Week 9

Here we are on the very last day and in the very last hour of Week 9 and I'm just now posting due to the same reasons I mentioned last week. The exception is that my friend passed away, and the funeral was today. Things don't appear as they will improve any time soon. Thank you for bearing with me, and please continue to do so. I will try my best to get back on schedule with my posts.

This week's passages have been wonderfully full of good stuff, and I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have.


Topics of Interest

* Time and again, we see the Israelites complaining about leaving Egypt and being led around the wilderness. How quickly they forget the harsh conditions in which they lived under their Egyptian overseers. How quickly they forget how so afflicted they were that they cried out for relief. How quickly they forget the signs, wonders, miracles, the presence of God, and cloud of the glory of God that they have seen.

How quickly do we do the same?

* As mentioned previously, Egypt is often used symbolically to represent sin or evil. We read this week the Israelites referring to Egypt as a land "flowing with milk and honey"; they longed to return to their former state. You will recall that the land God promised Abraham and his descendents was described by God as "a land flowing with milk and honey". In a search, I found 22 references to a land described as flowing with milk and honey. Only this once was it a reference to any other land other than the promised land. Isaiah 5 says "Woe to those who call good evil and call evil good." In their continual grumbling against God, the Israelites began to see Egypt (evil) as good.

* Do you find it as interesting as I do that Balaam was not surprised by the donkey speaking? I would conclude from this that he was possibly accustomed to supernatural events. But I still wonder why he didn't question WHY the donkey spoke.


Point to consider:

You can probably already guess the direction of this post. As in each past week, we're going to look at more foreshadowing of Jesus Christ in this week's passages.


Aaron's Staff
When some of the Israelites opposed Moses and Aaron's leadership, God showed who He had chosen to lead the people. As a sign of God's appointment, each tribe's leader was to place a staff in the tabernacle and God would cause the staff of His chosen to sprout. Aaron's staff was once part of a living tree. Cut, dried, and possibly carved, it became dead. By the hand of God, not only did it sprout, but it blossomed and produced almonds. That which was alive, then dead, was alive again. So it was with Christ who was crucified, died, and rose again on the third day.

Aaron's staff was then placed in the ark of the covenant along with the tablets of the law, and the portion of manna. Each of these 3 items were symbols of Christ. I'll leave that for you to study and post.


Water from a Rock
Again, we read that the Israelites complained again about leaving Egypt and lacking food and water. Moses inquired of God and God told him to speak to the rock and it would give out water. What was their need for water? To give them life. Now consider this: running water (a stream, river, etc) is considered living water while still water (a lake, inland sea, etc) is considered dead water or an abyss. If you read the story of the woman at the well ( John 4 ), you will see that Jesus identifies Himself as Living Water. Many scriptures refer to Jesus as our Rock of Salvation.

So you can see the symbolism here. The first time, the rock was struck to provide life giving water. The second time, the rock was to be spoken to. Such as it is with Christ. He was stricken (scourged and crucified) to give us life by paying the
pentalties of our sins. He was not to be stricken a second time, but spoken to:

"Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

Previously, (Exodus 17:1-7) Moses was told to strike a rock for water to provide for the Israelites. This time however, Moses in prideful anger, struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded. His punishment was to be denied entry into the land of promise. Does that seem like a harsh punishment to you? I used to think so. But when you consider the symbolism that Moses' actions worked against, and the fact that God Himself buried Moses (already an advanced age) with His own hand after showing him the promised land, Moses actually didn't lose a thing.


Serpent on a Pole
Another instance finds the Israelites complaining again about being in the wilderness and away from Egypt. As punishment, God sent serpents among them. Many people were bitten and died. In their distress, they turned to God and Moses again, begging Moses to pray for God to remove the snakes from around them.

In answer to Moses' intercession for the people, God told him to make a brass serpent on a pole and lift it up so that when anyone was bitten, if they looked upon it, they would be healed - ie: restored life.

Let's jump ahead some 1400 years to a conversation that Jesus had with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. Nicodemus believed in Jesus, and came to him under the cover of night to keep from being discovered by the Pharisees and thus being persecuted by them.

Jesus told him "Just as Moses raised the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be raised." (John 3)

It's easy to see the symbolism in this now, isn't it? The serpent, as we've seen before, is a representation of evil. As the serpent on the pole restored life to those dying, so Jesus' crucifixion (and resurrection) restored eternal life to those dying in sin.

But wait, you may ask: Christ was perfect and holy, so how could the serpent on the pole represent him? The apostle Paul clarifies it in 2 Corinthians 5 that Jesus, who was sinless, became sin for us so that we could become righteous. Jesus had
took our sins to pay for them in our place.

One last thing to note: God did not take the snakes away as the people asked. The snakes remained and still bit the people.

God provided a way through their situation. He provided them with Life if they trusted in His promise. Again, this foreshadows Christ in that our serpents - sin and temptations - still bite us. We just need to look to Jesus as our only salvation, and trust in His promise that we will live.

Praise God for His mercy and grace!