Ye Have Come to Zion

These are notes that I used in a video with the same title.

Genesis 1:1
The Bible cannot be about “salvation history”, as if all of the Bible describes only the means to redemption. God created in the beginning, and that creation was “good”. The degree to which creation was not fallen is the degree to which the Bible expresses something larger than salvation history alone.
Our Bible/Gospel doesn’t begin with Genesis 3 and end @ the cross
This verse expounds to us God’s purposes are larger than “salvation history” to envelop even the creation itself.
Revelation 21:1
To the degree Genesis 1:1 is about a physical heaven and earth, this is also about a physical new heaven and new earth (resurrected)

Genesis 1
1 Heaven and earth, light
2 Atmosphere and oceans (sea)
3 Land and vegetation
4 Sun, moon, and stars – separate light and dark as rulers
5 Birds and fish
6 Animals, reptiles/amphibians, humans
7 Rest
What God created on the first three days, He also made distinction and separation. What God created on the next set of three days, He used to fill what He made on the first three.

Genesis 2 – Revelation 21-22 comparison
2 trees (Gen 2:9)                       –          2 trees of life (Rev 22:2)
River (Gen 2:10)                        –          River (Rev 22:1-2)
Beauty (Gen 2:11-14)               –         Beauty (Reve 21:10-21)
Purpose (Gen 2:15)                   –         Purpose (Rev 22:5)
Marriage (Gen 2:18, 21-24)    –         Marriage (Rev 21:2, 9)
No shame (Gen 2:25)               –         No curse/shame (Rev 21:4, 22:3)
Sea (Gen 1:6-8)                          –        No sea (Rev 21:1)
Darkness (Gen 1:2-5)               –        No darkness (Rev 21:23-24, 22:5)
God’s presence (Gen 3:8, 10) –       God’s throne (Rev 21:22, 22:3)

The question is: How do we go from the Garden to the City? This gets at the heart of God’s purposes, the theme of the Bible, and eschatology.

2 Timelines:
Most people read the New Testament as the new covenant, and assume that we must look back at the Old Testament through our New Testament filter. The Old Testament is said to be looking forward to Jesus, and the New Testament looking backward to Jesus.
Hebrews 4:1-4 seems to indicate that the rest we enter into is not a New Testament thing, but established from the Garden. The Gospel itself is said to have been preached to they who came out of Egypt as well as to us. What Gospel is it that they heard, if Jesus had not yet been crucified to take away our sins?
The reality that God’s people of every generation live from is that eternal rest.
The earthly reflects the heavenly
Exodus 25:9
When we read the Old Testament, we need to understand that they were at a different part of God’s plan, but that God had still revealed to them His ultimate intention.

Garden compared to Tabernacle/Temple
Sea (Gen 1:6-8)                                –      Water from rock (Ex 17)
River (Gen 2:10)                               –      River (Eze 47:1)
Precious stones (Gen 2:11-12)     –      Breastplate of High Priest 12 stones (Ex 28:15)
Sun, moon, stars                             –      3 Types of light (outer, inner, Most Holy)
Stars                                                    –      Menorah (see Rev 1:20-21)
Mist (Gen 2:6)                                  –      Smoke (altar of incense)
Abad and samar (Gen 2:15) are the same words used for temple service (Num 3:7-8, 1 Chron 23:32)
I know some of these are a stretch, but notice the connection. The Old Testament sacrificial priesthood was about restoring unto Eden, which we’ve also seen is parallel to Zion, the New Jerusalem.

Tabernacle compared to Sinai
Washing basin                   –        Water from rock
Altar                                      –        Altar at base (Ex 24:4)
Menorah                              –        Lightning/fire (Ex 19:6/19)
Smoke of Incense             –        Smoke (Ex 19:16)
2 Trumpets (Num 10:2)   –         Trumpet blast (Ex 19:16, 19)
Showbread                          –         Manna
Ark of Covenant                –         God enthrones (Ex 24:11)
The Tabernacle was a traveling Sinai
Exodus 25:9, Hebrews 8:5
Moses goes up the mount and beholds the heavenly/eternal Tabernacle. That is the pattern the earthly is based off of. The entirety of the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifice is a reflection of something eternal.

Tabernacle/Temple compared to Rev 21-21
Ark of the Covenant                                 =   God’s throne (1 Sam 4:4, 2 Sam 6:2, Isa 37:16)
24 priestly families (1 Chron 24)         –   24 elders (Rev 4:4)
Menorah                                                       –   Seven lamps (Rev 4:5)
The Sea (1 King 7:23)                                 –   Sea of glass (Rev 4:6)
4 Cherubim (Ex 25:18, 1 King 6:23)       –   4 cherubim “in the midst of throne” (Rev 4:6)
4 Levites carry Ark (Ex 25:14, 37:4-5)  –   4 cherubim carry throne (Eze 1:22, 26-28)
Tablets of Testimony (Ex 32:15)             –   Scroll w/writing on 2 sides (Eze 2:9-10, Rev 5:1-2)
2 Altars (offering/incense)                      –   2 Altars (Rev 6:9, Rev 8:3-4)
Ex 19:16 compared to Rev 4:5
The tabernacle on earth reflected the tabernacle in heaven
Sinai was a manifestation of heaven on earth, and the tabernacle was a traveling Sinai. But God did not choose Sinai; He chose Zion.

Genesis 22
God tells Abraham to offer Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah. It doesn’t specify upon mount Moriah, but in the land of Moriah.
Abraham declares God will provide the lamb
God provides a ram
Exodus 12 – Passover requires a lamb, but God requires Israel to provide their own
John 1:29 – Jesus is called the Lamb of God (Gen 22:8)
Moriah has been identified as the area around Jerusalem
Notice Gen 22:14 – Mountain of the Lord
The Mountain of the Lord almost always refers to Zion, upon which the Temple sat (2 Sam 24:18-25, 2 Chron 3:1)
Ezekiel 28:13-14 – Eden was called the Mount of God
Would God be so specific to place Eden in a specific location upon the earth, which would later be called the region of Moriah, which would even later be called Jerusalem and Zion?

Hebrews 12:14-29
This isn’t replacement theology. This is the expression that we’re a part of the eternal reality, manifested in the earthly.
You have not come unto the reflection, finding the end in itself as the Tabernacle and priesthood of Aaron, but unto the eternal thing itself.

The whole Bible is attempting to explain and portray to us how God intends on making the eternal/heavenly unified and one with the earth. Eschatology (study of the end times) is the answer to that question.
If God chose Zion, then the physical Land is still important
If God chose Israel as His people, then they still matter
If God chose Jerusalem, then that Mountain is still the place where it shall be provided (Israel’s redemption, the Kingdom, nations’ redemption, judgment and mercy, etc).
God does not change His mind. Just because we don’t like it doesn’t mean that everything must now be ethereal and spiritual. The Kingdom is always spiritual and physical at the same time, ruled from one place, with one nation as God’s elect chosen people – Gentiles always having been grafted in.

Darkness You Can Feel – Exodus 10:21-29

For three days there is darkness in the land of Egypt, even a darkness that can be felt. This corresponds to the “three day journey” that Israel requests to make into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD their God. The Egyptians god Ammun Ra was the highest of all the gods. This plague would have been more than devastating to the religious system.

The word for “felt” in Hebrew is more than just a darkness that affects the inward man and hope. This kind of “felt” is the Hebrew word that signifies touch. There is a darkness over the land of Israel that can somehow be touched, and in that manner be felt. The Jewish commentary has somewhat dropped the ball on this, as with most all of the plagues. It attempts with all of its might to push away the emphasis of these plagues. It reasons them out, saying that the plague of darkness was the result of a massive sandstorm that comes every March. Because of the former devastations, this one would have been peculiarly intense.

My contention here is that these plagues are given by God, and even if God uses the natural elements around, that doesn’t then give us the right to word it away as “natural phenomenon”. This isn’t just something that takes place every March. This was a calculated affront to everything the Egypt represents. For this reason, the words of Pharaoh are harsh and direct toward Moses, that if Pharaoh sees Moses’ face again, Moses shall die.

At the beginning of the Bible, there is darkness upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovers over the waters. From that point onward, God seems to have a positive relationship with darkness. While we know that God is light, and that His Kingdom is the Kingdom of Light, and that Jesus is the Light of the World, and anyone who walks according to the darkness is not truly a follower of God, still we find somehow that God isn’t embarrassed or afraid of the darkness. There is a personification happening here, and darkness itself is an embodiment of something quite tangible.

When we go to Exodus 10:22, we read of this “thick darkness” that covers the land of Egypt. Then, a few chapters later (20:21), we find that God is dwelling in “thick darkness”. It’s the exact same phrase. How is it that the Spirit of God hovers over the darkened waters? How is it that God dwells in the “thick darkness”? How is it that God makes darkness canopies around Him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies (2 Sam 22:12)?

Darkness itself is a representation of mystery. What I mean is that the power of darkness is found in that it conceals, or hides. God did not eliminate the darkness at the beginning, because God uses the darkness to “hide” Himself in order to fellowship with humanity and His creation. There is a certain sense in which God cannot fellowship with us without this cloaking of darkness, because to see God face-to-face would kill us in our mortality.

But the serpent, who was craftier than any other beast of the field, usurped the darkness, manipulating it into something it was never intended to be. The darkness was simply meant to be a means by which God could fellowship. Satan used it to hide information from the woman, thus deceiving her. There is a manipulation happening here, and therefore our thoughts of darkness have become negative. The original intention of darkness was not something negative at all, though it was separated from light, and though it was kept guarded by “rulers” (Gen 1:16-18).

When we come unto Exodus 10:21, the darkness that can be felt is something altogether an anomaly. It is as though God is taking off the ruse, allowing for Egypt to experience – tangibly enough to even be felt – the exact spiritual state that they are in. They believe themselves to be following the gods of these phenomenon, keeping them satisfied, but ultimately they are worshiping demons. It’s a sad testimony to perceive.

I heard a story of a man who is within a prominent ministry. He had a dream that this ministry was hosting some sort of end-times teaching seminar at the fairgrounds. There were tons of people there, and they were having a great time discussing the subject matter. The people were breaking off after the messages and asking questions, and ultimately it seemed like everything was perfect. It was precisely at this point, during one of the messages, that serpents started raining from the sky and biting people. There was blood and death everywhere. The serpents were consuming the people, and pandemonium ensued. No matter how much the teachers or listeners tried, they could not command in the name of Jesus to get the snakes to cease. They had no authority over these serpents. The speaker then talked about how this dream shows him that he needs to begin to pray that God gives them authority over the serpents for when this happens.

I’m sad to be the one to bear bad news, but the reality is that this dream was not a “future” dream, but a “now” dream. This ministry, with all of its hype, and all of its impressive stature is currently at a place where people think that they are the pinnacle of Charismatic belief. If you want to know what ministry really has it all together, you point to this one. Even those outside of the Charismatic movement find it to be quite impressive. Yet, the truth is, the serpents didn’t “suddenly” start devouring people. The truth is, their eyes were “suddenly” opened, and they saw what was happening. The serpents have been devouring the people for quite some time, which I suppose is why I’ve never been impressed, though it is all the rage and hype within the denomination I was saved in.

The same is true here in Egypt. Yes, this was a physical judgment. Yet, please realize that the judgment was equally an unveiling of the reality that they were in. Egypt was already in this kind of darkness before the physical darkness ever was shown. This is the danger of what we can become. We can be a people who think ourselves to be shining with radiance unto the nations, and thinking that we’re the “light of the world”, and yet ultimately be the very land that dwells in darkness. How is it that you can know whether you are or are not in this kind of state?

I believe the answer to that question lies within something very simple. Pharaoh continues to harden his heart, and continues to refuse to consider what God is demanding. It comes down to this final time, when God Himself hardens the heart of Pharaoh. I think one simple question will answer for me whether you are in this place or whether you are a child of light. Are you willing to read all of the words of Scripture, seeking to understand what it is that God commands, and to simply obey what it says? As soon as your mind jumps to various passages that you think  don’t apply anymore (*cough – Leviticus – cough*), you have forfeited any possibility of not being in this kind of darkness. To refuse to even consider a large portion of God’s word because it is “law”, or it is difficult to understand, or it is boring, or it makes demands that no one can live up to, the game is up, and you are ultimately left without any hope of freedom from this darkness.

I’ve written before somewhat extensively on law and whether we’re supposed to obey it. The lack of our willingness to even consider it, which ultimately leads to the fact that so few even know what Leviticus or Deuteronomy actually says, only shows that we are precisely within the same haze that Egypt was. We have a god named Jesus, who we claim to be the God of the Bible, and yet we care very little about what this god says or requires. It’s a religious idolatry, relinquishing us from responsibility and from psychological condemnation, but it doesn’t actually bring us the freedom from law and sin that we claim to have. It might psychologically relieve our conscience, but that in no way demands that we have truly died with Christ and been raised in power.

The children of Israel were in Goshen, where there was light. Are you?

I Will Make A Ransom – Exodus 8:20-32

Within the fourth plague, it begins again with Moses meeting Pharaoh at the river. This is how the first plague commences. Here God begins something new. Now the children of Israel are being distinguished from the Egyptians. The Hebrew wording here is not “to make a distinction”, at least not in the strict English connotation of those words, but rather, “to make a ransom”. God tells Pharaoh that He shall “make a ransom” of Israel, and within that “ransom” is the distinction and deliverance of Israel from this plague. The obvious connotation from this is that if they’re delivered from the plague, they will also be delivered from Egypt.

It is here that we have a quite interesting dialogue. Pharaoh doesn’t seem to assert his authority over God this time. Outside of the fact that Pharaoh is the one who declares, “I will let them go”, you can’t seem to make out much of any notion that Pharaoh is denouncing God’s power, or yawning at such a thing. Whereas from the miracles performed before the first plague unto the previous plague, every time Pharaoh as been unimpressed and unburdened. Previously, the magicians claimed it was the finger of God to perform the third plague. Pharaoh wasn’t phased.

There is the reasoning back and forth, almost like a bartering. Pharaoh tells Moses to sacrifice in the land of Egypt, but Moses says that this will result in Israel being stoned. Many commentaries express that they don’t know why this would be the case. If we simply look at ancient Egyptian religion, we find that the lamb was a sacred animal. Moses knew that God required the lamb to be slaughtered, just like Abel knew before there was the giving of the Law. In the relationship of faith with God, there is something intuited and communicated to the inner man that allows one to know that it requires the sacrifice of the lamb, and not simply of a chicken, pig, or some other animal. Abraham told Isaac that God would provide the LAMB, and not the goat, bull, or deer.

This was a sacred animal to the Egyptians. Therefore, Moses knew they must leave to sacrifice it. I find it interesting, though, that later God will demand of Israel to sacrifice the Passover lamb in Egypt before they leave. Not only does He require this, but then also demands they put the blood on their doorposts for all of Egypt to see!

What begins as Pharaoh attempting to keep Israel within Egypt turns into him suggesting that they can leave, but not very far… Don’t venture three days out; just stay here in the region. This is not what God has said, and therefore there is no deal. The devil does this with us too. You can be a Christian; there is no problem with that. Just don’t start living in a righteous manner. Keep your drinking, your promiscuity, and other acts of the flesh, and you can call yourself whatever you want. When we refuse this, it turns into not going too far. Sure, live righteously. Tell people that sin is wrong, and don’t mince your words. Just don’t start to tell people that the mindsets that they have are wrong. Don’t start living by a different wisdom. Make sure that you keep your job and live by the conventional wisdom of the age. Go into debt, enslave yourself to your occupation and the bank, fill your life with so much that you have no time for prayer or Scripture reading, and then among all the piles of laundry and household chores, you can remind yourself that you’re doing fine because you’re going to church every Sunday and not doing the despicable things.

I just described to you the majority of conventional Christianity in the West.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, because Pharaoh will harden his heart and not let you go. You have an advocate with the Father, who is not simply the one who cleanses you from sin and your sacrifice of atonement, but is your Moses who stretches forth His rod and declares, “Let my people go!” It is the rod of iron that Jesus holds. To His people, it is the rod of God, the very rod that brings comfort to the sheep. To Satan and his darkened kingdom, it is the rod of God, the very rod that shall smash in pieces all of his kingdom and all of the nations he has deceived.

This plague is significant because of the discourse that we find here. It’s significance is found in the reality of knowing that God is on our side, and as long as we won’t give up, neither will He. He will plague the darkened kingdom, even sending it into darkness, in order to bring you out into deliverance. To exodus Egypt in this kind of “spiritual” sense is to come out of sin, come out of the false mindsets and attitudes of the world, and to come face-to-face with the living God. It is in that wilderness that Israel heard the voice of God and received the marriage covenant. It is there that we hear our hearts being beckoned, and if you won’t harden your hearts today, as you did in the rebellion, you can enter into that rest.

 

Our Priestly Heritage – Exodus 6:14-30

Genealogies are possibly the most boring (am I allowed to say that?), and yet sometimes also the most insightful pieces of Scripture. When you are able to trace the names through the Bible, you begin to put pieces together that you would have never noticed before. One of my favorite examples, because it brings such a massive perspective change, is to trace Nimrod and the cities that he established. You find Nimrod in Genesis 10:10-12, where he is the one who builds Nineveh (capitol of Assyria, who will later be a hostile enemy of Israel). Yet, it is also Nimrod who builds the tower of Babel, in the plains of Shinar, which is the exact location that the future Babylon would be built (the city, before it was a super-nation). Babylon was not only a hostile enemy of Israel, but is the prophetic kingdom of darkness upon the face of the earth (which is why Babylon shows up in Revelation 17, even though its been in ruins for centuries by that point).

Here in Exodus 6, we have the heads of the families mentioned. At the last, you have Levi, and you have from Levi the priestly family (Aaron). So, here is my question: Why is it that Levi is chosen instead of Reuben, Issachar, Judah, or some other tribe? What does Levi have that others don’t? Or, is there nothing that Levi brings to the table, and it is all God’s prerogative and Divine choosing?

First off, let us address one thing. When you begin to read the passage, you find Reuben first mentioned (see Genesis 29:30-32). He is the first born, and therefore the first genealogy. Then, we find Simeon, who is the second born to Israel (see Genesis 29:33). Then, when we turn to Levi, we find the genealogy all the way down to Moses and Aaron, but we don’t have a continuation of the genealogies of the other tribes. Obviously the point of this genealogy is not to show the heads of all the tribes, but to come unto Levi. But, then we can ask why Reuben and Simeon are even mentioned…

My best guess to why they are mentioned is to point out that Levi is not the eldest son, but it is who God chose to be the priesthood (which is the leadership until the kingship is established). We all know according to history, and according to Levitical/Deuteronomic Law, that the eldest is the one to get the birthright. Yet, in Genesis, over and over again it isn’t the firstborn, but some later son. You have Seth rather than Cain getting the blessing. You have Shem rather than Ham or Japheth. You have Abraham rather than Nahor. You have Isaac instead of Ishmael. You have Jacob instead of Esau. You have Joseph and Benjamin being loved more highly than the other twelve sons. You have Ephraim being blessed over Manasseh. And here in Exodus, you also have Levi instead of Reuben or Simeon getting the blessing of the firstborn.

This seems to be the way that God works (even with David being the youngest of his brothers). Traditionally, the first name is the firstborn. And so, with the sons of Levi, you have Gershon, the eldest, Kohath, and Merari. Then, you have the genealogy traced through Kohath. Kohath’s eldest is Amram, and it is Amram who was the father of Aaron (the eldest) and Moses. Now, in regard to Korah, I want to kill this bird here and now. When you read the Psalms, you find that certain psalms are either dedicated to or sung by the Korahites. We then think this means that Korah, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron (Num 16), had children who repented. That isn’t so. We have here in Exodus 6:21 that the second son of Kohath, Izhar, bore Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. The Korah mentioned in the Psalms would be of this genealogy, and not the rebellious Korah of Numbers. You find that they even had the honor of working along with the priests under David (1 Chron 6:31-38), but so did the other sons of Levi.

This genealogy ends with Eleazar, Aaron’s son, taking for himself one of the daughters of Putiel (only place name mentioned in Bible) as wife, and she bore him Phinehas. Phinehas is later going to be the one who steadies God’s wrath by throwing a spear through a Midianite woman and an elder of Israel who are weeping before the Tabernacle, and before Moses (Numbers 25:6-9). This elder so desperately wants to continue to commit idolatry with his wife that he will weep outside of the Tabernacle with her – right in the very face of God.

The place of this genealogy seems strange, unless you comprehend the Hebrew mind. In the Hebrew mind, you focus upon stories instead of chronology. So, for example, the book of Exodus opens up with the genealogy to connect from Genesis to the current time. Then, we move from there to finding the great oppression of Israel, the birth of Moses, the life events that led to Moses’ fleeing Egypt, Moses’ life in the wilderness, and then God calling Moses back unto Pharaoh. Wouldn’t it seem a good place to put this genealogy back in chapter 2 with the introduction of Moses? Yet, that isn’t the place that we find this genealogy. Instead, we find the whole of the backstory given, all the way through to Moses going unto Pharaoh, the oppression worsening, and God reassuring Moses of what is about to happen.

The Gospels also have this. Why does Matthew conflict so heavily with Mark, Luke, and John as far as chronology? Why do all of the Gospels have the same teachings and stories (save John being 92% original), and yet not a one of them have the same chronology of those stories or teachings? It is because each Gospel is being written with a certain intent in mind. There is a purpose behind the story, and a purpose behind the teaching, that while the story/teaching gives us great understanding by itself, when coupled with the events before and afterward, we find there is a larger reason why it is placed where it is. This is why John has stories that the other Gospels don’t, and why certain Gospels have certain stories or teachings, while the others seem totally oblivious to such events. They aren’t oblivious to the event, nor the chronology, but are desiring to put forth a certain argument beyond just the stories and teachings.

Here in Exodus, we have the opening scene of the book, which might be longer than most television shows or movies, but is nonetheless the opening scene to give us all of the background information necessary. From there, we transition to the credits, which is this genealogy of Aaron and Moses. From there, we transition back to the story, picking up where we left off, that Moses and Aaron go back unto Pharaoh and demand that he let the people go. Whether this encounter we’re going to go into in chapter 7 is a reiteration of chapter 5, I’m not sure. It certainly could be, but there are also some distinguishing marks. Either way, the passage at hand is not something to simply skip past because we find the genealogies boring or uninteresting. Within it we find the heritage of the priesthood, of which we are called.

In the Old Testament, you have even within the book of Exodus a priestly nation (Israel – Exodus 19:6), and then a priesthood within that priestly nation. So it is today, that you have the priesthood (Church) within the priestly nation. In Exodus, the priesthood is quite tangible, with certain duties that surround the Tabernacle/Temple. In modern times, with the Temple destroyed, the priesthood is spiritual. The whole understanding of what it means to be Israel is spiritual. Jacob wrestled with God and with man, and yet overcame. That is why he inherited the name Israel. It is no less true today. Just because natural Israel doesn’t fit the bill doesn’t mean it isn’t their call, for “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable”. I could make the same argument that in many ways the Church hasn’t fit that bill either.

What does it mean for us to be priestly, even in the New Covenant? One thing it must certainly mean is that we know our heritage. We might not be of the priesthood of Aaron, but that doesn’t nullify its significance. The Melchizedek of Genesis has no heritage, and that is the point, but we must realize that our heritage is found in Hebrews 11, and that we do have roots that go back to “Adam, the son of God” (Lk 3:38). That priestly heritage is everything that it means to be Levitical (of Levi).

Malachi 2:1-6 gives us that perspective. I’ve actually heard this quoted (the first half) to ‘prove’ that Israel is no longer God’s people, but it is now about the Church. It’s incredibly ironic that the very passages that these supersessionists choose are the very passages that will demand Israel’s chosenness if you keep reading.

“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your descendants and spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your solemn feasts; and one will take you away with it. Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant with Levi will continue, says the LORD of hosts. My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear me; so he feared me and was reverent before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.”

Can you follow that? Let me repeat, for it bears repetition: They who are priestly are they who 1) give glory to God’s name, 2) fear God, 3) revere His name, 4) have the law of truth in their mouth, 5) keep injustice far away from their lips, 6) walk with God in peace and equity, and 7) turn many away from iniquity. You know what this sounds like? It sounds like the very Davidic heart and character. The Kingdom of God is eternally a Davidic Kingdom. The heart of David is the heart of God, and the heart of God is the heart of David. The character of David is the character of God, and the character of God is the character of David. What David represents is the quintessential Jesus, and visa versa. If you want to know what it means to be priestly, you must know what it means to be Davidic. If you want to know what it means to be Davidic, you must immerse yourself in the Psalms, and within the books of Samuel and 1 Chronicles.

David was a priestly king, and a prophet as well. Jesus was also prophet, priest, and King. This is our heritage. This is our mandate. Unto this glory have we been called, whether we know it or not, and whether we know how to communicate it or not. We have fallen far short of this glory, but that doesn’t then negate our purpose. Let us run the race, casting off all restraint to come unto the beauty of holiness, seeing Jesus as our High Priest and the author of our confession, and seeing the great cloud of witnesses, who are our heritage, both enduring along with us, and not made perfect without us. Let this be the greatest motivation necessary, that the eternal covenant (known in the New Testament as the “new covenant”) is sufficient to save to the uttermost, because Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient.

Out of Egypt I Call My Son

Before we even begin this passage of Scripture, notice that we have gone from Moses’ birth, redemption through the ark, and being taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter straightway into Moses’ older years. Where is the man’s youth and childhood? Where are the teenage years? The are simply gone from the text, omitted via the author’s prerogative. We find this strange omission in the life of Jesus as well.

Within this passage of Scripture, we have at the forefront catastrophe, but at the end marvelous promise. The catastrophe is quite simple. Moses sees a Hebrew brother being mistreated by an Egyptian, and so he intervenes. What is supposed by many a mere calling out the Egyptian in his wrong turns into death. Many want to give Moses the benefit of the doubt, that he didn’t simply kill the Egyptian in cold blood, but that with his challenging the Egyptian for mistreating the Hebrew, a quarrel began.

What I find most interesting with this is not that Moses kills the man, but that Moses even stands up against the injustice at all. What was it within Moses that caused for him to behold the injustice? Can we truly attribute this to mere recognition of his brethren? Or, is it more likely that what we are beholding here with Moses shall later come up again, that he turns aside to see rather than being tunnel focused upon his own problems?

Either way, the response is quite telling. The next day Moses sees two Hebrews quarreling, and he breaks up the fight. One of the men then asks, “Will you do to me as you did to the Egyptian?” The other, so I assume, asks, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” Does this not foreshadow the appearing of our Messiah, that when He lays down His life for us, the reaction of the Jewish people were recorded as, “We will not have this man to rule over us”? Here is the thing: It is not sufficient to say, “Those Jews…” Just as there were some who rejected Moses from the very start, so there were some who rejected Jesus. Just as there were some who rejected God at Sinai, and preferred to dance around an altar naked, so too there are Jewish people who go to synagogue week after week only to discuss clever quips, but never to realize the reality of what is being presented. This is the sin that Stephen declares is Israel’s in Acts 7 – that she always has rejected her deliverers.

It is important to notice the perspective that is being communicated here. We are too quick to jump to conclusions in our anti-Semitism, or worse (anti-humanity). While others saw political and cultural greatness, with the Egyptian monuments and glory being arrayed, Moses is beholding oppression and slavery. In this, Moses identifies with his brethren. While the Hebrews are enacting a mindset that says, “Me first”, or, “If you don’t look out for number one, who will?”, Moses enacts a mindset of compassion, of putting others before self. In this, he is contrary to his brethren.

We have here the two wisdoms. The first displays culture and achievement, which is applauded in the Egyptian convenience and luxury, but also the entitlement and resentment of the oppressed. The Hebrews display quite well the mindset that there is no unity among even the brethren. Their torment is their problem; I have my own problems.

On the other hand, you have Moses who was adopted into the Egyptian household. He now must decide between the two “brethren”. In deciding to identify with the Hebrews, he does something that even the Hebrews were not: displaying the wisdom of God. God’s wisdom is one of priestly identification, one that lays down your own health, wealth, benefit, and/or reputation for the sake of justice and taking care of the least of these. It is in this act of selfless liberation that Moses shows that he is indeed qualified to be the deliverer of Israel. This act is then followed by another act of deliverance, but this time between women at a well and shepherds.

It is important to notice the connection between Genesis 24:11, 29:2-14, and Exodus 2:15-17. As with Abraham and Jacob, so now with Moses. This watering of the flock is later used with prophetic significance of treating the flock of God rightly, providing and caring for the sheep. In Exodus 2:19, the Greek eppysato hemas is used in the Septuagint, which is then quoted by Jesus in Matthew 6:13. This deliverance is a kind of deliverance from evil.

Our story then becomes one of God hearing the cry of oppressed Israel. He remembers the covenant that was made with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. This sets the stage for the next portion of Exodus. When Moses is sent back, God will plague Egypt with ten plagues. While Israel’s cry was heard by their God, the gods of Egypt do not seem to hear, nor deliver, the Egyptians from these terrifying plagues.

And so our question that we have for ourselves is how this relates to life. It is grand to learn these things, but something altogether nought if we only learn them. How does this apply to life? I might suggest that you read the prophets. Their words are ever and always words of anguish over the oppression, injustice, and absolute lack of care for those who have no voice. Where this narrative meets our daily life is right in the kishkes. How many people do you pass daily that are crying out, and yet you don’t hear their cry, because you have your own problems to deal with? Or, you don’t hear their cry because you’re too concerned with not being bothered or burdened. What about the modern Syrian refugee crisis? Do you think you are exempt because your government is taking care of that decision for you? If you don’t hear their cry, then you don’t hear the heart of God, nor do you know Him.

God Hears Your Cry – Exodus 1-4

Have you ever wondered why Exodus starts with a genealogy? I mean, honestly, if you read Genesis, you know this already. Why the repetition in the word of God? I think there are a couple reasons. First, there is the obvious connection to Genesis. This isn’t a new story with its own subject and plot. This story is connected to the story of the patriarchs. That brings me to the second reason. We all have a history. You are not a nobody. There is a heritage that you come from. When we trace back your ancestry, we find that it embraces a multiplicity of ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures, and stories.

So it is here with Exodus. These people are not nobodies. This story is about Israel, and we’ll see it is about Moses, but it is more than that. It is about you and I. Our lives are constituted by patriarchs and tribes that we can trace back unto Genesis 10. This genealogical past helps to shape us and who we are to be. The sociology question “nature versus nurture” inevitably declares, “yes”. That which you’ve inherited is more than just a family, but a culture and a heritage that runs through your veins.

How we got to this time, with you, determines the kind of Egypt that you will be found in. Biblical Egypt is more than the physical place. True, there are many places (such as this one) where we’re talking about physical Egypt. Yet, Egypt is a metaphor. Biblical Egypt is the place of bondage and slavery. It is the condition of sin we’re all born with. Our personal story develops in that even though we’re enslaved and desire freedom, we still learn the ways of Egypt and live it. Here is the reason for the genealogy.

For myself, I had discovered a porn magazine in my father’s desk drawer. Guess what the biggest temptation I had to overcome was. My dad drinks socially. Guess what I had to break free from. I’m German, and was terribly racist – a white supremist. I’m Irish, and had a temper to prove it. I’m English, and had the lofty mindset that thinks self smarter and more eloquent than others to show just how English I really am. Heritage matters. It is both the blessing and the curse. My Egypt was predicated upon my inheritance.

The sinful state is like a boa constrictor. Though I desire freedom, I find deeper constraint. That which I want to do, I do not do – namely, uphold the righteous lifestyle. In my life, I hated myself. I hated the things I did. While pleasure was there for a moment, and drinking numbed the pain for a while, I eventually woke up the next morning. Life itself is difficult enough without Egyptian task masters who continue to oppress and haunt you so that you cannot even find freedom in your dreams. Life becomes a blur. The questions you are asking others who have it all figured out are the very questions that would sit you in a corner weeping. The answers are futile, if not wretched. My mind spins day after day, moment after moment, panting after reality, but all I have are dreams of one day being able to “make it” – whatever that means.

Egypt is a place that we all know, but we hate it. If there is a God, then why doesn’t He deliver me? When I was in High School, I used to actually ask this. If God is real, then why don’t I feel any good emotion? There is no happiness, only bitterness. There is no joy, only sadness. There is no compassion, only anger. There is no love, only hate. Hate against my father, hate against my friends who hate me too. Most of all, hate against myself. I am my own worst enemy. The walls of the school are white, and the lockers green, and this only reflects my own heart. Whitewashed and envious. Self righteous toward others, all the while coveting the life they have.

The things I do not want to do – whether addictions, secret thoughts of the heart, escaping reality through movies, video games, or anything else, or whatever else might be masticating me – I find myself doing these things. Who will deliver me from this body of death?

This is the story of Exodus. At the end of Exodus 2, we read of a God who hears the cry. This God isn’t willing to listen without response. God always hears the cry of the oppressed. God always judges injustice. Therefore, the deliverer was born. Moses is called to deliver the people Israel; Christ Jesus was born to deliver all of humanity. The life of these two men are parallel when comparing the Gospel of Matthew and Exodus.

In Exodus 1, Pharaoh decrees that all of the Hebrew male children should be killed. In Matthew 2, the decree is sent through Herod that all of the male children in Bethlehem should be killed. Why does Satan always go after the children? Jesus’ father flees to Egypt. Just as Moses fled Egypt, so now Joseph flees Herod. Just as Moses is sent back to Pharaoh, Joseph received a dream to go back to Israel. Israel is brought out of Egypt and comes to the Red Sea. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan. After crossing the Red Sea, Israel travels 40 days to reach Sinai. Jesus is tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Israel is tempted in three different ways in the wilderness. Jesus is tempted three times by Satan. Israel comes to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. Jesus comes out of the wilderness and goes up on a high mountain to teach the Law. Jesus is our deliverer. He is our Moses. We follow Him in our own lives, just as we follow the pattern of Exodus to come out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

It was in the fullness of time that Christ Jesus our Lord appeared once and for all to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. It is when our sin is full, which is to say, when we hit rock bottom, that so often the children of God come to know God. Exodus 1-4 is my story. It is your story. For those of you who are still in the midst of your Egypt seeking freedom, then I pray you continue in this series and continue to cry out over the injustice you experience. May God deliver you from your own Egypt, and may He truly free you as He freed Israel in Exodus.

Exodus 1-24 Overview

Exodus begins with the patriarchs mentioned at the end of Genesis passing away. They join their fathers, and a new generation arises. This new generation is not only Hebrew, but the Egyptians also are passing over from the memory of Joseph to a new day where history is long in the past. A Pharaoh who does not know Joseph is center stage, and he begins to oppress the Hebrew people. The story goes that Moses sees his people being mistreated, and he attempts to stand up for them. This is to no avail.

Moses flees, and I’m sure you all know the story. We come to Exodus 2:23-25 where God hears the cry of the Israelites, and He will not allow that cry to go unanswered. Something within the heart of God always hears the cry of the oppressed – especially when it comes from His children. Thus, God sends Moses back to Egypt after 40 years of living on the ‘backside of the desert’. God sends plagues upon Egypt, and when the Egyptians cry out to their gods, there is no one to hear their cries.

We see in the book of Exodus a contrast being made. There is the God of the Israelites, then there are the gods of Egypt. The LORD’s spokesman is Moses; the gods of Egypt have Pharaoh. Pharaoh holds in his hand a shepherd’s crook to show that he has absolute power over the people of Egypt – like a shepherd over the sheep. Moses is told to use his staff – the shepherd’s crook – when performing miracles before Pharaoh. There is a war between two kingdoms, between two representatives, between two staffs. Who is God? Is it Yahweh – the God of the Hebrews? Or are the Egyptian gods truly Lord? Who is indeed the representative of the gods? Pharaoh, or Moses? Is the rod of slavery and oppression, that rod Pharaoh bears, truly the source or power? Or is Moses’ staff, the meekness of a broken shepherd the source of power?

Within this we find two wisdoms. There is the wisdom of the age that tells us force, coercion, threat, intimidation, and political power are truly the greater forces. An opposing wisdom, which cannot be comprehended by they who subscribe to the powers of the air, states that sacrifice, mercy, humility, and love are victoriously powerful. Which triumphs? Mercy, or judgment? Oppression or liberation? Force or humility? Intimidation or sacrifice? Violence or love?

Have you settled that issue in your own mind?

Moses goes unto Pharaoh and tells him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Let my people go!’ The reply is, ‘Thus says PHARAOH’. The plagues commence. At first, we would expect that God is plaguing the Egyptians for their cruelty. Yet, God says in Exodus 7:5 that the Egyptians shall experientially know the Lord. So, God must be sending these plagues against Pharaoh. Yet, in Exodus 7:17 God says that Pharaoh shall experientially know the Lord. So, who exactly is being targeted with these plagues? Notice Exodus 12:12. God says, “I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt“.

And all the people of God said… woah.

When Israel left Egypt, and when Pharaoh then pursued after them, it was not by God performing miraculous works among the Egyptians. It was by God plaguing the very kingdom of darkness, and by showing their power to be bankrupt. Don’t forget that before Elijah has a showdown with the prophets of Baal on Carmel that there were 3 1/2 years of drought. Baal was the rain god. Why didn’t he have power to reverse the command of Elijah? Here the Egyptian gods were supposedly powerful. Why could they not hear the cry and answer when the Egyptians called?

In the book of Revelation, many of the ‘plagues’ (judgments) are similar to the Egyptian plagues. We see water turned to blood, the fish die, the sun, moon, and stars are darkened, there are boils given to the beast and his followers, we see locusts, and we even see frogs in the book of Revelation. There is a reason. A ‘new exodus’ is taking place at the end of the age. The ‘new Egypt’ is identified as the Antichrist kingdom, which has its epicenter in Jerusalem (Rev 11:1). That marriage of the Antichrist and Jerusalem is identified later as ‘Babylon’.

Eventually we come unto Sinai, where God gives the Ten Commandments. It is at Sinai that we also find the glory of God first appear. Though the glory of God is manifest in Exodus 40, we also see His glory in Exodus 19. Thus, even within this first half of Exodus, the whole point is to go from bondage to freedom to glory. This is the progression of Exodus. It is the story of us all. God has redeemed us, and He has sealed us with His Spirit as a deposit for our inheritance with Israel at the resurrection. Let us begin to now break down some of the pieces further, until we finally come to each individual chapter and passage with fresh understanding.

Overview of Exodus

The book of Exodus can be divided into two parts, both of which lead unto the greater story. It follows directly on the heels of Genesis, where the book left off with the patriarchs. Exodus ends with the building of the Tabernacle and the glory of God filling it. We find in the latter part of Exodus that God desires to dwell in the midst of the people, and not necessarily within the Tabernacle. Thus, we can safely conclude that the Tabernacle was a foreshadowing of Jesus, when God would walk ‘in the midst’ of His people, and all should behold His glory.

In the larger narrative of Scripture, we see the first five books of Moses being quite explicit in their direction. God creates the world, sin enters, God establishes a plan of redemption through a ‘seed’ of the woman – eventually to be recognized as the people Israel. We then come unto Exodus where God delivers His people from Egypt to establish them in the land of Canaan, and God comes and dwells in the midst of His people as a sign to the nations. It is through Israel that nations must come in order to come to God. Leviticus establishes the worship at the Tabernacle, later the Temple. It is the progression from the Garden unto Zion. Leviticus is the restoration of the Garden of Eden, because it puts us again in right relationship with God. From Leviticus we progress toward Numbers, where we find the ‘wandering’ through the wilderness. Eventually we come unto Deuteronomy where God is now giving Israel the land, and thus we read the recapitulation of the covenant, and the consequences of obedience or disobedience.

Exodus is the book that leads us from bondage unto glory. It begins with the acknowledgement that there is a kingdom contrary to God. What has up to this point been elusive in definition is now defined as “Egypt”. In Genesis 10-11, we find the ‘great city’ (later to be designated as Babylon and Nineveh) at the plains of Shinar where the nations disobey the Lord’s command. Now this is personified in Egypt instead of Babel. Egypt is the nation of bondage. It is the place of slavery, whether physical or spiritual.

We see later the Apostle Peter using the language of coming out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Genesis 1 speaks of ‘evening and morning’, whereas we would expect ‘morning and evening’. The whole of Scripture is actually hinged upon the vertex of Exodus. God is the one who brings us out of darkness and into light, out of slavery and into freedom, out of shame and into glory. The first half of Exodus thus reveals to us the cosmic plan of God to bring us out from that place of bondage and oppression. God plagues the kingdom of darkness, for Egypt is only a parable and not literally to be taken as wicked inherently. The second half, once freedom is obtained, is devoted to the building of the Tabernacle and the glory of God manifesting upon the earth.

This second point is critical. Exodus does not leave us with some sort of sacerdotal system, but rather the glory of God. The same is true of Leviticus. While it is true that the Tabernacle represents an entire religious system that we’ve been set free from, it is not true that the Tabernacle itself was originally intended for that bondage. What was at the first glorious was eventually manipulated into something hideous. God originally gave the plans on the top of Mount Sinai ‘after the pattern’ that Moses saw. It is my belief that Moses actually went up into heaven itself, and not merely upon a mountain. Moses saw God, interacted with God, saw the throne room that John would later express in Revelation 4, and was given instructions on how to build the Tabernacle after the very splendor that he beheld.

When we read Exodus, our main objective is this: how do we, who are also patterned after the Exodus in our lives, go from being enslaved by the kingdom of darkness to freedom to building for God the very house that He shall dwell in to His glory being manifest upon the earth? Of course, part of this is eschatological. We won’t experience it until Jesus returns. However, part of it is very much practical to the here and now. We are jars of clay with hidden treasure within. We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit – not singularly, but plurally. We are knit together as yarn is woven into a beautiful scarf. We are built together as living stones, each one building up and supporting the others, while at the same time being built up and supported by those around us.

There is much that the Tabernacle can teach us in our day and age. Yet, it is one of the subjects most refused in modern Christendom. Sadly, our Christianity is based upon New Testament texts rather than the Old Testament. We have used the New Testament to supplant instead of supplement. With that in mind, I hope that I can restore some of the beauty of Exodus. I hope that I can go beyond Exodus and expound some of the magnanimity of our New Testaments. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot because we haven’t grappled with the Old Testament – especially those texts about laws and regulations.

I confess that the first half of Exodus is glorious, but my favorite is actually the latter half about measurements and trinkets. These things reflect realities in heaven, and therefore ought to be considered most carefully. Why is Moses told these bizarre measurements of ‘half cubits’ instead of the full cubit? It is almost as if there is another ‘half’ in heaven that is not complete without the earthly counterpart, nor the earthly complete without the heavenly. Therefore, let us cast off restraint in wrestling these texts. I also confess that I am not the scholar to engage these texts appropriately. However, I have sadly not found any other thorough examination.

Therefore I give this into your hands. I know there are flaws, but I know there are marvels. Wrestle with me as we both examine Exodus afresh.

The End Shall Come Like A Flood – Rev 12:13-17

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down into the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man-child. And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness in the her place, where she is nourished there a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast our of his mouth water as a river after the woman, that he might make her carried away by a flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, they keeping the commandments of God and holding the testimony of Jesus.

This first verse (13) parallels Rev 12:5, and the following verses expand verses 5-6. We saw the woman being chased into the wilderness to a place prepared for her, and ‘they’ take care of her for 1,260 days. Here in verse 14 we read of a time, times, and half a time. This comes directly from Daniel 7:25 and 12:7. John is claiming that whatever was spoken of by Daniel in his prophecies is what is unfolding before us here.

For “eagles wings” see Ex 19:4 and Isa 40:31. Just as God rescued Israel from Pharaoh, He shall rescue her from the Antichrist. “She was nourished there” goes back to verse 6 where “they” take care of her. The 1,260 days is 42 months, which is thee and a half years. Time, times, and half a time is based upon the feasts, that a full cycle takes us from Passover to Passover. Thus, a time is one year. In chapters 11, 12, and 13 the time period is given over and over explicitly so we all know exactly what John is referring to. This is the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. The time of Israel’s peace during that first half is over. She is now being persecuted.

There is a multiplicity of Old Testament references to the end of the age being “like a flood”. Compare Daniel 9:26, Psalm 18:4, Isaiah 8:7, 2 Samuel 22:5, Psalm 32:6, 69:5, Jeremiah 46:7-8, Hosea 5:10, Daniel 11:40, and Psalm 124:4. We can also see the dragon called a ‘water monster’ in Ezekiel 29:3, 32:2-3, and Psalm 74:13. The Leviathan of Isaiah 27:1 most likely refers to the Antichrist that comes out of the sea (see Rev 13:1). It has occurred to me, whether right or wrong, that Jesus’ teaching of the wise and foolish builders could certainly apply to this. He who is wise, which certainly has a Daniel-ish flare to it (see Dan 11:33-35), builds their house upon the rock so that when the floods come, their home is not taken away by that flood.

We have see previously that the woman is Israel, and we also took a look at the end time stratagem of her final sifting through the wilderness to come to the knowledge of her God. Who is the earth that swallows the water? There is much interest in that the woman stands on the moon and has her face like the sun, but the earth is not mentioned (12:1). Here the earth plays a vital role. Now, in Revelation 12:12, the saints are in heaven, but woe to the earth and sea. Is there a correlation? I actually doubt it. The result of the earth swallowing up the river is that the dragon then goes after the woman’s “other offspring”.

It is assumed by some that because the “other offspring” are the Church that this man-child cannot be they who overcome. I don’t mock this thought, but do wonder why John would have such a largess gap between verses 5 and 6. I also wonder how verse 4 is before the birth of Jesus and His ascension. Whether we take verse 4 to mean saints or demons, the latter being explained in verses 7-9, it causes us to wonder when that took place before the coming of Jesus. I hold to the notion that these “other offspring” are they who have not yet overcome, and therefore are still very much on the earth (rather than being ‘caught up’ and rejoicing in heaven).

To overcome is simply to come to a place of maturity in Christ that you are no longer anything like the world. You have ‘overcome the world’. We will see in Rev 13:7 that the Antichrist “overcomes” the saints. This overcoming is in relation to temptation as much as it is with death. For John, the issue of overcoming is not the issue of martyrdom. There is an overcoming by the laying down of our lives, just like Jesus said to take up your cross and follow him, but that does not entail your physical expiration. We take up our crosses, yet we continue to live. That is the mystery of eternal life. Somehow heaven is here and now, yet it shall come later.

The earth swallows the river, much like the earth swallowing up Korah in Numbers 16:30. I believe that this is a pattern that John is referring us back to. Korah was not content with being a Levite, but demanded the priesthood also. Satan was not content being the angel of light, and some claiming he was even the very worship leader and light bearer of heaven, but demanded to sit upon the throne of God. Similarly, the Antichrist is not content to simply be a great world ruler, but must be the sole dictator of the world who is worshiped by all peoples and nations. The earth swallows up the river, which is to say, takes the full force brunt of the persecution spewed at the woman.

Satan desires the woman to be slain. This is the scandal of specificity. Satan has always had his eye upon Zion and upon that Jewish nation. Even before the Land was significant, Satan had established the cursed Canaanites in that land to defile and pollute it. Even before the people were anywhere near their prophetic destiny, Satan desired to destroy them in Egypt. He has sent various nations and peoples against them throughout history (Philistines, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, and even much of Christian history is plagued with anti-Semitism). Even now, while they are obviously outside of God’s plans and purposes for her, Israel is quite explicitly targeted and hated among the nations.

That opposition and hatred shall culminate at the end of the age into a flood of overwhelming persecution. Just like Nazi Germany hunted down every Jewish man, woman, and child, so too at the end of the age will only one thing matter: blood. If you have Jewish blood within your veins, you shall be a target. It has nothing to do with whether you are of a different religion, a significant figure in society, or if you pledge allegiance to this ruler. All that matters is that you are Jewish, and therefore God’s elect.

The Christian Church, both Jewish and Gentile, shall in that day rise to her ultimate destiny. She shall take in the Jewish people, just like Corrie Ten Boom and others, and thus receive the full force of that flood of anti-Semitism. In that day sentiment will not save you. It will not be enough that you have sentimentality toward Israel. To stand with Israel in that day will mean your death. You will not have food, water, shelter, or safety. All things will be taken from you – all rights and luxuries. Unless you ‘repent’ and take the mark of the beast, you shall have no way of living.

This, of course, begs the question: how shall we live? If we cannot buy, sell, or trade, then how shall we even have food and water to survive any amount of days or weeks? Don’t forget verse 6. God has prepared a place in the wilderness for that woman to flee. How shall you survive? It shall be in taking seriously the call of God to establishing communities of believers in the wilderness places of the nations. You need to flee, even now, before the time has come, so that God might prepare you into a vessel that can take in the Jewish people.

It might very well be that they who overcome are they who take seriously the call of God, knowing the testimony of Jesus (namely, this testimony that we are reading through – the book of Revelation – which is the spirit of prophecy), and therefore flee into the wilderness before the appointed time to be established as a place of refuge in that appointed time. The “rest of her offspring” may very well be they who did not take seriously, nor even consider the possibility, this high calling, and therefore are existing in the hostile places along with Israel who is now fleeing. To remain in Babylon, which is the entire world system, is dangerous. It places you directly in the mouth of the enemy, so that at any moment, if he should desire, you can be devastated, if not killed.

What do we do now? I would seriously consider these things, and in light of considering them, I would seek the Lord to see if He shall reveal unto you precisely what you are to do. Should you sell your home to buy a place in the wilderness? Should you seek out someone who has a place already? Should you gather with a few other families to pool together and buy a property where you can go from house to house daily? Should you find an old apartment complex, or a street in a suburb, to buy up all of the houses and fill them with your community? These are only thoughts. Only the Lord knows where He shall need you. This is why it is called “overcoming”. To have no part with the world means to seriously consider these hard questions. Selling everything to take up the ultimate purposes in God is something that many take lightly. Does God actually command us to do this? It depends on what you mean by “command”.

In the next series of posts we shall examine the Antichrist and False Prophet. We’ll see a bit of their kingdom, and how it opposes the Kingdom of Christ. While the spirit of Jesus is one of sacrifice – even to love not your life unto death – the spirit of this other kingdom is one of gratification. It is not expedient to be a Christian, but it is worth it. We are not promised an inheritance with this world. We are promised to inherit with Israel when Christ Jesus shall return and establish Zion upon earth.

Final Redemption – Lev 27

*warning: extremely long post*

In Leviticus 27, we find that God says anything vowed or pledged to the Lord is His, and in order to take it back, you must purchase it. Now, this is somewhat obvious in the context of how to interpret. When you give something to someone, it is no longer yours. It is theirs. When you give something to God, it is now God’s. In order to get it back, you must buy it from God. This has a couple implications. The first is the obvious one: don’t be a taker-backer. Don’t be that person that will always remember what it is that you’ve given to someone and hold it over their heads forever. You gave it away, so it is no longer yours. The second implication is in reference to this vowing unto the Lord. Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vows. It is better not to make a vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.”

I’m sure we’ve all prayed those “if you will” prayers. “God, if you will get me out of this circumstance, then I promise that I will never (fill in the blank).” It would be better to not vow than to at that moment make a hasty vow only to not fulfill it. It reminds me of a joke that I heard about a wealthy Jewish man. He wasn’t observant, never really went to synagogue, didn’t perform the regular traditions. One day he is supposed to be at this important meeting. It’s the most important meeting of his career. This will either make him very wealthy or will sink his company. He does everything that he can to make sure that he will be at that meeting on time and prepared. The day comes, and the man’s alarm doesn’t go off. But, no big deal, he woke up early enough anyway. He just didn’t wake up as early as he had hoped. He gets out into traffic, and there is unexpected roadwork to prevent him from being on time. Frustrated, he eventually makes it through the roadwork and to his office. As he is circling the parking lot, he realizes that because he is later than usual, there are no spaces available. Panicked, the man prays, “HaShem, I know that I’m not a very good observant Jew. If you will come through for me this one time, I will…” At that very moment a car pulls out of their parking spot, and the man says, “Never mind!”

Honestly, it truly is better to keep our mouths shut, even when we’re repenting and saying we’ll never commit that sin again. It is better to be found in honesty before God than to speak sincere lies. You might be sincere and truly detest what you’ve done, but it is not good to confess and say you’ll never do this again only to recommit the same sin a few days or a week later. This is vowing to the Lord only to take it back.

At the end of the chapter, which is really what I want to focus on this time, is this mention that the firstborn is the Lord’s. Only if it is unclean may it be bought back. We looked at Exodus 4:22 multiple times in this series. Israel is God’s firstborn son. And, they are unclean. So, God has established an end time payment for His people. We read in the New Testament of how we have been bought by the blood of Jesus. There is still a future redemption to come, though. I want to lay out as concisely as I can some of these prophetic words.

When Jesus returns, he sets up shop in Jerusalem. It is from Zion that the law goes forth, and out of Jerusalem goes the word of the Lord. Israel is at that time finally knowing the Lord their God, and we will fulfill our purpose of being the priestly nation to the nations. More Scriptures than I can quote speak of the ingathering of Israel, and it is interesting that with many of these Scriptures comes a re-gathering as well. When they are “ingathered” to Christ, they will then also be gathered again from all nations unto which they have been sifted. This implies a final sifting, and that Israel’s current occupancy in the Land will not remain forever.

If the Jewish people dispersed even currently throughout the world, and to be sifted again through all nations, are to come back to Jerusalem, what are some of the terms of that gathering? I think of the Exodus where God told Israel that they will not flee. They will go out with joy like royalty (Exodus 3:21-22, 11:2-3). Isaiah 11:11 that says that God will gather His people a second time from “Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonian, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah fro the four quarters of the earth”.

My mind flashes to that verse that is later in Isaiah where the prophet foretells of the nature of their coming. “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will carry your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on your shoulders. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who home in me will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 49:22-23). Just like in the Exodus, Israel does not return in gloom or despair. Contrary to that thought, it is written, “The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will be upon their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). God will do great things in their midst. They will see miracles before their eyes as they wander the wilderness of the nations. Isaiah 35 states earlier that “the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped” – obviously an undoing of Isaiah 6:9-10 – “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

Israel will survive their time of trouble because of the providence of God. Miracles will burst forth, both through the Church as well as in the literal wandering of the wilderness. The divine character being manifest to Israel is what God meant when saying: “I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

Ezekiel saw the devastation of Israel. God speaks to Him about how He will strike their hearts with fear and terror. By the time they come to this point in the narrative, God has already been striking at that heart of stone. Here in Ezekiel 36 we have cogent and precise words. These are calculated. God gathers them from the nations – even upon the shoulders of kings and queens – and it is in this divine manifestation of love that Israel breaks down and weeps. At the coming of Christ, the people of Israel have already gone through torture. What is a judgment upon them is an act of mercy and love, for Jesus even told the Church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” When the power of that people is broken, as is mentioned in Leviticus 26:19, they have finally come to the place where they can see God and accept Him. It takes ruthless breaking upon them for it to come, but so it is with us all.

This is why Isaiah 14:1 starts with the words, “I will have compassion on Jacob.” Jeremiah 3:18 states that “in those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.” That divided house that has been at enmity with one another since the time of Rehoboam will be joined once again. Christ will break down the wall of hostility between them. Yet, Isaiah 14:1 goes a step further in even adding the detail, “Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.” Not only will Israel and Judah be united, as Ezekiel 37:15-28 also suggests, but even the foreigners and Gentiles will be added to them. Guess who that is!

Zechariah 10:10 tells us that “there will not be room enough for them.” We find the same sentiment in Isaiah 49:20-21 when we read, “The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who has brought these up? I was left all alone, but these – where have they come from?’”

Jeremiah tells us that among those who return will be “the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them besides streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son” (Jeremiah 30:8-9).

We see in Ezekiel 20:41: “I will accept you as a fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered.” This, no doubt, comes from the pleasing aroma of God’s sacrifices in Leviticus, which Paul also states that we are the “fragrance of Christ.” We have been brought out of our own nations and unto Zion through Christ. The fragrance of Christ will in that day be at work in Israel, which will cause them to also have “singleness of heart and action” (Jeremiah 32:39). This also reminds me of something Paul said to the Corinthians, where he encouraged them to be one in spirit and heart. Do you see how the new covenant Scriptures affects the way that we live? And yet we also know there is a coming time where the new covenant shall be fulfilled to the uttermost.

The importance of recognizing the return from the nations is critical. We spoke briefly about how the return in 1948 could not be this final return. Do you see why? Though Israel returned with gladness and joy, Isaiah 51:11 tells us that “sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Sorrow and sighing has not fled away, and indeed Israel’s enemies are on every side. The Gentiles did not bring Israel back. Ezekiel 28:26 says that the Israelites will live safely and build houses and plant vineyards. The abundance of Scripture on this subject is simply embarrassing. The fact that we as the Church have pretty well not even recognized this tells us just how Scripturally nonliterate we are. We have every ability to read the Bible, but we don’t.

“So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.” This passage from Jeremiah 23 shows us that this final sifting and deliverance will be greater than the very exodus itself!

Isaiah 31:5 has an interesting phrase. God says that He will come down upon Mount Zion to do battle, but it says that He will “pass over it and will rescue it.” This, of course, should have us immediately think of Exodus. The Lord came with the spirit of death, and those who had the blood upon their doorposts were “passed over”. What is the blood upon the doorposts? God says, “Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it.” Think back to Isaiah 4:5. “Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy.”

The blood on the doorposts is the Lord Almighty. We know this to be Christ, our Passover Lamb. Yet, in Isaiah 4, we find some more interesting information here. Christ is the Passover Lamb, and His blood is sprinkled upon the doorposts of our lives. Yet, that same Lord Almighty that will be over Mount Zion as a shield to protect her in Isaiah 31 is described in Isaiah 4 as the cloud by day and fire by night. Above all of this glory is a canopy. What does that mean? This is no doubt a chuppa. Once again we see the redemption of Israel takes place at the marriage of the Lamb.

When Israel is regathered from the nations unto the Land, she is given the obligation to destroy all of her idols. By this time, since the coming of messiah has already taken place, Israel and all the Jewish people are believers. The idolatry in the heart has been eradicated. The outworking of that heart transplant is the destruction of the idols that fill Israel – whether graffiti, occult temples, whore houses, or the abomination of desolation. God gives the clear charge to destroy the idols. In Isaiah 27:9, we read about the altar stones being like chalk stones ground to pieces. No Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing. The children of Israel will destroy all of her idols, and in that they find their full redemption.

Romans 11:26: “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.’” Here we have a quotation from Psalm 14:7. However, this could also be a quotation from Isaiah. Isaiah 59:20 reads, “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins…” We discussed briefly the destruction of the idols. Isaiah 27:9 speaks of the destruction of the idols, but the first part of that verse reads, “By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin.” It is not simply that the idols need to be cleaned up because God wants to have the Land purged. The destruction of the idols signifies the full redemption of Israel. This gets back to Leviticus 27.

“Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” (Deuteronomy 12:2-3) “When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-6)

We find that Isaiah prophesied about the time of their regathering, “The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.” (Isaiah 32:14-15) The Spirit is poured out from on high upon the whole house of Israel. As it is written, “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them.” (Jeremiah 31:31) What does it mean that they will not break this New Covenant?

Paul answers that in Romans 7. They who are dead are no longer bound to the Law; therefore we who have died with Christ are no longer bound to the Law, but instead are bound to Christ. Israel, while they are currently bound to the law, and therefore bound to death and sin, will be released from their oppression to be made new in Christ. Jeremiah continues: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” Compare this with Ezekiel 36: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart” – the same heart mentioned before by Jeremiah with the Law written upon it – “and put a new spirit within you” – the sealing of the Holy Spirit unto Christ – “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Isaiah 12:3 speaks of Israel drawing water from the wells of salvation with joy. We know that this water is the living water mentioned in John 7:37-38, of which we as believers of the New Covenant. This baptism of the Spirit for Israel takes place at the return unto a land filled with “vile images and detestable idols” which Israel will have to remove. Ezekiel 11 continues from that phrase to say, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and given them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.” (Ezekiel 11:18-21)

Zephaniah 3:11-13 adds, “On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. But I will leave within you the meek and humble who trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” Israel shall at this time have a spirit of humility, which is the spirit of Christ. No longer will they be prideful or haughty, not because God will destroy all who have pride and haughtiness, but because God will pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication upon the remnant (Zechariah 12:10). All men are prideful and haughty, thus we cannot say it is somehow that these who survive are not.

We know that it is not because of their lack of pride that they are spared, but rather that God will “judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.” (Ezekiel 34:17) For this reason we have a verse in Zechariah 9:11-12 about God freeing the prisoners from the waterless pit and restoring twice as much to them. It is “because of the blood of my covenant with you” that God redeems Israel. What exactly is that “blood of [His] covenant”? “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The very wine that we drink, the bread we break, as ministers of the New Covenant is the symbol of Israel’s redemption. Not because of their humility, but rather because of Christ’s atonement will God restore them.

They will meet with God in the wilderness, where God has set a table for them, and that table is Christ. We break the bread and we give them the wine of the New Covenant. We display to Israel during her final calamity the reality of the New Heaven and New Earth at work within us – not because God has already established them, but because though we are in the world we are not of the world. While the earthly Jerusalem is currently the son of the slave woman, the heavenly Jerusalem is free (Galatians 4:24-26). We are not under the bondage of the earthly Jerusalem, but have been freed for freedom’s sake (Galatians 5:1) to drive the Jew to envy. By our mercy they shall obtain mercy (Romans 11:31). For this reason, we lay down our lives as living sacrifices. We are the offering. We are the bread broken for them. Our blood is the wine poured out, because Christ is in us, and we are His body. This isn’t to diminish the work of Christ, but all the more to exult it.

When Israel shall taste of that New Covenant wine for the first time after she has been restored, “a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more.” (Zechariah 13:1-2) What day is this? It is the day of the return of Christ. Up to this point, Israel has been fed with “the bread of affliction” (Deuteronomy 16:3, Isaiah 34:20), but now “your teachers will be hidden no more.” (Isaiah 34:20-21) Who are these teachers Isaiah is speaking of? They are the ministers of the New Covenant – the Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ Jesus our Lord. They are the wise mentioned in Daniel 11:33-35. “With your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ Then you will defile your idols overlaid in silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, ‘Away with you!’”.

It is for this reason, because their teachers are no longer hidden from their eyes, and because they drink deeply from the well of salvation the eternal Spirit, that Isaiah later says, “But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting.” (Isaiah 45:17) Obadiah 17 declares, “But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will by holy, and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance.” Of this inheritance, Paul writes concerning the believers, “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Moses asks, “Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?” (Deuteronomy 4:34) Zechariah 8:6 then continues this thought by comparing it to the end time exodus back to the Land: This is what the Lord Almighty says, “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of the people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” This reminds me of a question that Jesus asked in Luke 18:8. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

We saw in Isaiah 10:20-23 that there would come a time when Israel will no longer rely on him who strikes them down – the Antichrist – but now returns to the Lord. In the verses leading up to this statement, we find verse 17: “The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and briers.” In a single day… There are few verses that speak of this, but many that speak of “the Day of the Lord.” Why the “Day” and not the “Days”? Some have speculated that the Day of the Lord is a period of time, and that the Hebrew word yom can have that loose translation. I’m not entirely convinced. There are some references to the Day of the Lord that seem to be outside of the return of Christ, this is true. However, the vast majority can all be found in a single day, or maybe to better word it, can be the result of a single day.

The return of Christ is the Day of the Lord. It is upon that one day that all of history pivots. The two advents of Christ are the two hinges that we understand the entirety of the Bible to swing upon. While we understand that there is more that happens before and after the return of Christ, it does seem as though the defeat of the Antichrist, the locking up of Satan in his prison, the redemption of Israel, and the banner set up for the nations to behold the glory of God are all accomplished in a single day. From that day, there are other things that might take longer, such as the rebuilding of the ruins, the bringing back of the Diaspora, the destruction of idols, etc. Yet, those things that might take longer than a day to accomplish in no way should be considered factors to speak against the notion of the Day of the Lord being a single day.

For example, we read in Ezekiel 36:33-36 that “on the day I cleanse you from all your sins,” God will resettle their towns, the ruins will be rebuilt, the desolate land will be cultivated, the cities will be fortified, and the land will be replanted. Do we conclude that because it says, “On the day” that all of these things take place in a single day? Of course not. Yet, we also do not consider that because these things take multiple days that God is intending that “on that day” would actually refer to a period of time. When it says in Zechariah 3:9, and is also repeated in 9:16, “I will remove the sin of this land in a single day,” we can be confident that the removal of sin is indeed accomplished in a single day.

One day, and the whole of the creation is restored back to its original intent in God. Isaiah 66:8 asks the question, “Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?” Yet, no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Does God bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? There is a travail that takes place in the people of God. That travail is the impregnation and birthing of the nation of Israel. This delivery doesn’t take ages, but only moments. It is upon the return of Christ, of which we can hasten His return according to the apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:12). One thing is certain: we cannot hasten that day by “doing”. It is not about what we do, nor about attaining higher righteousness. Such mentality is still under the bondage of the law. Our hastening of Christ’s coming can only be done in our intercession on behalf of Israel.

To sum up, then, we see that the ultimate redemption of Israel comes about through their resurrection. The payment must be made for them to go from clean to unclean. God Himself made payment for them in His own blood, and just like we as believers have also had to go through death to taste resurrection, the whole nation of Israel will go through death to taste resurrection. This is the beauty and logic of God. We see the Scriptures attesting for us the immense prerogative of God. For God to redeem His firstborn, He must pay for them in His own blood, and then they must also pass from death to life. For, the wages of sin is death, and no one can be set free from those wages. We all taste death. We will either taste it in this life or in the next life, but we will all pay those wages. The difference between the two is that to taste of death in this life will result in the power of God unto resurrection, but in the next life there is no remedy.

This concludes our study of Leviticus. It begins with the means of salvation for the people of God, and it ends with their redemption. Everything in between is the answer to that perplexing question of how we go from the Garden to Zion. The question to ask at this point is: Have you come unto Zion? If not, what is retraining you? If so, is there anything that you now better understand that you need to begin to live out? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, even though we know that this prayer cannot ultimately be fulfilled until the Lord plants Israel that final time. Until then, we wrestle not with flesh and blood…