the Jordan River.

For Yeshua to bring his disciples into this arena must have been appalling to their minds. But a lesson was in play – when Yeshua asks them who people said he was, Peter must have been taking in the sights of dozens of statues of Pan, who was thought to be the “god of the shepherds, the son of the living god” and the altar to Pan that stood in front of the cave. Off to the right of this cave was the Fortress of Nimrod. Just to the left was the location called The Gates of Hades!

Peter, perhaps for the first time in history, gets it! He boldly declares, “You, Yeshua, are the Son of the Living God!” To which Yeshua replies, “I will build my church on this petra, and the Gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” In other words, Yeshua’s church would be built on the petra of Caesarea Philippi, facing the gates of Hades!

At that time, gates were the main defensive structure for a city. The gates were meant to keep attackers out. So, when Yeshua tells his disciples he is going to build his church right in front of the literal Gate of Hades he is declaring that they are to attack evil, to build his church as an offensive agency against the moral and evil corruption of the world – to keep it penned in and on the defense. Yeshua also declares that the underworld will not be able to prevail against it. Ray Vanderlaan puts it this way: “He didn't want his followers hiding from evil: He wanted them to storm the gates of hell.”

Water flowing out of the Gates of Hell may appear to increase the farther down the Jordon River one travels, and the evil that flows with it may also seem to increase, but it is the true water that flows out from under the throne that increases, bringing life to all it touches (Ezekiel 47:1-10, Revelation 22:1-2):
• Ezekiel 47:1-10 – “The man led me back to the door of the Temple, and I saw water coming out from under the doorway and flowing east . . . Going eastward about one-third of a mile the water was ankle deep . . . At about another one-third of a mile the water that came up to my knees . . . At about another one-third of a mile the water came up to my waist, and finally at another one-third of a mile the water deep enough to swim across . . . On both sides of the river were trees, and the water flowed down the Jordan to the Dead Sea, making the water in the Dead Sea fresh enough for fish to live in it.”
• Revelation 22:1-2 – “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. It was shining like crystal and was flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life was on each side of the river. It produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of all the nations.”

The Challenge
Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all . . . for I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Today Yeshua asks you and I the same question he posed to the disciples, “Are you willing to confront the evils and corruption of your time?” If so, stop hiding in homes, stop hiding in fancy mansions that you call churches, stop hiding in plain sight. Stop being politically correct, stop cringing at truth. For crying out loud, STOP acting as if you are on the defense – it is hell and Hades that are on the defense – you and I are on the offense!

Conclusions
Many prophecies have dual or multiple fulfillments. Yeshua’s prophecy of the rock is one of them.
• Peter is not that rock, but Yeshua is the rock indeed, the foundation upon which all else stands.
• Abraham is not that rock, though Yeshua is indeed his promised seed.
• The confession that Yeshua is the rock is made by many.
• The rock soil of Caesarea is the foundation upon which Yeshua would build his church that would prevail against any attack that Satan could bring against it. Hades will not prevent the righteous dead from rising when Yeshua calls them to resurrect.

We are on the assault, on the offense, and hell’s gates will not stand before us. Not the other way around, as many suppose. Hell’s defenses are unable to withstand the power of Yeshua’s blood, Yeshua’s name, Yeshua’s word of testimony.