Moreover, Moses is a "picture" of Jesus. Albeit, he was a dim picture, yet his entire life points toward Christ, especially from the time he spent in as a common man after killing an Egyptian. Right now I'm not going to point out all the different pictures of Christ, but will focus on the parting of the Red Sea. Where do we find out "the rest of the story"? On "page 2", according to the late Paul Harvey. We turn to the New Testament:
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."Paul was enlightened by Jesus Christ. Jesus was with Moses. Jesus knew Moses and Moses is not Jesus (He disobeyed when striking the rock)! However, Paul was enlightened about the purpose of the escape from slavery in Egypt! Egypt represents "the world" and the world is material. Sin is in the world. In Egypt there also was the "Plain of Sin". It's plain to see that Egypt represents sin. Sin enslaved the Hebrews. Their life in slavery represents the bondage of sin. As Satan rules this world, Pharaoh represents Satan.
In that Moses was sought by the Pharaoh to kill him, that's a parallel to Herod seeking Jesus for his murder. Moses was saved by water (Moses means water) and Jesus was baptized by John in water. Both were set apart for God by water. To escape harm Jesus and his family went down to Egypt. To escape Pharaoh, Moses hid out in Egypt. Moses delivered the Jews from the hands of Pharaoh (Satan) and Jesus delivers Christians from the hand of Satan. Moses took the Hebrews out of Egypt (sin) and Jesus saves any who believes from sin.
For now, I'll skip the Passover for it's entirely representative of the crucifixion, and move on to baptism!
Exodus 13:21 "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people."God manifested himself to man before Jesus was in a "mortal" body. This manifestation is the Word. Although he had yet to be born in the flesh, Jesus existed always. Here we find Jesus as a "pillar of a cloud "and as a "pillar of fire". Yes, Jesus, led the way for the Jews to be saved. In doing so, he assigned Moses (and Aaron) to do his bidding and to lead according to his authority. Yes, it was Jesus in the burning bush!
Exodus 14:19 "And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night."Jesus was known, not only as "the Word", but throughout the Old Testament he's called "the angel of God" in that being the Word, he was an angel; meaning messenger. Jesus provided the light to those in sin (the Jews) because Jesus is called the "Light" in the New Testament. Jesus put himself between sin (Egypt) and the Jews (who were being saved by God's mercy). It is to be pointed out that the Jews had been contaminated by the false gods of Egpyt, hadn't accepted the One True God, and were truly in sin. Moses' job was to point them toward Canaanland which represents Paradise. He provided the hope for the Hebrews by the grace of the Word (Jesus).
Exodus 14:26 "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore."Compare the above passages to 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 above:
"Our fathers were under the cloud" means that the Old Testament patriarchs were led by Jesus!
"All passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea..."
The sea "baptized" the Hebrews. As they passed from that part of Egypt wherein they were enslaved and living in sin, as they passed through the Red Sea with water deep and above them, the old persons died and as they came up from out of the sea, they were new persons, just as in baptism! Moses as a picture of Jesus and the cloud "Jesus himself" saved the people from destruction; enslavement in Egypt and from drowning in the sea. Those who passed through the water and were in sin (the Egyptians) perished, as those who are sinners perish. (The sea swallowed them up and destroyed them just as in the times of Noah and just as the New Testament says the end of times will be).
Then Paul said "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ".
Exodus 171 "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. 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. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?"It's obvious that Paul was referring to Christ being with them at the rock of Horeb! "The Lord" commanding Moses to strike the rock was Jesus! What came forth from the rock? Water? Jesus is "living water"! Paul capitalized "Rock". The rock of Horeb is a picture of Christ because it produced living water! Jesus is referred to as a rock in the New Testament! He was the Rock mentioned by Paul above and he is the Rock on which the church is built. He was the cornerstone!
The children of Israel said in derision "Is the Lord among us, or not?" Yes, the Lord Jesus was right there with them, saving them from perishing and baptizing them with water. He baptized them with the Red Sea and gave them living waters to drink. Now that's all about Jesus!
Is the Old Testament meaningless Bible stories and history? No, it's what was read to convince early Christians that Jesus is the promised Messiah, Christ! Likewise, every story in the Old Testament points toward Jesus because Jesus was with them always! Why was he called a "Cloud", "Fire, a "Burning Bush" and an "Angel of God"? Because he had yet to be named! He's the Word and just IS. With his birth of the Spirit and a mortal woman, he was named "Jesus". He was then called Emmanuel "God with Us". However, even though Jesus had yet to be clothed in flesh, the "Word", the "Rock" and "the Lord" are all Jesus in Spirit!
No comments:
Post a Comment