The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Sixteen - K Jun 16, 2019 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T006_20190616.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Today we will look at the second section of OT saints in the catalogue in Hebrews Chapter 11. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday June 16th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 16K ‘Let Us Go On’ 1). Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. We had seen last time that the second section of OT saints in Hebrews 11 begins with Abraham, the one to whom the promises of God with respect to rulership and inheritance have been given – Gen 22:15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” That which God said to Abraham in these verses in Genesis comes immediately after Abraham’s offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah. The same offering that we see in Hebrews 11. Hebrews then gives us God’s own commentary on the Genesis verses. a). And in both places the focus is the same – the rights of the firstborn through inheritance with respect to the rulership of the earth. b). And by comparing Scripture with Scripture we had seen that the Seed of Abraham, through Isaac, takes us directly to the Christ – Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this verse from Galatians 3 concerning the Christ, takes us straight back to where the writer of Hebrews, under direction of the Holy Spirit, began his letter – Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds [ages]; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And we will remember that these verses introduce 7 OT quotations, all of which are Messianic in their scope – all dealing with the future Day of Christ’s Kingdom and the change of rulership it will bring. That which had been promised to Abraham’s Seed. c). So then, through the types given in the OT saints who make up the first section of saints in Hebrews 11 we are given God’s prophetic timetable of events, from the cross of Christ, seen through Abel, to the 7th Day, seen through Abraham and Sarah. The same Day when the inheritance will be in place and the change of rulership realized, just as God has promised. d). And then, with God’s prophetic timetable in view, the second section of saints in Hebrews 11 take us not only to the Christ, the One through whom all of this will be accomplished, but also the overriding importance that God attaches to the rights of the firstborn to be exercised in that coming Day. And it won’t have escaped our attention that resurrection, introduced through Isaac, is inextricably connected to this. e). Although the focus is one individual, the Christ, we had also seen last time that the Christ will not exercise the rights of the firstborn in the coming age, alone as it is not good for the Man to be alone; He must have a helper comparable to Him. There will be those then, who will be the comparable ‘helper’, who will have chosen to walk in the power of His resurrection who will exercise the rights of the firstborn as a co-heir with Him – Ga 3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham…………..29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Heb 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, And the importance of the rights of the firstborn is presented to us through Isaac’s blessing of Jacob and Esau – Heb 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. And it is seen again, through the one previously blessed, Jacob, blessing the sons of Joseph – Heb 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Not only is the significance that God attaches to the rights of the firstborn seen in these 2 blessings, but there is additional information provided through them with respect to God’s adopted firstborn sons. f). In the blessing given to Jacob by Isaac, we are taken to the nation that would come from his loins, the nation of Israel. The nation already adopted as God’s firstborn son and therefore the nation that will hold the rights of the firstborn in the coming age. The nation to whom both the earthly and heavenly blessing was offered. g). Then to add to this, we see through the blessing of Joseph’s sons in reverse order to their birth, the picture of a younger son who would receive the heavenly blessing that God’s adopted firstborn son Israel had rejected – Ge 48:1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. The nation of Israel has been ‘sick’ for nearly 4000 years and in the Day when the One pictured through Joseph, the Christ, comes to them, Israel will become strengthened. And in that Day, strengthened and restored Israel will receive the blessing of the inheritance in the earthly realm of the Kingdom, pictured through Manasseh, the firstborn, receiving the lesser of the 2 blessings with the younger, Ephraim, picturing the many sons brought to glory, receiving the greater blessing of the inheritance in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom – Ge 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 2). Having established the blessing to be received by both repentant Israel and faithful Christians, the Holy Spirit then took the writer of Hebrews to the conclusion of the matter, to the time when these blessings will be realized – Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. Ge 50:22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Joseph acted by faith in giving the instructions concerning what should happen to his bones. God had told Joseph that He would ‘visit’ His people and bring them out of Egypt ‘to the land of which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob’. And in the absolute certainty of God’s faithfulness to make this happen, he had the children of Israel take an oath that when this deliverance came, they would take his bones with them to the land of promise. a). And so, Joseph’s coffin remained unburied in the midst of Israel in Egypt, a tangible, visible proof of the certainty of God’s intent – Ex 13:18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” Jos 24:32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. Again, through the historical account and the commentary in Hebrews 11, we are presented with another prophetic type. b). In that future day when Israel is returned to her land at the end of the Tribulation it will be all of faithful Israel who will return. Not just those who come safely through the Tribulation but resurrected faithful OT saints as well. This is what is pictured through Joseph’s bones – Eze 39:21 “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’ 25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— These verses in Ezekiel speak prophetically about Israel’s future return to the land, but we will note in v25 that God said He will ‘have mercy on the whole house of Israel’. The whole house would have to include both the living and the dead. And so, we are speaking of resurrection, the very thing introduced through Isaac where we began this morning. The very thing that Christ’s resurrection has made possible – 1 Cor 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: And as we see in the historical account that Joseph’s bones were carried up out of Egypt, so this pictures for us every dead Jew being raised from the dead in whatever country they had died, before being regathered to the land. c). We might remember this from the day of the Lord’s resurrection – Mt 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. And, we might remember that the Lord’s resurrection and therefore the resurrection of these OT saints in Jerusalem, took place on the Feast of Firstfruits. d). Firstfruits is the 3rd of 7 feasts given to Israel that provides God’s prophetic calendar given to the nation. e). That which we see here in Matthew Chapter 27 is the beginning of the fulfillment of this feast, but a fulfillment that will not be completed until that future Day when all the OT saints are raised from the dead – Jn 5:25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. These verses are equally applicable to the dead in Christ as well as the dead OT saints. But one thing we will be careful to note, is that these verses have nothing to do with the eternally lost as none of these can experience ‘the resurrection of life’. f). So then, in that future day those Jews coming out of the Tribulation will look on the One whom they pierced, recognizing who He is and will then apply the blood of the Passover Lamb slain 2000 years previously, they will bring the Feast of Passover to fulfillment. g). The second of the Feasts, Unleavened Bread, will then be fulfilled as these same Jews confess their sin of unbelief and of killing their Messiah, putting that sin ‘out of the house’. h). Following this, Firstfruits will be fulfilled through the resurrection of all the OT saints to face judgment prior to Israel’s return to the land, just as we see prophesied by Ezekiel – Eze 20:33 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. 36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord God.37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those raised OT saints ‘who have done good’ will experience ‘the resurrection of life’ in the age to come, confirmed through the outcome of the judgement in ‘the wilderness of the peoples’. But the raised OT saints ‘who have done evil’ will then experience ‘the resurrection of condemnation’ as they ‘pass under the rod’ and are purged out of the house of Israel as ‘rebels’. i). Once this purging has been completed the Feasts of Pentecost and Trumpets will be fulfilled, taking faithful Israel, resurrected OT saints and those alive through the Tribulation back into their land. At this time there will be no Jews left among the Gentile nations. All will return. 3). With the future return of Israel to their land in view the writer of Hebrews then went to the events that provide the prophetic type for this future day – Heb 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. V23 of Hebrews Chapter 11 now turns to Moses, the one who God would send to deliver His people from the hands of the Assyrian Pharaoh; the one who would take Joseph’s bones out of Egypt to go to the promised land. a). Now, although this verse begins with ‘By faith Moses’, it is clearly the faith of Moses’ parents that is being dealt with here rather than Moses directly. b). ‘The king’s command’ we find recorded in – Ex 1:22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” This is the command that Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, were not afraid of. Which would lead us to ask, what could have caused them to be unafraid of the command of the most powerful man on the earth at that time? Well, they would have known what God had said to Abraham – Ge 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. And perhaps in knowing this they had calculated that the time God had spoken of was drawing to a close. But beyond this let’s consider what followed on from Moses’ birth – Ex 2:3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.” In God’s Divine orchestration of all things, Moses was taken into Pharaoh’s house, where as the ‘son’ of Pharaoh’s daughter he was protected by the ruler of the nation that God, through Moses, would overthrow. And in Pharaoh’s house Moses was nursed by his own mother. c). With this in mind, let’s remember what the Book of Acts records about Moses – Acts 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. From these verses we can see that Moses knew God would use him to deliver Israel from Egypt while he was still in Pharaoh’s palace; before the time he fled into Midian, and before the burning bush incident. d). And so, to put all this together – although not recorded in the Scripture, Amram and Jochebed had been told by God what Moses was to become and what He was going to do through him. This was told to Moses by his mother as he grew in Pharaoh’s palace. And he also believed that which God had said, hence the reason for his actions when he was 40 years old – Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. That which God had said about the future ‘reward’ was so compelling, and the reward was of such value that Moses ‘refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter’, a position that would have placed him as a royal prince within Pharaoh’s family, and he rejected the power, prestige and wealth that would have been his – seeing them as ‘the passing pleasures of sin’. e). This experience on Moses’ part seems to parallel Abraham’s experience in meeting Melchizedek, where Abraham rejected the world by giving ‘a tithe of all’. f). So certain was Moses of the fulfillment of God’s purpose that he chose ‘affliction with the people of God’ as preferable to that which Egypt had to offer. And amazingly, he ‘esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches’ than all the treasure in Egypt. g). In Moses we have a perfect example of that which the Lord spoke of in Matthew Chapter 16 – Mt 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. There was nothing that Moses would exchange his soul for, nothing that was worth losing it for. And to be honest Egypt would have had a lot to offer. But that was of no moment whatsoever compared with the promises of God – Ro 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. We will continue with this next time though – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Sixteen - K Jun 16, 2019 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T006_20190616.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Today we will look at the second section of OT saints in the catalogue in Hebrews Chapter 11. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday June 16th 2019 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Lesson 16K ‘Let Us Go On’ 1). Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. We had seen last time that the second section of OT saints in Hebrews 11 begins with Abraham, the one to whom the promises of God with respect to rulership and inheritance have been given – Gen 22:15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” That which God said to Abraham in these verses in Genesis comes immediately after Abraham’s offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah. The same offering that we see in Hebrews 11. Hebrews then gives us God’s own commentary on the Genesis verses. a). And in both places the focus is the same – the rights of the firstborn through inheritance with respect to the rulership of the earth. b). And by comparing Scripture with Scripture we had seen that the Seed of Abraham, through Isaac, takes us directly to the Christ – Ga 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this verse from Galatians 3 concerning the Christ, takes us straight back to where the writer of Hebrews, under direction of the Holy Spirit, began his letter – Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds [ages]; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. And we will remember that these verses introduce 7 OT quotations, all of which are Messianic in their scope – all dealing with the future Day of Christ’s Kingdom and the change of rulership it will bring. That which had been promised to Abraham’s Seed. c). So then, through the types given in the OT saints who make up the first section of saints in Hebrews 11 we are given God’s prophetic timetable of events, from the cross of Christ, seen through Abel, to the 7th Day, seen through Abraham and Sarah. The same Day when the inheritance will be in place and the change of rulership realized, just as God has promised. d). And then, with God’s prophetic timetable in view, the second section of saints in Hebrews 11 take us not only to the Christ, the One through whom all of this will be accomplished, but also the overriding importance that God attaches to the rights of the firstborn to be exercised in that coming Day. And it won’t have escaped our attention that resurrection, introduced through Isaac, is inextricably connected to this. e). Although the focus is one individual, the Christ, we had also seen last time that the Christ will not exercise the rights of the firstborn in the coming age, alone as it is not good for the Man to be alone; He must have a helper comparable to Him. There will be those then, who will be the comparable ‘helper’, who will have chosen to walk in the power of His resurrection who will exercise the rights of the firstborn as a co-heir with Him – Ga 3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham…………..29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Heb 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, And the importance of the rights of the firstborn is presented to us through Isaac’s blessing of Jacob and Esau – Heb 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. And it is seen again, through the one previously blessed, Jacob, blessing the sons of Joseph – Heb 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Not only is the significance that God attaches to the rights of the firstborn seen in these 2 blessings, but there is additional information provided through them with respect to God’s adopted firstborn sons. f). In the blessing given to Jacob by Isaac, we are taken to the nation that would come from his loins, the nation of Israel. The nation already adopted as God’s firstborn son and therefore the nation that will hold the rights of the firstborn in the coming age. The nation to whom both the earthly and heavenly blessing was offered. g). Then to add to this, we see through the blessing of Joseph’s sons in reverse order to their birth, the picture of a younger son who would receive the heavenly blessing that God’s adopted firstborn son Israel had rejected – Ge 48:1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And Jacob was told, “Look, your son Joseph is coming to you”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. The nation of Israel has been ‘sick’ for nearly 4000 years and in the Day when the One pictured through Joseph, the Christ, comes to them, Israel will become strengthened. And in that Day, strengthened and restored Israel will receive the blessing of the inheritance in the earthly realm of the Kingdom, pictured through Manasseh, the firstborn, receiving the lesser of the 2 blessings with the younger, Ephraim, picturing the many sons brought to glory, receiving the greater blessing of the inheritance in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom – Ge 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 2). Having established the blessing to be received by both repentant Israel and faithful Christians, the Holy Spirit then took the writer of Hebrews to the conclusion of the matter, to the time when these blessings will be realized – Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. Ge 50:22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Joseph acted by faith in giving the instructions concerning what should happen to his bones. God had told Joseph that He would ‘visit’ His people and bring them out of Egypt ‘to the land of which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob’. And in the absolute certainty of God’s faithfulness to make this happen, he had the children of Israel take an oath that when this deliverance came, they would take his bones with them to the land of promise. a). And so, Joseph’s coffin remained unburied in the midst of Israel in Egypt, a tangible, visible proof of the certainty of God’s intent – Ex 13:18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” Jos 24:32 The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph. Again, through the historical account and the commentary in Hebrews 11, we are presented with another prophetic type. b). In that future day when Israel is returned to her land at the end of the Tribulation it will be all of faithful Israel who will return. Not just those who come safely through the Tribulation but resurrected faithful OT saints as well. This is what is pictured through Joseph’s bones – Eze 39:21 “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. 23 The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’ 25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— These verses in Ezekiel speak prophetically about Israel’s future return to the land, but we will note in v25 that God said He will ‘have mercy on the whole house of Israel’. The whole house would have to include both the living and the dead. And so, we are speaking of resurrection, the very thing introduced through Isaac where we began this morning. The very thing that Christ’s resurrection has made possible – 1 Cor 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: And as we see in the historical account that Joseph’s bones were carried up out of Egypt, so this pictures for us every dead Jew being raised from the dead in whatever country they had died, before being regathered to the land. c). We might remember this from the day of the Lord’s resurrection – Mt 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. And, we might remember that the Lord’s resurrection and therefore the resurrection of these OT saints in Jerusalem, took place on the Feast of Firstfruits. d). Firstfruits is the 3rd of 7 feasts given to Israel that provides God’s prophetic calendar given to the nation. e). That which we see here in Matthew Chapter 27 is the beginning of the fulfillment of this feast, but a fulfillment that will not be completed until that future Day when all the OT saints are raised from the dead – Jn 5:25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. These verses are equally applicable to the dead in Christ as well as the dead OT saints. But one thing we will be careful to note, is that these verses have nothing to do with the eternally lost as none of these can experience ‘the resurrection of life’. f). So then, in that future day those Jews coming out of the Tribulation will look on the One whom they pierced, recognizing who He is and will then apply the blood of the Passover Lamb slain 2000 years previously, they will bring the Feast of Passover to fulfillment. g). The second of the Feasts, Unleavened Bread, will then be fulfilled as these same Jews confess their sin of unbelief and of killing their Messiah, putting that sin ‘out of the house’. h). Following this, Firstfruits will be fulfilled through the resurrection of all the OT saints to face judgment prior to Israel’s return to the land, just as we see prophesied by Ezekiel – Eze 20:33 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. 36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord God.37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those raised OT saints ‘who have done good’ will experience ‘the resurrection of life’ in the age to come, confirmed through the outcome of the judgement in ‘the wilderness of the peoples’. But the raised OT saints ‘who have done evil’ will then experience ‘the resurrection of condemnation’ as they ‘pass under the rod’ and are purged out of the house of Israel as ‘rebels’. i). Once this purging has been completed the Feasts of Pentecost and Trumpets will be fulfilled, taking faithful Israel, resurrected OT saints and those alive through the Tribulation back into their land. At this time there will be no Jews left among the Gentile nations. All will return. 3). With the future return of Israel to their land in view the writer of Hebrews then went to the events that provide the prophetic type for this future day – Heb 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. V23 of Hebrews Chapter 11 now turns to Moses, the one who God would send to deliver His people from the hands of the Assyrian Pharaoh; the one who would take Joseph’s bones out of Egypt to go to the promised land. a). Now, although this verse begins with ‘By faith Moses’, it is clearly the faith of Moses’ parents that is being dealt with here rather than Moses directly. b). ‘The king’s command’ we find recorded in – Ex 1:22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” This is the command that Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed, were not afraid of. Which would lead us to ask, what could have caused them to be unafraid of the command of the most powerful man on the earth at that time? Well, they would have known what God had said to Abraham – Ge 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. And perhaps in knowing this they had calculated that the time God had spoken of was drawing to a close. But beyond this let’s consider what followed on from Moses’ birth – Ex 2:3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.” In God’s Divine orchestration of all things, Moses was taken into Pharaoh’s house, where as the ‘son’ of Pharaoh’s daughter he was protected by the ruler of the nation that God, through Moses, would overthrow. And in Pharaoh’s house Moses was nursed by his own mother. c). With this in mind, let’s remember what the Book of Acts records about Moses – Acts 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. From these verses we can see that Moses knew God would use him to deliver Israel from Egypt while he was still in Pharaoh’s palace; before the time he fled into Midian, and before the burning bush incident. d). And so, to put all this together – although not recorded in the Scripture, Amram and Jochebed had been told by God what Moses was to become and what He was going to do through him. This was told to Moses by his mother as he grew in Pharaoh’s palace. And he also believed that which God had said, hence the reason for his actions when he was 40 years old – Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. That which God had said about the future ‘reward’ was so compelling, and the reward was of such value that Moses ‘refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter’, a position that would have placed him as a royal prince within Pharaoh’s family, and he rejected the power, prestige and wealth that would have been his – seeing them as ‘the passing pleasures of sin’. e). This experience on Moses’ part seems to parallel Abraham’s experience in meeting Melchizedek, where Abraham rejected the world by giving ‘a tithe of all’. f). So certain was Moses of the fulfillment of God’s purpose that he chose ‘affliction with the people of God’ as preferable to that which Egypt had to offer. And amazingly, he ‘esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches’ than all the treasure in Egypt. g). In Moses we have a perfect example of that which the Lord spoke of in Matthew Chapter 16 – Mt 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. There was nothing that Moses would exchange his soul for, nothing that was worth losing it for. And to be honest Egypt would have had a lot to offer. But that was of no moment whatsoever compared with the promises of God – Ro 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. We will continue with this next time though – if the Lord is willing.