Search
Scripture Reading: Exo. 15:22-27; 16:13-18; 17:1-16; 19:1-8
I. Bearing them through the wilderness:
А. As on eagles’ wings — Exo. 19:4.
B. Changing the bitter waters into sweet waters for them by casting a tree (typifying the healing cross of Christ — 1 Pet. 2:24) into the waters of Marah, signifying that Jehovah heals them from the Egyptians’ diseases — Exo. 15:22-26.
C. Providing them with twelve springs of water (signifying the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ — John 7:38-39) and seventy shading palm trees (signifying the overshadowing Christ — 2 Cor. 12:9) at Elim — Exo. 15:27.
D. Feeding them with manna, the heavenly food (typifying Christ as the bread from heaven — John 6:50-51; 1 Cor. 10:3) — Exo. 16:13-18.
E. Quenching them with the living water (1 Cor. 10:4a), typifying the overflowing Spirit (John 7:37-39), out of the cleft rock, typifying the crucified Christ (John 19:34; 1 Cor. 10:4b) — Exo. 17:1-6.
F. Defeating the Amalekites (signifying the flesh of the believers — Gal. 5:16-24) for them — Exo. 17:8-16.
G. Establishing them as a kingdom (19:6) with authorities (Moses typifying Christ as the head authority, and the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens as deputy authorities) to keep their condition in a good order — 18:13-26.
II. Bringing them to Himself at Mount Sinai — 19:1-4:
А. Making them His own personal treasure among all the peoples, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation — vv. 5-6.
B. Exposing them by giving them the law as His testimony (Psa. 19:7) so that they might know that they were sinful in nature and evil in deeds and that they had no ability to keep His law — Exo. 20—23; cf. 19:8.
C. Revealing to them the way to partake of the Triune God as their portion for their enjoyment — chs. 25—27; 30; 36—38; 40:
1. To get them washed in the laver, typifying the cleansing Spirit, from the dirt of the earth — 30:17-21; 40:11-12, 30-32.
2. To get them redeemed from their sins through the offerings (typifying Christ — John 1:29) and to offer them with Christ to God at the altar, typifying the cross of Christ — Exo. 27:1-8; 38:1-7; 40:6.
3. To enter into the tabernacle as the dwelling of the Triune God on earth, typifying Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God among men (John 1:14) — Exo. 26; 36:8-38; 40:2, 17-28, 33-34.
4. To feed on the table of the bread of the Presence, typifying Christ as the believers’ life supply (John 6:48, 51) — Exo. 25:23-30; 37:10-16; 40:4a, 22-23.
5. To be enlightened by the lampstand, typifying Christ as the light of life to the believers (John 1:4; 8:12) — Exo. 25:31-39; 37:17-24; 40:4b, 24-25.
6. To be accepted by God in prayer with Christ as the fragrance (cf. Rev. 8:3-4) at the golden altar — Exo. 30:1-10; 37:25-29; 40:5, 26-27.
7. To meet God through the propitiatory blood on the propitiation cover of the Ark (typifying Christ as the center of God’s dwelling — Rom. 3:25) in the Holy of Holies — Exo. 25:10-22; 37:1-9; 40:3, 20-21.
Through the messages given in this series, we can see that the entire Bible is the history of God. Genesis shows us God’s history in His working through eight positive persons — Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph. The history of the Triune God in Genesis was initiated in Adam and issued in three persons — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From Exodus to Malachi is the history of God in one race, a particular race, a chosen race, the race of Israel.
In the previous chapter we saw how God came down to deliver Israel out of Egypt and bring them into the wilderness by four means. These four means of deliverance help us to see what kind of God we have. He delivered Israel out of Egypt through Moses with ten plagues of miracles (Exo. 3:8, 14-20), through the passover (12:1-20), through the Angel of Jehovah, Christ, with the pillar of cloud and of fire, the glory of God (14:19-20), and through His mighty power to divide the Red Sea and destroy the Egyptian army (14:6-8, 21-31). Through a man by the name of Moses and a feast which was called the passover, God rescued His chosen people. Then Christ as the all-inclusive One with the divine glory became another means by which God rescued Israel. Last, the divine mighty power of God was exercised to bring Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness.
The feast of the passover as a type is great in its spiritual significance. It typifies God’s salvation, including His redemption, in a detailed way. Redemption is a basic part of God’s salvation, and the feast of passover is a full type of the salvation of God. We need to see God’s history in the type of the passover. God redeemed the nation of Israel from the death-judgment by the blood of the lamb (12:7, 13). The blood of the lamb is for redemption, and redemption is for salvation. Redemption is the first step of God’s salvation. God’s full salvation continues with the washing away of sins, reconciliation, justification, regeneration, renewing, sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification.
In the feast of the passover, the Israelites struck the blood of the lamb, and they also ate the meat of the lamb with the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs (vv. 8-11). John 6:4 says, “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.” Verse 4 indicates that John 6 is a chapter on the reality of the passover. The passover recorded in Exodus 12 was in typology, not in reality. The reality of the passover is recorded in John 6.
In John 6 the Lord said that His flesh is eatable and that His blood is drinkable (v. 54). Then verse 57 says that not only His flesh but also His entire being is eatable. In this verse the Lord Jesus said, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” Here it says, “He who eats Me,” indicating that not only His flesh but also His entire being is eatable. Jesus said that His flesh was eatable, that His blood was drinkable, and that He in totality was eatable.
According to Exodus 12, the Israelites ate the meat of the lamb (v. 8) but they also ate the lamb with its head, legs, and inwards (v. 9). To eat the passover lamb with the head, legs, and inwards is to take Christ as a whole, in His entirety. In order to enjoy God’s salvation in, through, and with Christ, we must learn how to strike His blood for our redemption, and we must learn how to eat Him for our salvation.
On the evening of the feast of the passover, they were charged to eat the lamb in haste with their loins girded, with sandals on their feet, and with a staff in their hand (v. 11). Their eating of the lamb in such a way was their preparation to move out of Egypt. They had the blood on their houses to cover them and to protect them from the death-judgment. Now they needed to eat the lamb for the strength to move out of Egypt. Their energy for moving out of Egypt came from the meat of the lamb, typifying Christ Himself. We have to eat Jesus for our strength to move out of Egypt and become His army (v. 51) to fight against the enemy.
We have a long way to walk in following God to fight against the enemy and to live a sinless life. Therefore, just to eat the meat of the Lamb is not sufficient. The children of Israel also had to eat the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. When we eat Jesus, we eat Him not only as the Lamb but also as the unleavened bread with the bitter herbs. To eat the unleavened bread means to eliminate all sinful things. To eat bitter herbs means that we need to regret and repent, to experience a bitter taste regarding sinful things.
When we received the Lord as our Savior and our life, we decided to follow God, to endeavor to defeat Satan with the world, and to endeavor to stay away from sin, to live a sinless life. Whenever we sinned, we were full of regret. We felt bitter, not sweet. When we were saved, we not only struck the blood of the Lamb for our redemption but also ate Christ in His entirety as the Lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs for our salvation. This part of the history of God in the race of Israel reveals the redeeming God. He would never neglect the matter of sin. He would prepare a part of His salvation to us as redemption. Then He would afford us with all the strength to follow Him, to defeat Satan with his world, to live a life without sin, and to regret whenever we sin. We need Christ as our strength in these four aspects.
He is also a God who is the Angel of Jehovah, taking care of His saved people in His glory, and the almighty God who can miraculously deliver His people from Egypt and bring them into the wilderness. God gave His orders to the frogs, the lice, the flies, and the locusts to plague Egypt. He sent the frogs as the submarines, the lice as an army, and the flies and the locusts as the planes to defeat Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He also divided the Red Sea by His mighty power for Israel to pass through, and then He closed the sea upon Pharaoh and his army to destroy them. He did many wonderful things by His mighty power. We need to see the history of God as the saving One in the beginning of the book of Exodus.
In this chapter we want to go on to see how God bore the children of Israel through the wilderness and brought them to Himself at Mount Sinai.
God delivered Israel out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. The wilderness is very positive here. It is very good to be saved by God out of the noisy world to a place where there is only the heavens and the earth and God, nothing else. But for the long run, the wilderness was not a good place. Thus, they had to be brought by a long journey through the wilderness.
In Exodus 19:4 God said, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” God considered that He was a big eagle who bore all the children of Israel upon His two wings. When I was in mainland China, I intended to evangelize Inner Mongolia, but God in His sovereignty bore me on His wings to the United States. God put all the children of Israel upon His wings and bore them through the wilderness to bring them to Himself at Mount Sinai.
God changed the bitter waters into sweet waters for them by casting a tree (typifying the healing cross of Christ — 1 Pet. 2:24) into the waters of Marah, signifying that Jehovah heals them from the Egyptian diseases (Exo. 15:22-26). They were not only rescued out of Egypt and out of the tyranny of the Egyptians but also delivered from all kinds of Egyptian diseases by the cross of Christ. First Peter 2:24 says that the cross is the tree.
God also provided them with twelve springs of water (signifying the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ — John 7:38-39) and seventy shading palm trees (signifying the overshadowing Christ — 2 Cor. 12:9) at Elim (Exo. 15:27). The springs of water and the shading palm trees in the wilderness were a real enjoyment. God gives us the living waters and the shade to take care of us.
In God’s history He also fed the children of Israel with manna (16:13-18), the heavenly food, typifying Christ as the bread from heaven (John 6:50-51; 1 Cor. 10:3). John 6 is a fulfillment of both the passover and the heavenly manna.
God quenched them with the living water (1 Cor. 10:4a), typifying the overflowing Spirit (John 7:37-39), out of the cleft rock (Exo. 17:1-6), typifying the crucified Christ (John 19:34; 1 Cor. 10:4b). The rock in the wilderness was a moving rock following them in the wilderness. This rock typifies the crucified Christ in resurrection. He was crucified, but now He is living in resurrection as the source of the overflowing Spirit for our supply.
On the way in the wilderness, there were also enemies, the Amalekites. God defeated the Amalekites (signifying the flesh of the believers — Gal. 5:16-24) for them (Exo. 17:8-16). The first enemy that frustrates us from following the Lord is our flesh.
Eventually, after all of God’s provisions and loving care, He established them as a kingdom (19:6) with authorities (Moses typifying Christ as the head authority, and the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens as deputy authorities) to keep their condition in a good order (18:13-26). These captains were the deputy authorities among the children of Israel. Through these deputy authorities they were kept in good order.
By God’s bearing them through the wilderness, the children of Israel were supplied with all kinds of divine provisions and also established as a nation. Eventually, this nation became a kingdom. In Exodus 19:6 God said that He chose the children of Israel to make them a kingdom of priests.
Thus, we can see the bitter waters changed into sweet waters in Exodus 15, the manna in chapter 16, the living water out of the cleft rock in chapter 17, the defeat of the Amalekites in chapter 17, the establishment of the children of Israel as a nation in chapter 18, and their being called a kingdom in chapter 19.
By bearing the nation of Israel through the wilderness, God brought them to Himself at Mount Sinai (vv. 1-4). Exodus 19 shows that God was at Mount Sinai waiting for the children of Israel to come. Mount Sinai in the Bible is called the Mount of God. They were brought to God at Mount Sinai because God was there. They were borne by God on His wings to God Himself.
Two mountains on the earth are very significant in God’s history on this earth. One is Mount Sinai, and the other is Mount Zion. We have seen that Psalm 68 reveals God’s move on the earth from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion (see Life-study of the Psalms, Messages 27 and 28). Now we need to see what God did at Sinai.
At Mount Sinai, God made the children of Israel His own personal treasure among all the peoples, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exo. 19:5-6). As God’s personal treasure, they were a beautiful people particularly belonging to God as God’s heart’s desire. Jeremiah 2 tells us that God had a very affectionate feeling toward the children of Israel. At that time Israel’s love toward God was a bridal love (v. 2). This relationship was very sweet. After being brought out of Egypt to the wilderness and borne through the wilderness to Mount Sinai, to God Himself, God made Israel a personal treasure to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
God exposed the children of Israel by giving them the law as His testimony (Psa. 19:7) so that they might know that they were sinful in nature and evil in deeds and that they had no ability to keep His law (Exo. 20—23; cf. 19:8). In Exodus 19:8 they said, “All that Jehovah has spoken we will do.” They did not know themselves, so that forced God to decree the law. The law is a picture, a photo, a testimony, of what God is. God is a holy, righteous, bright, and loving God. He hates killing, fornication, stealing, lying, and coveting. The law as God’s testimony showed that Israel was not like God. Israel was sinful in nature and evil in deeds.
God also revealed to them the way to partake of the Triune God as their portion for their enjoyment (chs. 25—27; 30; 36—38; 40). This was the purpose for which God bore the children of Israel to Himself at Mount Sinai.
They were washed from the dirt of the earth in the laver, typifying the cleansing Spirit (30:17-21; 40:11-12, 30-32). The bronze laver was where all the serving ones of God washed away all the dirt from their earthly contact. This is a type of the cleansing of the Spirit, who sanctifies us before the sprinkling of the blood of Christ as unveiled in 1 Peter 1:2.
God redeemed them from their sins through the offerings (typifying Christ — John 1:29). These offerings were presented with Christ to God at the altar, typifying the cross of Christ (Exo. 27:1-8; 38:1-7; 40:6).
They entered into the tabernacle as the dwelling of the Triune God on earth (ch. 26; 36:8-38; 40:2, 17-28, 33-34), typifying Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God among men (John 1:14). The tabernacle was God’s embodiment, and that tabernacle was enterable. The children of Israel could enter into God, embodied by the tabernacle. This indicates that the very God in His history is enterable so that we can enter into Him to enjoy Him.
After you enter into God, God is eatable. After entering into the tabernacle, they fed on the table of the bread of the Presence (Exo. 25:23-30; 37:10-16; 40:4a, 22-23), typifying Christ as the believers’ life supply (John 6:48, 51). Our food is God’s presence. God in His presence is our available food.
After eating the bread of the Presence, they were enlightened by the lampstand (Exo. 25:31-39; 37:17-24; 40:4b, 24-25), typifying Christ as the light of life to the believers (John 1:4; 8:12). When we receive the life supply by eating the bread, we will be enlightened. When we receive the provision of life, the supply of life, we will have the light of life. The life is the light of men.
They were then accepted by God in prayer with Christ as the fragrance (cf. Rev. 8:3-4) at the golden altar (Exo. 30:1-10; 37:25-29; 40:5, 26-27). This altar is different from the bronze altar. The bronze altar is in the outer court, outside the tabernacle, and the golden altar is inside the tabernacle, close to the Holy of Holies. At the golden altar, the incense altar, the priests could offer their prayer to God to be accepted.
The content of our prayer is the resurrected and ascended Christ. Christ offered Himself on the cross, typified by the bronze altar on the earth, for our redemption. Now He is in the third heaven before God. As the resurrected and ascended One, He is the sweet and fragrant incense, in which God extends to us His well pleasing acceptance.
Finally, they were able to meet God through the propitiatory blood on the propitiation cover of the Ark (typifying Christ as the center of God’s dwelling — Rom. 3:25) in the Holy of Holies (Exo. 25:10-22; 37:1-9; 40:3, 20-21). The blood shed outside the tabernacle at the bronze altar was brought into the tabernacle and sprinkled on the cover of the Ark. On Christ as the propitiatory cover, we can contact God, commune with God, and have fellowship with God. It is here that God becomes everything to us for our enjoyment.
By means of the tabernacle, the children of Israel were able to be in the presence of God. Through the laver and the bronze altar in the outer court, they could enter into the very God embodied as the tabernacle. In the tabernacle were the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the incense altar, and the Ark. The tabernacle is the embodiment of God, and related to this embodied God are six items: the laver to wash us, the bronze altar to redeem us, the table to feed us, the lampstand to enlighten us, the incense altar to accept us, and the Ark for us to stay with God to enjoy Him.
Now we should be able to see why we need the Old Testament. Regardless of how good, how rich, and how excellent the New Testament teaching is, we cannot find there the details of God’s history that are revealed in the typology of the Old Testament. In God’s history we can see that He is the providing God for us to enter into Him and to stay with Him for our perpetual enjoyment of Him in the way of washing, redeeming, feeding, enlightening, accepting, and communion. Today we are in the embodied Triune God to enjoy His washing at the laver, His redeeming at the bronze altar, His feeding at the table, His enlightening at the lampstand, His accepting at the incense altar, and His communion at the Ark. Once we were in Egypt, but we passed through the Red Sea and were borne through the wilderness to be brought to God. Now we are in God enjoying Him in His washing, redeeming, feeding, enlightening, accepting, and communion.
