The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Six - E Feb 04, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/2018-02-04_Pt6E.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ex 3:2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. We will continue to look at the life of Moses today to see what is taught about Israel's future through it. The full text of this week's message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday February 4th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 6E ‘Your Descendants After You’ 1). Ac 7:23 "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 "And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?' 27 "But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 'Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 "Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. We had seen last time how Moses, once he was 40 years old went to visit his brethren, the Children of Israel, believing that they would understand that God had sent him to deliver them by his hand – a deliverance that is pictured through the killing of the Egyptian oppressor to both defend and avenge his Jewish brother who was being afflicted. Having seen this, he supposed the Jews would understand his purpose. a). But, the response of Moses brethren was not one of acceptance, rather it was one of rejection as we see in v27 and 28 – ‘he pushed him away’. b). And in this reaction by the very ones Moses had come to deliver we can find a parallel with the verse we have seen often from the Lord’s first advent - Joh 19:5 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" c). In both cases we see a complete rejection of the one God had sent and a turning instead toward Gentile world power within the kingdom of Satan, the very kingdom that God will overthrow, by the hand of His Jewish Son; the very kingdom that has sought the destruction of the Jewish people throughout their history. d). Moses brethren were quite prepared to betray Moses into the hands of Pharaoh as Christ’s brethren betrayed Him into the hands of Caesar, the Gentile ruler of the world at Christ’s first advent. e). And it will be to the Assyrian Antichrist, the literal seed of Satan that the Jewish people will turn at the beginning of the Tribulation, betraying the God of their Fathers, just as we see recorded in Daniel - Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate." And just as we have seen in - Ho 5:13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb [king Jareb being a type of the Antichrist]; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. But, we may praise the Lord for this is by no means the end of the matter. f). Moses betrayal and rejection and Christ’s rejection, betrayal and death had already been set in foundation in the type seen through Cain and Abel – Ge 4:8 ¶ Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. And here Cain forms a type of the Children of Israel, the field a type of the world and most specifically the land of Israel and Abel a type of Christ and when both Israel and Christ were in the land together, Israel rose up against their Brother, the Christ, and killed Him. g). But, then, following the death of Abel we find this - Ge 4:25 ¶ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. Another ‘seed’ had been appointed ‘instead of Abel, whom Cain killed’ – this is Seth, whose name means substitute, who is the 3rd son, who himself gives birth to a son, after whose birth ‘men began to call on the name of the Lord’. h). The slain Abel pictures Christ the slain sacrifice – the Passover Lamb slain by the Jews, the only ones to whom the killing of the Passover lambs was given. i). As Abel pictures Christ in death so Seth pictures Christ in resurrection. And it is the resurrected Christ – the King of kings and the Lord of lords who will return to His brethren at the conclusion of the Tribulation to deliver them out of the hand of Satan and bring to an end Gentile world power ushering in a completely new set of rulers to replace Satan and his angels. j). And as we know the judgments of the Tribulation that bring this about are also the means by which the inheritance, the earth placed under a curse at Adam’s fall, will be redeemed - Ge 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. Heb 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. The blood of Abel ‘cries out to [God] from the ground’, a ground that is unredeemed and under a curse, but the blood of Christ ‘that speaks better things than that of Abel’ as the blood of the Savior, provides redemption, not only for fallen Man but also for the unredeemed earth from which the blood of Abel cried. k). And all this will be brought to fulfillment upon the Lord’s return to the earth, when, like Joseph and like Moses He will deal with His brothers a second time. l). And as the repentant and restored Israel moves into the Millennial Kingdom, so they will take God’s message out to the Gentile nations and men will begin to call on the name of the Lord. m). And that period of time between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension and His return to deliver Israel, overthrow Gentile world power and complete the redemption of the inheritance is pictured for us by Moses in Midian. 2). Ex 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. 16 ¶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" 19 And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock." 20 So he said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." 21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." So then, Moses in Midian pictures for us the Lord in the heavens during the 2000 years of this dispensation – a precise period of time punctuated at either end by dealing with Israel. a). And it is during this time in Midian, between Moses rejection and his return to deliver Israel, that he marries Zipporah, a Gentile, the daughter of the priest of Midian, who he encountered, along with her 6 sisters, by a well of water. b). This will no doubt remind us of Abraham’s oldest servant meeting Rebekah by a well of water in Genesis Chapter 24 – Rebekah who became the wife of Isaac between the time of Sarah’s death and Abraham’s marriage to Keturah. c). And it is during this dispensation and the events that immediately follow it, between Christ’s rejection and His return to deliver Israel, that the Bride for Christ, taken primarily from among the Gentiles, is being procured and will be revealed. d). The well of water where Moses sat down would parallel that seen in Genesis Chapter 24 and speaks of exactly the same thing, the Word of God, who is Christ, from whom those who will constitute the Bride will draw deeply. e). The verses we see covering this encounter in Midian, v15-21 foreshadow the 2000 years of this dispensation and the events of the Judgment Seat and beyond in microcosm – Reuel has 7 daughters, a number giving completeness to that which is in view, all daughters. And given what is being pictured here, the 7 daughters are the same as the 10 virgins in the parable in Matthew Chapter 25 and Ruth and Orpah – a picture of all Christians. f). With this in mind, let’s note what Reuel says to his daughters, ‘"And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." And in these words, spoken by Reuel to his daughters, we can hear that spoken by the Lord to the Church in Ephesus who left their first love [‘why is it you have left the man?] and to the Laodicean Church in - Re 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. And although there is no picture of Judgment per se in Moses’ encounter with the daughters of Reuel, it is only Zipporah, one of the 7, who becomes Moses’ wife. And this particular detail is the same as we have seen in Genesis Chapter 24 where only Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife although all her handmaids accompany her. g). And one last question in relation to this picture that we might want to ask, ‘Why should Moses marry the daughter of the priest of Midian?’ Especially when we remember that Joseph, another type of Christ, married Asenath, a Gentile, the daughter of the priest of On. Pure coincidence? h). Well hardly, the priest of On and the priest of Midian both point to priestly ministry; Christ’s ministry to the eternally saved as our High Priest, a ministry that Christians must avail themselves of if they are to become part of the Bride of Christ to have a position of rulership with Him in the Millennial Kingdom. i). And then perhaps we can see the other relationship required for rulership, the firstborn son, in the birth of Moses son - Ex 2:22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." Gershom is Moses firstborn son, born while he has ‘been a stranger in a foreign land’ and might well picture the faithful Christian adopted as a firstborn son who will receive that adoption while Christ is still in the heavens, before His return to the earth. j). This might seem a bit complicated, but just think of it this way – Zipporah, Moses’ wife and Gershom, Moses firstborn son, together picture the faithful Christian who will reign with Christ who must be Christ’s Wife, and must also be a firstborn son, by adoption. k). And all of this detail is so important, because it establishes, along with all the other scriptural types on the matter, an unalterable chronology for past present and future events which move us towards the completion of God’s purpose set out in the first 34 verses of Genesis. l). To understand this chronology with respect to the redemption of Fallen man and the fallen earth, will help us avoid confusion, error and dispute and if we actually believe it, it might clarify our focus as we realize what is happening now, in our midst, and what is about to come in the very near future. 3). Ex 2:23 ¶ Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. The time that Moses spent in Midian was about to come to an end as the result of a specific sequence of events, ‘the process of time’ – the king of Egypt died and then the Children of Israel cried out to God because of their bondage. a). And in the same manner Christ’s time in the heavens will come to an end through a parallel sequence of events. What we see beginning here in v23 in the type takes beyond the end of this dispensation and beyond the events at the Judgment Seat and the revealing of the Bride of Christ, to the mid-point in the Tribulation. b). We might remember that it is immediately prior to the mid-point in the Tribulation that the Antichrist is killed [the king of Egypt died] and raised from the dead in a counterfeit to Christ’s resurrection - Re 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. And then it is at the mid-point in the Tribulation when the attempted genocide of the Jewish people will begin, the severity of which causes them to cry out to the God of their fathers, who will respond by sending a deliverer, Christ, just as He responded in Exodus by sending a deliverer, Moses - Ex 3:1 ¶ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6 Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 ¶ And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Here we see Moses at ‘the mountain of God’ where ‘the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush’. c). And in the symbolism of the ‘mountain’ we will see a kingdom, but this is not just any mountain, it is ‘the mountain of God’ and therefore we are looking at the Kingdom of God. d). And in the symbolism of ‘a flame of fire’ we see judgment – so, to put the 2 together we are seeing judgment in relation to the Kingdom of God – or to put this from a slightly different perspective, the Kingdom of God is in view through judgment. e). And the bush, contextually, can only be seen to symbolize one thing, the nation of Israel in Egypt – a bush that burns, but is not consumed - God called to him from the midst of the bush – and in these 2 details concerning the ‘bush’ we find incredible spiritual truth. f). Now firstly, within the historical context, Israel’s persecution in Egypt is so great that their cries have come up to God and He has come down to deliver them – the bush burning with fire symbolizes this persecution. But the bush not being consumed, although burning, makes abundantly clear that Israel will not be destroyed. No matter what level of affliction the Egyptians would place upon Israel, the Children of Israel will be preserved. g). Then we see that God calls to Moses ‘from the midst of the bush’ revealing, incredibly, that God is not remote, but in the very midst of His people, experiencing their affliction with them - Zec 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple [pupil] of His eye. We may remember, when we studied this verse some months back, that we had seen that Israel is the pupil of God’s eye, in other words God views all that goes on in the world with respect to Israel through them – God sees everything in relation to Israel as He dwells in their midst. We can see this a little more clearly perhaps in the Lord’s words at the ‘sheep and goats’ judgment at the conclusion of the Tribulation - Mt 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' h). And so, if we take this back to the burning bush for a moment, as the Egyptians ‘touch’ Israel through affliction, so the Egyptians are in effect touching the pupil of God’s eye – inasmuch as they did it to Israel they did it to God. i). When God said to Moses, "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, this is not a remote observation made from heaven, but a visceral experience in the midst of the affliction, felt by the Creator of the Universe. j). Then, as we would expect, that pictured through the burning bush that is not consumed, in fact which cannot be consumed because God is in the midst, has a much broader application than this portion of history, providing the greatest hope possible – God’s chosen people, the Children of Israel will never and can never be destroyed, no matter the intensity of the suffering inflicted upon them. k). And this has already been previously set in the type of Noah and his family going through the flood in a place of protection and safety and in Jonah in the belly of the great fish. l). It can be seen again in the fiery furnace in Daniel - Da 3:19 ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." 25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." m). And is pictured in Revelation - Re 12:6 Then the woman [Israel] fled into the wilderness [into the Gentile nations], where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. n). None of these deal with individual Jews of course, as they will die in their millions and suffer unspeakable horrors during the Great Tribulation, but the nation will remain intact - Jer 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. And that prophesied in Jeremiah concerning the Tribulation to come and Jacob’s deliverance out of it is exactly what is pictured through the Exodus from Egypt – a deliverance that was to take Israel to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to receive their inheritance and rule the earth within a Theocracy. o). And interestingly enough, the Book of Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle in the wilderness which is filled with the glory of God - Ex 40:34 ¶ Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And this foreshadows the Day when God will ‘Tabernacle’ with His people in fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the prophetic feasts of Israel that takes us to the 7th Day, the Day of Rest set out in foundation in the first 34 verses of Genesis. In this respect Exodus comes to a close in exactly the same place that Genesis came to a close, with a picture of the 7th Day, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. We will pick this up next time though – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Six - E Feb 04, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/2018-02-04_Pt6E.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ex 3:2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. We will continue to look at the life of Moses today to see what is taught about Israel's future through it. The full text of this week's message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday February 4th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 6E ‘Your Descendants After You’ 1). Ac 7:23 "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 "And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?' 27 "But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 'Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 "Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. We had seen last time how Moses, once he was 40 years old went to visit his brethren, the Children of Israel, believing that they would understand that God had sent him to deliver them by his hand – a deliverance that is pictured through the killing of the Egyptian oppressor to both defend and avenge his Jewish brother who was being afflicted. Having seen this, he supposed the Jews would understand his purpose. a). But, the response of Moses brethren was not one of acceptance, rather it was one of rejection as we see in v27 and 28 – ‘he pushed him away’. b). And in this reaction by the very ones Moses had come to deliver we can find a parallel with the verse we have seen often from the Lord’s first advent - Joh 19:5 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" c). In both cases we see a complete rejection of the one God had sent and a turning instead toward Gentile world power within the kingdom of Satan, the very kingdom that God will overthrow, by the hand of His Jewish Son; the very kingdom that has sought the destruction of the Jewish people throughout their history. d). Moses brethren were quite prepared to betray Moses into the hands of Pharaoh as Christ’s brethren betrayed Him into the hands of Caesar, the Gentile ruler of the world at Christ’s first advent. e). And it will be to the Assyrian Antichrist, the literal seed of Satan that the Jewish people will turn at the beginning of the Tribulation, betraying the God of their Fathers, just as we see recorded in Daniel - Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate." And just as we have seen in - Ho 5:13 "When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah saw his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria And sent to King Jareb [king Jareb being a type of the Antichrist]; Yet he cannot cure you, Nor heal you of your wound. But, we may praise the Lord for this is by no means the end of the matter. f). Moses betrayal and rejection and Christ’s rejection, betrayal and death had already been set in foundation in the type seen through Cain and Abel – Ge 4:8 ¶ Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. And here Cain forms a type of the Children of Israel, the field a type of the world and most specifically the land of Israel and Abel a type of Christ and when both Israel and Christ were in the land together, Israel rose up against their Brother, the Christ, and killed Him. g). But, then, following the death of Abel we find this - Ge 4:25 ¶ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." 26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. Another ‘seed’ had been appointed ‘instead of Abel, whom Cain killed’ – this is Seth, whose name means substitute, who is the 3rd son, who himself gives birth to a son, after whose birth ‘men began to call on the name of the Lord’. h). The slain Abel pictures Christ the slain sacrifice – the Passover Lamb slain by the Jews, the only ones to whom the killing of the Passover lambs was given. i). As Abel pictures Christ in death so Seth pictures Christ in resurrection. And it is the resurrected Christ – the King of kings and the Lord of lords who will return to His brethren at the conclusion of the Tribulation to deliver them out of the hand of Satan and bring to an end Gentile world power ushering in a completely new set of rulers to replace Satan and his angels. j). And as we know the judgments of the Tribulation that bring this about are also the means by which the inheritance, the earth placed under a curse at Adam’s fall, will be redeemed - Ge 4:9 ¶ Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. Heb 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. The blood of Abel ‘cries out to [God] from the ground’, a ground that is unredeemed and under a curse, but the blood of Christ ‘that speaks better things than that of Abel’ as the blood of the Savior, provides redemption, not only for fallen Man but also for the unredeemed earth from which the blood of Abel cried. k). And all this will be brought to fulfillment upon the Lord’s return to the earth, when, like Joseph and like Moses He will deal with His brothers a second time. l). And as the repentant and restored Israel moves into the Millennial Kingdom, so they will take God’s message out to the Gentile nations and men will begin to call on the name of the Lord. m). And that period of time between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension and His return to deliver Israel, overthrow Gentile world power and complete the redemption of the inheritance is pictured for us by Moses in Midian. 2). Ex 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. 16 ¶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" 19 And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock." 20 So he said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." 21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." So then, Moses in Midian pictures for us the Lord in the heavens during the 2000 years of this dispensation – a precise period of time punctuated at either end by dealing with Israel. a). And it is during this time in Midian, between Moses rejection and his return to deliver Israel, that he marries Zipporah, a Gentile, the daughter of the priest of Midian, who he encountered, along with her 6 sisters, by a well of water. b). This will no doubt remind us of Abraham’s oldest servant meeting Rebekah by a well of water in Genesis Chapter 24 – Rebekah who became the wife of Isaac between the time of Sarah’s death and Abraham’s marriage to Keturah. c). And it is during this dispensation and the events that immediately follow it, between Christ’s rejection and His return to deliver Israel, that the Bride for Christ, taken primarily from among the Gentiles, is being procured and will be revealed. d). The well of water where Moses sat down would parallel that seen in Genesis Chapter 24 and speaks of exactly the same thing, the Word of God, who is Christ, from whom those who will constitute the Bride will draw deeply. e). The verses we see covering this encounter in Midian, v15-21 foreshadow the 2000 years of this dispensation and the events of the Judgment Seat and beyond in microcosm – Reuel has 7 daughters, a number giving completeness to that which is in view, all daughters. And given what is being pictured here, the 7 daughters are the same as the 10 virgins in the parable in Matthew Chapter 25 and Ruth and Orpah – a picture of all Christians. f). With this in mind, let’s note what Reuel says to his daughters, ‘"And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." And in these words, spoken by Reuel to his daughters, we can hear that spoken by the Lord to the Church in Ephesus who left their first love [‘why is it you have left the man?] and to the Laodicean Church in - Re 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. And although there is no picture of Judgment per se in Moses’ encounter with the daughters of Reuel, it is only Zipporah, one of the 7, who becomes Moses’ wife. And this particular detail is the same as we have seen in Genesis Chapter 24 where only Rebekah becomes Isaac’s wife although all her handmaids accompany her. g). And one last question in relation to this picture that we might want to ask, ‘Why should Moses marry the daughter of the priest of Midian?’ Especially when we remember that Joseph, another type of Christ, married Asenath, a Gentile, the daughter of the priest of On. Pure coincidence? h). Well hardly, the priest of On and the priest of Midian both point to priestly ministry; Christ’s ministry to the eternally saved as our High Priest, a ministry that Christians must avail themselves of if they are to become part of the Bride of Christ to have a position of rulership with Him in the Millennial Kingdom. i). And then perhaps we can see the other relationship required for rulership, the firstborn son, in the birth of Moses son - Ex 2:22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." Gershom is Moses firstborn son, born while he has ‘been a stranger in a foreign land’ and might well picture the faithful Christian adopted as a firstborn son who will receive that adoption while Christ is still in the heavens, before His return to the earth. j). This might seem a bit complicated, but just think of it this way – Zipporah, Moses’ wife and Gershom, Moses firstborn son, together picture the faithful Christian who will reign with Christ who must be Christ’s Wife, and must also be a firstborn son, by adoption. k). And all of this detail is so important, because it establishes, along with all the other scriptural types on the matter, an unalterable chronology for past present and future events which move us towards the completion of God’s purpose set out in the first 34 verses of Genesis. l). To understand this chronology with respect to the redemption of Fallen man and the fallen earth, will help us avoid confusion, error and dispute and if we actually believe it, it might clarify our focus as we realize what is happening now, in our midst, and what is about to come in the very near future. 3). Ex 2:23 ¶ Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. The time that Moses spent in Midian was about to come to an end as the result of a specific sequence of events, ‘the process of time’ – the king of Egypt died and then the Children of Israel cried out to God because of their bondage. a). And in the same manner Christ’s time in the heavens will come to an end through a parallel sequence of events. What we see beginning here in v23 in the type takes beyond the end of this dispensation and beyond the events at the Judgment Seat and the revealing of the Bride of Christ, to the mid-point in the Tribulation. b). We might remember that it is immediately prior to the mid-point in the Tribulation that the Antichrist is killed [the king of Egypt died] and raised from the dead in a counterfeit to Christ’s resurrection - Re 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. And then it is at the mid-point in the Tribulation when the attempted genocide of the Jewish people will begin, the severity of which causes them to cry out to the God of their fathers, who will respond by sending a deliverer, Christ, just as He responded in Exodus by sending a deliverer, Moses - Ex 3:1 ¶ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6 Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 ¶ And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Here we see Moses at ‘the mountain of God’ where ‘the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush’. c). And in the symbolism of the ‘mountain’ we will see a kingdom, but this is not just any mountain, it is ‘the mountain of God’ and therefore we are looking at the Kingdom of God. d). And in the symbolism of ‘a flame of fire’ we see judgment – so, to put the 2 together we are seeing judgment in relation to the Kingdom of God – or to put this from a slightly different perspective, the Kingdom of God is in view through judgment. e). And the bush, contextually, can only be seen to symbolize one thing, the nation of Israel in Egypt – a bush that burns, but is not consumed - God called to him from the midst of the bush – and in these 2 details concerning the ‘bush’ we find incredible spiritual truth. f). Now firstly, within the historical context, Israel’s persecution in Egypt is so great that their cries have come up to God and He has come down to deliver them – the bush burning with fire symbolizes this persecution. But the bush not being consumed, although burning, makes abundantly clear that Israel will not be destroyed. No matter what level of affliction the Egyptians would place upon Israel, the Children of Israel will be preserved. g). Then we see that God calls to Moses ‘from the midst of the bush’ revealing, incredibly, that God is not remote, but in the very midst of His people, experiencing their affliction with them - Zec 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple [pupil] of His eye. We may remember, when we studied this verse some months back, that we had seen that Israel is the pupil of God’s eye, in other words God views all that goes on in the world with respect to Israel through them – God sees everything in relation to Israel as He dwells in their midst. We can see this a little more clearly perhaps in the Lord’s words at the ‘sheep and goats’ judgment at the conclusion of the Tribulation - Mt 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' h). And so, if we take this back to the burning bush for a moment, as the Egyptians ‘touch’ Israel through affliction, so the Egyptians are in effect touching the pupil of God’s eye – inasmuch as they did it to Israel they did it to God. i). When God said to Moses, "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, this is not a remote observation made from heaven, but a visceral experience in the midst of the affliction, felt by the Creator of the Universe. j). Then, as we would expect, that pictured through the burning bush that is not consumed, in fact which cannot be consumed because God is in the midst, has a much broader application than this portion of history, providing the greatest hope possible – God’s chosen people, the Children of Israel will never and can never be destroyed, no matter the intensity of the suffering inflicted upon them. k). And this has already been previously set in the type of Noah and his family going through the flood in a place of protection and safety and in Jonah in the belly of the great fish. l). It can be seen again in the fiery furnace in Daniel - Da 3:19 ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." 25 "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." m). And is pictured in Revelation - Re 12:6 Then the woman [Israel] fled into the wilderness [into the Gentile nations], where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. n). None of these deal with individual Jews of course, as they will die in their millions and suffer unspeakable horrors during the Great Tribulation, but the nation will remain intact - Jer 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. And that prophesied in Jeremiah concerning the Tribulation to come and Jacob’s deliverance out of it is exactly what is pictured through the Exodus from Egypt – a deliverance that was to take Israel to the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to receive their inheritance and rule the earth within a Theocracy. o). And interestingly enough, the Book of Exodus ends with the completion of the Tabernacle in the wilderness which is filled with the glory of God - Ex 40:34 ¶ Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And this foreshadows the Day when God will ‘Tabernacle’ with His people in fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the prophetic feasts of Israel that takes us to the 7th Day, the Day of Rest set out in foundation in the first 34 verses of Genesis. In this respect Exodus comes to a close in exactly the same place that Genesis came to a close, with a picture of the 7th Day, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. We will pick this up next time though – if the Lord is willing.