Jesus In Exodus
Chapter18
Chapter 18 is a parenthesis in the narrative of the journey of the Israelites. The incident recorded here occurred just as the Israelites were about to leave Sinai and enter the Wilderness of Paran. It was in the third month after leaving Egypt.
· Exodus 18:1-6 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, "I have become an alien in a foreign land"; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh." 5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons."
In Exodus 16 the manna speaks of the incarnate Son who had come down from heaven to earth. In the first part of Exodus 17 the smiting of the rock represents Jesus being crucified. In the issuing of water from the rock we have a picture of the Holy Spirit ministering to the people of God. In the second half of Exodus 17, where we saw Amalek attacking Israel, and getting defeated by virtue of Moses’ uplifted hands, we see an allusion to the believer’s conflict with the flesh and the Spirit.
Here in chapter 18 we are looking ahead to the conditions of the millennium. Exodus chapter 4 gives us the details of why Moses and his wife Zipporah were separated. Moses was on his way to Egypt to do what God had directed him to do, that is, to get the Israelites out of Egypt, when there was a dispute over the circumcision of their son. Moses had neglected to have his son circumcised, presumably because of his Midianite wife Zipporah objected. This angered God and He was going to kill Moses. Note that Moses was unequally yoked to the Midianite. In anger, Zipporah did the procedure. Following this Moses sent her back to her father.
This disobedience of Zipporah in the matter of circumcision of her son points to the failure of Israel under the Law. The separation of Zipporah from Moses tells of Israel’s alienation from God through the offense of rejecting Jesus on the cross.
When Zipporah is restored to Moses we have a perfect type of Israel brought back to the Lord. Zipporah is a type of Israel.
We should observe now that Moses had two sons. If we conclude that Zipporah typifies Israel and, considering the two sons, we look forward to the time of Rehoboam when the nation was divided into two---the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Thus the wife is succeeded by her two sons.
Now the names of these two sons are very significant. The firstborn, Gershom means “stranger there”. This appropriately speaks of the dispersion of the Israelites from their land. Eliezer, the second son, means “God is my helper”. Though Israel was scattered throughout the world, they have been helped in a miraculous way by God.
Now consider this: Gershom is mentioned in Exodus 2 but Eliezer is not mentioned until this 18th chapter; not until Israel has been restored to God in the millennium. Only then will they recognize that God has been their protector during all these centuries of their dispersion.
We have said that Jethro was a Medianite, a Gentile. Verse 6 in this chapter I think is amazing. It says that Jethro brings Zipporah and her two sons to meet Moses. A Gentile brings Zipporah, a type of Israel, along with her two sons to Moses, a type of Jesus !!! Can you imagine that? Can it be that the it will be Gentiles who will bring the Word of God to the Jews in an effective way in the future so that they accept Jesus for who He is, their Messiah?
· Exodus 18:8-12 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them. 9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." 12 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.
Keep in mind that we are picturing here the millennium period. These verses simply represent a reconciliation between the Jews and Gentiles in the millennium. The second half of the chapter does not deal in types.
Chapter 19
· Exodus 19:1-6, In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
The Israelites had been through quite a lot since leaving Egypt. The time noted here is important. It is a key to understand what follows. Three is the number of manifestation. God was now about to give His people an amazing manifestation of Himself. Earlier they had seen His judgment on Egypt; they had seen His power at the Red Sea; they had experienced His guiding hand in the pillar of Cloud and fire; they had benefited from His mercies in the providing of manna and water from the rock; but they were now to come upon His majesty as it was displayed from the mountain.
Many believe that verse 5 here refers to the Abrahamic Covenant. But there is a flaw in this interpretation because there was nothing in that covenant for Israel to keep. But here at Sinai God was under another covenant, to which there would be two parties---Himself and Israel; a covenant which they were to keep if they were to enjoy the conditional blessings of the covenant. The terms of this covenant we are all now familiar with. This becomes clear from:
· Exodus 34:27-28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments.
· Exodus 19:7-8, The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
At this point the Israelites do not know the contents of the covenant that will come before them, but they agree to do whatever the Lord requires of them. This sounds like a great statement of faith, but is it?
· Exodus 19:9-13 The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said. 10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, 'Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on him. Whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to live.' Only when the ram's horn sounds a long blast may they go up to the mountain."
Just think of it!! Wouldn’t you have great trust in someone that you heard God speaking to? The people were to consecrate themselves even to the point of washing their clothes. God does not come near to those who were not clean and this includes sin, because it is sin that separates man from God. The sense of this is that the people were to “get ready to hear from God”. This same message should apply to us today as we come to God’s house of worship. We should prepare ourselves to hear from God!
At this point I would remind you that God was going to speak to Moses so that “the people will hear Me speak to you”. Never before or since has there been as large a congregation to hear from God.
Now I would like you to notice that in verse 9 there is a clear type of Moses as Jesus when God says that all the people will hear Me speak to Moses so that they will always put their trust in him (Moses/Jesus). How do we hear God speak? Jesus spoke all that God gave Him to speak.
· Exodus 19:16-19 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Can you imagine yourself being present at this event? How do you think you would react to the events we have just read of? Such a view of God’s majesty is a great need of our day. The eye of faith needs to see Him not just as “father”, as the “God of all grace”, but the “High and Lofty One who lives forever”, as the One who says, “Surely the nations are like a drop in the bucket and are regarded as dust on the scales.”
So what do we glean from this passage? It should tell us how we should revere and stand in His presence with awe and trembling.