Discover the Book - Oct. 6, 2008

Christ in Exodus

Christ the Key to Scripture

Jesus gave us a vital piece of inside information as we try to exploit the riches of God's Word, that information is that He is the one unifying theme that runs through each testament, every book, every chapter, and every verse of the Book. According to Luke 24:27, 44, and 45 Christ is found in “all the Scriptures.” It is Christ in ALL the Scriptures.

 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 in this new series as we continue this quest to get a strategic grasp on the Bible. We are finding Christ in Exodus.

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:

1.      The Voice in the Burning Bush (3.1-6)

2.      The Passover Lamb of God (12.1-28)

3.      The Unleavened Bread (13.3-10)

4.      The Rock/Pillar of Cloud and Fire leading them (13.21-22)

5.      The Red Sea Crossing (14.1-31)

6.      The Manna from Heaven (16.1-36)

7.      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 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 of 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.

?The 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.

?We 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 to our Christian experience.

1.   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.

2.   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.

3.   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.

4.   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.

5.   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.

6.   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);

7.   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.