“Beginning With Moses, Part 7” by Romans
Youtube Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
We are continuing our Series "Beginning With Moses." On the Road to Emmaus, Jesus caught up with and spoke with two disciples who were sad and perplexed about the arrest, crucifixion and resurrection reports about Jesus, the One Whom they "trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21). In response to their sadness and confusion, Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. We read, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Last week, we reviewed the many instances where the life and experiences of Moses were types, or, prophetic foreshadowings of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. Tonight, we are going to pick up where we left off last week, and continue to look at Moses to see the other ways that he was a “type” of Christ.
18.) Moses and Jesus were both advocates: After the Israelites fashioned and worshiped the golden calf, we read of Moses' intervention on behalf of them in Exodus 32:11-14: "But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?
Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”
Of Moses' intervention, Matthew Henry writes, “Moses earnestly intercedes with God on their behalf (Exodus 32:11-13): he besought the Lord his God. If God would not be called the God of Israel, yet he hoped he might address him as his own God. What interest we have at the throne of grace we should improve for the church of God, and for our friends.
Now Moses is standing in the gap to turn away the wrath of God, Psalm 106:23. He wisely took the hint which God gave him when he said, Let me alone, which, though it seemed to forbid his interceding, did really encourage it, by showing what power the prayer of faith has with God. In such a case, God wonders if there be no intercessor, Isaiah 59:16.
Observe, 1. His prayer (Exodus 32:12): Turn from thy fierce wrath; not as if he thought God was not justly angry, but he begs that he would not be so greatly angry as to consume them. “Let mercy rejoice against judgment; repent of this evil; change the sentence of destruction into that of correction.”
2. His pleas. He fills his mouth with arguments, not to move God, but to express his own faith and to excite his own fervency in prayer. He urges, (1.) God's interest in them, the great things he had already done for them, and the vast expense of favours and miracles he had been at upon them, Exodus 32:11.
God had said to Moses (Exodus 32:7), They are thy people, whom thou broughtest up out of Egypt; but Moses humbly turns them back upon God again: “They are thy people, thou art their Lord and owner; I am but their servant. Thou broughtest them forth out of Egypt; I was but the instrument in thy hand; that was done in order to their deliverance which thou only couldest do.”
Though their being his people was a reason why he should be angry with them for setting up another god, yet it was a reason why he should not be so angry with them as to consume them. Nothing is more natural than for a father to correct his son, but nothing more unnatural than for a father to slay his son.
And as the relation is a good plea (“they are thy people”), so is the experience they had had of his kindness to them: “Thou broughtest them out of Egypt, though they were unworthy, and had there served the gods of the Egyptians, Joshua 24:15. If thou didst that for them, notwithstanding their sins in Egypt, wilt thou undo it for their sins of the same nature in the wilderness?”
(2.) He pleads the concern of God's glory (Exodus 32:12): Wherefore should the Egyptians say, For mischief did he bring them out? Israel is dear to Moses as his kindred, as his charge; but it is the glory of God that he is most concerned for; this lies nearer his heart than any thing else.
If Israel could perish without any reproach to God's name, Moses could persuade himself to sit down contented; but he cannot bear to hear God reflected on, and therefore this he insists upon, Lord, what will the Egyptians say? Their eyes, and the eyes of all the neighbouring nations, were now upon Israel...
They will not consider the provocation given by Israel, to justify the proceeding, but will think it cause enough for triumph that God and his people could not agree, but that their God had done that which they (the Egyptians) wished to see done. Note, The glorifying of God's name, as it ought to be our first petition (it is so in the Lord's prayer), so it ought to be our great plea, Psalm 79:9.
(3.) He pleads God's promise to the patriarchs that he would multiply their seed, and give them the land of Canaan for an inheritance, and this promise confirmed by an oath, an oath by himself, since he could swear by no greater, Exodus 32:13. God's promises are to be our pleas in prayer;
for what he has promised he is able to perform, and the honour of this truth is engaged for the performance of it. “Lord, if Israel be cut off, what will become of the promise? Shall their unbelief make that of no effect? God forbid.” Thus we must take our encouragement in prayer from God only.
IV. God graciously abated the rigour of the sentence, and repented of the evil he thought to do (Exodus 32:14); though he designed to punish them, yet he would not ruin them. See here, 1. The power of prayer; God suffers himself to be prevailed with by the humble believing importunity of intercessors.
2. The compassion of God towards poor sinners, and how ready he is to forgive. Thus he has given other proofs besides his own oath that he has no pleasure in the death of those that die; for he not only pardons upon the repentance of sinners, but spares and reprieves upon the intercession of others for them.”
Jesus' being our Advocate is cited by the Apostle John in 1 John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
Of Jesus being our Advocate, Albert Barnes writes, “God only can forgive sin; and though we have no claim on him, yet there is one with him who can plead our cause, and on whom we can rely to manage our interests there. The word rendered “advocate” (paraklētos - paraclete) is elsewhere applied to the Holy Spirit, and is in every other place where it occurs in the New Testament rendered “comforter,” in John14:16, 26 and John 15:26.
{W}ith reference to the Lord Jesus, it is employed in the more limited sense of the word “advocate,” as the word is frequently used in the Greek writers to denote an advocate in court; that is, one whom we call to our aid; or to stand by us, to defend our suit.
Where it is applied to the Lord Jesus, the language is evidently figurative, since there can be no literal pleading for us in heaven; but it is expressive of the great truth that he has undertaken our cause with God, and that he performs for us all that we expect of an advocate and counselor.
It is not to be supposed, however, that he manages our cause in the same way, or on the same principles on which an advocate in a human tribunal does. An advocate in court is employed to defend his client. He does not begin by admitting his guilt, or in any way basing his plea on the conceded fact that he is guilty; his proper business is to show that he is not guilty, or, if he be proved to be so, to see that no injustice shall be done him. The proper business of an advocate in a human court, therefore, embraces two things:
(1) To show that his client is not guilty in the form and manner charged on him. This he may do in one of two ways, either, (a) By showing that he did not do the act charged on him, as when he is charged with murder, and can prove an alibi, or show that he was not present at the time the murder was committed; or, (b) By proving that he had a right to do the deed - as, if he is charged with murder, he may admit the fact of the killing, but may show that it was in self-defense.
(2) In case his client is convicted, his office is to see that no injustice is done to him in the sentence; to stand by him still; to avail himself of all that the law allows in his favor, or to state any circumstance of age, or sex, or former service, or bodily health, which would in any way mitigate the sentence.
The advocacy of the Lord Jesus in our behalf, however, is wholly different from this, though the same general object is pursued and sought, the good of those for whom he becomes an advocate. The nature of his advocacy may be stated in the following particulars:
(1) He admits the guilt of those for whom he becomes the advocate, to the full extent charged on them by the law of God, and by their own consciences. He does not attempt to hide or conceal it. He makes no apology for it. He neither attempts to deny the fact, nor to show that they had a right to do as they have done. He could not do this, for it would not be true; and any plea before the throne of God which should be based on a denial of our guilt would be fatal to our cause.
(2) As our advocate, he undertakes to be security that no wrong shall be done to the universe if we are not punished as we deserve; that is, if we are pardoned, and treated as if we had not sinned. This he does by pleading what he has done in behalf of people;
that is, by the plea that his sufferings and death in behalf of sinners have done as much to honor the law, and to maintain the truth and justice of God, and to prevent the extension of apostasy, as if the offenders themselves had suffered the full penalty of the law.
If sinners are punished in hell, there will be some object to be accomplished by it; and the simple account of the atonement by Christ is, that his death will secure all the good results to the universe which would be secured by the punishment of the offender himself. It has done as much to maintain the honor of the law, and to impress the universe with the truth that sin cannot be committed with impunity.
If all the good results can be secured by substituted sufferings which there would be by the punishment of the offender himself, then it is clear that the guilty may be acquitted and saved. Why should they not be? The Saviour, as our advocate, undertakes to be security that this shall be.
(3) As our advocate, he becomes a surety for our good behavior; gives a pledge to justice that we will obey the laws of God, and that he will keep us in the paths of obedience and truth; that, if pardoned, we will not continue to rebel. This pledge or surety can be given in no human court of justice. No man, advocate or friend can give security when one is pardoned who has been convicted of stealing a horse, that he will not steal a horse again;
when one who has been guilty of murder is pardoned, that he will never be guilty of it again; when one who has been guilty of forgery is pardoned, that he will not be guilty of it again. If he could do this, the subject of pardon would be attended with much fewer difficulties than it is now. But the Lord Jesus becomes such a pledge or surety for us, Hebrews 7:22, and hence he becomes such an advocate with the Father as we need.
Jesus Christ the righteous - One who is eminently righteous himself, and who possesses the means of rendering others righteous. It is an appropriate feeling when we come before God in his name, that we come pleading the merits of one who is eminently righteous, and on account of whose righteousness we may be justified and saved.
19.) Moses and Jesus were both prophets of God: (For both, we read in Acts 3:22-23: "For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.”
20.) Both Moses and Jesus spoke in God's Name: Of Moses we read in Exodus 3:13-15, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”
In the New Testament, we read of Jesus, “in John 8:42, “Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.”
Later, we read of Jesus in John 17:4 and 6, Jesus prayed to the Father: 4 "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Verse 6: “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.”
We also read in John 17:26: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
21.) Here is a type that we often read right over. Moses and Jesus both commanded and were obeyed by the wind and the seas: Of Moses, we read beginning in Exodus 14:21: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided.”
Of Jesus commanding the wind and the sea, we read, “And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27).
22.) Another type that we easily read right over is that Moses and Jesus both fed the multitudes supernaturally. Of Moses, we read in Exodus 16:13-15: “...in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”
Of Jesus, we read in, “As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said.
And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:15-21).
23.) Both Moses and Jesus voluntarily offered their lives to pay for the sins of the people of God: After the Golden Calf incident, we read of Moses in Exodus 32:31-32: “So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
In the New Testament, we read of Jesus in John 10:17-18: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
24.) Moses and Jesus both provided Deliverance by the shedding of blood: Of Moses we read in Exodus 12:5-7: "The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.”
Of Jesus, we read Jesus establishing the terms of the New Covenant in the shedding of His own blood: “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).
Of this, Matthew Henry writes, “The shedding of Christ's blood, by which the atonement was made (for the blood made atonement for the soul, Leviticus 17:11), as represented by the wine in the cup; and that cup of wine is a sign and token of the New Testament, or new covenant, made with us. It commemorates the purchase of the covenant by the blood of Christ, and confirms the promises of the covenant, which are all Yea and Amen in him.
This will be reviving and refreshing to our souls, as wine that makes glad the heart. In all our commemorations of the shedding of Christ's blood, we must have an eye to it as shed for us; we needed it, we take hold of it, we hope to have benefit by it; who loved me, and gave himself for me.
And in all our regards to the New Testament we must have an eye to the blood of Christ, which gave life and being to it, and seals to us all the promises of it. Had it not been for the blood of Christ, we had never had the New Testament; and, had it not been for the New Testament, we had never know the meaning of Christ's blood shed.”
25.) Moses and Jesus both led people out of bondage: We read of Moses in Exodus 14:26-31: “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea.
Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”
Of Jesus we read in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” And also in Galatians 4:4: "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
Of the Son setting us free, the Preacher's Homiletical tells us, “The way of deliverance from this bondage is freedom through the Son.—1. But this implies taking His yoke. We must serve, come under some yoke. And when we enter Christ’s kingly service we are on the way of safety. And in His service there is perfect freedom (John 8:36)—freedom to move uninterruptedly in the way of our being and of the purpose of our creation—to glorify God “in our bodies and spirits, which are His” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
2. This is the truest freedom; in this way would we walk spontaneously were our humanity perfect, as was that of Jesus. He was a Son in the Father’s house, free to fulfil that which is the highest freedom—the divine will.
3. And the more nearly we rise to Christ’s likeness, the more shall we be delivered from that degrading bondage, and rejoice in “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21), showing our spiritual affinity by our love to the Redeemer (John 8:42), and by doing the works of our Father (John 8:39).”
Freedom and truth the liberty of God’s children.— There is but One who is absolutely free—God; and He is so because He is absolutely perfect. Even when it is said He cannot lie, that sin cannot dwell with Him, He is most free, for sin is slavery, etc. The will and action of the Eternal are the expression of His perfect being.
For all created beings true freedom consists in their living spontaneously according to the laws of their being. And within these limitations human freedom is glorious, inspiring. Political, religious, social, and individual freedom are all, in their place and measure, most worthy. But true freedom in all these spheres can come in one way only—by the truth, i.e. through Christ.”
26.) Moses and Jesus both completed the Work God gave them to do: Of Moses, we read in Exodus 40:33: “Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.”
Jesus states in so many words that He also finished the Work in John 17:4: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Also we read this completion being described as Jesus was on the cross: “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).
27.) Moses and Jesus both established memorial celebrations: Of Moses, we read in Exodus 12:14: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance.”
Of Jesus in establishing the Lord's Table, we read in Luke 22:19: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
28.) Moses and Jesus both reappeared after their deaths: This type is established and proved for Moses and Jesus within the New Testament. First, we read some details about Moses being seen with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17:3: “Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”
Next, regarding Jesus, we read in Acts 1:3: “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”
30.) Moses and Jesus were both faithful servants: Numbers 12:5-7: "Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words: “When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.”
Of Moses we also specifically read in Hebrews 3:5: “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.” And of Jesus we read in John 8:29: “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."
Lastly, for tonight, perhaps some of you know that there was an incident that occurred when the Israelites murmured for water to drink. The first time it happened, God instructed Moses to strike a rock (Exodus 17:6), and water poured forth. Later, on the second occasion of the people murmuring for water to drink, Moses was instructed merely to speak to the rock (Numbers 20:8), but Moses was so exasperated with the people that he struck the rock, instead of merely speaking to it.
We read the account in Numbers 20:10-11: “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.”
I want to point out, first, that this event was a type, but not of Christ. It was a prophetic forecast of the fate of those who turn their backs on Salvation, symbolized by Moses' transgression. The Apostle Paul refers to the Israelites wandering in desert with these words: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
God's command to Moses to strike the rock, which symbolized Christ, was a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus being crucified in order to bring forth water, a spiritual symbol of the Holy Spirit. Later, after the rock was struck, the command was simply to speak to the rock to being forth water. The fulfilled symbolism for us is that now that the rock has been struck, now that Christ was crucified, we need only speak, or ~ pray ~ in order to receive the water, or, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus taught us this without symbolism when He said, “ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:10-13).
To have the Holy Spirit, and then to willfully, not merely sin, but actually return to a life of sin and rebellion, repudiating Salvation, is to crucify Christ afresh, and “put Him to open shame” (Hebrews 6:6). This sin of not abiding in Christ was foreshadowed when Moses' struck the rock the second time, which kept him from entering the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49-52). If striking the rock the first time pictured Jesus' crucifixion, then striking it the second time was crucifying Christ afresh.
This is not to say or even imply that Moses lost his own Salvation by striking the rock the second time. His appearance in the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3) is proof of that. All I am trying to say is that Moses' life experiences in general, and this event in particular have served to shed light both on Jesus' Life and Ministry, as well as helping us to see the prophetic foreshadows of our relationship with Christ, and the Salvation that is offered us. It is not only the types that we have discussed, but also the specific direct prophecies found throughout the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled, that have served to identify Jesus, and only Jesus, as God's only begotten and Anointed Son, the Messiah.
There are many more events and prophecies and types that Jesus could very well have included in His review to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus of the Scriptures that, beginning with Moses, concerned Himself. God willing, in the coming weeks I will continue to review and examine them at this same time and place. Join me, won't you?
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Beginning with Moses, Part 7”
This Discussion was presented “live” on August September 6th, 2023
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