Were studying through the book of Exodus, and were going verse-by-verse. Exodus is a history book, but I dont think wed be out of line to call it the Gospel according to Moses because primarily its a book about Christ. To see this, lets go over to Lukes account and read about one of the things that happened shortly after the crucifixion:
And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk. 24:13-27).
When Jesus finds these men walking he convinces them of the truth by showing how the Old Testament, beginning at Moses, speaks of him! This idea stuck and was taught because later, Philip does the same thing for an Ethiopian:
And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him (Acts 8:26-38).
When the Ethiopian wanted to know the point of the prophecy, Philip took him straight to Christ. When the Ethiopian believed what hed read in the Old Testament, it was good enough for him to be baptized because it was and is the Gospel.
Now, I want to mention at one more example in the New Testament found in Acts chapter seven. Its here that Stephen gives an account of Jewish history (including this story of the Exodus) and shows that Christ is better than Moses and better than the tabernacle Moses built. The point of his speech is to show that Christ is the main point of all those stories, and those who reject him are guilty of the same crime as their ancestors.
The whole book of Hebrews exists for that same singular purpose. If they rejected Moses, how much worse is it to reject the one Moses wrote about? How much worse is it to reject the substance of the shadow?
When we come to study the word together, we must first ask, and constantly ask, how does this reveal Christ to us? Last week we looked at Gods statement that Israel is Gods firstborn. They were the ones chosen to receive the blessing, but (like nearly all the firstborns in that period of Jewish history) they failed, and the blessing went to one who came later. Christ is the last Adam and the next Israel. He is Gods preeminent leader who is honored above all, and were one with him. He is the Head and we are the body, therefore we are called the church of the firstborn.
Now we return again to our study through Exodus and well look at verse 23. God sent Moses to tell Pharaoh, Israel is my firstborn:
23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me:
What I want to do now is look into the Exodus account as a whole to see how it points us toward Christ and his work for us. Its important to have this understanding nailed down on the front end so well know how to handle all the verses that follow. The Exodus foreshadows a spiritual departure from spiritual slavery for spiritual people by the power and leadership of a spiritual God:
To begin lets see how the prophets believed the promise that another prophet would arise after Moses:
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken (Deut. 18:15).
Now, in the New Testament, Peter declares that Jesus is that prophet: But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you (Acts 3:18-22).
Its promised in the Old Testament that this new Prophet would lead the people of Israel out of the land of spiritual slavery:
And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve (Is. 14:3).
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound (Is. 61:1).
Lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it (Jer. 30:3).
This bondage is shown to be spiritual in nature in the New Testament:
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abrahams seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (Jn. 8:31-36).
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph 2:1-2).
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (2 Tim 2:26).
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:7-8).
The people are also shown to be spiritual in nature rather than physical:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God (Gal. 6:15-16).
Finally, these spiritual people sing the song of Moses after the spiritual deliverance:
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3).
May we be blessed in this Old story as we find the New blessings in Christ!