Exodus Dwelling with God Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.—Exodus 4:22 Richard Evans In English versions of the Bible the name given the second of the five books credited to Moses was borrowed from the Septuagint (exodos, "going out" or "departure") and from the Codex Alexandrinus (exodos aigipton, "departure from Egypt"). In Hebrew Bibles it is called by the first words of the book (ve-elleh shemot, "these are the names"). The book covers about two centuries of the early history of Israel, God’s earthly chosen people. Beginning at the death of the patriarch Joseph, it concludes with the construction and erection of the tabernacle at the foot of Mount Sinai and Israel dwelling with God. An Overview Exodus may conveniently be separated into three sections:
Beginning with darkness and gloom, a people enslaved, it ends with glory, a people freed, the divine presence in their midst. The Deliverance The extraordinary birthrate of the Israelites caused fear among the Egyptians which brought suffering upon God’s people. Pharaoh’s command to destroy all Hebrew male newborns was contravened by the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, because they "feared God" (Exodus 1:17). Pharaoh subsequently ordered all male newborns to be "cast into the river" (Exodus 1:22). A concise personal history of Moses explains the manner in which he was "cast into the river" as a babe, the divine overruling so he was delivered, placed in the care of his mother, yet educated as the son of an Egyptian princess. When forty years of age Moses was placed in danger by defending his brethren. His resulting flight brought him in contact with Jethro, priest of Midian, whose daughter Zipporah he espoused. After a second forty-year period, while tending the flocks of his father-in-law, the angel of Yahweh (Jehovah) appeared to Moses in a burning bush, commissioning him to deliver God’s oppressed people. Though given the most positive assurances of divine providence and power to perform miracles, Moses was reluctant. This is understandable since there was no recorded precedent, Moses apparently being the first to be given such a commission and such power. "And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue" (Exodus 4:10). Stephen indicated Moses was "mighty in words" (Acts 7:22), so by "slow tongue" Moses probably meant he had lost proficiency in the Egyptian language from forty years of nonuse. God acquiesced to Moses’ reluctance and allowed his brother Aaron be his spokesperson. Pharaoh, however, far from submitting, made the yoke more grievous and refused to let the people go. Then God, through Moses and Aaron, brought on ten devastating plagues which convinced Pharaoh of divine omnipotence and compelled him to free the people. Afterward many miracles were performed on behalf of God’s redeemed people—the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, the deliverance from Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea, bringing water out of a rock, providing manna from heaven and great flocks of quails for meat, and victory over the Amalekites. Then, three months following their departure from Egypt, the Israelites camped in the wilderness of Sinai. Estimating the number of people involved to be two million (Exodus 12:37), one "omer" of manna per person (Exodus 16:16) would result in 125,000 bushels gathered each day (according to the McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia, 16 omers = 1 bushel). A typical railway freight car carries 3,500 bushels. To deliver the amount of manna gathered each day would require a train of 36 cars, even greater if waste was a factor, and double on the day before Sabbath. The Covenant At Sinai God manifested himself to his people in an alarming display of divine majesty. However, their deliverance from slavery did not give them either right or fitness to draw near to their holy God: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish" (Exodus 19:21). Because of the fear of the people God delivered his law and covenant to Moses as mediator. Subsequently, by sprinkling the blood of sacrificial animals, God’s covenant with Israel was ratified and the people sanctified. Then, to the very people who were warned against daring to draw near to God, the command was given, "Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). The Tabernacle God gave detailed instructions for the construction and appointments of his dwelling place, the tabernacle, as well as for the preparation of a priesthood. This work, however, was delayed by Israel’s idolatry with a golden calf, the displeasure of God, and the death of the rebels by the swords of the Levites. The book concludes with the tabernacle filled and encompassed with divine glory—God dwelling in the midst of his redeemed people. Lessons The apostle Paul testified there are lessons in the events associated with Israel’s exodus: "Now all these things happened unto them [the Israelites] for ensamples: and they are written for our [the Church’s] admonition, upon whom the ends [purposes] of the world [age] are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Below is a limited appraisal of a few of those lessons. Exodus 12—A Purchased People That the Passover was an "ensample" was made evident by the apostle Paul: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us [the Church]" (1Corinthians 5:7). Jesus died at the "ninth hour," 3:00 p.m., the time at which the Passover lambs were slain in Egypt, and thus fulfilled the type. "And ye shall keep it [the lamb] up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening [between the two evenings (3:00 p.m.)]," (Exodus 12:6, margin). Through the "blood" of the antitypical lamb God purchased the "Church of the Firstborn" (Hebrews 12:23) to be his servants, just as he hallowed Israel’s firstborn who were later replaced by the Levites (Exodus 13:2; Numbers 3:12,13). "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he [God] hath purchased with his own [lamb’s] blood" (Acts 20:28). "But ye [the Church] are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [purchased] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him [God] who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous [Shekinah] light" (1 Peter 2:9, margin). This purchased people, a predestined people (Romans 8:29,30), the Church of the Firstborn, will serve the heavenly Father as a spiritual priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). Exodus 19 — An Earthly Priesthood God’s destiny for his earthly creation is certain and will be glorious. "But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile" (Romans 2:10). Through a resurrection of the dead, humanity will have an opportunity for the "glory" and "honour" of eternal life on earth (1Corinthians 15:21,22); but, as Paul declared, the Jew will be in the forefront. This was the promise God made Israel through Moses. "Now therefore, if [when—im, #518] ye [people of Israel] will obey unto my [God’s] voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation [a nation set apart for sacred service]" (Exodus 19:5,6). "Holy" is rendered from qadosh, #6918, meaning holy, sacred, set apart for sacred service. This role for Israel was manifest in the divine design from the very beginning of God’s relationship. "For thou [people of Israel] art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6). God unconditionally chose Israel to be a "special people," a people set apart and "above all people." Following this definitive preamble, God declared the preordained consequence of this election: "Wherefore it shall come to pass, if [because] ye [people of Israel] hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers" (Deuteronomy 7:12). Some translators change God’s promise by rendering eqeb (#6118) "if" instead of "because," making it conditional instead of unconditional. (See ASV and NASB for the proper thought.) God decreed there will be a time "when" Israel will hearken to him. This divinely chosen people will be obedient! Israel, as a nation, is predestined to be a "holy" people! "And ye [Israel] shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine" (Leviticus 20:26). As a nation Israel will "obey" their God; and, "when" they do, they will serve him as a "holy" nation, a nation "set apart for sacred service." The prophet Ezekiel made evident the time "when" Israel will be obedient: "For I [God] will take you [Israel] from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land ... I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezekiel 36:24-28). Just as with the church, Israel’s predestination does not apply to individuals. It concerns the aggregate, the sum. Israel, as a nation, will be God’s servant and his holy people. The individual Jew, however, is not predestined to share in this divine purpose. God will not violate the free will of his creatures, and will not have any serve him who is unwilling. The choice is the individual’s to make. "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). Exodus 24 — Making a Covenant As explained by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, the making of the Law Covenant was a type, a shadow, of the making of the New Covenant. "Of a new covenant he [Jesus] is mediator, that, death having come, for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant [Mosaic], those called [God’s earthly people (Hosea 11:1; Isaiah 54:5,6)] may receive the promise of the age-during inheritance, for where a covenant is, the death of the covenant-victim to come in is necessary, for a covenant over dead victims is stedfast, since it is no force at all when the covenant-victim liveth, whence not even the first apart from blood hath been initiated, for every command having been spoken, according to law, by Moses, to all the people, having taken the blood of the calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, he both the book itself and all the people did sprinkle, saying, `This is the blood of the covenant that God enjoined unto you’" (Hebrews 9:15-20, Young’s Literal). It has been said the common rendering of this text results in "hopeless obscurity." (See Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott; Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, p. 486; and Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 623.) Jesus made reference to this rite of covenant making when he passed the cup of wine to his apostles: "Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:27,28). One of the more serious errors introduced by translators is the use of "testament" for diatheke, #1242. Its use in the Septuagint leaves no question it should be rendered "covenant." The expression "blood of the covenant" refers to the blood of the sacrificial animals ("covenant-victims"), the blood sprinkled to ratify a covenant (Exodus 24:6-8; Hebrews 9:16-20). This sprinkling typified the process by which God’s heavenly priesthood is "made perfect" through suffering as "covenant-victims" (Hebrews 2:10; 5:8,9; 9:25,26). Only those of the Church of the Firstborn (Hebrews 12:23) are to be of that priesthood (1Peter 2:5,9). Only they are to be "able ministers" of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6). In the night of the first Passover all firstborn in Egypt were in jeopardy of death (Exodus 11:4-6; 12:12,13,23), so only the firstborn required the protection of blood. In antitype, only those who are of the Church of the Firstborn are asked to partake of the cup, the blood of the New Covenant, and only they are in jeopardy during the antitypical Passover night (1 Corinthians 15:30). All who partake of Jesus’ cup are the "covenant-victims" that make the New Covenant. "Gather my saints [the Church] together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me [my covenant] by sacrifice" (Psalms 50:5, corrected). The Hebrew berit, #1285, with the first person singular suffix, appears 52 times in the Bible. In English translations it is rendered "my covenant" 51 times [KJV, ASV]. Only in Psalms 50:5 is it inappropriately rendered "covenant with me." When the last covenant-victims to drink of Jesus’ cup have presented their "bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1) and have been "faithful unto death" (Revelation 2:10), the New Covenant will be ratified. Then the promises of that covenant to the "house of Israel" and the "house of Judah," God’s earthly priesthood, will come to fruition (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Exodus 24—A Festive Gathering At first, after the arrival at Mount Sinai, Moses alone as mediator of the covenant was allowed to come near. This changed, however, following the ratification of the covenant by the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant on the people (the elders presumably representing the whole congregation of Israel). On that day Aaron, two of his sons, and seventy elders ascended the mountain along with Moses. The day before it would have been death for them to "break through to gaze." But on that day "they saw God." And such was their privilege due to the blood of the covenant, "they did eat and drink" in the divine presence. "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel ... And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink" (Exodus 24:9-11). This gathering on the mount following the sprinkling of the blood of the covenant was, no doubt, in the mind of the writer of Hebrews when he used the expression "festive gathering." "But ye [the Church] are come unto mount Sion ... To the general assembly [festive gathering] and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all" (Hebrews 12:22,23). "General assembly" is rendered from paneguris, #3831, a word that denotes a public festival. (See translations by Weymouth, Montgomery, and Phillips, as well as the Berkeley version.) The gathering on Mount Sinai dramatically prefigured the future "festive gathering" on Mount Zion God purposes for his creation. Moses represented Jesus as mediator of the New Covenant (Galatians 3:19,20; 1Timothy 2:5). Aaron represented Jesus as the antitypical Melchizedek, High Priest of the New Covenant (Hebrews 6:20). Perhaps the sons of Aaron here represented God’s two priesthoods: Nadab, the elder, picturing the earthly priesthood (Exodus 19:6), Israel (also shown by Cain, Ishmael, Esau, Manasseh); Abihu, the younger, picturing the spiritual priesthood (Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 2:5,9), the Church (also shown by Abel, Isaac, Jacob, Ephraim). Plausibly then, the 70 elders, standing in for Israel, represented the rest of humanity (Isaiah 2:2,3; Jeremiah 31:27; Ezekiel 36:37,38). The followers of Jesus will be gathered with him "in the air" (1Thessalonians 4:17); they will eat and drink at his table (Luke 22:30); and, as he promised, they will drink of a new cup (Matthew 26:29). "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb [Jesus] stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand [the Church], having his Father’s name written in their foreheads" (Revelation 14:1). Israel’s part in this gathering at Zion was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah: "Therefore they [people of Israel] shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all" (Jeremiah 31:12). Under the Law the grain, wine, oil, and young of the flock, made up the tithe the people were to eat and drink before their God (Deuteronomy 14:23, 26). Ultimately God’s human creation, under the tutelage of his two priesthoods, will join this gathering on "Mount Zion" (Isaiah 2:3; 35:10) and will eat of the "tree of life" and drink of the "water of life" (Revelation 22:1-17) in God’s "watered garden," Israel (Isaiah 58:11; Jeremiah 31:12; Ezekiel 36:35). This greater gathering that God has in store for his creation will indeed be festive! Exodus 29—Priesthood Sanctification The Greek noun telos (#5056) is frequently translated "end." Just as with the English "end," however, telos has a broad range of meaning. It may signify the aim, purpose, or goal of an action; the final issue, result, or completion of a process. In the Septuagint the family of words associated with telos and its verb teleioo was used to describe the consecration (sanctification) process of the Aaronic priesthood. The priest had his hands filled (teleioo o cheir) with portions of the slaughtered ram of consecration (teleiosis). The writer of Hebrews, following the Septuagint, used this word family to describe the developmental process of the Melchizedek priesthood. Just as it was necessary for Jesus, the head, to be "made perfect" (teleioo) as a sympathetic priest (Hebrews 4:15), so too must all who aspire to be "like him," and who are to be his body members (Romans 12:5). The writer asserted this process, as typified by the consecration rite of the Aaronic priesthood, was also prefigured by the sprinkling of the blood of sacrificial "victims" during covenant ratification (Exodus 24), as well as on Atonement Day (Leviticus 16). All who are to be of the heavenly priesthood (Hebrews 3:1) must be "made perfect" through suffering, the process pictured by the sprinkling of blood (Hebrews 9:25,26). "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the [elect’s] [spirit unto obedience, and [namely] sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2). On the Day of Atonement, year after year, the Aaronic high priest entered the Most Holy to sprinkle blood upon and before the ark of the covenant. This foreshadowed the ministry of Jesus (Hebrews 9:25,26), who as the antitypical High Priest, suffered once (for 3 years). The mercy seat symbolized Jesus, as the head; the ark, on which the mercy seat rested, represented the church as the body, Jesus’ footstool. "... in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation [mercy seat] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission [passing over] of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Romans 3:24,25, see Diaglott). "But this man [Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies [the church, formerly enemies] be made his footstool [through conversion]" (Hebrews 10:12,13). Texts affirming the body members were enemies before becoming Jesus’ "footstool" include Romans 5:10; Matthew 9:13; 10:36; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Colossians 1:21. Thus, the sprinkling of blood on Atonement Day, as well as the sprinkling of blood to ratify the Law Covenant, were physical metaphors. Both were pictures of the required developmental process, the sanctification, or setting apart, of a spiritual priesthood—a process also prefigured by the consecration rite of the Aaronic priesthood. All who partake of God’s "heavenly calling" must learn obedience and be made perfect just as did Jesus, the head. "Make perfect" does not refer to the physical organism but to the development of a "holy" priest. At his birth Jesus was a perfect human organism. The process of being made perfect as a priest during his 3 year ministry had nothing to do with that God-given perfection (the perfection he gave to replace that which was lost by Adam). It is critical to an understanding of God’s plans that this difference be carefully maintained. After the work of developing God’s spiritual priesthood is complete and all have been "made perfect," after the New Covenant has been ratified and the veil is removed from the eyes of the Jews (yet another lesson in Exodus, see Exodus 34:33-35 ASV, NASB; 2 Corinthians 3:11-14); then Israel will enter into the new arrangement and begin its work as God’s earthly priesthood. All of the creation will come to the "festive gathering" and will know their gracious Creator, the "end" for which both priesthoods were elected. God will be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28) and he will dwell in the midst of his creation! |