확대 l 축소

<2019.04> I Will Have You Lead My People Israel Out of Egypt

2005 North American Bible Study Meeting
December 27, 2005, Afternoon
Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’  Exodus 3:15
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated to the gospel of God
which He promised before through His prophets 
in the Holy Scriptures, 
concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 
and declared to be the Son of God 
with power according to the Spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead.
Romans 1:1-4
Moses Wed the Daughter 
of the Priest of Midian
We have already been taking a look at the life of Moses. Moses was born into this world for a certain purpose and in order to carry out a certain role, and he lived for 120 years. When we examine the flow of the Old and New Testaments, we can see that Moses life was a tool through which is reflected the life and death of one Man, the Man by the name of Jesus. God’s lengthy plan for the salvation of all mankind was contained in its entirety in this one Man by the name of Jesus. The Bible itself is accomplishing this, and this is the power that enables the very existence of the Bible. 
Exodus chapter 2 provides an account of Moses’ life until he was forty years old. At the age of forty, he went to the wilderness of Midian. In Genesis chapter 25 we read that after Sarah’s death, Abraham took another wife, Keturah, who bore him sons. Midian was one of those sons. Abraham gave an inheritance to these sons while he was still living, and sent them away to the land east of Canaan. (see verses 1-6) He did this to prevent any fighting between them and Isaac, and so that the promise God had made to him and to Isaac might be fulfilled. Many of these descendants of Abraham’s other sons lived in the region of Arabia. It would seem that the Midianites were descendants of Abraham’s son by the name of Midian. 
In Exodus chapters 2, 3 and 4, we read how Moses went to the land of Midian, spent forty years there, and then returned to Egypt. He returned to carry out his mission of leading the Israelites out of Egypt and away from the oppression of 
the pharaoh. 
The first eighty years of Moses’ life presents a similar image to that of Old Testament times. His departure into the Midian wilderness is strikingly similar to the beginning of history of Israel, when this nation went out into the wilderness, and the time they spent in the wilderness. Also, John the Baptist said, “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness’” (John 1:23). So, as we read the Bible, we find it all matches up from beginning to end. 
In Exodus chapter 2 verse 16, it says, “Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters.” It says, “the priest of Midian,” leaving us to wonder who this priest might have been. We also read that when Joseph was in Egypt, he married the daughter of the priest, Potipherah; here is another priest. (see Genesis 41:45)
The people of the world before the law accepted the existence of a god, and the Israelites worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet at that time, the definition of a god was somewhat vague. During those days, many people worshiped some kind of god and offered sacrifices according to their traditions. At the time of Moses, however, everything became more clearly defined, including the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the role of the priest. 
As we read the Bible, we find that as time passed, many people were excluded from amongst the ranks, just as Ishmael and Esau were, and little by little the path became increasingly narrower. When Jesus came to this world, He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He was referring to an extremely narrow way. 
When we read such passages, it is easy simply to think that at that time God set these priests apart. Yet, as we read in the letter to the Romans, death reigned from Adam to Moses—that is, before the law was given—sin was in the world, but it was not accounted as sin (see Romans 5:13-14). We need to be aware that this was the situation during that time period before the law was given. 
Let’s read Exodus chapter 2 from verse 16.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?” And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”  Exodus 2:16-19
When the daughters of the priest of Midian were being troubled by the shepherds, Moses helped them, but when they told their father about this, they referred to Moses as “an Egyptian.” It seems Moses looked like an Egyptian. Outwardly he appeared to be an Egyptian, but inwardly he was a Hebrew. Within this image of Moses, we can see a connection with the verse that says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus, too, appeared outwardly as a man, and yet He was God. 
So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.” Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.  Exodus 2:20-25
This is only a short passage, but another forty years have passed here. In just these two chapters of Exodus we have a brief record of eighty years of Moses’ life. Then, the remaining forty years of Moses’ life is recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers.
This was when Moses began to emerge as the prophet who returned to Egypt in order to free the Israelites from bondage. The Bible tells us that at this time “the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.” The situation at the time just before Jesus came to this earth, born in the body of a man—the situation at the time of His birth, and especially the state of affairs concerning Israel—bears many resemblances to the time of Moses. 
Considering the life of Moses, he was born in Egypt and spent his first forty years in the land of Egypt. In Genesis chapter 1, we read that “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep” (verse 2), and “then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (verse 3). In this we can see the power by which Jesus Christ was to come to this earth in the body of a man, the power of God the Son. Similarly, Moses was born in the land of Egypt and raised as a prince in the royal palace. Then, he spent some time in the wilderness, after which he returned to the Israelites in Egypt. This also presents us with an image of how God, who presided over Old Testament times, would one day be born in the flesh as the Man by the name of Jesus.
Then it says here that “God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” This is not because God had forgotten the promise He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Galatians chapter 4, it says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (verse 4). There is a time that is determined by God. 
God had promised Abraham, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13). Elsewhere in the Bible it says, 430 years (see Exodus 12:40). It says here that “God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.” From these words, we can see that at a time when this world was completely full of sin, God promised the Israelites through the words of the Old Testament that “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34), and, “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22). The voice of God, who is beyond time and space, moved the prophets to write down these words, and these promises were given with the Israelites still.
The Bush on Mount Horeb
Now we come to the decisive incident that led to Moses returning to Egypt. Let’s turn to Exodus chapter 3.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  verse 1
In Exodus chapter 2 it says that Moses’ father-in-law was Reuel, and here it says his name was Jethro. The mountain by the name of Horeb that Moses came to at this time was the same place as Mount Sinai. Later, the Israelites came out of Egypt and received the law on this mountain. 
And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and Jebusites.”  Exodus 3:2-8
God told Abraham to go “to a land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), and led him gradually from east to west until he entered the land of Canaan. There were tribes already living there, and a famine had passed through the land. Abraham pitched his tent and lived a lonesome life there. Strangely, however, when Moses returned to Egypt, God told him to go to “a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” 
The world today is the same. This world is full of sin and the history of sin has been unfolding for thousands of years. Yet, the place this world is heading for is the kingdom of heaven of which the Bible speaks. This will not just appear out of thin air; it will transform out of this present world. When Jesus returns to this earth in his eternal body as King of kings, this world will be freed from sin. The devil will be locked up in the bottomless pit, and the kingdom will continue for a thousand years. At that time, the world will be restored as a beautiful paradise. 
Through the voice of God that was heard when the Israelites began to return to the land of Canaan, we can see that we are being shown an image of the land that has been promised to us.
I’ve cast my heavy burdens down on Canaan’s happy shore, I’m living where the healing waters flow. 
  I’ve cast my heavy burdens down
Over a period of four hundred years, the land was inhabited by people who were cursed because of Ham who saw his father Noah’s shame then told his two brothers. This land was being prepared to receive the nation of Israel, just as the kingdom of heaven is now being prepared. At the center of all this is Jerusalem, the city that exists in our present world. This is God’s plan for this land. The kingdom of heaven presents an image of the eternal kingdom of God that will appear later when the entire universe all comes together as one and the new heaven and the new earth are established. This land is also a shadow of this.
In Numbers chapter 13 we read that Moses sent the heads of each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan, the men returned carrying a cluster of grapes so large that it had to be brought back on a pole carried by two men (see verse 23). That is how fertile the land had become. This is an image of the land as described by the prophet Isaiah. It is the land that was also spoken of by Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the land over which David would reign, and Jesus spoke of this land over which He would reign, referring to is as the kingdom of heaven. 
Let’s look up a few passages from the book of Isaiah. First chapter 11 from verse 1. 
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.  
verses 1-5
It says here, “there shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse.” This is talking about the household of David. Then it says, “the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord,” and,“His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears.” This is all a foreshadowing of Jesus who is to come down as the righteous judge. The book of Isaiah was written about eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus.
It also says here that He will judge “with equity for the meek of the earth.” In Matthew chapters 24 and 25, we can see how this judgment will be. “He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.” We also find references to this in Matthew’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel chapters 19 and 21, and in the book of Revelation.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  Isaiah 11:6-9
This passage is referring to the time when Jesus will return and judge the world. When it says that the child will put his hand in the viper’s den, and the lion will eat straw, it sounds like something you might come across in a fairytale. Yet, this is a promise that will definitely come about whether we believe it, or not; it is promised that it will surely happen.
Let’s read lsaiah chapter 32.
Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful; for the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice. But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand. Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you complacent ones; strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists. People shall mourn upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in
정회원으로 가입하시면 전체기사와 사진(동영상)을 보실수 있습니다.

확대 l 축소