Message 71
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 22:29-31; 23:12, 14-19
It is easy to read and understand the ordinances in Exodus 21 through 23 merely according to the letters in black and white. However, it is difficult to get into the depths of this portion of the Word and dig out the riches of the implications, indications, and significances of the ordinances of the law. In order to mine the riches hidden beneath the surface in these chapters, we should take certain crucial words and then trace their implications. For example, 22:18 says, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The crucial word in this verse is witch. If we trace the significance of this word and consider its implications, we shall see that this involves witchcraft and that witchcraft is related to demons. Hence, the single word witch implies the existence of both witchcraft and demons. By tracing the implications of a word in this way, we can get into the depths of the Bible and mine the precious things concealed beneath the surface.
Other important words in these chapters are murder and coveting. We can trace murder to the Devil, the founder, the source, of murder, the one who was “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). In the same principle, the word coveting leads us to the matter of indwelling sin described by Paul in Romans 7. In Romans 7 we see that indwelling sin refers primarily to the lust of coveting. Moreover, if we consider carefully the word in Exodus 23:1 about raising a false report, we shall see that this involves lying and that lying can be traced to Satan, the father of lies.
On the positive side, we need to consider the implications, indications, and significances of the words altar and sacrifice in 20:24 and 25. The altar points to the cross, and the sacrifices signify Christ. In like manner, the unleavened bread and the feasts also typify the riches of Christ. Actually, to trace the implications, indications, and significances of the crucial words in Exodus 21 through 23 is not a matter of allegorizing the Bible. Rather, it is to open the way for us to dig into the Word and to see what riches are found under the surface.
A number of Bible teachers have pointed out that the altar typifies the cross and that the sacrifices typify Christ. However, not many teachers have gone on to find out how Christ is typified by other items in chapters twenty-one through twenty-three of Exodus. If the altar typifies the cross and if the sacrifices typify Christ, it is logical to expect that the Sabbath day, the sabbatical year, and the feasts of unleavened bread, harvest, and ingathering also typify Christ. We also need to see what the fullness of the harvest and the tears of the presses typify. It is certainly necessary to consider further implications, indications, and significances of the ordinances of the law, especially as they point to Christ and our experience of Him.
In principle, every kind of law has a certain spirit and also presents a picture of something, usually of the one who made the law. For example, the Constitution of the United States has a spirit of democracy and freedom. It also is a portrait of the people in the United States and shows that they care for liberty and equality. Hence, the law of the United States is a picture of the citizens of the United States. God’s law also has a spirit and presents a picture. It is very important that we know what is the spirit of the law of God and what is the picture portrayed by God’s law with its many ordinances. We have pointed out that God’s law has God Himself as its spirit. A law always embodies the spirit of the lawgiver. Because the law of God was given by God, this law has a divine spirit. There can be no doubt that God the Spirit is the spirit of the law decreed by Him.
Students and teachers of the Bible pay a great deal of attention to the Ten Commandments. Some Christians are able to recite these commandments as easily as they recite the Lord’s prayer. I would make it emphatically clear that I by no means belittle the Ten Commandments or detract from them. Nevertheless, it is a fact that in these commandments it is very difficult to see Christ or the cross. Furthermore, in the Ten Commandments we cannot see the redemption of Christ, the things accomplished by Him on our behalf, or anything related to the enjoyment of Christ. The first commandment forbids having any god other than Jehovah God (20:3). Jehovah is our unique Husband, and we should not have another besides Him. The second commandment forbids making a graven image or the likeness of anything and bowing down to it (20:4-5). The third commandment declares, “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain: for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (20:7, lit.). The fourth and fifth commandments are concerned respectively with remembering the Sabbath day and with honoring father and mother (20:8-12). The remaining five commandments forbid murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and coveting (20:13-17). Do you see anything of Christ here? Do you see anything of the cross or of Christ’s redemption? Do you find anything of the experience of Christ or the enjoyment of Christ? The answer is that we cannot see Christ in the Ten Commandments. This is the reason for the ordinances in Exodus 21 through 23. In many of these ordinances Christ is portrayed. Either He is typified in a rather direct way or He is implied, indicated, or signified indirectly.
The ordinances in Exodus actually begin not with chapter twenty-one, but with 20:22-26. These verses may be regarded as a preliminary word concerning the ordinances. They are the door, or the gateway, into the ordinances in the following chapters. This door provides the way for fallen man to contact God and worship Him. The only way fallen man can contact God in worship is through the altar and by the sacrifices. This indicates that man can worship God only through the cross and by Christ. It is very significant that before giving us the various ordinances God presents a preliminary ordinance which opens the way for the other ordinances. In this preliminary ordinance we see a clear picture of Christ and His redemption according to God’s economy. In the ordinances we can see Christ and also Christ’s redemption accomplished fully according to the economy of God. As we shall see, in chapters twenty-one through twenty-three we have Christ, redemption, and the economy of God. If we would enter into God’s economy, we need a gate, a way, for sinners to contact God. We would emphasize repeatedly that the unique way is the altar and the sacrifices, the cross and Christ. If we are clear concerning this, we shall want to bow before the Lord and worship Him.
Both on the positive side and on the negative side, the ordinances of the law are rich in their implications, indications, and significances. In the foregoing message we pointed out that the ordinances portray a black and bleak picture of fallen man. Man is fallen and continues to live in the fall. He is filled with sins: idolatry, fornication, murder, stealing, lying, coveting, and witchcraft. Furthermore, fallen man has not only sins outwardly, but sin, the lustful nature of Satan, dwelling in him. Actually, the sin of covetousness which dwells in us is Satan’s nature. Furthermore, lying and murder point to the Devil, the source of murder and the father of lies, working in fallen man. Both in outward sins and indwelling sin man is related to Satan and even to demons. Witchcraft involves contact with demons. How terrible is the situation of fallen man! He not only sins against God, but he is joined to Satan, involved with demons, and enslaved to sin.
On the positive side, the ordinances present a marvelous portrait of Christ. Christ Himself became a slave, entering into the condition of fallen man in slavery. Furthermore, He was delivered by God into the hands of fallen men in order to be killed. In this way, He became the sacrifice. Christ is not only the sacrifice offered to God; He is also the city of refuge into which we may flee. The ordinances concerning livestock belonging to an enemy or to one who hates us show that Christ has brought back all the things of life which we sinners, His enemies, had lost and also helped us, who hated Him, to be released from our heavy burdens. Fallen sinners who flee into Christ may thus take Him as their Sabbath, their rest. In Christ we enjoy rest and freedom. What a tremendous gospel this is!
The ordinances in this portion of Exodus first open the gate for us to contact God and come into His economy. Furthermore, they present a vivid picture of fallen man living in the fall, filled with sins, involved with Satan, related to demons, and fully enslaved. However, there is One who came to man in his fallen and enslaved condition, becoming a slave Himself. After He was delivered by God to be a sacrifice for fallen man, He restored the matters of life, released us from our burdens, and became our refuge. Now we, fallen sinners, may flee into Him and take Him as our rest and freedom. This is a summary of what we have covered thus far concerning the implications, indications, and significances of the ordinances of the law. In this message and in the message following, we shall consider what is implied, indicated, and signified by these ordinances concerning how to live in Christ and how to enjoy Him.
In 22:29-31 there are four ordinances related to how we should live in Christ. The first of these ordinances says, “Thou shalt not delay to offer thy fullness and thy tears” (v. 29, lit.). This means to offer the fullness of the harvest and the outflow of the wine and oil presses. The fullness here refers to the fullness of the harvest of the produce in the good land, and the tears refer to the outflowing of wine and oil from grapes and olives that have been pressed. This is the way to live in Christ. Having fled into Christ and having come to enjoy Him as our rest and freedom, we need to live in Him by having the harvest and the tears. Furthermore, we need to offer to Him the firstborn both of man and of cattle. We also need to be holy men and to be those who do not eat the flesh of animals torn by wild beasts. We need a proper interpretation of these ordinances to know their indications, implications, and significances. We have seen that the altar signifies the cross, and that the sacrifices signify Christ. Now we need to ask what the fullness of the harvest and the flow of wine and oil from the presses signify. We should not have the attitude that there is no need for us to understand these things. What does it mean to offer to the Lord the firstborn of man and beast? What does it mean to be a holy man, and what is the significance of eating flesh torn by wild beasts? All these matters are related to living in Christ, into whom we have fled for rest and freedom.
We who believe in Christ and enjoy Him as our rest and freedom are likened in the Bible to a crop. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says, “You are God’s farm.” To God, we are a crop. The harvest of the good land was to be offered to God without delay. If we live in Christ, enjoying Him as our rest and freedom, we shall grow in life. In other words, when we live in Christ, we are farming, growing Christ by laboring on Him as the good land to produce a harvest, even the fullness of the harvest. This fullness must be offered to God without delay.
The mention of fullness here implies that we are living in the good land. Apart from Christ as the good land, how can we have a harvest with its fullness, and how can we have grapes and olives that are pressed to produce wine and oil as tears? The mention of fullness and tears implies that God’s chosen people are in the good land. According to typology, this land is the all-inclusive Christ. We need to flee into Christ, enjoy Him as our rest and freedom, and then live in Him, the all-inclusive One, as the good land. As we live in the land, we are farming, laboring, growing a crop. Both the good land and the harvest produced in the land are Christ. The fullness of the harvest thus refers to the reaping of the rich experience of Christ.
In our experience of Christ not only should we have the fullness, but we should also have the tears, the flow of wine and oil. The tears in 22:29 signify the overflow from our experience of the cross. When some saints share in the meetings of the church, part of their testimony may be the fullness of the harvest, and another part may be the tears, the overflow of the experience of Christ through the cross. The presses used to make wine and oil signify the cross. By the press, by the cross, wine flows out to cheer God and man, even to be used as a drink offering, and oil flows out to please God. The fullness and the tears signify the rich experience of Christ and the overflow from the suffering of the cross. This fullness and tears should be offered to God without delay. Have you experienced Christ today? If so, you should come to the meeting and offer to God the fullness of your harvest. This is to offer the harvest with its fullness.
One category of the experience of Christ is that of the fullness of the harvest; another category is that of the tears, the overflow of the presses, the experience of Christ through the cross. Apart from the presses, we may have grapes or olives, but we shall not have wine or oil flowing as tears. On the one hand, Christ is typified by the vine tree; on the other hand, He is typified by the olive tree. Hence, Christ is not only the wheat and the barley, but He is also the grape to produce wine and the olive to produce oil. When the wine flows forth, it cheers God and man, and when the olive oil flows, it pleases God. Both the wine and the oil require the press. This indicates that Christ as the grape and the olive needs the cross. In our experience, we also must be pressed by the cross. In a very real and positive sense, the church life is a wine press and also an oil press. We need to be pressed so that wine and oil may flow as tears. If we do not experience the pressing in the church life, the grape and the olive will remain whole. The Christian life is a life continually under the pressing of the cross in order that the riches of Christ may flow.
If we would live in Christ, we need both the fullness of the harvest and the tears, the flow from the wine and oil presses. In this matter, do not be deceived by the shallowness and superficiality widespread among Christians today. We need to follow the way of growing Christ and reaping Christ in order to have a harvest of Christ in full. We also need to experience the cross that we may have the tears, the flow of wine and oil. Then, without delay, we should bring the fullness and the tears to the church meetings and offer them to God. The reason there should be no delay is that the producing of the fullness and the tears is not for us, but for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
Exodus 22:29b and 30 say, “The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.” Here we see that the firstborn both of men and of cattle were to be given to God. According to Exodus 13, the reason for this was that the firstborn among the children of Israel were redeemed at the Passover. Exodus 13:2 says, “Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.” According to verse 15, an Israelite was to explain to his son, “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem” (lit.). Therefore, giving the firstborn to God is related to the redemption of the firstborn at the time of the Passover.
All the descendants of Adam, the first man, are regarded as firstborn ones. In Adam, we all are the firstborn. Although these firstborn deserve to be slain by God, the firstborn of the children of Israel were redeemed by the Passover lamb. Because they were purchased, bought with a price, they did not belong to themselves. Thus, they had to separate themselves and become holy unto God.
By offering the firstborn unto God, the children of Israel remembered what God did at the time of the Passover. In our experience with the Lord we also should have this kind of remembrance. We should recall that, as firstborn in Adam, we should have been smitten by God, but instead we were redeemed by Christ, who became our substitute. Now we do not belong to ourselves; we belong to God. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul says, “Do you not know that...you are not your own?” If we would live in Christ, we need always to remember that because Christ has redeemed us, we are not our own, but we belong to God. When we come to the meetings of the church, we may say to ourselves, “I was once in Adam, a fallen sinner. According to the righteous judgment of God, I should have been smitten. But I have been redeemed through Christ as my Passover lamb. Now I do not belong to myself. I belong to Him, and I must be separated unto Him.” We need to have this kind of remembrance day by day and even moment by moment.
Exodus 22:31 says, “And ye shall be holy men unto me.” According to the Bible as a whole, especially the New Testament, to be holy is to be saturated by Christ and with Him as our holiness before God. First Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ has been made unto us sanctification. For Christ to be our sanctification means that we are saturated with Him as holiness. In order to live in Christ, as God’s chosen people we need to have a holy life, a life saturated with Christ as holiness.
Exodus 22:31 also says, “Neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.” Not eating any flesh that is torn by beasts, but casting it instead to the dogs signifies that we should take only Christ as our life supply, not anything of death. Things related to death should be food for the unclean men. The dogs in 22:31 signify people who are unclean (Phil. 3:2). The significance of this ordinance is that we should eat only Christ. In particular, we should eat Christ as the sacrifices and offerings. We should not eat any meat which has been torn by beasts. This should be cast to the dogs. If we would live in Christ, we need to eat Christ, and not eat anything which bears the nature of death. Those things must be counted as refuse and thrown aside.
Exodus 23:12 says, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.” Christ is the real Sabbath day (Col. 2:16-17). Keeping the Sabbath day that the cattle may rest and that the son of the handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed typifies taking Christ as our rest that others may be benefited.
The principle is the same with the ordinance related to a sabbatical year for the land: “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat” (23:10-11). Actually, the result of keeping the Sabbath day is not as significant as that of keeping the sabbatical year. Keeping the Sabbath day enabled others to rest and be refreshed, whereas observing the sabbatical year supplied others with food. Some Christians may cause people to rest and even be refreshed; however, not many can supply others with spiritual food. By keeping the Sabbath day we take Christ as our rest to a certain degree, but by observing the sabbatical year we take Christ as our rest to a much fuller degree. Only in the future, however, will Christ become our rest to the fullest extent.
On the one hand, we need to learn from the ordinances in Exodus how to live in Christ; on the other hand, we need to learn how to benefit others in Christ. We should not merely seek to live in Christ ourselves, but should also seek to bring the enjoyment of Christ to others. First we should supply others with rest and refreshment, then with spiritual food, the produce of the field, the vineyard, and the orchard. To supply others with this produce is to supply them with rich food.
Exodus 23:14 says, “Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.” These three annual feasts were the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering (vv. 15-16). Keeping feasts unto God three times a year typifies the full enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ.
There is definite ground in Scripture to say that these three feasts typify the enjoyment of the Triune God. Keeping the feast of unleavened bread typifies enjoying Christ as the sinless life supply (1 Cor. 5:7-8). This feast was a continuation of the feast of Passover. Actually the feast of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread are one. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 and 8 we see clearly that the feast of unleavened bread points to Christ.
The second feast was the feast of harvest. Keeping the feast of harvest, the second feast, typifies the enjoyment of the firstfruit of the Spirit of the resurrected Christ (Acts 2:1-4, 17; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:23). The feast of harvest is also known as Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit was poured out upon the church. However, in the Old Testament the feast of harvest is related not to oil, a type of the Spirit, but to the firstfruit, which typifies Christ. The resurrected Christ is the firstfruit (1 Cor. 15:20). Actually, according to 1 Corinthians 15:45, the resurrected Christ is the life-giving Spirit. In the Old Testament type we see Christ as the firstfruit, but in the fulfillment of this type on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament, we have the Spirit. How can we reconcile the type and its fulfillment? The way is found in Paul’s word, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” Christ, the last Adam, resurrected as the firstfruit, became the life-giving Spirit. Therefore, in its fulfillment the second feast is a feast with the Spirit.
Today virtually all believers, even those who have no heart for the Lord, know that Pentecost is related to the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the New Testament fulfillment of the feast of harvest, the Holy Spirit came. However, with the Old Testament feast of harvest, which was related to the firstfruit of the harvest, there does not seem to be anything which signifies the Spirit. Pentecost means fifty days. After the firstfruit was offered to God on the eighth day, the people counted seven weeks. Then on the fiftieth day there was the feast of harvest. According to the type, Pentecost involved the offering of the firstfruit to God. But according to the fulfillment, Pentecost is related to the coming of the Spirit. Apparently, the firstfruit has nothing to do with the Spirit. However, if we compare the Old Testament type with its fulfillment in the New Testament, we shall see a strong indication that Christ, the resurrected One, the firstfruit, is the Spirit. What is the firstfruit in typology becomes the Spirit in fulfillment.
Romans 8:23 speaks of the firstfruit of the Spirit. The firstfruit here must refer to the Spirit Himself as the firstfruit for our enjoyment and satisfaction. However, we know from 1 Corinthians 15:23 that Christ is the firstfruit. Then verse 45 says that this Christ became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. Hence, the firstfruit of the Spirit is actually Christ. The type in the Old Testament of the feast of harvest indicates that the resurrected Christ is the Spirit in the fulfillment of this feast. The Spirit who came down on the day of Pentecost was the very Christ as the firstfruit offered to God. Without the firstfruit in the Old Testament, there would have been no feast of harvest. Without the Spirit in the New Testament, there would have been no Pentecost. The Spirit who came on the day of Pentecost is the fulfillment of the firstfruit offered to God in the Old Testament. The firstfruit typifies Christ in resurrection, and this resurrected Christ is the Spirit.
The third feast is the feast of ingathering. Keeping the feast of ingathering typifies the enjoyment of the fullness of the Father in Christ (Col. 2:9; Eph. 3:19). The ultimate issue, or consummation, of the enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ is the enjoyment of the fullness of the Father, the fullness of the Godhead, for eternity. The feast of ingathering is also called the feast of tabernacles. This feast signifies the enjoyment of the fullness of the Triune God for eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. For eternity, we who believe in Christ shall enjoy the fullness of the Godhead.
We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that these three feasts signify the full enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ. We may say that with the first feast Christ is sown as a seed. With the second feast we have a harvest, the reaping of Christ as the life-giving Spirit. The enjoyment of this feast began on the day of Pentecost and will continue until the third feast, the feast of ingathering, and will consummate with it. As the consummation of the harvest, the ingathering is the enjoyment of the fullness of the Godhead, the fullness of the Father in Christ, for eternity.
We have seen from the ordinances in Exodus 21 through 23 that first we need to live in Christ and then bring others into the enjoyment of Christ as rest, refreshment, and food. Eventually we shall enter into the full enjoyment of the Triune God in Christ. First, we shall have the enjoyment of Christ the Son; second, the enjoyment of God the Spirit; and, consummately, the enjoyment of God the Father. Praise the Lord that today we are enjoying the Triune God typified by the three feasts!
