Message 49
Scripture Reading: Exo. 18; Deut. 1:9-18
Apparently Exodus 18 is not a difficult chapter. However, it is actually the most difficult chapter in the book of Exodus to understand. To understand this chapter, we need to realize that, in principle, Exodus is a picture of God’s full salvation. Every case and story recorded in this book is part of this portrait. In this message we shall consider what part of God’s salvation is portrayed in chapter eighteen.
Some readers of the Bible may wonder why chapter eighteen is included in the book of Exodus. They may think that it would be better to go directly from chapter seventeen to chapter nineteen, from the defeat of the Amalekites to the mountain of God, where the people received the heavenly vision. Chapter eighteen seems to stand alone, having no connection with either chapter seventeen or nineteen. However, if we care for the principle that Exodus is a picture book portraying God’s full salvation, we shall want to know the significance of Exodus 18 with respect to this portrait. What is the meaning, the significance, of this chapter in God’s salvation?
If we read carefully the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, we shall find that what is recorded in Exodus 18 was not written according to the sequence of history. The events in Exodus 18 did not take place immediately after the events recorded in Exodus 17. Actually, the events in chapter eighteen took place after the building of the tabernacle and not long before the children of Israel began their journey with the tabernacle toward the good land. Therefore, according to historical sequence, chapter eighteen should come after chapter forty. Deuteronomy 1:6-18 proves this. The time to which Moses refers in Deuteronomy 1:9 was the time the children of Israel were about to begin their journey with the tabernacle to the good land. At that time, Moses told the people that he alone could not bear their weariness, burden, and strife (Deut. 1:12, Heb.). That was the time captains were appointed over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
Since these things took place after Exodus 40, why are they recorded in Exodus 18 and inserted between chapters seventeen and nineteen? To answer this question we need to recognize another important principle: the Bible was written mainly to give us a complete revelation of God’s economy. For this reason, sometimes the biblical record is not according to the sequence of history, but is instead according to doctrine. The Gospel of Matthew, for example, was not written according to the sequence of history; rather, it was written according to a particular doctrinal arrangement. The Gospel of Mark, on the contrary, was written according to the sequence of historical events. Matthew arranged the events according to doctrinal significance. This principle applies to the placement of Exodus 18.
To be sure, the book of Exodus does not record everything that happened to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt and spent the first period of time in the wilderness. The same principle applies in the four Gospels. The Gospels do not include everything the Lord Jesus did in His life on earth. The writers of the Gospels selected certain things and put them together for the purpose of presenting a view of the divine revelation. Exodus was written in the same principle and for the same purpose. The purpose of Exodus is not to give us a detailed history of everything that happened to the children of Israel; it was written to present a complete view of God’s full salvation.
In Exodus 17 Amalek is defeated. This signifies the subduing of the flesh, which frustrates God’s people from going on with Him. After the defeat of Amalek, there is the need of something to portray the kingdom of God. Under divine inspiration, Moses inserted an event which occurred later in order to fill the gap between chapters seventeen and nineteen and to show us that in God’s full salvation the kingdom comes after the defeat and subduing of the flesh. After the defeat of Amalek, the kingdom is needed for the building up of God’s dwelling on earth.
We have pointed out again and again that Amalek signifies the flesh, God’s enemy within man. Satan is God’s enemy. Through the fall of man, Satan has brought forth another enemy of God. This enemy, man’s flesh, is God’s enemy within man. In the eyes of God, the two greatest enemies of God are Satan and the flesh. In a sense, Satan also is in fallen man. But the actual subjective enemy of God in man is the flesh. For this reason, God hates man’s flesh.
According to the New Testament, when man’s flesh is defeated and subdued, the kingdom of God immediately comes in. This point is clearly indicated in Galatians 5:17-25. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other.” Verse 21 tells us that those who practice the things of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 24, using the phrase, “have crucified the flesh,” refers to the cross. When the flesh is crossed out, the kingdom is present with us. This is confirmed by our experience. The Spirit is versus the flesh. In the Spirit there is the power to cross out the flesh. When the Spirit with the power of the cross defeats our flesh and causes it to be subdued, the kingdom of God is with us.
Four crucial words in Galatians 5:17-25 are flesh, Spirit, crucified (referring to the cross), and kingdom. Each of these four terms may be signified by a color: the flesh by black, the Spirit by green, the cross by red, and the kingdom by blue. It may even be helpful to mark these words in our Bibles with these colors. The flesh certainly is black, whereas the Spirit is green, full of life. The red cross deals with the black flesh. This brings in the kingdom, signified by blue, the color of the sky. If we focus our attention on these four terms, we shall be enlightened. In our experience today we have the black of the flesh, the green of the Spirit, the red of the cross, and the blue of the kingdom.
The book of Exodus is composed of two main sections. Chapters one through seventeen make up the first section, and chapters nineteen through forty, the second section. In the first section we see that we, who were fallen, have been redeemed, saved, and delivered. Furthermore, we see that we have passed through the Red Sea and have entered into the wilderness, where we enjoy God’s provision and defeat the flesh. What a wonderful salvation this is!
In the second section, chapters nineteen through forty, we have a revelation of the building up of God’s dwelling place on earth. Several chapters in this section are concerned with the law. However, this fact should not keep us from having a complete view of the book of Exodus. The purpose of this book is to show God’s full salvation for the building up of His dwelling place. In the first chapter we see God’s chosen people in a fallen condition in Egypt, but in the last chapter we see the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place. What a contrast! God’s chosen people are saved all the way from their fallen condition into God’s dwelling place.
At the beginning of the book of Exodus, the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, are under the tyranny of the world. God saved them, delivered them, rescued them, and made them His dwelling place on earth. Thus, the focal point of the book of Exodus is not the giving of the law. Yes, this book definitely records the decree of the law. But if we only pay attention to this, we shall not see that the complete view of the book of Exodus encompasses God’s salvation for the building of His dwelling place. In the first seventeen chapters of this book we have a portrait of how God saved His people, delivered them, rescued them, and provided for them in the wilderness. Then He brought them to Mount Sinai to give them the vision of the building of His dwelling place so that they might build it according to this vision.
If we read the book of Exodus according to the natural concept, we shall emphasize the giving of the law. To us, the book of Exodus will primarily be a record of how God gave commandments, ordinances, and statutes through Moses. However, if we have a divine, spiritual viewpoint in reading this book, we shall realize that Exodus is not primarily a story of the giving of the law, but is an account of how God saved His chosen people and gave them a heavenly vision so that they could build His dwelling place on earth.
Even though we may pay attention both to the decree of the law and to the pattern of the tabernacle, deep within, our concept may be that Exodus is primarily for the decree of the law. We may pay far more attention to the law than to the tabernacle.
Between the two main sections of Exodus, the section on God’s salvation and on God’s building, there is the need for the kingdom. Without the kingdom, there is no result, no issue, of God’s salvation. This is exactly the situation among many Christians today. Because few Christians deal with the flesh thoroughly, there is not found among them the proper result of God’s salvation, that is, the kingdom. A certain Christian may be fundamental, scriptural, and ethical. Nevertheless, he may be altogether in the flesh. He may love others and be quite humble. But his love and humility may be of the flesh. Even his work of gospel preaching may be carried out in the flesh. In our preaching of the gospel we may be nice, pleasant, and humble, always talking kindly to others and never arguing with them. But all this seemingly good behavior may be of the flesh. It is one thing to preach the gospel in the Spirit and another thing to preach the gospel in the flesh. God does not first care for what we do; He cares for the means by which we do things, for whether we do them by the Spirit or by the flesh.
There are many Christians who are not able to understand such a word about the flesh. They enjoy God’s salvation to a certain extent, but in their enjoyment there is no proper result. If we enjoy God’s salvation to the extent of defeating Amalek, of dealing with God’s enemy within us, we shall have the kingdom of God as the issue, the result, of God’s salvation. Throughout all my years in the ministry, I have never seen a group of Christians who know the flesh as thoroughly and who have such a proper fear of acting in the flesh as the saints in the Lord’s recovery today. For this reason, we have the kingdom as the result of God’s salvation.
When we are in the flesh, we are easily offended by others. But when we are in the Spirit, the opposite is true. It is very difficult for anyone to offend us. Furthermore, the flesh has its own preference, its own taste in doing things. For example, many Christians like to make a display of how much money they donate to some cause. They expect to receive public recognition for this. This is of the flesh. So much of what Christians do today is done in the flesh.
Certain ones who criticize the Lord’s recovery have said that we are all under someone’s control. However, it is a fact that we are not under the control of anyone or anything. I do not control others, and others do not control me. Furthermore, the elders do not control the saints. But we are all under the control of the living Spirit with the operating cross. This kills the flesh. I can testify that the Spirit with the cross keeps me from arguing with my wife. Sometimes a negative word has been on the tip of my tongue, but the living Spirit with the operating cross came in to subdue the flesh. Because both my wife and I experience the killing of the flesh, we have a peaceful married life. If this is our experience at home and in the church life, we are living in the kingdom.
Instead of explaining the kingdom, the book of Exodus gives us a picture of the kingdom. Exodus is a book of pictures, not a book of explanations or definitions. For example, Exodus does not attempt to define God’s redemption. Instead, it presents the picture of the Passover. In this book there are no doctrinal definitions, but a full picture of God’s economy. In chapter eighteen there is no mention of the word kingdom, but there is a clear picture of the kingdom. If we read this chapter with the proper realization, we shall see that it is a portrait of the kingdom of God.
Now we shall consider the portrait of the kingdom in Exodus 18. As we have indicated, the kingdom comes in after God’s enemy, Amalek, which typifies the flesh, has been defeated (17:13-16). The New Testament reveals that the kingdom comes when God’s chosen people have defeated His enemy. Before the kingdom is presented in Exodus 18, God’s enemy within us, typified by Amalek, is defeated in chapter seventeen.
The Bible also indicates that when the kingdom comes as a result of the defeat of God’s enemy, the Gentiles who are seeking God will come to worship Him. These Gentiles are represented by Jethro (18:1, 5, 10-12). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a priest of Midian. According to Judges 6:3, the Midianites were close to the Amalekites. The Midianites and the Amalekites were somewhat mixed together. After the Amalekites were defeated, certain of the Midianites came to God’s people in a very godly way. Jethro was a priest not of idols, but of the true God. He praised God, worshipped God, and offered sacrifices to God. Therefore, Jethro represents the Gentiles who turn to God and become seekers of God in the kingdom.
When the kingdom comes, the church participates in the kingdom. In fact, the church will be the ruling authority in the kingdom. In chapter eighteen the church is represented by Zipporah, the wife of Moses secured by him during his rejection by Israel (2:13-22). A number of Bible students realize that Zipporah typifies the Gentile church gained by Christ during the time of His rejection by the children of Israel. Even today Christ is still rejected by the Jews. During this period of rejection, Christ gains the Gentile church, taken out from the Gentile world, just as Moses gained a Gentile wife.
Thus far in chapter eighteen we have three main points: the defeat of the enemy, the coming of the Gentiles to worship God, and the church represented by Zipporah. Putting these points together, we have a picture of the kingdom. Some may disagree with the claim that the kingdom is portrayed in chapter eighteen. However, we are not going too far when we make this claim. If Paul had not told us that the Passover was a portrait of Christ, who would have had the boldness to say this? The apostle Paul took the lead to allegorize the book of Exodus when he told us that Christ is our Passover. Furthermore, the manna and the smitten rock are also types of Christ, and the water from the rock is a type of the Spirit. We have also pointed out that in chapter seventeen Amalek signifies the flesh, Moses signifies the ascended Christ interceding for us, and Joshua typifies the indwelling Spirit fighting for us. With all this as the background, it is proper to say that Jethro and Zipporah in chapter eighteen also have a typical significance. Are Jethro and Zipporah merely historical figures? Certainly not. To say this is to fail to realize that Exodus is a book of pictures. As Pharaoh represents Satan and Egypt represents the world, so Jethro signifies the Gentiles, and Zipporah, the Gentile church. According to the principle that all the items in Exodus are figures, the matters in chapter eighteen should not be considered as exceptions. We know that chapter eighteen portrays the kingdom because here we see that after God’s people had defeated His enemy, the godly Gentiles turned to God’s people to praise God, worship Him, and offer sacrifice to Him. We also see that the Gentile church is prevailing. When these three things all happen together, there is the kingdom of God.
We may apply the picture of Exodus 18 to our situation as Christians today. We know from our experience that when our flesh is defeated, the unbelievers will turn to us. It is good that all the churches are actively preaching the gospel. However, if we live in the flesh and fail to defeat Amalek, we may labor a great deal in preaching the gospel, but not many unbelievers will turn. But if we first defeat and subdue our flesh and then go forth to contact people and preach the gospel to them, Jethro will come to us. This means that the unbelievers will turn this way. When we preach the gospel by the living Spirit through the operating cross, killing the flesh, people will turn to us wherever we go. Furthermore, the church, signified by Zipporah, will become prevailing. Thus, the proper gospel preaching must be the kingdom. In the words of Matthew 24:14, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached to the whole inhabited earth.
The gospel must be the kingdom. If we live in the flesh, others will not turn to God through us, no matter how hard we work in preaching the gospel. We must be those who defeat Amalek. Then Jethro, representing the Gentiles, will turn to God through us, and the church will become prevailing.
In 18:13-27 we have a picture of the authority and order of the kingdom. Christ, signified by Moses, is the Head of authority, and under the headship of Christ is the order of authority.
Some Bible teachers say that Jethro’s proposal to Moses was according to the human way of organization. C. I. Scofield says that this organizational way was rejected by God in Numbers 11:11-17, 24-30. However, if we study carefully Exodus 18, Deuteronomy 1, and Numbers 11, we shall see that these portions of the Word are concerned with two different events and that the latter does not abolish the former. On the contrary, it strengthens the former. Whereas Numbers 11 speaks of seventy elders, there is no mention of elders in Exodus 18 or Deuteronomy 1. Instead, in these chapters we read of captains. Since the children of Israel must have been at least two million in number, the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens must have numbered in the thousands. These captains are to be distinguished from the seventy elders.
If we compare Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 with Numbers 11, we shall see that Numbers 11 covers a different subject from that covered in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1. In these two chapters we read of the people’s weariness, burden, and strife. But Numbers 11 describes the people’s rebellion against God. Because of this rebellion, Moses complained to the Lord: “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me” (Num. 11:14). Then the Lord told Moses to gather seventy men of the elders of Israel (v. 16). The rebellion in Numbers 11 is very different from the weariness, burdens, and strife referred to in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1. The purpose of the record of Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 is to maintain a good order among God’s people in His kingdom, whereas that in Numbers 11 is to take care of the relationship between God’s people and God. Daily perhaps hundreds of problems were brought to Moses. This caused Jethro to propose that Moses appoint captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to help him. The problems dealt with in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 were relatively minor, but Numbers 11 deals with the serious issue of our proper relationship with God. This was the reason that the Spirit of God came upon the seventy elders who became prophets. These seventy did not replace the captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.
My purpose in pointing out this matter is to help us see that Jethro’s proposal was very positive. It depicts the order under divine authority in the kingdom of God. It helps us to see that in God’s kingdom there is no disorder. Rather, under the headship of Christ, represented by Moses, everything is orderly. Under Christ’s headship everything and everyone is in order.
If in a local church all matters, great and small, are referred to the elders, that church is weak. It is not the kingdom of God in a practical way. If a local church is truly the kingdom of God, there will be not only the elders, but also the captains. We have seen that in the picture in Exodus 18 Zipporah represents the church. What then do the captains represent? They represent the keeping of things in good order. Just as there was no need for everything to be referred to Moses, so there is no need in the church today for everything to be referred to the elders. Instead, there should be captains in the church life who, under Christ’s headship, work out problems and maintain order.
Suppose two brothers have a problem with each other. If there is the need to call in the elders, the kingdom of God is not present in the church in a practical way. There is a definite lack of life and authority. Even among a small number of brothers and sisters, there should be a captain, someone who can remind others about the Spirit and the cross. If there is a captain to do this, the problem between the brothers will be solved, and the order will be maintained. The presence of the captains in the church life is a sign of the kingdom. It is an indication that we have Christ, signified by Moses, as our Head and that we are all under His headship.
In this message we have pointed out repeatedly that Exodus 18 presents a picture of the kingdom. In this chapter we see four aspects of this picture: the defeat of Amalek, the flesh, by God’s people; the coming of the godly Gentiles to seek God; the prevailing of the Gentile church; and the maintaining of a proper order. When these four matters are put together, we have the kingdom of God as the issue of the enjoyment of God’s salvation and provision.
In the first seventeen chapters of Exodus, God’s chosen people enjoyed His salvation and provision. Now in chapter eighteen we have the issue of this enjoyment — the kingdom as the sphere, the environment, where God’s people may receive the vision of the pattern of God’s dwelling and build the tabernacle according to this pattern. Because the kingdom is necessary for the building of God’s dwelling place, Moses, under divine inspiration, inserted an event from Deuteronomy 1 between chapters seventeen and nineteen of Exodus in order to complete the picture of God’s full salvation. According to our experience, we can testify that after we enjoy God’s salvation and provision, we are brought into the kingdom of God, where everything is in order. How we praise the Lord for this! The presence of the kingdom enables us to build the tabernacle as God’s dwelling place.
