MY SHORT REPORT EXODUS 13-32
The link that brought you to this page and the page title are a bit of a misnomer, because this short report is not long enough to cover so many chapters of the Bible. What the link and the title do, however, is track where we are in our plan to read through the entire Bible in 1 year. May each report pique your interest and help you to draw near to God. The Bible, James 4:8, tells us if we do so God will draw near to us. Works cited are at the end of the report. A chart follows the Works Cited page.
BIBLE READING—4TH WEEK—EXODUS 13-32: Last week’s Short Report looked at the plagues God used as He judged Egypt and found them wanting. They lacked a relationship with the only wise God (Ro 16:27) and they refused to wise up to their ruin and the total destruction of all the gods in their pantheon. This week’s Short Report looks at Christ in the book of Exodus and includes a Moses – Christ comparison chart.
Because of the subject matter, I’ll start this week with a couple of definitions on types. The first is from an article by LCMS Pastor Rev. William P. Terjesen titled Christ and the Tabernacle:
Because of the subject matter, I’ll start this week with a couple of definitions on types. The first is from an article by LCMS Pastor Rev. William P. Terjesen titled Christ and the Tabernacle:
|
All knowledgeable Christians know that the Old Testament (OT) prophesied and promised the coming of Christ. But many do not realize how frequently and in how many different ways these prophecies and promises occur. One form of prophecy is called a type. A type is a person, event, or thing in the OT that is a “type” of Christ, a shadow of which Christ is the body. For example, when Abraham was about to kill his son Isaac, God stopped him and provided a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. The ram was offered in the place of Isaac (Gen 22). The ram in the story is a type of Christ. Or again, when Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver (Gen 37:28) this was a type of Christ who was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. There are many, many types in the OT that find their resolution or fulfillment in the New Testament (NT).
|
The second definition, which I offer because I feel it helps to deepen our understanding, comes from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
|
TYPOLOGY. A hermeneutical concept [A method of Biblical interpretation] in which a biblical place (Jerusalem, Zion), person (Adam, Melchizedek), event (flood, brazen serpent), institution (feasts, covenant), office (prophet, priest, king), or object (tabernacle, altar, incense) becomes a pattern by which later persons or places are interpreted due to the unity of events within salvation-history. While most studies center upon typological links between the testaments, the OT itself has several such correspondences, e.g., the use of the Exodus in Isa. 52:7-12 or the wilderness in Ps. 95:7-12. The “type” is the original person or event and the “antitype” (Gk. antítypos; cf. 1 Pet. 3:21) the later “copy” that fulfils the former.
|
In their book Prepare the Way of the Lord Lessing and Steinmann have an entire page dedicated to “Christ in Exodus.” They start this section by talking about redemption, they say, “The verb גָּאַל, often translated redeem, first appears in the OT in Exodus 6:6. It denotes making a payment for a family member. Someone who acts as a redeemer therefore does so because he has a family connection with the person who is in debt or some other kind of need” (p. 92). While I read this paragraph Ruth and Boaz came to mind. In the book of Ruth, I remembered, Boaz, a redeemer kinsman, is viewed as a type of Christ. I now understand that this particular view of redemption comes to us from Exodus. While redemption’s door was opened back at Genesis 3:15, it was first expressed to the nation of Israel here in the sixth chapter of Exodus and we are given a beautiful account of redemption in the life of Ruth, King David’s grandmother! And of course, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (Jn 14:6) and the door (Jn 10:7).
Lessing and Steinmann continue by saying, “Yahweh’s decision to redeem Israel was based upon the fact that they were His fellow family members—indeed, they were His firstborn son (Exod 4:22). In a similar way Jesus is our Redeemer. As our Brother (Rom 8:29) who shares our human nature (Heb 2:14), He has paid off our debt of sin (Col 2:14) and we are free (e.g., Gal 4:5; Tit 2:14)” (pp. 92-93).
They also mention that we can see Christ in the first half of Exodus chapter 17—seven short verses which the ESV, NIV, and NKJV all label “Water From the Rock.” The Israelites sure loved to complain—a form of testing God (Deut 6:16)—and because God loves to test complainers He gave them something to grumble about. We know they left Egypt in April (Abib—the first month on their calendar) and they traveled three months to reach Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:1), which would be July. According to alternativeegypt.com “The summer months between June and August are the hottest when temperatures [along the Sinai Peninsula] hit 38 degree Celsius [100 degree Fahrenheit] on the coast.” In addition to shade, we all need plenty of drinking water in that kind of heat! So the children of God complained that they would die of thirst. Verse seven ends with a question: “Is the LORD among us or not?” In 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 Saint Paul answers that question, explaining that God and Christ were both there.
This Short Report can’t cover all the ways Christ is seen in Exodus, but for completeness I will say Lessing and Steinmann consider facts like Christ being called out of Egypt in the second chapter of Matthew, His being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4, and that Christ is the real Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7) that paid for our freedom. They also point out the “Christological allusions to the book of Exodus” as they are found in John’s Gospel (p. 93)
I also want to return to Rev. Terjesen’s article for a minute where he looks at the 25th chapter of Exodus. He acknowledges that the details of the tabernacle make for rather dry reading but explains, “When we pay careful attention to the information given, we learn that the tabernacle and it’s furnishings and ceremonies are all types of Christ and His saving work for sinners” (p. 2). On the following page we are told “the details and furnishings of the tabernacle typify the various phases and aspects of Christ’s saving work on our behalf. For example:
Lessing and Steinmann continue by saying, “Yahweh’s decision to redeem Israel was based upon the fact that they were His fellow family members—indeed, they were His firstborn son (Exod 4:22). In a similar way Jesus is our Redeemer. As our Brother (Rom 8:29) who shares our human nature (Heb 2:14), He has paid off our debt of sin (Col 2:14) and we are free (e.g., Gal 4:5; Tit 2:14)” (pp. 92-93).
They also mention that we can see Christ in the first half of Exodus chapter 17—seven short verses which the ESV, NIV, and NKJV all label “Water From the Rock.” The Israelites sure loved to complain—a form of testing God (Deut 6:16)—and because God loves to test complainers He gave them something to grumble about. We know they left Egypt in April (Abib—the first month on their calendar) and they traveled three months to reach Mt. Sinai (Ex 19:1), which would be July. According to alternativeegypt.com “The summer months between June and August are the hottest when temperatures [along the Sinai Peninsula] hit 38 degree Celsius [100 degree Fahrenheit] on the coast.” In addition to shade, we all need plenty of drinking water in that kind of heat! So the children of God complained that they would die of thirst. Verse seven ends with a question: “Is the LORD among us or not?” In 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 Saint Paul answers that question, explaining that God and Christ were both there.
This Short Report can’t cover all the ways Christ is seen in Exodus, but for completeness I will say Lessing and Steinmann consider facts like Christ being called out of Egypt in the second chapter of Matthew, His being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4, and that Christ is the real Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7) that paid for our freedom. They also point out the “Christological allusions to the book of Exodus” as they are found in John’s Gospel (p. 93)
I also want to return to Rev. Terjesen’s article for a minute where he looks at the 25th chapter of Exodus. He acknowledges that the details of the tabernacle make for rather dry reading but explains, “When we pay careful attention to the information given, we learn that the tabernacle and it’s furnishings and ceremonies are all types of Christ and His saving work for sinners” (p. 2). On the following page we are told “the details and furnishings of the tabernacle typify the various phases and aspects of Christ’s saving work on our behalf. For example:
|
• The Bronze Altar is a type of Christ our Substitute and Sacrifice.
• The Laver is a type of Christ our cleansing and regeneration. • The Candlestick is a type of Christ the Light of the World. • The Table of Shewbread is a type of Christ the Bread of Life. • The Incense Altar is a type of Christ our Intercessor and Advocate. • The Mercy Seat is a type of Christ our Propitiation. |
To reiterate an important point, even the dry, detailed portions of the Bible can be packed full of spiritual gems just waiting for us to find, if we will take the time to ferret them out!
~ Works Cited ~
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) 4 Volumes, 2nd ed. Bromiley, Geoffrey W., (Gen. Ed.), For the Olive Tree Bible App.
-Note: Christianbook also carries this book.
Lessing, R. Reed and Steinmann, Andrew, E., Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Concordia Publishing House, 2014.
Terjesen, William P., Rev., Christ and the Tabernacle.
~ Chart of Moses and Christ ~
