Passover to Tabernacles - Part Eleven Jan 30, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T008_20220130.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” We will continue today to look at that which Moses wrote. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 30th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 11 1). Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” We had seen last time that in Moses’ writings is to be found unalterable, foundational truth, that reveals an overview of Israel’s history past, present and future. And we had looked at the types presented in Day Three of the restoration of the ruined creation in Genesis Chapter 1 and through Adam and the Woman and the loss of their covering of glory, and their attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves in Genesis Chapter 3, as examples of this. a). We had also seen how the events of the Lord’s first Advent were inevitable as they had been set out in the foundational type of Cain and Abel – Ge 4:3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”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. But we had also seen that the door had been left open for Cain to repent and be accepted by the Lord. All he had to do was, ‘do well’, act in accordance with faith and God would restore him. And this door, of necessity, would remain open throughout Cain’s life. b). Cain had murdered his brother in line with the desires of the wicked one – 1 Jn 3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. And Israel’s religious leaders would do the same, with the Lord making the connection between their actions and Cain’s, drawing attention to the one behind both – Jn 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Despite this however, both Cain and Israel would have God’s hand remain upon them – Ge 4:11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Jer 30:11 For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’ Cain is promised protection, as is Israel, and as sevenfold vengeance is also promised to those who would ‘kill Cain’, so that same vengeance will be enacted upon the Gentile nations who have sought, and will yet seek, to destroy the Jewish people - Ps 83:2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” Na 1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies……. And as with Cain, so with Israel. The opportunity for repentance is continually available following the murder of his Brother, and repentance must happen before restoration can take place, and the timeframe for repentance and restoration has been set in the foundational type of the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, which will also be the Seventh Day from Adam, and also within prophecy – Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. And we had also seen last time, that through Moses additional detail had been provided to be placed alongside the type of Cain and Abel through the type of Joseph and his brothers – Ge 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. The response of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph parallels that of Cain to Abel, and that of the religious leaders to Christ. And because of the anger and hatred towards Joseph, the brothers determine to act just as Cain did and just as Israel’s religious leaders would do – Ge 37:18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”……23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat a meal…….. Joseph did not literally die at the hands of his brothers, but through the imagery of him being thrown in the pit that had no water in it, we see that Joseph died in a figurative sense, in the same way that Isaac was not literally killed by Abraham, and yet figuratively rose from the dead. d). And it is in conjunction with his figurative death that Joseph is sold and taken to Egypt. In like manner, Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and following His resurrection, seen in Joseph being taken from the pit, He returned to the right hand of the Father. And with all this in mind we might remember the words of a parable the Lord gave in anticipation of His death and resurrection and the events that would follow – Lk 19:12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And it was after Joseph had gone into a far country, into Egypt, that he received for himself a kingdom – Ge 41:39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” We will remember, that in the account of Joseph’s life, he was exalted to Pharaoh’s right hand because of his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, a dream that revealed that there would be seven years of plenty, and the years of plenty would be immediately followed by seven years of famine. e). The number seven gives us the completeness of that which is in view, which is both plenty, and famine. And so, there would be a complete period of time of ‘plenty’, to be followed by a complete period of time of ‘famine’. f). The complete period of time of ‘plenty’ corresponds to the two thousand years of this present dispensation, a time when God is calling out of the Gentiles a people for His name. A complete period of time, during which the Word of God has remained available and has become more and more accessible, even if less and less understood. A time during which the Kingdom of the Heavens has been on offer to all those who are eternally saved as the Holy Spirit searches for the bride for God’s Son. And our own experience is testimony to this time of plenty. At the end of this dispensation though, after all Christians have been removed into the heavens and judged, the time of ‘famine’ will begin at the hands of the man of sin – 2 Th 2:6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. And the intensity and scope of this time of ‘famine’ was described by the Lord at His first Advent – Mt 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. V22 shows us that the intensity of this time of tribulation will be so great that all ‘flesh’ would perish, but for the ‘elect’s sake’, for the sake of the Jewish people, those days will be shortened to prevent this from happening. g). And protection for the Jewish people through a time of worldwide ‘famine’ was set in place by Moses in the account of Noah and the flood, where Noah pictures national Israel and the flood pictures the ‘great tribulation’. Even though two thirds of all Jews upon the earth will be killed during this unprecedented time, the nation will experience Divine protection, just as we have seen with Cain, and is pictured through Noah and his family kept safely through the flood in the Ark – 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. The scale and the extent of the destruction of the nations during this time is seen through the events outside of the Ark – Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: The same truth is also presented through the burning bush incident recorded in – 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. In this verse Israel is portrayed as the bush which is ‘burning’, representing Israel and the nations under judgment. But the bush as with national Israel, was not and will not be consumed as God resides in the nation’s midst. To destroy Israel would be to destroy God Himself, which is totally impossible. h). This is a type seen again 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…….. 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.” And again, through Daniel thrown into the lions’ den – Da 6:19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” 23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God. 2). Now, if we return to the type of Joseph and his brothers – Ge 42:1 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. The famine in the land was so severe that there was no alternative other than for Jacob’s sons to go to the one man who could provide what was necessary for them to live and not die. And it could only be ten of the brothers who would make this trip because of the typology. It will be the complete nation of Israel, seen through the number ten, who will look upon the one whom they pierced, and it will be the whole nation that will cry out to the God of their fathers because of their affliction. a). And as with Joseph’s brothers, the One to whom Israel will turn to deliver them will be, unbeknown to them, the One whom they pierced, the Brother whom they had previously killed. b). But at this second encounter with their Brother, whom they have killed, will come reconciliation, restoration and blessing, just as we can see from the type - Ge 45:1 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. 3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. And so, here in these verses we find the type for that future meeting between the Jewish people and the Brother, whom they killed. A Brother who had been sent by God to save their lives ‘by a great deliverance.’ Who had been killed by them as their King, but who will then be received as the Passover Lamb. c). From these verses we will realize that all that has happened and yet will happen to the Jews falls within God’s predetermined purpose for His chosen people. The Christ has come to the Jewish people once and was rejected and killed, making certain His appearance to them a second time for deliverance from, and vengeance upon, their enemies, that will be followed by blessing, not only for Israel but all the nations of the earth as well – Ge 47:27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. The type given through the seven years of famine with respect to Joseph and his brothers is seen again with respect to their descendants in the land of Egypt under the hand of the Assyrian Pharaoh - Ex 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. And it is within this context that Moses who had been hidden in Pharaoh’s house presented himself to the nation as their deliverer – 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. And consequently, following the type seen through Joseph, Moses was rejected – Acts 7:26 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? In the two ‘brothers’ fighting we find an echo of Cain and Abel, and the words of the one who did his neighbor wrong, parallel those of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph, and anticipated the nation’s response to the Christ as they embraced a Gentile ruler in His place. d). However, Moses, the one initially rejected by the Jewish people, is sent back a second time by God, for the purpose of delivering the Jewish people from the hand of the Assyrian Pharaoh – Acts 7:35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. That which is recorded here in Acts Chapter 7 are Stephen’s words to the Jewish religious leaders, the very ones who had recently rejected and killed the Christ. And if Moses writings were to be believed, then they could have seen through the account of Joseph and the experience of Moses, that if they would accept the One they had rejected and killed at His first appearance, then He would return a second time for the purpose of deliverance, restoration and blessing. Exactly as was seen through the types of Joseph, and Moses. The very same thing that Peter had told the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost following the Lord’s resurrection – Acts 3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. But as we know, the response to Stephen’s proclamation of the truth that caused the heavens to be opened was the same as the response to Christ, the same as the response of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph, and the same as the response of Cain to Abel – Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. That which has been set in the types through Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers and Moses and Israel is unalterable. The fulfillment of that which is presented through them remains yet future but is absolutely certain. e). For the Jewish people on the one hand, there can be no plea of ignorance to excuse them from their unfaithfulness and disobedience as all has been set in place in the Scripture, beginning with Moses. And on the other hand, there remains for them a glorious hope because of what has been set in the Scripture when they look on the Christ again, even though from a Jewish perspective, that hope is still not yet seen. f). And as we consider that which is written in Moses so that the Jewish people should have believed, we cannot help but think of that which is written in Moses that Christians ought to believe in the same manner. But for many today this is not the case at all. And for ourselves, it is of paramount importance that we give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard from Moses’ writings. Because in those writings, God has set unalterable truth that will directly impact the experience of every Christian at Christ’s Judgment Seat. We will continue with this next time though, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. Passover to Tabernacles - Part Eleven Jan 30, 2022 Speaker: John Herbert Series: Passover to Tabernacles Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T008_20220130.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” We will continue today to look at that which Moses wrote. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday January 30th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 11 1). Jn 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” We had seen last time that in Moses’ writings is to be found unalterable, foundational truth, that reveals an overview of Israel’s history past, present and future. And we had looked at the types presented in Day Three of the restoration of the ruined creation in Genesis Chapter 1 and through Adam and the Woman and the loss of their covering of glory, and their attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves in Genesis Chapter 3, as examples of this. a). We had also seen how the events of the Lord’s first Advent were inevitable as they had been set out in the foundational type of Cain and Abel – Ge 4:3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”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. But we had also seen that the door had been left open for Cain to repent and be accepted by the Lord. All he had to do was, ‘do well’, act in accordance with faith and God would restore him. And this door, of necessity, would remain open throughout Cain’s life. b). Cain had murdered his brother in line with the desires of the wicked one – 1 Jn 3:12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. And Israel’s religious leaders would do the same, with the Lord making the connection between their actions and Cain’s, drawing attention to the one behind both – Jn 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Despite this however, both Cain and Israel would have God’s hand remain upon them – Ge 4:11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Jer 30:11 For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’ Cain is promised protection, as is Israel, and as sevenfold vengeance is also promised to those who would ‘kill Cain’, so that same vengeance will be enacted upon the Gentile nations who have sought, and will yet seek, to destroy the Jewish people - Ps 83:2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” Na 1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies……. And as with Cain, so with Israel. The opportunity for repentance is continually available following the murder of his Brother, and repentance must happen before restoration can take place, and the timeframe for repentance and restoration has been set in the foundational type of the Third Day in Genesis Chapter 1, which will also be the Seventh Day from Adam, and also within prophecy – Hos 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. And we had also seen last time, that through Moses additional detail had been provided to be placed alongside the type of Cain and Abel through the type of Joseph and his brothers – Ge 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. The response of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph parallels that of Cain to Abel, and that of the religious leaders to Christ. And because of the anger and hatred towards Joseph, the brothers determine to act just as Cain did and just as Israel’s religious leaders would do – Ge 37:18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”……23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat a meal…….. Joseph did not literally die at the hands of his brothers, but through the imagery of him being thrown in the pit that had no water in it, we see that Joseph died in a figurative sense, in the same way that Isaac was not literally killed by Abraham, and yet figuratively rose from the dead. d). And it is in conjunction with his figurative death that Joseph is sold and taken to Egypt. In like manner, Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and following His resurrection, seen in Joseph being taken from the pit, He returned to the right hand of the Father. And with all this in mind we might remember the words of a parable the Lord gave in anticipation of His death and resurrection and the events that would follow – Lk 19:12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And it was after Joseph had gone into a far country, into Egypt, that he received for himself a kingdom – Ge 41:39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” We will remember, that in the account of Joseph’s life, he was exalted to Pharaoh’s right hand because of his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, a dream that revealed that there would be seven years of plenty, and the years of plenty would be immediately followed by seven years of famine. e). The number seven gives us the completeness of that which is in view, which is both plenty, and famine. And so, there would be a complete period of time of ‘plenty’, to be followed by a complete period of time of ‘famine’. f). The complete period of time of ‘plenty’ corresponds to the two thousand years of this present dispensation, a time when God is calling out of the Gentiles a people for His name. A complete period of time, during which the Word of God has remained available and has become more and more accessible, even if less and less understood. A time during which the Kingdom of the Heavens has been on offer to all those who are eternally saved as the Holy Spirit searches for the bride for God’s Son. And our own experience is testimony to this time of plenty. At the end of this dispensation though, after all Christians have been removed into the heavens and judged, the time of ‘famine’ will begin at the hands of the man of sin – 2 Th 2:6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. And the intensity and scope of this time of ‘famine’ was described by the Lord at His first Advent – Mt 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. V22 shows us that the intensity of this time of tribulation will be so great that all ‘flesh’ would perish, but for the ‘elect’s sake’, for the sake of the Jewish people, those days will be shortened to prevent this from happening. g). And protection for the Jewish people through a time of worldwide ‘famine’ was set in place by Moses in the account of Noah and the flood, where Noah pictures national Israel and the flood pictures the ‘great tribulation’. Even though two thirds of all Jews upon the earth will be killed during this unprecedented time, the nation will experience Divine protection, just as we have seen with Cain, and is pictured through Noah and his family kept safely through the flood in the Ark – 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. The scale and the extent of the destruction of the nations during this time is seen through the events outside of the Ark – Lk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: The same truth is also presented through the burning bush incident recorded in – 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. In this verse Israel is portrayed as the bush which is ‘burning’, representing Israel and the nations under judgment. But the bush as with national Israel, was not and will not be consumed as God resides in the nation’s midst. To destroy Israel would be to destroy God Himself, which is totally impossible. h). This is a type seen again 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…….. 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.” And again, through Daniel thrown into the lions’ den – Da 6:19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” 23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God. 2). Now, if we return to the type of Joseph and his brothers – Ge 42:1 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.” 3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. The famine in the land was so severe that there was no alternative other than for Jacob’s sons to go to the one man who could provide what was necessary for them to live and not die. And it could only be ten of the brothers who would make this trip because of the typology. It will be the complete nation of Israel, seen through the number ten, who will look upon the one whom they pierced, and it will be the whole nation that will cry out to the God of their fathers because of their affliction. a). And as with Joseph’s brothers, the One to whom Israel will turn to deliver them will be, unbeknown to them, the One whom they pierced, the Brother whom they had previously killed. b). But at this second encounter with their Brother, whom they have killed, will come reconciliation, restoration and blessing, just as we can see from the type - Ge 45:1 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. 3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. And so, here in these verses we find the type for that future meeting between the Jewish people and the Brother, whom they killed. A Brother who had been sent by God to save their lives ‘by a great deliverance.’ Who had been killed by them as their King, but who will then be received as the Passover Lamb. c). From these verses we will realize that all that has happened and yet will happen to the Jews falls within God’s predetermined purpose for His chosen people. The Christ has come to the Jewish people once and was rejected and killed, making certain His appearance to them a second time for deliverance from, and vengeance upon, their enemies, that will be followed by blessing, not only for Israel but all the nations of the earth as well – Ge 47:27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. The type given through the seven years of famine with respect to Joseph and his brothers is seen again with respect to their descendants in the land of Egypt under the hand of the Assyrian Pharaoh - Ex 1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. And it is within this context that Moses who had been hidden in Pharaoh’s house presented himself to the nation as their deliverer – 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. And consequently, following the type seen through Joseph, Moses was rejected – Acts 7:26 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? In the two ‘brothers’ fighting we find an echo of Cain and Abel, and the words of the one who did his neighbor wrong, parallel those of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph, and anticipated the nation’s response to the Christ as they embraced a Gentile ruler in His place. d). However, Moses, the one initially rejected by the Jewish people, is sent back a second time by God, for the purpose of delivering the Jewish people from the hand of the Assyrian Pharaoh – Acts 7:35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. That which is recorded here in Acts Chapter 7 are Stephen’s words to the Jewish religious leaders, the very ones who had recently rejected and killed the Christ. And if Moses writings were to be believed, then they could have seen through the account of Joseph and the experience of Moses, that if they would accept the One they had rejected and killed at His first appearance, then He would return a second time for the purpose of deliverance, restoration and blessing. Exactly as was seen through the types of Joseph, and Moses. The very same thing that Peter had told the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost following the Lord’s resurrection – Acts 3:18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. But as we know, the response to Stephen’s proclamation of the truth that caused the heavens to be opened was the same as the response to Christ, the same as the response of Joseph’s brothers to Joseph, and the same as the response of Cain to Abel – Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. That which has been set in the types through Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers and Moses and Israel is unalterable. The fulfillment of that which is presented through them remains yet future but is absolutely certain. e). For the Jewish people on the one hand, there can be no plea of ignorance to excuse them from their unfaithfulness and disobedience as all has been set in place in the Scripture, beginning with Moses. And on the other hand, there remains for them a glorious hope because of what has been set in the Scripture when they look on the Christ again, even though from a Jewish perspective, that hope is still not yet seen. f). And as we consider that which is written in Moses so that the Jewish people should have believed, we cannot help but think of that which is written in Moses that Christians ought to believe in the same manner. But for many today this is not the case at all. And for ourselves, it is of paramount importance that we give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard from Moses’ writings. Because in those writings, God has set unalterable truth that will directly impact the experience of every Christian at Christ’s Judgment Seat. We will continue with this next time though, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.