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Dr. Irwin "Rocky" Freeman
On the book of Exodus with an introductory study of course to the Old Testament. We need to understand the foundation of the Bible, which is the first five books of the Bible, but we need to have a basic understanding of the entire Old Testament.
The word testament simply means covenant and it refers to an agreement between men, man to man, or between God and man. Now never man and God, man never makes a covenant with God, it is God who initiates a covenant between God and man.
Now as far as the Bible is concerned, the Old Testament is the record of the old covenant, the covenant that God made with the Jews basically at Mount Sinai, and the New Testament basically speaking is the record of the new covenant that Christ made in his precious blood.
Now as we look at the covenant from a literary standpoint, the Old Testament begins with Genesis just as literature, it begins with Genesis and ends with the book of the prophet Malachi, while the New Testament begins with Matthew and ends with Revelation, that is from the literary standpoint.
But from a doctrinal and dispensational point of view, and the word dispensation is in the scripture, it is a biblical word, from a doctrinal and dispensational point of view that is not the case, for the old covenant really began in Exodus chapter 20 and was set aside at the cross.
You might read at your own leisure Colossians 2 14, Colossians 2 14. The new covenant began with the death of Christ and it will continue with God's people from that day forward. Now in a broad sense we might say that the Old Testament is the record of God dealing with his earthly people under law, so to speak, because grace is certainly involved in any forgiveness, and the New Testament is the record of God's dealings with his heavenly people, the church, under complete total grace.
The dividing line is the cross of Jesus Christ, and I might add it is not the blank page in your Bible between Malachi and Matthew. Now what was the purpose of the Old Testament? Many Christians avoid the Old Testament.
They think or feel that it has no message for them, and it's just a little too difficult to understand. It's just dry history, but you must realize that the Old Testament was the only Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ possessed.
It was the only Scripture the Apostles had. It is the only word from God that the early church possessed in written form. When Paul the Apostle refers to Scripture, he was thinking and referring to the Old Testament books.
Practically every book in the Old Testament is quoted or referred to in the New Testament writings. Now let us consider briefly the fourfold purpose of the writings called the Old Testament. If you are making notes, you might put Arabic 1, the word foundation, the Old Testament.
One of the purposes is to give a foundation. We as Christian people, as believers, would have no information whatsoever concerning the origin of the universe, the origin of man, the beginnings of sin and evil, the birth of the Hebrew nation, or the purposes of God for the world were it not for the Old Testament.
Now please make note in your mind that every New Testament doctrine can be traced back to Old Testament history. An understanding of the Old Testament record is necessary if we are to interpret the New Testament correctly.
It is impossible to understand or interpret the New Testament correctly without an understanding of the Old Testament. So the Old Testament is the foundation for what we have and believe today. Arabic 2, the word preparation.
Preparation. The Old Testament reveals God's preparation for the coming of his Son to the world. Now in Genesis, we see the need for a Savior and the promise that he will come through the woman, then through the Jewish nation, and more specifically through the tribe of Judah.
The rest of the Old Testament just amplifies these basic facts and shows how Satan, the great adversary, tried to destroy the Jewish nation to prevent the birth of Christ. In Genesis 315, which is the Plotoevangelium, it is the first promise of the Redeemer, the first proclamation of the Messiah recorded in Scripture.
Genesis 315 also indicates that there are two seeds in the world and they're in opposition one to the other, the seed of Satan and the seed of Christ. And we see these two seeds in conflict from Genesis chapter 4 forward to this day.
So we see the preparation for all of the dealings of the Lord and also the workings of the enemy in the Old Testament. So we have a foundation and we have the preparation. The third thing we look at, Arabic 3, is illustration.
Illustration. The Old Testament is God's picture gallery. In it, he shows his truth in types and symbols. Those things are those people, ceremonies, symbols, and types that are pictures of a future New Testament truth.
The life of an individual would be a picture of Christ and the symbols would be a picture of Christ. Each New Testament doctrine, and this is so important, each New Testament doctrine has an Old Testament illustration.
Let me give you some examples. The Passover lamb of Exodus the 12th chapter is a perfect picture of Jesus Christ. You might read John 1 29. John the first chapter, the 29th verse, and also 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7.
The Passover is a picture of Christ. Another illustration is the Old Testament tabernacle. The Old Testament tabernacle illustrates the truths of the Christian life. You might read the whole book of Hebrews.
It's impossible in my understanding to understand the book of Hebrews without understanding the Old Testament tabernacle and the functions therein. Of course, a well-known picture is that of Jonah. Jonah illustrates the resurrection.
The Lord Jesus Christ himself said, when the leader said, show us a sign, he said, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. I might just parenthetically add that this is probably the most sign-seeking generation of all time since that first century.
People are running around looking for signs when the Lord himself said, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. He said, the only sign that you will receive is the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the ground for three days, or in the earth for three days and three nights.
And so we see that Jonah is a picture of the resurrection, a picture of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another illustration is the anointing oil in the Old Testament. It is always a picture of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
Now as you study the Old Testament, be sure, be very sure to use the light of the New Testament to dispel the shadows and to be sure to look for the person and work of Christ in everything you read in the Old Testament.
You might want to read Colossians 1 17, Colossians chapter 1 verse 17. So the third purpose, after we have the first purpose is foundation, the second purpose preparation, the third purpose is illustration, leaving the fourth purpose demonstration.
Demonstration. My dear friend, the Old Testament is a practical book. It is not dry history. It shows the failures and successes of the people of God. You can see God demonstrating his power in the lives of people, but we also see what sin and belief will do in the life of an individual or the life of a nation or a group of people.
Now I believe that God recorded these sins and successes for our benefit. Would you read at your leisure 1 Corinthians 10 verse 11, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 11. As we see men like Abraham, Moses, and David overcoming their problems by faith, we have encouragement and hope.
Read Romans 15 4. The prayers of the Psalms and the practical counsels of Proverbs help us in our daily living. One biblical scholar has made this examination of the Old Testament. He says it contains many unfulfilled prophecies, unexplained ceremonies, and unsatisfied longings.
In the New Testament, we have the fulfillment of these prophecies, the explanation of these ceremonies, and the satisfying of these longings. And all of this is done in the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let's have an analysis, a brief analysis, of the Old Testament. It is interesting to note that both the Old Testament and the New Testament have the same general structure. For example, you can break it down one way, and I hope that in these studies we'll be able to break the book of Exodus down as we move into it, and have several different outlines or different ways of looking at the book.
But in the entire Old Testament, you might break it down as history, experience, and prophecy. History, experience, and prophecy. And the New Testament will subdivide the same way. For example, under the heading of history, we have Genesis through Esther in the Old Testament.
Genesis through Esther. In the New Testament, Matthew through Acts. Matthew through the book of Acts. Also under the heading of experience, we have in the Old Testament, Job through the song of Solomon.
The book of Job through the song of Solomon. In the New Testament, we have Romans through the book of Jude. Romans through Jude. And then in the Old Testament, prophecy. Isaiah through Malachi. Isaiah through Malachi.
In the New Testament, the book of the Revelation. Revelation. That is, in each division of the Bible, we have historical events, we have personal experiences, and prophetic expectation. Now the Old Testament gives us the history of God's earthly people, Israel, as they prepared the way for Christ's birth.
And the New Testament gives us the history of God's heavenly people, as they presently live for Christ, and look forward to his coming again. So we might outline the main messages of the Old Testament in the following manner.
The foundation is Genesis through Deuteronomy. Genesis through Deuteronomy. We have the foundation. The basic foundation for the rest of the Bible is found through Genesis through Deuteronomy. That is the foundation for the rest of the books of the Bible.
Secondly, we have demonstration. Demonstration. We're just outlining the main message of the Old Testament. Demonstration. Now, Joshua through Esther. Joshua through Esther. We have this under the heading of demonstration.
So what we mean is, God at work in individual lives and in the nation. And after foundation and demonstration, we have aspiration. Aspiration. We have Job through Song of Solomon. What this is, the aspiring, the aspiration of the people, the longings, the yearnings of God's people for their Lord.
For their Lord. And then we have expectation. Expectation. And that would be Isaiah through Malachi. The prophecies of the coming Christ and the kingdom. Now we have foundation. Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Demonstration. Joshua through Esther. Aspiration. Job through Song of Solomon. Expectation. Isaiah through Malachi. Now if we relate this to the New Testament messages, we could break that down into the following outline.
Preparation of the New Testament is the Old Testament. Manifestation would be the Gospels. Would it not be that Christ reveals the Father and finishes His work there? Christ always magnified the Father.
He said, I've come to do the will of Him that sent me. He said, more than once He made that statement. He also referred back to the Father always. He even said, when you pray say, not Jesus, you say, our Father.
So this is the manifestation. And then we have appropriation. Appropriation. Acts and the epistles. God's people live a life through the Spirit of the Lord. Appropriation. Appropriating God's truths. And then we have the culmination.
We have the preparation, manifestation, appropriation, and culmination. The book of Revelation. God's program climaxes in the return of Christ to the planet Earth. Now, let me give you about five basic guidelines in studying the Old Testament that I find will be helpful.
First of all, Arabic 1. Gradual revelation. Gradual revelation. In the Old Testament, divine truths are revealed gradually. And we do not come into the full light of God's truth until we come to the New Testament.
Therefore, please beware of building doctrines on isolated Old Testament verses, especially from Ecclesiastes and Psalms, and ignore the clear teachings of the New Testament. Remember the old adage, the new is in the old concealed, and the old is by the new revealed.
God's principles do not change. You are correct. But His dispensations do. So, there is a gradual revelation of the truths of God in the Old Testament. Arabic 2. Christ. Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the key to the entire Bible.
And it is impossible to understand the Old Testament apart from Him. One biblical scholar put it this way, Christ is predicted in the Old Testament. Christ is present in the Gospels. Christ is proclaimed in the Acts.
Christ is possessed in the Epistles. And Christ is predominant in the Revelation. What a beautiful analogy of the Word of God. Now, every experience of the Jewish nation in the Old Testament is a wonderful, beautiful link of the chain that leads to His birth in the small town at Bethlehem.
Bethlehem. Every experience of the Jewish nation is a link of the chain that leads to His birth. Every type and symbol in the Old Testament is a picture of the wonderful Lord Jesus. Look for Christ and the Old Testament will become a new book to you as you study the Word of God.
All right? Arabic 3. Accuracy. We have gradual revelation. We have Jesus Christ the key. And we have accuracy. You will always want to use a modern translation of the Old Testament along with your familiar King James.
Now, I use the King James much, and it's predominant in my study and my ministry. That is, but it is good to use a modern translation. Not because the Bible has changed, but language has changed. And there's no question that some King James expressions are meaningless today.
Also, I might recommend a modern one to you if you were a chance. The New American Standard. The New American Standard Version is a wonderful help in studying the Word of God. And the Amplified Old Testament can be one that would kind of help along the way also.
But the accuracy is important in studying the Old Testament. That leads us to the fourth rule of study or principle and help of study. Cross-reference. Cross-reference. Follow your Old Testament cross-references straight to the New Testament.
You will usually have these in the center of the page of a Bible or on the borders. And it'll have the verses of Scripture. Usually, it'll have the verse of Scripture where that thought or verse or verb or word appears first, and then the last verse that it appears in the Bible.
And then it will give you other passages of Scripture. But make sure that you run that all the way to the New Testament. Run those cross-references and see what they mean. Be sure that you study each Old Testament person, each Old Testament event or doctrine, in the light of the New Testament revelation.
And then the fifth principle that we'd use in studying the Old Testament. Remember, it's practical. Practical. It is not just enough for you and I to study the Old Testament and find deep, hidden truths about Christ and his salvation.
We must learn the practical lessons and put them to work in our lives. Remember that all Scripture is profitable for instruction and righteousness, and that certainly includes the Old Testament. It's wonderful to understand historical truths and to understand and grasp doctrinal truths and dispensational truths.
But blessed friend, if this study fails to lead into a practical truth, if we fail to transfer this into godly living and into a holy life, then truly and surely it is in vain all that we have studied.
So that's the Old Testament, an introduction to the Old Testament. Let us move to an introduction to the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus. The Hebrew word for Exodus, for the book of Exodus, is pronounced Shmot.
S-H-M-O-T. Shmot. Now the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy, their name is derived from and shortened from the Hebrew sentence at the beginning of each book, chapter 1 verse 1.
Now in Exodus chapter 1 verse 1, we find the phrase, and these are the names of the sons of Israel. And so the word Shmot means names because the book primarily is concerned with the people of Israel coming out of Egypt, and they have names.
They are the children of certain people. Now the English word is Exodus, and it is translated from the Greek word, and the Greek is the translation of the Hebrew meaning, Exodus from Egypt or the way out.
The way out. Now the last five words of Genesis sound forth death, do they not? In a coffin in Egypt. In a coffin in Egypt, in chapter 50 of the book of Genesis, the last five words. So the people of Israel are in Egypt, in a coffin in Egypt, as was Israel, Jacob, and Joseph.
As they died and were embalmed, and their bodies were there, so were the people of Israel. Now we know that that is a picture of death. The people of Israel had no life. They had no goal. They had no purpose.
They had no deliverance. They had no motives. They had nothing. They were just enslaved and in bondage, and truly they were in a coffin in Egypt. Now historically, Shmot, Exodus, portrays the way out of Egyptian bondage for the people of Israel.
That's historically. Chronologically, it extends, the Exodus extends from the death of Joseph in Genesis 50, the death of Joseph, to the building of the Mishkan, or which is the tabernacle. From the death of Joseph to the building of the tabernacle, that's where the Exodus extends chronologically.
Spiritually, it would speak to us and reveal to us the way out of sins bondage, the way out for the soul, the way out of sins bondage in the liberation of the soul to God, and his blessed fellowship. Now the time was approximately 145 years from the death of Joseph to the building of the tabernacle, 145 years.
We can break the Exodus down into three episodes, three definite areas. The first area is the black and gloomy area. The second area is a colorful scarlet area, and the third area is a scarlet diffused with a glowing gold.
The chapter breakdown would fit thusly. The black area, the gloom and the doom and the dismal part of Exodus would be chapter 1 through 12, 36. We would call that repression in Egypt, repression in Egypt.
The scarlet area, the second area, would be chapters 12, verse 37 through 18, 27. 12, 37 of Exodus through 18, 27, we might designate it release to Sinai, release to Sinai. The third area, the scarlet gold hue glowing with the glory of God, covers from chapter 19 through chapter 40, and to that wonderful section we give the title, The Revelation at Sinai.
Now the first area is overcast with the sorrow of the sons of Jacob and wet with the tears of Israel as they were enslaved in bondage under the Pharaoh of Egypt. The second area is tinged with scarlet, the red, that is always suggestive ever so of redemption as God began to move in redemptive power.
The third area has the golden glow of matchless splendor. It is dominated by the mount of majesty and shows the power of God at Mount Sinai. Reiterate what we had, or just basically repeat just a little bit of what we said about the word Exodus is the English word, translation of the Greek word which means the way out.
And as I said you might want to look at Hebrews 11, 22 and just watch that word departing as it's used. Now the book of Exodus basically just describes Israel's bondage and God leading them out of that bondage in Egypt and gives them that deliverance.
Now the key word in Exodus is redemption. Redemption is the key word of the whole book of Exodus. Now you don't find it all that much as such, but it is the theme. It is the key to understanding that particular book.
Now the entire book we've said is filled with pictures of our salvation in Christ. It's a picture of the believer if there ever was a picture given to us. The word Exodus is used we said in two places in the New Testament.
Two places. In the gospel according to Luke verse 9, I mean a chapter 9 verse 31. 9 31 when it talks about the deceased, the deceased of Jesus Christ, his redeeming work on the cross. It is the Greek word that is translated out Exodus.
In 2nd Peter 1 15 the word deceased again and it is the same context that it's used there. And so what we're saying is there are three Exodus experiences in the Bible aren't there? There are three Exodus experiences in the Bible.
The first one is Israel coming out of Egypt. The second one is Christ's deliverance of the sinner through the cross because the word is used in relation to his death on the cross in Luke 9 31. And also the third Exodus experience that we see in the scripture is the believer, the Christians deliverance from the bondage of this world at death and Peter used that word in 2nd Peter 1 15.
So we find those three experiences related to the word Exodus and so we can surely see the Christian life involved in just that word, can't we? Bondage to sin, self, and Satan. Relieved from that bondage through what?
The death of Christ, an Exodus release from the sin that permeates our lives and that controls us and a deliverance through the cross. And then the believers deliverance from the bondage of the world in which we live through that thing which people call death that does nothing but open up the portals of glory for us.
Alright, now who wrote the book of Exodus? Well, I'm convinced without any doubt that Moses wrote it. You know there is a contention about this. It isn't maybe to you and me, but in every theological seminary with the exception of about three or four that I'm aware of, certainly in every Baptist seminary, Methodist, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, all the other seminaries there's great contention that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible.
Not all of them. And he didn't write some portions of those books that they would even agree that he did write. And they're called problems of the Pentateuch. Problems of the first five books. And this is one of the papers that I had to write in my Old Testament course.
And yet I am firmly convinced from a study of the evidence as best as I can and a study of the Word of God itself, I have no doubt and neither do most of the men that I admire and respect personally and those conservative scholars that I believe that believe the Bible believe that Moses wrote that book.
And Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. So I'm just sharing with you what I believe. I don't have any problem with it. I believe Moses wrote it. Now I do believe that there is one little phrase that's inserted over in Deuteronomy 34 where it says, and God buried Moses and no man knows his sepulcher to this day.
We have to admit that Moses didn't write that, don't you think? But that doesn't destroy the rest of the book, nor does it destroy anything about the rest of the books. And so there's no problem with me there.
Jesus Christ affirmed the mosaic authorship of the book. And I do want us to look at these two scriptures. I want us to look at John chapter 7. And if Moses didn't write them, then Jesus deceived us. John chapter 7 verse 19.
Did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keepeth the law. Why go ye about to kill me? Now Jesus is talking to people. He's dealing with them. These Jews. And he plainly says in chapter 7 of the gospel according to John verse 19 that Moses wrote the law.
And we know the law is incorporated in the first five books. And the Jews themselves, the Hebrew people, don't even have it there. Their name is the Torah. It is the law. And that's what they call it.
And that's what he called it. Now there is another one. If you want to look with me at chapter 5 of John verse 46. For had ye believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?
And it's writings plural. So evidently he wrote more than one book. So I just believe he wrote all five of them. I don't have any problem with whatsoever. I believe that Moses is the author. More specifically, I believe that he wrote the book of Exodus.
Now the purpose is what? Genesis is the book of the beginnings, right? Exodus is the book of redemption. It records the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and it presents the basic historical facts about the origins of the Hebrew nation and all of its religious ceremonies.
It gives us those basic historical facts. Now these are, as we've said, pictures of Jesus Christ. They are perfect types of pictures and of the redemption he purchased on the cross. There are many, many types and symbols of Christ and the Christian or the believer in the book of Exodus.
There are many, too many to even number, especially when you come to the tabernacle. And I might just say this, something that you probably already know and I know I've shared it to you. The Bible spends more chapter space on the tabernacle in the wilderness than it does any other subject.
Over 45 chapters of the Bible is spent on the tabernacle and yet most Christians have a very nebulous understanding of the tabernacle and most preachers are in the same situation. Most teachers in Sunday school are in the same situation and yet that's the one thing the Bible spends more time on than anything else.
So I think we ought to learn something about it, don't you? Sure, why? It's a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the book of Exodus also records the giving of the law and it is impossible to understand very much New Testament truth apart from the understanding of the events and the symbols in the book of Exodus.
It is like a great key that opens up the prophetic truths in the mind of God. All right, let's look at some of the types. I want to give you several types. Types, pictures, people in the Old Testament that are pictures of something in the New Testament and this is most important.
Egypt, number one, Egypt, Egypt. Now because I'm a Jew, don't think that I hate Egypt. Don't think that I hate the Arabs. No, just don't like what they do, but love them, right? That's right, Jesus loved the Pharisees but he detested what they did and he abhorred what they taught, all right?
Egypt is a type of the world system. It is a type of the world system in which people are involved, opposing God's people and trying to keep them in bondage. So when it talks about Egypt, you can correlate that as a picture of the world system.
We talk about going back down into Egypt. We talk about living in Egypt. We need to get out of Egypt. You hear preachers preach about it. Rightly so, correctly so. Getting out of Egypt and getting victory in your life.
Why? Because it's the bondage of the world system, all right? Another one is Pharaoh. Pharaoh is a picture of Satan. He is a type. He was not, but he is a type of Satan. Now, I don't want to bother you with a bunch of trivial facts, but it's real interesting to study how many times it says that his heart was hardened.
How many times God hardened it. How many times it just says it was hardened and how many times he hardened. You pick that out. You pick it out on your own, and if it bothers you, I'll give it to you. But we'll pass it by just to stimulate your mind a little bit.
Because if you don't understand those relationships, it's very difficult to understand the sovereignty of God. Because God did move in that man's life, all right? He is a picture of the God of this world, isn't he?
Who demands worship. He defies God, and he thinks he can enslave God's people, and that's exactly what Satan does. Exactly what Satan does. He defies God. He attempts to enslave God's people, Christians.
He certainly does. And if you don't think he's trying to enslave your life, my friends, I want you to know that somebody's driving me up the wall all the time. If he doesn't bother you, it's probably because he's too busy with me.
And if he doesn't come around visiting you, then you don't understand what the world is all about, because he is everywhere. And he can get there in a hurry, and his hordes are everywhere, and they are real, and we're in the spiritual war, all right?
Third, Israel is a type of the church. Israel is a picture of the church. Delivered from the bondage of the world, led on a pilgrim journey, and protected by God. And where we are, huh? Sure. We're delivered from bondage, and we're on a pilgrim journey.
This is not our home. We sing that song. This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. But my friend, don't get camped out down here, because by the time you get camped out, God's gonna say, it's time to go.
Time to go. No, we're on a pilgrim journey, and we are protected by God. Protected by God. God builds a hedge. God builds a wall. But you see, you got to appropriate. Now, don't just think because you're a Christian, God's got a wall built around you, nothing can happen to your life.
Not so. You have to walk. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses all sin. If we walk in the light, you can't live your life the way you want to, and have the protection of God.
God protects us in obedience. He'll turn you loose in disobedience. He'll turn you loose. Oh, I didn't say you get lost. I don't believe that. And I don't believe anybody can prove it to me from Scripture.
But my friend, you can get out of the will of God and lose your life in a hurry. I'm gonna be teaching in my church, where I'm a member, on January the 22nd. They've asked me to cause the book of Exodus, and different men are teaching it out of a church, and we're fortunate to have some great people in our church, professors, and teachers, and others in our church, and they've asked me to teach on the brazen labor.
They asked me what I'd like to teach, and I told them I'd like to teach on the brazen labor. And I said, well, what I want to teach is, and I told them the title. He said, well, let's change the title.
So I said, well, let's tell them we're gonna teach on Christ our Passover Lamb, but I'm gonna subtitle it, How to Prevent Physical weakness, sickness, and premature death. And that's by just making sure your life is spiritually correct before you take the Lord's Supper.
But that comes out of Passover. Most people are weak physically, and sick physically, and are dead. Many of them, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, because they took the Lord's Supper without judging themselves, and making their lives right before they ever touch it.
My friends, it's holy. You better not ever put your hand on it until you got your life right with God. And just because you're Christian won't make you immune. That's important. We understand that, because why?
The picture of Christ. Israel is a type of the church. We're on a pilgrim journey. We're protected by God, but we are protected in obedience. In obedience. All right. Moses is a type of Christ, the Redeemer.
God sent Moses to get him out. God sent His Son to set us free. All right. Another one, another picture, is the crossing of the Red Sea. It is a picture of the resurrection, which delivers believers from this present evil world, and puts us in the place that God wants us to be.
It's just a picture of that. All right. Now, I believe there's a real cross on the sea. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not spiritualizing. I believe they really crossed it. If they didn't, I don't know what happened to Egypt.
You know, I don't know where the army went, because history tells us their army disappeared. And so, I believe it was a real sea. And you can't convince them that it wasn't a real sea. All right. Now, another one is the manna.
Now, one night, we're going to take the whole manna, and I'm going to show you every characteristic of manna. It's a perfect picture of Jesus Christ. Its size, its shape, the way they got it, everything is the first.
And we're going to have this all on the blackboard for you. Nothing but a study on manna, in one of our sessions, of how it's a perfect, beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. Even to the size, the way it's cut, and all that stuff.
It's just a gorgeous thing about the precious Lord, as we see it. But, of course, it pictures Christ as the bread of life. You might want to read John the sixth chapter. In fact, I might just suggest that you read John the sixth chapter, sometime when you get time.
Jesus as the bread of life. All right. Another one is the smitten rock. That rock that was smitten. It's a picture of the smitten Christ, isn't it? Sure, we know that. That's what got Moses in trouble.
Moses smoked that rock. He was striking at the glory of the Lord. God told him, didn't he? God says, go over there and, you know, you deal with that rock. And he says, I'll go meet you on the rock. That's what God said.
Read that carefully. Exodus and correlate numbers with it. The passage in numbers. God said, what? The Lord said, you go over there and you deal with the rock, and when they want water, you'll get it.
And you know the whole story well. And he says, I will meet you on the rock. I'll be standing on the rock. So the Lord enveloped that rock with the Lord's majesty and glory. So when Moses struck that rock, he was striking at the glory of the Lord.
That gets you in trouble. About as quick as anything I know. But that's what he did, all right? It's a picture of Christ, through whose death the Holy Spirit is given. Now Amalek, A-M-A-L-E-K, A-M-A-L-E-K, Amalek, is a picture of a flesh.
He's a picture of a flesh, opposing the believer in this pilgrim's journey. The desires and the passions of human flesh. The old nature. This longing after wrong. Never having to teach a child to lie, it just lies naturally.
You have to teach a child to do right. I never had to be taught how to lie and steal. Man, it just comes naturally. They just pick up anything. I know Christians do that. They come in my office, I put my pens and man, I just hide everything.
And I take a quick inventory when they leave. Now not everybody, but many. Why, I've been riding around on an airplane and reach in here and pull out a pen. You know, where did I get that? And I started, where did I get this pen?
It's got some guy's name on it. I don't know where I got it. Just picked it up. Now I know you don't have any problems with that. But every once in a while, you know, things like that just occur. But what I'm saying to you is that you don't have to worry about it.
It comes naturally. And that's a picture of Amalek. That old flesh, desire to do wrong. We are bent to do wrong. We have to be re-bent to do right. And the only way God can re-bend us is He's got to break you.
And just like a leg, you know, you go to the doctor. Doctor says, well, we can't straighten it out. We've got to break it. Doctor tells you, you've got to break that leg before we can get it straight.
That's what God has to do. He has to break that wheel in order to make it bend the way God wants it to bend. Now Amalek's a picture of that. Now of course, the key type in the book of Exodus is the Passover.
That's the key type of the wonderful Passover meal. It pictures the death of Christ, the application of His blood for our safety, and the appropriation of His life feeding on that lamb, feeding on Him for our daily strength.
Now we'll look at that, excuse me, a little later on. Now let's look at Moses and Christ in the time we have remaining. Moses and Christ, perfect picture of Jesus Christ in His whole life, a whole life, all right?
I want us to look at Him, the comparisons and contrast, and He's just a wonderful, beautiful picture, all right? First of all, let's just briefly look at Him in His office, in the offices that He held.
So you might want to be about three areas we'll look at in His offices. Moses. Moses was a prophet, was he not? Look at Acts 3, 22 with me. The book of Acts chapter 3 verse 22. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren.
Chapter 3 of the book of Acts verse 22. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall you hear in all things whatever He shall say unto you.
Now the apostles are proclaiming the word of the Lord, and so we see that Moses was a prophet, and we also know that Christ was a prophet. Moses also was a priest. Moses was a priest. He performed many functions of a priest.
Many functions he did around the tabernacle that were priestly functions. When you break down the office of the priest, the Levites were servants. They were servants of the tabernacle and the temple, and the Korathites and others also performed in the priestly duties.
And we may can show you one evening if we find some space or time or get to it, maybe the encampment, how they encamped around to show you where each tribe was located around the tabernacle and what their functions were.
And it wouldn't take long to do that if we can just maybe get it or we might can print or something. I don't know. We'll work on that. But you read these scriptures at your own leisure. Psalm 99 6 and Hebrews 7 24.
Psalm 99 6 and Hebrews 7 24. He was a prophet. So was Christ. He was a priest. So was Christ. The reason he was anointed by God when he was baptized into the River Jordan, he wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit.
He's God. Christ is God. He was no less God. He was God in the flesh. In him dwells the fullness of the Godhead body. He wasn't baptized with the Holy Spirit. He was anointed because the law required him to be anointed at 30 years of age.
The Bible says plainly that anyone setting out on the priestly duties at 30 years of age, he had to be anointed. So he was anointed for his holy messianic office that he was about to set out on to serve as our great high priest.
He would die and he moved to the right hand of God the Father. He was a priest. Also a servant. Moses was a servant and Jesus said, I did not come to be ministered to, but I came to minister. And if there's anything our church lacks today, it is Christian people who have a servant's heart.
We need a servant's heart. We need to learn to serve one another and stop waiting on everybody to serve us. We're in the church to serve and we're in the world to serve. That's what, if our Lord serves, surely you and I are not beneath it.
But it's one of our problems and it is with me and I'm confident maybe one of you might have the same difficulty. You might read these verses. Psalm 105 verse 26. Psalm 105, 26 and Matthew 12, 18. 105, 26 and Matthew 12, 18.
All right, servant. He was also a shepherd. You remember Moses helped keep the flocks of the Midianites, didn't he? He was out there in the Midians, around the Midians, you know, Jethro and found a young girl out there he liked and everything worked out according to plan for a while.
And he had a young boy, I think his name was Gershon, wasn't it? I think that's about right. And he gave him that name. Why? Because Moses was an alien in a strange land. But God wasn't going to leave him there and so that's why he named him that.
So he was a shepherd. You might read Exodus 3, 1. John 10 verses 11 and 14 and that's familiar to you. Grab that one immediately, don't you, John 10? I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
No more beautiful passage in the Bible than that. Our Lord, the great shepherd caring for the sheep, us, we, believers, all right? He was a shepherd. Also, Moses was a mediator. You remember in Exodus, around chapter 32, we'll look at that.
You recall that? Whenever God said, I'm going to destroy every one of them, they made that golden calf and I'm going to get them all. And he says, Oh Lord, don't lay this sin to them. I preached that message to you when I was with you last time.
I said, Lord, if you can't forgive them, then blot me out of thy book. And the Lord said, that's not the way it works, Moses. You just go and do what I told you to do. And when I visit them, I will visit them.
And said, God plagued the people because they made the calf, which Aaron made. And so he was a mediator. He was a go-between between the people and God, which was also priestly duty, but also a mediator.
We know our Christ there. You might read Exodus 33, 8, 9, and 1 Timothy 2, 5. That's another one that's familiar to all of us. There's one mediator between God and man, the man in Christ Jesus. Those are familiar to us.
1 Timothy 2, 5, Exodus 33, 8, 9. All right. He is also a deliverer. Acts 7, 35 and 1 Thessalonians 1, 10. Now those are his offices. Perfect picture of Christ. What Moses did, Christ did exactly the same thing in their offices.
So that's what we mean by a type. Now let's look at his character. How about his character? Well, it's hard to understand because we have a misconception. He was meek. Now what is meek? What's meek to you and me?
You know what most people think meek is, don't you? Most people believe that the word meek means passive. Moses killed an Egyptian, didn't he? Buried him in the sand and the next day found two Hebrew guys out there arguing around.
He said, he went to the one who was wrong, the Bible says, and he said, how come you're contending one another? He said, who made you judge over us? What are you going to do? Kill me like that Egyptian?
Bury me in the sand? And Moses was afraid the thing was known, so he cut out. He left. But you see, in his character he was meek. It just means this, my friends. It does not mean passivity. It doesn't mean you just sit back and don't do anything.
It just means that you recognize that your strength and source of power and life comes from God. And any time God wants to shut it off, He can. That there is no strength within ourselves. There is nothing within ourselves.
It all comes from the Lord. And the moment God wants to shut your life off, all He's got to do is stop your heart beating and keep it stopped one beat, and you're through. And I'm through. Meekness means recognizing that He is the source of all and walking in that humility.
Walking in that humility. Will it demand some passivity sometimes? Sure. Sure, certainly. Takes two to argue. You get one person who's kind of passive there, won't say anything, it's hard to argue with something, don't talk.
But we're going to get the last word on it because we're right. And I know how that is. And we work on that. But he was meek. You might read Numbers 12, 3. Then you might read Matthew 11, 29. Matthew 11, 29.
Alright? And his character, he was meek. He was also faithful. Say what you will about Moses. Once he got things moving, he was faithful. He was faithful. And friends, he had things confronting him you and I have never faced.
I hope the Lord doesn't ever lay on my heart to go talk to Bretschneff. Or doesn't tell me I got to go straight to Tito out or Sadat or Arafat or any others. I don't know what He, you know what the Lord has in mind, but, well, He'd give me a rod like that, Rocky, I'll tell you what, you let that thing turn, but I'd go.
He'd give me and my brother a rod and I don't want to go. I do not want to. And I would not assume that I would, but he was faithful. Hebrews 3, 2. Moses was a faithful man. Beautiful life that he had.
He was obedient. Oh, for a while he had problems, but my friends, he became obedient. He became obedient. He raised those hands up and when those hands were up, they won the battle. When his hands fell, Lord God had so much honor in him that they lost the battle.
He became obedient and he was mighty in word and deed. You might read Acts 7 .22 and Mark 6 .2. Acts 7 .22 and Mark 6 .2. That's in his character. He's meek, faithful, obedient, mighty in word, mighty in deed.
Many things we could say about him, just basically his character. All right, in his history, it's very interesting. He was a son in Egypt. He was a son in Egypt. You study the life of Christ, you find the same thing, don't you?
He was a son in Egypt. Very same thing with the life of Christ. He was in danger of being killed. Read Matthew 2 .15 and follow him. Matthew 2 .15 and follow him. Same thing applies to the life of the Lord Jesus.
He was providentially cared for by God. So was Christ. So was Christ as a young boy. He chose to suffer with the Jews rather to reign in Egypt. Hebrews 11 .24 -26. So did Christ, didn't he? They said, we'll make you king.
And Jesus said, I got to die. I'm going to the cross. He chose to suffer rather than to reign at that time. Moses chose to suffer with the Jews rather than to reign with a Pharaoh. But where do you find Moses reigning, don't you?
What about on the Mount of Transfiguration? Jesus was there. Peter, James, and John, they spoke to Sure. Yeah, far better off than he would be on this earth. All right. Also, he was rejected by his brethren the first time and received the second time.
Christ came unto his own, but his own received him not. But my Bible tells me when he comes back that they will. And I don't know how anybody can read Romans 9, 10, and 11 and miss that if they'll correlate Zechariah 12 through 14.
Find out God's going to kill two-thirds of all the Jews, but one-third will turn. Paul plainly says so. He said, there will come out of Zion the deliverer who will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And that's in Romans 11.
Christ's already gone back to heaven. He's already crucified, dead, buried, raised from the dead, and ascended. And still, he says, there's coming out of Zion who's going to turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them when I will turn away, take away their sins.
He said, as touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as concerning, you know, the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. And he says, and all Israel shall be saved up there.
But how many is all? Only one-third. Two-thirds of them are going to get zapped. Two-thirds, because of their sinfulness, rebellion, and pride, God will kill. Zechariah 12 through 14. He plainly says in chapter 13, 8, and 9 of Zechariah, he said that two parts will be taken care of by God, but one-third, one-third, a third part will come through and be tried with the fire of God and be tested as pure gold is tested.
And it says they will call upon him. It goes on down in verse 4 of chapter 14. It talks about the coming Christ. And so, this is exactly what happened to Moses as he went down. The people didn't want to receive him.
Now, while rejected, while rejected, he gained a Gentile bride. Didn't he? Zipporah sure wasn't a Jew. She was a Midianite. And anything outside of Israel, basically in the general context, is considered Gentile.
What did Jesus do? He came to the Jews. They turned away from him. So, what'd he do? Got him a Gentile bride. The church is basically Gentile. But then Moses got him a Gentile bride, but he went back and got him the second time.
Jesus coming back again. And he'll take out his own. He'll take us, and then he'll go on. And they will come to him. All right? He condemned Egypt. He condemned Egypt. Christ condemned the world. And we said, Egypt is a picture of the world.
And Christ said what? Friendship with the world. He said it through James, in James 4, 4. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. You can't be a friend of the world and a friend of God at the same time.
You can love people in the world, but you can't love this world system. And you can't be contented in it. And we all know this, and this is old stuff to you, I know. Also, he delivered God's people through the blood.
Passover lamb. Christ did on the cross, didn't he? Sure. Blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. It's impossible. If you want a witness to a Jew, just ask him, where's the blood?
Well, we haven't got a blood. Why? Well, we don't have a temple. How come you don't have a temple? Well, it was destroyed in 70 AD. Who said it was going to get destroyed? God said it would be. And on you go.
You got them running. All right? He delivered them through blood. And then he led the people. He fed the people, and he carried their burdens in his heart. He went to God with them many times. So does Christ lead his people, feeds his people.
Feed on the word, it says. And the written word reveals to us the living word. The written word. Because he says, they wrote about me. Now, there's a contrast. Basically, the contrast is this, that Moses did not take Israel into the promised land.
And there's a difference. He did not lead them into the promised land. Joshua had to do that. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1, 17. All right? Now, we've got about five minutes that I want us to just basically go through this outline of the book.
And then we'll pick it up tomorrow night with another different look at it. And we're going to look at it three different ways, the whole book of Exodus. And then we'll move right on into the chapters and hopefully get through.
And I'm going to read these to you in case you can't see them, because I know that some of these good folks on this side are not able to. But there are three R's. Redemption, righteousness, and restoration.
All right? Redemption is God's power exemplified. God's power. Chapters 1 through 17 in Exodus. Exodus 1 through 17. And under that, we have three headings. And under the third heading, I'm going to give you five topics that are not on the board.
And they're very easy. All right? Under redemption, God's power. Chapters 1 through 17. Arabic 1. You might put redemption, Roman numeral 1. God's power, dash 1 through 17. Arabic 1, the slavery of sin.
And that's chapters 1 through 4. The slavery of sin. Chapter 1 through 4. Arabic 2, the stubbornness of Pharaoh. Chapters 5 through 11. Isn't it amazing God spent that many chapters trying to get that man right?
He still wouldn't. All right? 5 through 11, the stubbornness of Pharaoh. Arabic 3, the salvation of God. Chapters 12 through 17. Arabic 3, the salvation of God. Now, I want to give you five thoughts under that.
And we've already touched on them. I just want you to put them under the salvation of God. 1 in parentheses, Passover. Christ, the slain lamb. Christ, the slain lamb. Chapters 12 and 13. 12 and 13. 2 in parentheses, crossing the Red Sea.
Resurrection. Chapters 14 and 15. When we get through, you'll be able to teach this book to anybody who wants to listen to you. Don't tell them where all the mistakes came from. They will be yours. Any truths you get out will be mine.
All right? Crossing the Red Sea. Resurrection. 14 and 15. The third, number 3 parentheses, 3 in parentheses, manna. The manna. Christ, the bread of life. Chapter 16 of Exodus. Chapter 16 of Exodus. 4 parentheses.
1 parentheses, Passover. 2, crossing the Red Sea. 3, manna. Christ, the bread of life. Chapter 16. 4 parentheses, smitten rock. Christ gives the Spirit. Chapter 17, verses 1 through 7. Chapter 17, 1 through 7.
And then 5 parentheses is Amalek. Flesh versus the Spirit. Flesh versus the Spirit. Chapter 17, verses 8 through 16. All right? And then Roman numeral 2. That last one is Amalek. Flesh versus the Spirit.
17, verses 8 through 16. And then the second Roman numeral 2 is righteousness. God's holiness. You see God's holiness. 18 through 24. Chapters 18 through 24 of Exodus. You see God's holiness. And if you can't see God's holiness in that, I doubt very seriously if you and I would be able to see it anywhere else.
Because His holiness is there. All right? Arabic 1, the nation prepared. That'd be chapters 18 and 19. The nation prepared. Chapters 18 and 19. Arabic 2, the law revealed. Chapters 20 through 23. Chapters 20 through 23.
Now let me break these down for you. Put 1 in parentheses under the law revealed. And just put the commandments. God word. God word. G-O-D, capital G-O-D, dash W-A-R-D. God word. Chapter 20. The judgments.
You put 2 in parentheses. The judgments man word. I have mine 1 parentheses, the commandments. And then I put in parentheses God word, dash 20. And then 2 in parentheses, the judgments. And in parentheses I put man word.
Chapters 21, 23. All right? And then Arabic 3, you got 1, the nation prepared. 2, the law revealed. And Arabic 3, the covenant ratified. Chapter 24 of Exodus. God ratifies the covenant. Means He approves it.
He says it's in force. It's good. It's intact. All right? Then Roman numeral 3, we come to restoration, which always has to be under God's grace. Nobody can be restored in any way, fashion, or form without God's wonderful grace.
Chapters 25 through 40. And then we have 3 Arabics. 1, the tabernacle described. God describes what He's going to do. Chapter 25 to 31. And then Arabic 2, the tabernacle needed because of Israel's sins.
Chapter 32 through 34. And then the tabernacle constructed, chapter 35 through 40. Now it is easy for us to see, and we'll close with this remark at 820. All right? It's easy for us to see in Exodus the pattern of the Christian life, isn't it?
If we just stop and think about it. Every man is in bondage to sin in the world. We cannot deliver ourselves any more than the people of Israel could get out of Egypt. God had to send the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who delivered us through His shed blood, which is pictured in the Passover.
But not only are we saved from wrath by His blood, but we are also delivered from Egypt, the world, by His resurrection. We have victory over the world. All right? And this is pictured in the crossing of the Red Sea.
Now we begin our pilgrim journey on the earth. We begin this with the Holy Spirit guiding us, which is pictured with a pillar of fire and cloud. The Spirit of God goes before, and it's pictured in that how God led them, God leads us.
Now God nourishes us with heavenly manna. Heavenly manna, Christ as found in the Word. Where do you find Christ? You find Him in the Word of God, and no one can be an effective Christian without the Word of God.
It has to come from the Word of God. And my friends, anything else outside the Word of God is subjected and it's fallible and subject to error. And you may wallow in something out here that you think is God or from God, but you have no proof it's from God if it violates the Word of God.
It has to be in chronological context. It has to be in historical context. It has to have dispensational clarity, doctrinal consistency in order for it to be from God. It isn't that God can't do anything.
It's just that God has set things in order and He's a God of order and He is not a God of confusion. He never has been and He isn't. So we see how He leads us and we feed on the precious Word of God. Now even though we often have a carnal appetite for the leeks and the onions and the garlic and the flesh of the world, He still gets rid of this in our life and purges us through the Word of God.
Through the Word of God, all right? He gives us His Spirit as living water to refresh us on our earthly pilgrimage. Now, but there is always that battle against Amalek, the flesh. That battle goes on every day and you can't get the victory once and for all.
There's no such thing as dying yourself today and it lasting you for the rest of your Christian life. As I understand the life of Paul and as I understand my own life and as I understand the lives of the great Christian men of Christian history, regardless of their denominational affiliation, I find that those men and women and young people who walked in victory with Christ had a daily commitment to the Lord, a daily renewal of their life with the Lord Jesus Christ.
A daily renewal and it must be as we study the Word and it comes through the Word of God and through prayer. Now from Egypt to Canaan is not, it is not a picture of our journey from earth to heaven. There's not going to be any battles in heaven.
On Jordan, stormy banks I stand. Well, no, I'm sorry because when they got into Canaan they had to fight. They had to fight the Hittites and the Jebusites. They had everybody else to contend with. They were giants in the land.
My friends, when you get into the heavenly portals, whatever it is, there's going to be peace, joy, contentment, blessings. No, it is rather a picture of us having peace in the middle of the storm, having victory in the life where there are giants in the world, so to speak.
The giants of bias, the giants of prejudice, the giants of greed, the giants of untruth, the giants of all those things. But you and I have a victory because we have crossed over. But how tragic that most Christians are wandering in the wilderness of Egypt and they've never gotten into Canaan.
And there's a big difference, a big beautiful difference, a big beautiful difference, and that's what we want to find out about this week. It is a picture of our spiritual journey from the world and of bondage and sin into the full inheritance that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I...