We saw, in our last paper, the great
dispensational fact that Israel’s bondage was a necessary part of the Divine
purpose, both with regard to themselves and with regard to the nations.
“Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upwards: YET affliction cometh not forth
of the dust, NEITHER doth trouble spring out of the ground” (Job v. 6, 7).
Affliction and trouble are within the providence of God; they come from above. Egypt was no fit abiding-place for the chosen
people; affliction and distress came
upon them, to make them the more ready to respond to the command to leave the
house of bondage and go forth to the land of promise.
“Arise and depart hence, for
this is not your rest, because it is polluted” (Micah ii. 10).
Before the cry of oppressed Israel
ascended up to heaven, the deliverer was prepared who should be the manifest
answer to their prayer. The seventh from
Adam was Enoch (Jude 14). He walked with
God, and he was not, for God took him.
Scripture draws attention to the fact that Enoch was the seventh from
Adam, and it is evident that we are to consider this as of typical importance. Moses was the seventh from Abraham. (1) Abraham, (2) Isaac, (3) Jacob, (4)..Levi,
(5) Kohath, (6) Amram, (7) Moses. This
fact seems to indicate that Moses also will be an outstanding figure in the
development of the purpose of God. The
same numerical character may be seen in the case of Abraham. Abraham was the seventh from Eber, who gave
his name to the Hebrews — “Abram the Hebrew” (Gen. xiv. 13).
The faith of the parents of Moses finds a
place in the list of overcomers in
Hebrews xi. This led to the adoption of Moses by Pharaoh’s
daughter, and is a remarkable example of the marvellous way in which the Lord
makes “the wrath of man to praise Him”.
“When Moses was grown” (Exod. ii. 11), or, as Acts.vii.23,24 tells us:--
“When he was full forty years old, it
came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he
defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian.”
Stephen, when he uttered these words, was
“full of the Holy Ghost”, and his face as it had been “the face of an
angel”. This must guide us when we read
in Exod. ii. 12:--
“And he looked this way and that way, and
when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the
sand.”
Exodus gives us the outward
appearance, Acts vii. looks upon the heart, and moreover reveals
the dispensational teaching as we shall see.
Instead of thinking that Moses cast furtive glances “this way and that
way” before dealing a treacherous blow, we must see it in the light of Isa. lix. 16:--
“And He saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore
His arm brought salvation . . . . .”.
So also
Isa. lxiii. 5. Stephen reveals the purpose that prompted
Moses to take vengeance upon the oppressor:--
“He supposed his brethren would have
understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not” (Acts vii. 25).
Vengeance as well as redemption belong to
the Kinsman-Redeemer of Whom Moses was a conspicuous type.
These words prevent us from agreeing with
the words of Dr. Fairbairn concerning this act of Moses when he says:--
"It was the hasty and irregular
impulse of the flesh, not the enlightened and heavenly guidance of the Spirit,
which prompted him to take the course he did."
Upon interposing between two of his
brethren who were striving together next day, he was rebuffed by their jealous
words, “who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?”. This is typical of the rejection of Christ
upon His first advent. It is not the
failure of Moses, but that of his people, that we are to see here. His sojourn in the land of Midian and his
marriage there must be viewed in the same light as Joseph’s sojourn in Egypt
and his marriage there, the outcome of both being the deliverance and blessing
of his brethren who had hated and rejected him.
That this is so we may learn from
Acts vii. Joseph and Moses are
brought together by Stephen to enforce this great lesson upon the leaders of
Israel:--
“And at THE SECOND TIME Joseph was made
known unto his brethren” (Acts vii. 13).
“This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who
made thee a ruler and a judge? THE SAME
did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which
appeared to him in the bush” (35).
It is clear that we have here in Exodus a
foreshadowing of Israel’s great rejection.
The Lord Jesus came, the time was fulfilled, but His people refused Him
saying, “we will not have this Man to reign over us”.
During their rejection by their brethren
both Moses and Joseph marry Gentile brides.
This looks to the dispensation of the Acts during which the Church is
spoken of as being prepared as a bride, and on to the period of the second
coming as given in Revelation xix. The second
time is the key thought. The reason
why Israel failed to respond to Moses and to Christ is the same, “They
understood not”. Their eyes were
blinded, their ears were stopped, their hearts were hardened. At length however Israel cry unto the Lord,
“and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage” (Exod. ii. 23). Their cry brings back the deliverer they
refused. The Lord spake to Moses out of
the burning bush and said:--
“I have surely seen the affliction of My
people . . . . . I will send thee unto Pharaoh” (Exod. iii. 7-10).
Moses was sent in the name of Him Who was
the great I AM, and was assured of his success by the twofold sign of the serpent
and leprosy. He Who came to be the
Saviour must have power over Satan (the serpent) and over Sin (leprosy),
so Matthew iv. records the temptation, and Matthew viii.
the first defined miracle. It was
Moses’ high destiny to have foreshadowed Christ in more ways than one. He was to have been both “Apostle and
High-Priest”, but by reason of human infirmity this honour was shared with his
brother Aaron.
A greater than Pharaoh is soon to mount
the throne, and a greater tribulation than that of Israel in Egypt will
follow. The apocalyptic judgments will
be appalling greater than the plagues of Egypt.
Men will once more harden their hearts instead of repenting. Israel will cry again to the Lord, and “the
day of vengeance” will be in His heart.
He Whom they rejected shall come back to them and “so all Israel shall
be saved”. They shall look upon Me Whom
they have pierced”, saith the Lord. And
when Israel do at length see Who it is that is their deliverer they will say,
as we can never so fully say:--
“Surely He hath borne OUR griefs, and
carried OUR sorrows, YET we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted!” (Isa. liii. 4).
Moses was inspired to speak of his own
typical character:--
“A prophet shall the Lord your God raise
up unto you of your brethren, like unto me;
Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you . . . .
.” (Acts iii. 19-26).
The truth of the postponement of the
purpose of God relative to Israel is much more than a theory. Israel through all these centuries have
experienced the terrible reality of its effect upon them. The hour of their deliverance draws near,
“the second time”.
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