Christ the Key to Scripture

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Christ the Key to Scripture

Christ the Key to Scripture

If you want to understand the Bible become a Christ tracker, one who sights and marks the trail for finding Him from cover to cover. That is what we are doing this evening as we continue this quest to get a strategic grasp on the Bible. We are finding Christ in Exodus. Let’s retrace our findings.

CHRIST IN EXODUS:

Exodus 33:17 He is the One greater than the deliverer, Moses – He is Christ in ALL the Scriptures! In Exodus we find Christ:

  • The Voice in the Burning Bush (3.1-6)
  • The Passover Lamb of God (12.1-28)
  • The Unleavened Bread (13.3-10)
  • The Rock/Pillar of Cloud and Fire leading them (13.21-22)
  • The Red Sea Crossing (14.1-31)
  • The Manna from Heaven (16.1-36)
  • The Source of Living Water (17.1-7)

We can see Pictures of Christ in every section of Exodus.

 

Pictures of Christ: The Burning Bush (3:1-6)

 

Pictures of Christ: The Passover (12:1-28)

 

PICTURES OF CHRIST: THE UNLEAVENED BREAD (13:3-10)

 

The unleavened bread[1] in the New Testament is, of course, the body of our Lord.

  • He is described as “the Bread of Life”. He was born in Bethlehem, in Hebrew “House of Bread”.
  • God fed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna from heaven, and He feeds the Christians in the world on the Bread of Life.
  • The very piece of bread used by the Jews during this week if Unleavened Bread is a good picture of our Lord. Anyone who has seen the Jewish matzoh sees that it is striped (“By His stripes are we healed”), pierced (“They shall look upon me whom they’ve pierced”), and, of course, pure, without any leaven, as His body was without any sin.
  • he Passover ceremony of breaking and burying and then resurrecting a piece of this bread (the middle piece, as the Son in the Trinity) very obviously presents the Gospel in the midst of the modern Jewish Passover celebration. God performed this exact ceremony with the burial of Jesus, our precious piece of unleavened bread, and more importantly, He performed it on the exact day of the feast.
  • e readily see from the Gospel that Jesus was buried at the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread since His body was interred at sundown of Passover Day, the beginning of the fifteenth of Nisan, the first month.

 

PICTURES OF CHRIST: THE ROCK THAT LED THEM (13.21-22)

 

PICTURES OF CHRIST: THE CROSSING OF THE RED SEA (14.1-31)

 

THE SUNDAY AFTER PASSOVER IS THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS.

This feast commemorates the day Israel went down into the depths of the Red Sea and came out the other side alive. The children of Israel marched into a watery grave and God raised them on the other bank a nation of free people. Little did they know they were also demonstrating how God would bring salvation to the entire world! The Feast of Firstfruits is a foreshadowing of the work of both Good Friday and Easter, a type of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (the dead)” (1 Cor. 15:20). There is no spiritual death for the believer. Though his body may die, his spirit lives on with Christ.

 

PICTURES OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE SEQUENCE OF Exodus 15-18

 

Exodus 15-18 records Seven EXPERIENCES the Israelites had that correspond [2] to our Christian experience.

  • THIS LIFE IS A STRUGGLE: The Wilderness of Shur  was the spot of the Song of the Redeemed (15:1-22) this reminds us that we aren’t promised a bed of roses after our salvation/redemption.
  • CHRIST IS OUR HOPE: At Marah, the Bitter Water was Sweetened by a Tree (15:23-26) which reminds us that Christ’s cross sweetens the bitter experiences of life with the hope of His presence, His Peace, and His Plan.
  • CHRIST MAKES US FRUITFUL: The Oasis at Elim (15:27) with 12 wells and 70 palms reminds us of the promises He gives of a Fruitful Christian life.
  • CHRIST SATISFIES US: In the Wilderness of Sin they were provided Manna and Quail (16.1-36) which reminds us that Christ is the Bread of Life who provides all we need.
  • CHRIST DIED ONCE FOR OUR SINS: The Smitten Rock of Rephadim (17.1-7) reminds us that “that Rock Was Christ” and He was only to be smitten once.
  • WE ARE HIS SOLDIERS: The fight with Amalek is a picture of our war with the Flesh (17:8-16) and the victory is the Lord’s and comes by prayer and His weapons. (Deut. 25:17-18);
  • HIS WORD IS OUR GUIDE: In the scene with Jethro, Priest of Midian (18) we see the value of God’s Wisdom revealed over the emptiness of the wisdom of this world. We now have that wisdom in His Word.

 

 

PICTURES OF CHRIST: THE MANNA (16:1-36)

 

Exodus 16 should always be read in connection[3] with John 6, for the manna from heaven is a type of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. Jesus also noted that manna illustrates the written Word of God on which God’s pilgrim people feed from day to day (Matt. 4:4).

 

1st Jesus was greater than manna. When Jesus called Himself “the Living Bread,” He was not claiming to be exactly like the manna. He was claiming[4]to be even greater!

 

Old Testament Manna Jesus the Bread of Life
  • Manna could only sustained life for the Jews
  • but Jesus offers endless lifeto the whole world.
  • Even though the Jews ate the daily manna they  eventually died
  • but when you receive Jesus Christ within, you live forever.
  • There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day
  • When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift
  • but when Jesus came, He gave Himself.
  • but when He gave His Son it cost Him everything.
  • The Jews had to eat the manna every day
  • but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life.
  • Those that  ate manna hungered againdied at last, and with many of them God was not well-pleased
  • But all that feed on Christ by faith shall never hunger, and shall never die, and with them God will be for ever well pleased.

 

1st Manna PICTURES Christ’s COMING

 

  • In Exodus 16:1-3 we see that manna came to a rebellious people. They murmured against Moses and against God (Exodus15:22–27). Verse 4 could well have read, “I will rain fire and brimstone upon those ungrateful sinners!” But, no, God proved His love toward them by raining bread upon them. See Rom. 5:6–8. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO A LOST WORLD BECAUSE GOD SO LOVED HE GAVE.
  • In Exodus 16: 4 we see manna was not from anywhere on earth, it came down from God above. JESUS CHRIST CAME FROM ABOVE(John 6:33) as the Father’s gift to hungry sinners.
  • In Exodus 16:13a we see that manna arrived during the night because it was out there first thing “in the morning”.  JESUS CHRIST CAME TO A SIN BLACKENED WORLD. It was night when Jesus was born, for He came to be the Light of the World (John 8:12). And it is still night in the hearts of all who have rejected Him (2 Cor. 4:1–4). Also as Luke records Jesus came as the sunrise on our sin blackened world  Luke 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” NKJV
  • In Exodus 16:13b-14 we see that manna was supernaturally unique in its origin and delivery. The picture of manna atop the dew, not touching the ground as “the dew lay…when the layer lifted”. JESUS CHRIST CAME TO EARTH BY A VIRGIN BIRTH THAT MADE HIM SUPERNATURALLY UNIQUE.  Numbers 11:9 implies the manna lay atop the pure dews, and the dew kept the manna from being defiled by the earth, so the Virgin birth of Jesus through the Holy Spirit brought Jesus to earth, unstained by sin (Luke 1:34–35). Had Jesus not been born of the virgin, He could never be called “that Holy One.”
  • In Exodus 16:13c we see manna came right to where the Israelites were as if fell  “all around the camp”. JESUS CHRIST CAME DOWN TO EARTH AND BECAME ONE OF US TO SAVE US.  How easily accessible the manna was to the Jews! They did not have to climb a mountain or cross a deep river; the manna came where they were (see Rom. 10:6–8). Jesus Christ is not far away from sinners. They can come to Him at any time.

 

2nd manna PICTURES Christ’s CHARACTER

 

  • MANNA PICTURES Christ’s HUMILITY — it was small (v. 14), the Lord of Glory became a baby, and even a servant.
  • MANNA PICTURES Christ’s ETERNITY — it was round (v. 14), which reminds us of the circle, symbol of His eternality; for Jesus Christ is eternal God (John 8:53–59).
  • MANNA PICTURES Christ’s PURITY — it was white (v. 31), He is sinless; He is the holy Son of God.
  • MANNA PICTURES Christ’s BEAUTY — it was sweet like honey  (v. 31). “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). Note in Num. 11:4–8 that the “mixed multitude” that went with the Jews did not appreciate the taste of the manna but asked for the “leeks, onions, and garlic” of Egypt. They were not satisfied with simple manna. They “ground it, beat it, and baked it,” but then it tasted like “oil” and not like honey. There is a spiritual lesson here for us; we cannot improve upon the simple Word of God (Ps. 119:103).
  • MANNA PICTURES Christ’s AVAILABILITY – it was everywhere they went for 40 years! (v. 35).  It was satisfying and strengthening, for the nation lived on manna for nearly forty years. All that we need for spiritual nourishment is Jesus Christ, God’s heaven-sent Bread. We are to feast on the Bread that will never leave us hungering.

 

3RD Manna PICTURES OUR SALVATION

 

  • DESPERATELY. CHRIST IS ONLY RECEIVED WHEN WE SEE OUR NEED. There is a spiritual hunger within that can be satisfied only by Christ (John 6:35). It was when the Prodigal Son said, “I perish with hunger” that he decided to go back to the father and seek forgiveness (Luke 15:17–18). Much of the unrest and sin in the world today is the result of unsatisfied spiritual hunger. People are living on substitutes and rejecting the nourishment that God freely provides (Isa. 55:1–3).
  • HUMBLY. CHRIST IS ONLY RECEIVED WHEN WE HUMBLY STOOP TO RECEIVE HIM. The manna did not fall on the tables or on the trees but on the ground, and the people had to stoop to pick it up. Many sinners will not humble themselves. They will not bend! They will not repent and turn to the Savior!
  • personally.  CHRIST IS ONLY RECEIVED WHEN WE take jesus for OURselves. The hungry Jews were not fed by looking at the manna, admiring it, or watching others eat it; they had to pick it up and eat it themselves. Christ must be received inwardly by faith if the sinner is to be saved. This is what Christ meant in John 6:51–58 by “eating His flesh and drinking His blood.” John 6:63 makes it clear that Christ was not speaking about literal flesh and blood, and John 6:68 tells us that it was His Word that He was referring to. When we receive the Word inwardly, we are feeding on Christ, the Living Word. It is to be gathered; Christ in the word is to be applied to the soul, and the means of grace are to be used.
  • IMMEDIATELY. CHRIST IS ONLY RECEIVED WHEN WE  TAKE HIM WHILE  WE can.  (v. 21). “Seek the Lord while He may be found!” is the warning of Isa. 55:6 (nkjv). “Today if you hear His voice…” the writer of Hebrews exhorts. The manna disappeared when the sun became hot, and this suggests that the day of judgment will arrive when it will be too late to turn to Christ (Mal. 4). It also suggests that, as believers, we must get our spiritual nourishment from the Word early in the day as we meditate on it and pray. We must every one of us gather for ourselves, and gather in the morning of our opportunities, which if we let slip, it may be too late to gather.
  • ETERNALLY. ONCE WE RECEIVE CHRIST AS SAVIOR, WE ARE SAVED ETERNALLY (John 10:27–29). It is important, however, that we feed on Christ to have the strength for our pilgrim journey, just as the Jews fed on the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:11ff). How do believers feed on Christ? By reading, studying, and meditating on His Word. God invites each of us to get up early in the day and gather from the Word the precious manna to nourish our souls. We cannot hoard God’s truth for another day (vv. 16–21); we must gather fresh food for each new day. Too many Christians mark their Bibles and fill their notebooks with outlines, yet never really feed on Christ. The manna they gathered must not be hoarded up, but eaten; those that have received Christ must by faith live upon him, and not receive his grace in vain. There was manna enough for all, enough for each, and none had too much; so in Christ there is a complete sufficiency, and no superfluity.
  • PRACTICALLY. DAILY FEEDING ON GOD’S WORD IS A TEST OF OUR SPIRITUAL HUNGER. The daily gathering of the manna was God’s test of Israel’s obedience (v. 4), and it is still God’s test for His people. Those Christians that begin their day with the Bible, gathering spiritual food, are the ones God can trust and use. Alas, many Christians still hunger for the carnal diet of the world! (v. 3) And many expect the pastor or the Sunday School teacher to gather the manna for them and “spoon-feed” them. The test of our spiritual walk is this: do I think enough of Christ and His Word to start my day gathering manna?

 

Pictures of Christ: The Water from the Rock (17:1-7)

 

To understand the fullness of the water from the Rock it is often helpful to see the Jewish celebration attached to it. Since Jesus attended and participated in these celebrations it is even more imperative to know and understand why.

 

While water[5] was being sold to thirsty pilgrims, as they came to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, our Lord stood in the Temple area and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”(John 7:37) To the woman from Sychar He said, “But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

 

The first real test for the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt was this very point. God had opened the waters of the Red Sea to let them out of Egypt. He then closed the same waters behind them to keep them from ever getting back into Egypt. They then sang the first song in the Bible, as they stood on the wilderness shore of the sea. Then they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. …And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? (Exodus 15:22,24) In Egypt they could always look down to the Nile. That river, the longest in the world, had provided everything that they ever needed. The ancients used to say, and rightly so, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” But now, a mighty change ensues. These people, redeemed by blood and by power, find themselves in “the waste howling wilderness.”(Deut. 32:10)

 

Up until now, they had always looked down. From this time on, they were to look up. Their food came down from above. Their guidance came down from above. The desert would provide nothing. All that they were to need for the journey would be met out of a gracious God’s fullness. But, in spite of this, we have the record of seven times when they murmured. The fourth book of the Bible has not only been called the book of “Numbers.” It has also been called by some, “the book of Murmurs.” They murmured against God, they murmured against Moses, they murmured against Aaron. To murmur means, “to mutter, to grumble, to be discontented. In answer to their question, “What shall we drink?” God gave them water from a most unlikely source. ..a flinty rock! And the New Testament teaches that “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” (I Cor. 10:4)

 

The Water from the Rock in Exodus 17 is celebrated by the Jews at Tabernacles. This re-enactment of the Water from the Rock in Exodus 17 is known as Simcha Bet Ha-sho-evah (the Rejoicing of the House of Drawing Water).

  • This special ritual prophetically illustrates the time when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon Israel.
  • It also illustrates the truth that Jesus Christ, the Giver of living water, probably was came to earth at Sukkot. So the Feast of Tabernacles “the Word became flesh and  TABERNACLED among us” takes on a whole new meaning! Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. ..Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 13-14 NKJV).

 

We have seen[6] Christ’s ministry on the cross was vividly portrayed by the rituals surrounding Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First fruits. There’s one other image we need to get from the Temple celebrations. It is the one which commemorates the drawing of water from the rock at Horeb (Ex. 17:1-7). On the morning of the first day of the festival called Sukkot or Tabernacles, and every day thereafter, a priest carried a large golden ewer from the Temple mount down to the spring of Siloam. As he walked he was surrounded by jubilant worshipers who followed him as he drew water from the pool of Siloam.

 

The route back to the Temple led through the water gate, and into the inner court. There in that grand courtyard of Herod’s gigantic Temple, a huge cheering crowd always waited near the altar. As the water bearing priest approached the altar, the ceremonial silver trumpets were sounded. Then would come the priests chanting the words of Isaiah:

“Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (12:3 NKJV).

 

Now here is the unforgettable significance of this moment.  In Isaiah 12:3 the word for “salvation” in Hebrew is Yeshua. This is exactly the same word in Hebrew we translate as “Jesus.” With that in mind think again of the scene. On the first through the sixth days, the priest and his joyful processional circled the altar once, but on the seventh day, they circled the altar seven times! All those times a whole group of priests are loudly affirming that with joy all were to draw water from the wells of JESUS!

 

The highlight of the ceremony occurred when the priest stood and poured the water on the altar. While the water washed away the blood of the morning’s sacrifices, a long line of priests, all bearing willow branches, sang psalms of praise. The Talmud[7] describes the ceremony in detail, including a portrait of venerable sages juggling lighted torches and performing somersaults as part of the celebration. The experience[8] was one of intense and total joy, so much so that the Talmud says whoever has not been in Jerusalem for this ceremony has not experienced real joy!

 

Now get the scene in your hearts with me:

  • Like all devout Jewish men, Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.
  • On the last day of one Sukkot festival, He stood and cried out to the crowd: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38 NKJV). The apostle John goes on to explain that Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit, which had not yet been given.
  • Can’t you just see it? Jesus and His disciples had just attended the glorious celebration inside the Temple. They had sung psalms with the priests, had perhaps followed the golden ewer of water seven times around the altar as they chanted Isaiah 12:3 “draw water from YESHUA (Jesus)”.
  • Then Jesus and His disciples watched the liquid stream over the altar, cleaning away the blood of goats and rams from the morning sacrifices. As the rustlings of a thousand palms filled the air, foreshadowing the palms that would be lifted to hail Him when He would enter Jerusalem to die at Passover, Jesus spoke in a commanding voice and explained the ritual the Jews had just witnessed.
  • “If any thirst LET THEM COME TO ME! He was the Light of the World, the Living Water, the Word made flesh to dwell among them. He would soon be the Passover Lamb, the Bread Without Leaven, the First fruits. As our sinless High Priest, He would atone for sin once and for all.
  • Hundreds in the Temple that day heard Him …but only those with understanding believed. Do you? For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring. -Isaiah 44:3 NKJV

 

1 Cor 10:1-4; Deut 32:15 (Rock of Salvation); 2 Sam 22:2 (Lord is rock of his defense); Ps 95:1 (Rock of Salvation); Isa 32:2 (water from rock); Matt 16:18 (upon this rock)…

  • Who is the rock? Jesus Christ. Mt 21:44 (shattered by it).
  • The Rock was smitten; Isa 53:45.
  • The water (Holy Spirit) does not come until the rock is smitten!
  • Holy Spirit is “poured out” (Acts 2:18; John 7:37, 38, 39).
  • The rod speaks of judgment.

 

 

 

 

 

[1]  Zola Levitt, The Seven Feast of Israel. Dallas, Texas: Great Impressions Printing and Graphics, 1979, pgs 5-6:.

[2] J. Vernon McGee. (1991). Exodus (Chapters 1-18). Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN.

[3]  The manna points are adapted from Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books) 1997.

[4]  This chart was made reflecting comments drawn from Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.

[5]  Roy Gustafson, In His Land Seeing Is Believing. Minneapolis, Minnesota: World Wide Publications, 1980, p. 107-109.

[6] John Hagee, His Glory Revealed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999, p. 151-155.

[7]  Chumney, “ The Feast of Tabernacles” http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2175/chap9.html

[8]  Barney Kasdan, “Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles,” found at Web site www.umjc.org/documents/sukkot.html

 


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