From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 1997 9:46 PM
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup; maw@clover.net
Subject: From Egypt to Mount Sinai
From: Mark Wilson
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: The Tabernacle of Moses
FROM EGYPT TO MOUNT SINAI
Israel was in total bondage to Egypt and lived under the sovereign
authority of Pharaoh. He had the power of life and death over israel.
Israel was the slave of Pharaoh and his servant to do his will. They
were forced to work without pay. They were slaves in every sense of the
word.
However when they cried out to God for deliverance, God prepared Moses
and sent him as their deliverer. Moses carried God almighty's command
to " Let my people go ." Pharaoh ignored God's command. God sent
plagues, signs, wonders and miracles upon Egypt but Pharaoh would not
let them go. It was only the death of the Passover Lamb, along with
the observance of the complete feast, that could deliver Israel. It was
the blood upon the lintels and the two doorposts that protected the
firstborn from death. God told Israel to completely eat the lamb before
morning. Nothing was to be left over.
EXO 12:7-11:
'Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts
and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. And they shall eat the
flesh that {same} night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or
boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, {both} its head
and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave
any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning,
you shall burn with fire. They also had to eat it in a carefully
prescribed manner. Now you shall eat it in this manner:
{with} your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in
your hand; and you shall eat it in haste-- it is the Lord's Passover.
It was by carefully keeping the complete feast that deliverance came to
Israel.
Passover is the picture for us of Calvary.
1CO 5:7-8:
"Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are
{in fact} unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth"
The Church must participate in every aspect of the Cross and not pick
and choose what it wants to experience. Total deliverance comes by
complete participation in the Cross. Perhaps this explains why we see
so many different levels of experience in the
Church.
It was when Israel kept the complete feast that the cloud formed that
was light and warmth by night and a covering and shelter by day. This
cloud was unknown to Israel until Passover. It was at Passover the
cloud formed to lead Israel out of Egypt, as the Angel of the Lord went
ahead of them.
EXO 14:19:
And the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel,
moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before
them and stood behind them. (HEB. MA'LAK ELOHIM). Also translated
many places as " The messenger of God. " The meaning is "One who
is sent ".
The Messenger of God and the cloud functioned together to
lead the Children of Israel to the Red Sea. At the Red Sea, God told Moses
to strike the water with his rod and the water parted. Israel crossed over
on dry ground. The Messenger of God passed behind Israel and stood between
Israel and the Egyptian army.
The cloud also passed over Israel and stood between Israel and the
Egyptian army. God told Israel to stand and see the salvation of God.
EXO 14:13-14:
But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see
the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for
the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again
forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."
After Israel passed through the Red Sea, the Egyptian army followed.
When Moses again stretched forth his rod, the water of the Red Sea
closed over the Egyptian army and all were drowned. Not one survived.
God said "The enemies you see today, you will not see again forever."
God saved them that day. EXO 14:30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day
from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the
seashore.
In 1CO 10:1-11:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our
fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all
ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for
they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the
rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased;
for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as
examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved.
1CO 10:7 And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written,
"The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play." Nor let us
act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in
one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were
destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did,
and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened
to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon
whom the ends of the ages have come.
Some are offended by the thought in I PET. 3 - 21 "that baptism now saves
you "
1PE 3:21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal
of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The fact is Israel was saved by the blood in Egypt and they were saved
by the waters of baptism at the Red Sea. In Egypt they were saved from
death by the blood and at the Red Sea they were saved from their
enemies. Both experiences are important. God takes no pleasure in
saving His people in Egypt and then leaving them in Egypt. His purpose
is to get His people to Canaan. The message is clear. To escape Egypt
and Pharaoh's army it is necessary to be properly baptized. These
particular enemies are destroyed by baptism while God's people are saved
by baptism.
Israel was baptized into Moses. We are not baptized into Moses but we
are baptized into Jesus Christ. The authority over Israel's life
changed at baptism. They were under Pharaoh's sovereign authority but
that ended at the Red Sea. On the other shore they came under the
authority of Moses, God's servant, who was under the authority of God.
It is not God's plan to be saved by the blood and stay under Satan's
authority. God's plan is for us to be baptized into Jesus Christ and
come under His sovereign authority.
If we can see how Egypt is a type of the world, Pharaoh is a type of
Satan, the Red Sea is a type of baptism, the cloud is a type of the Holy
Spirit and Moses is a type of Jesus Christ we will see how God has
intended for His people to walk out their salvation.
As we weave in the crosswise threads, it is clear God is not pleased
with the doctrine of accept Jesus Christ as personal savior and baptism
is optional. Neither is baptism before Passover a valid experience.
Enemies are not destroyed if the water is applied before the blood. It
was only the blood that could deliver the first born from death. Then
it was the water that delivered Israel from their enemies. It is
obvious this is the sequence God has designed.
Our purpose is to bring us to Mt. Sinai and see why God ordained the
Tabernacle of Moses. Israel passed through several experiences from the
Red Sea to Mt. Sinai but we will just look at two.
As Israel traveled further into the wilderness they ran out of food.
There were no harvest fields in the wilderness. No grocery stores. No
restaurants. No store houses. There was no food and no place to get
food. If israel didn't get food, they recognized they would all die.
Israel was in a desperate situation. But God proved He could prepare a
table in the wilderness. His provision was to rain down bread from
Heaven. He fed them with manna, Angel's food. They all ate and were
saved that day from death by starvation.
Now they were saved by the blood, they were saved by the water and they
were saved by the manna. Some in Israel were not cleaver enough to
gather the manna. In the same way some in the church are not cleaver
enough to understand the absolute importance of eating daily from God's
word. The manna from heaven, Angels food.
If Israel had not learned to eat from the manna they would have died.
The picture is clear. Many who neglect the Word of God die spiritually.
Then Israel ran out of water and there are no rivers in the
wilderness. Just desert and stones. Israel would surely die of thirst.
EXO 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled
against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to
kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" But God's
provision was in the Rock. Moses struck the Rock and the rock split.
EXO 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb;
and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the
people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of
Israel. Water ran out like a river and they all drank and were saved.
PSA 78:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave {them} abundant
drink like the ocean depths. PSA 78:16 He brought forth streams also
from the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Now Israel was saved by the blood of the Passover Lamb in Egypt. They
were saved by the waters of baptism at the Red Sea. They were saved by
the manna in the wilderness. They were saved by the water out of the
rock. By now we should be able to redefine what salvation really
means. God's purpose is to totally separate us from Egypt and all that
means and bring us into Canaan and all that means. That is God's
salvation.
In I PET. 1: 3 - 9 ) Peter speaks of this salvation. He
calls it " The salvation to be reveled in the last times. " The picture
is clear. We must walk out our salvation. Salvation is not one static
experience. We could call salvation " Our walk from Egypt to Canaan".
In Ver 9 Peter says the out working of our faith results in the
salvation of our souls. The final salvation will include those who began
the race and also finished the race.
1CO 9:24-27
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but {only} one receives
the prize? Run
in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in
the games exercises self-control in all things. They then {do it} to
receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore
I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not
beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave,
lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be
disqualified. About three million souls left Egypt but only two entered
Canaan. The church must do better than that.
Israel finally arrived and camped in front of Mt. Sinai. EXO 19:1 In
the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of
Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
Some interpret this to mean on the 90th day after they left Egypt because
it mentions 3 months. This was on the first day of the third month after
they had left Egypt. Israel began their journey on the 15th day of the
1st month. The 15th day of the 2nd month made 30 days out of Egypt.
From the 15th day of the 2nd month to the last day of the 2nd month was
15 more days, for a total of 45 days. They came into the wilderness of
Sinai on the 1st day of the 3rd month or on the 46th day. This is very
important to understand because God came down on Mt. Sinai on the 50th
day.
ISRAEL WAS COMMANDED TO KEEP A FEAST EVERY YEAR ON THE 50th DAY.
It was called the Feast of Pentecost. The reason this whole experience at
Mt. Sinai is so important to understand is because this is a picture for
us of Pentecost. From this whole experience at Mt. Sinai we will see
there is much more to Pentecost than speaking in tongues.
On the 47th day Moses went up the mountain to talk with God. Now God
revealed His plan for Israel. God said His plan was to make all of
Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, a people for His own
possession. ( EXO. 19:1 -11 )
God spoke two requirements for Israel to fulfil His purpose. Obey His
voice and keep His covenant, Then they would be His people who were His
own possession. God's plan was very simple.
Moses went back down the mountain and told the people God's plan. All
the people said " All the Lord has spoken we will do !" Moses went back
up the mountain and told God what the people said. Israel agreed to
God's purpose. This was then the 48th day since they had left Egypt.
God told Moses to tell the people to set themselves apart today, the
48th day, and tomorrow, the 49th day,because on the 3rd day ( the 50th)
God would descend upon the mountain. When the rams horn sounded a long
blast they were to come up to the mountain. God's plan was for all the
people to assemble at the foot of the mountain on the morning of the
50th day. When the trumpet sounded the people were to come up into
God's presence, hear his voice and obey. This was God's requirement to
make all of Israel a kingdom of priests and a holy nation a people for
God's own possession. The people were confident that would be no
problem. Therefore they prepared themselves and waited.
On the 50th day God descended upon the mountain in fire and smoke and
Mt. Sinai became like a furnace of fire. The whole mountain began to
shake violently in an earth quake. The trumpet sounded louder and
louder. Moses said something to God and God answered him back with a
loud sound. Some translations say with thunder. God called Moses to
the top of the mountain and told him to go down and tell the people not
to come up the mountain.
Since this is all a type and a picture for us of Pentecost, it is
essential we understand what really happened on the 50th day.
Exodus 19 doesn't give us the details of what really took place when
God's presence came down on the mountain.
EXO 20:18-19:
And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the
sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw {it,}
they
trembled and stood at a distance. This gives us some insight into how
the people responded. When they heard the sound of God's voice and saw
the lightning flashes and thick cloud, the people trembled with fear.
They backed up from the mountain and stood at a distance. The people
then gave their plan to Moses. ( EXO. 20 - 19 )" Speak to us yourself
and we will listen, but don't let God speak to us, lest we die."
This request set the course of their relationship with God until THE
WORD OF GOD became flesh and God once again spoke directly with Israel.
Moses explained to the people that God was just putting the fear of Him
in them so it would remain with them so they would not sin. Since
Exodus 19 & 20 do not give us a full picture of what happened we may see
more in DUET. 4:10 -14.
In Deuteronomy 4 & 5 Moses is relating to Israel what took place that
day at Mt. Sinai. Moses said God spoke to you His covenant, that is the
10 commandments and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. While it
appears both of these things happened together, there were actually
about 40 days between God speaking the 10 commandments and God writing
the commandments on stone. After God spoke the 10 commandments He
called Moses back up the mountain and added the statutes and the
judgements. We will see later why this is so significant . This was the
fourth time Moses had gone up the mountain to talk with God.
( EXO. 20-21 )
The fourth time up Mt. Sinai God gave Moses the statutes and the
ordinances . These included slaves, violence, animals,restitution, sabbaths,
the feasts,and an extension of God's covenant, and God's commandment
concerning the heathen living in Canaan. God also made a promise to Israel.
If they serve the Lord
their God He will bless their bread and their water and He will remove
sickness from their midst. ( EXO.23 - 25 ) Moses went down and told the
people all that God said.
Again the people all responded " All the words which the Lord has
spoken, we will do." Moses wrote down the words of the Lord in a book.
He then had the young men offer up sacrifices to God. Moses took half
of the blood and put it in basins. The other half he sprinkled on the
altar. Then Moses read the book of the covenant in the hearing of all
the people. Again the people responded " All the Lord has spoken we
will do. Now Moses could take the blood and sprinkle the blood on all
the people. He tied the people to the covenant with blood.
( EXO. 24: 5 - 8 )
Keep in mind Mt. Sinai is a picture for us of Pentecost. Moses had
brought the people into covenant with God by blood. "Moses now assembled
the 70 elders of Israel along with Aaron and his sons. He also took his
servant Joshua and all went up the mountain together. 75 men went up to
the presence of the Lord.
EXO 24:9-15:
Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of
the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and
under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as
the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against
the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they beheld God, and they ate and
drank. Now the \Lord\ said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the
mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with
the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction."
So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to
the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, "Wait here for
us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you;
whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them." Then Moses
went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
There they saw God and ate and drank. Moses gave the men clear
instructions about waiting there on the mountain and Moses and Joshua
went on up the mountain to meet with God.
IT was at this time that God gave the 10 commandments written on
stone. Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. It was at this
time that God gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle. Aaron and his
sons were appointed as the priests and instructions were given
concerning their duties and their garments.
As Moses and Joshua were going down the mountain Israel had already
made the golden calf. Aaron and his sons along with the 70 elders were
supposed to be waiting on the mountain. Instead they were down in the
valley participating in the celebration. When Moses saw the idol and
the naked people he threw the 10 commandments down and broke them,
signifying the broken covenant. ( EXO. 32:15 - 19 ). It was out of
this abomination with the false god that God chose the tribe of Levi to
minister in the tabernacle. When Moses saw the idol of gold he said who
is on the Lord's side ? Come and stand by me. The tribe of Levi did as
Moses said. Moses said, take your sword and kill all who have
worshipped the golden calf. The tribe of Levi obeyed and God made them
the priests.
EXO 32:26-29:
Tthen Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and
said, "Whoever is for the Lord, {come} to me!" And all the sons of Levi
gathered together to him. And he said to them, "Thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel, 'Every man {of you} put his sword upon his
thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill
every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his
neighbor.'" So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and
about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then
Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord-- for every man has
been against his son and against his brother-- in order that He may
bestow a blessing upon you today."
In Exodus 33 we see an amazing thing. God was going to send Israel on
up to Canaan without the tabernacle and therefore without His Presence.
Instead He said the Angel of the Lord will go before you, but He would
not go with them, lest He destroy them. Moses interceeded for Israel
and God agreed to go with them.
God called Moses up the mountain the 7th time and this time He gave the
10 commandments written on stone the second time. In Duet. 4 Moses just
says God spoke to you from the mountain and gave you the 10 commandments
written on stone. To search the scriptures means to search all the
scriptures and fill in all the details. The details are not all in one
place.
DEU 4:33-36:
"Has {any} people heard the voice of God speaking from the
midst of the fire, as you have heard {it}, and survived? Or
has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within
{another} nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a
mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the
Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you
it was shown that you might know that the Lord He is God; there is no
other besides Him. Out of the heavens He let you hear His
voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and
you heard His words from the midst of the fire.
This gives us more
details of what took place at Mt. Sinai. It is in Deut. 5 that we see
what took place. It is this information that helps us fill in the
details to complete the picture. God had given Israel the invitation to
come up the mountain and hear His voice so they could obey.
DEU 5:2-5:
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord
did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, {with} all
those of us alive here today. The Lord spoke to you face to
face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, {while} I was
standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the
word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go
up the mountain.
Moses said " You were afraid because of the fire and
did not go up the mountain, therefore God said, and he repeated the 10
commandments. God intended to speak with Israel face to face but they
were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. For
that reason God spoke His commandments from off the mountain. In verse
22 Moses said God added no more. Just the 10 commandments. The statutes,
the ordances and the judgements were added later because of Israel's
lack of response to God's voice. They were added in verse 31. Because
of the terrible sight of God's presence on Mt, Sinai and His great voice
the people begged that no further word would be spoken to them.
HEB12:18-22 For you have not come to {a mountain} that may be touched and to
a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and
to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which {sound was such
that} those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to
them. For they could not bear the command, "If even a beast
touches the mountain, it will be stoned." And so terrible was
the sight, {that} Moses said, "I am full of fear and trembling."
God had given Israel His plan but now Israel gives God their plan.
Instead of us coming up to God's presence and hearing His voice, let
Moses go up to God's presence and hear what God will say. Then he can
come and tell us and we will obey what he tells us. Don't let God speak
to us again Himself, we would rather hear it from a man.
Many in the church today are still looking for some man who will go up
the mountain to God's presence and hear His voice and come and tell them
what God has said. Let us hire a pastor who will seek God for us. We
will hear God's words through him. They are still looking for a
ministry like Moses. Many pastors are trying to develop a ministry like
Moses. However that is not the New Testament plan. Jesus said " My
sheep hear my voice. " Not my pastors hear my voice.
God's plan for the church is for the ministry to lead the whole flock
up into God's presence to hear God's voice themselves. This was God's
plan at Mt. Sinai and this is God's plan at Pentecost.
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