Giants and Grasshoppers - Part Two

1 Co 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as types, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

We will continue to look at the lessons to be learned from the first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt.

The full text of this message can be found here. Supplementary study questions are also avaihalbe on the website. 

Transcript

Sunday April 25th 2021
Giants and Grasshoppers
Part Two




1). Nu 13:25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

We had seen last week how Israel’s entrance into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was about a great deal more than just the occupancy of the land. The inhabitants of the land with their fortified cities and with the Nephilim among them was a stronghold of Satan and his ruling angels, whose sole aim was to stop the fulfillment of God’s purpose for His adopted firstborn son.
a). That which took place at the borders of the land at Kadesh Barnea was a conflict to determine who would hold the scepter of rulership with respect to the earth. A conflict to determine whether Satan and his angels would continue to rule or whether God’s creation, Man, would now have dominion.
b). And we had also seen last time that the experience of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, arriving at Kadesh Barnea, has been given to provide a series of types for us, from which we can derive great spiritual truth as we make our journey to the borders of the heavenly land that we are promised – 1 Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our types, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as types, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

And we will remember that Paul draws our attention to the experiences of the first generation of Israel immediately following him giving instructions for our own race of the faith. And the parallel we are to see between these two is obvious. Our race of the faith is pictured through Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan and all through their journey, concluding with the nation’s rejection of God’s purpose at Kadesh, we are shown the reasons why it ended in failure, with a view to us avoiding the same end.
c). And this is summed up in the phrase, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. The entire nation, apart from Joshua and Caleb, lusted after, set their hearts upon, that which was worthless with respect to their calling, the ‘evil things’ that we see from our phrase.
d). And these evil things are itemized for us. There is the idolatry of the golden calf incident, sexual immorality, putting Christ to the test and complaining – all of which, on a spiritual level, would sum up the Laodicean condition of God’s house at the end of this dispensation.
e). We are to learn from this to come out from among them to avoid the same outcome experienced by those whose bodies were scattered in the wilderness, because it is upon us that the ‘ends’, the goal, the focal point of the ages – the age to come, the 7th Day, has come. We know of course that the rulership of the earth did not change at Kadesh Barnea, but we now find ourselves at the sharp end of Man’s Day, so to speak, at our own Kadesh Barnea, when the change of rulership is imminent and consequently, we face the same challenge with regard to entering the heavenly land and defeating our enemy as Israel faced, with the same outcome which could be positive or negative, as a result.
f). Now, if we go back to the beginning of 1 Corinthians Chapter 10 we see that Paul wanted to make sure that we understand that this first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt was in no sense ignorant of God’s purpose for them, far from it, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

We see that the entire nation, God’s firstborn son, having died vicariously in Egypt, had then been buried in the Red Sea, and raised to newness of life. The entire generation was immersed in the cloud that led them, under the headship of Moses, himself a type of Christ, God’s chosen servant to deliver them from Egypt. And while on their journey the entire generation ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink that came from the spiritual rock that was Christ.
g). Such is the picture of this generation of Jews that the Lord would have us see and yet with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

2). With regards to the spiritual food and spiritual drink provided for this first generation, there is a sequence of events in 2 Chapters of Exodus that are most instructive for us – Ex 16:33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

In Exodus Chapter 16 we find Israel longing to eat meat and be satisfied with bread. And in response to the people’s contention God provided ‘quail’ for them to eat in the evening and the following morning He provided them with bread from heaven. And the manna provided for them presents one facet of the spiritual food that was given to the nation.
a). Then as we move into Chapter 17, we find this – Ex 17:1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?” 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” 5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 

There are two places in the Scriptures where Moses struck the Rock, which was Christ, with water coming out of the Rock on both occasions. But for our purpose today we will focus on the first striking of the Rock here in Exodus Chapter 17.
b). We will need to follow the typology here carefully if we are to grasp what is being taught to us. So, to begin, striking the Rock, which was Christ, prefigures the Lord’s crucifixion, looking to the day when He would be struck, and ‘water’ would flow as a result.
c). Now this is more than just a reference to the Lord’s side being opened following His death, although we will see a connection with this as we continue – Jn 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 

And then, the striking of the Rock in Exodus Chapter 17 takes us back to the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs in Egypt, which provide another type for the crucifixion of Christ. And as we look at the striking of the Rock in Exodus 17, we must go back to the Passover in Egypt in one direction and forward to the Lord’s crucifixion in other direction as all must be understood in the light of each other – Ex 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire…….

Following the death of the Passover lambs, after the lambs had been struck, and the blood applied, providing eternal redemption, the flesh of the slain lamb was then to be eaten. The eating of the flesh of the slain lamb, the substitutionary sacrifice, is synonymous with eating the manna, the bread from heaven, and with drinking the water coming from the Rock which was Christ.
d). And all that is pictured in these events in Exodus is brought together for us in John’s gospel – Jn 6:48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has age lasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

In the account recorded here, the Lord began by making the connection between Himself, ‘I am the bread of life’ and the manna in the wilderness eaten by the fathers. Those who ate the manna in the wilderness ‘are dead’. Not just physically dead, but dead in relation to the realization of God’s purpose for them, dead to entering the land and defeating their enemies.
e). Then at the Lord’s first advent, He offered another generation of eternally saved Jews the opportunity to enter the heavenly land this time and defeat their enemies therein, and had that generation eaten His flesh and drunk His blood, Christ being the Word made flesh, then they would not have died in relation to their calling, as the first generation had done.
f). And although the Lord’s words were addressed to national Israel, what He said equally applies to those to whom the Kingdom of the Heavens is being offered during this dispensation. To eat the Lord’s flesh and drink His blood, which are 2 ways of saying the same thing, is to receive the life that comes through the living Word – Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit….

Receiving life through that which is the meat of the Word brought forth from above through the ministry of the Holy Spirit - Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom……

Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be [continually] filled with the Spirit…

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…….

And so, to take all of this back to 1 Corinthians Chapter 10 - even though we may hear the Word of the Kingdom, and be continually filled with the Spirit as we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom, we will remember that the first generation of Israel also ate the spiritual food and drank the spiritual drink provided for them and yet still fell in the wilderness, eternally redeemed but without realizing the purpose for their redemption – Heb 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
 
This is the reason Paul writes to us, ‘therefore let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.’

3). With all these things in place, let’s return to the sequence of events which began with the supply of manna and then water through the striking of the Rock, found in Exodus Chapters 16-17. We have then in God’s supply of spiritual food and drink, not only that which would sustain the Jews on their journey, but also that which would provide victory for them in the land of their enemies. The first generation then, having eaten and having drunk the spiritual food and drink were in possession of all that was necessary to accomplish both. Let’s look at what happened next – Ex 17:7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” 8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

Israel had contended with the Lord and He had given them manna, they contended with the Lord again and He gave them water from the Rock. But despite the Lord’s spiritual provision, notice the nation’s attitude recorded at the end of v7, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ There was doubt, that which they had been given was not mixed with faith. And in the question at the end of v7 we see the antithesis of that which was necessary for victory, that which Joshua and Caleb possessed – 
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

And with this verbalization of unbelief still on their lips, ‘Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.’
a). And it was no coincidence that it was Amalek who came because
Ge 36:12 Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.

Amalek was Esau’s grandson, and he and the people, the Amalekites, associated with him, have an inseparable connection to Esau and all that he represents – Ge 25:34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau despised his birthright, he considered that which awaited him in the future as a firstborn son to be worthless, focusing instead on the gratification of a fleshly desire, a stew of lentils, because he was hungry.
b). And it is Esau who is the subject of the 5th and final major warning found in the Book of Hebrews, all of which deal with the birthright – Heb 12:16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Ge 25:27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.

Esau then is a type of the man of the flesh, the old man, the carnal nature, whose sole focus is on fleshly gratification caring nothing for the birthright and indeed being hostile to it, and those coming from Esau, Amalek and the people having his name, the Amalekites, must also be seen as a continuation of this type, radically opposed to the man of the spirit.
c). So, to return to Israel at Rephidim, which has been given to us as a type, what should we learn from it? Firstly, let’s note that it was Israel and not Jacob who was attacked by Amalek. Israel is the name used for the Jews in the spiritual realm, whereas Jacob is used for the Jews in the natural realm. We see an attack then directed specifically against the one in possession of the birthright belonging to the firstborn son for the purpose of denying that birthright. Secondly, we see this attack taking place because of the absence of faith, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ And thirdly, it lasts until the going down of the sun. Something, therefore, that is ever present throughout our Christian journey.
d). But perhaps, more importantly, the type teaches us how the battle with Amalek is to be won – Nu 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Joshua went and fought with Amalek while Moses, Aaron and Hur took up a vantage point on the top of the hill. This was not ‘a hill’, but ‘the hill’, a specific hill, and when the hill is used symbolically in this way it takes us to the same place as the symbolism in the word ‘mountain’. It is used symbolically to picture a kingdom. And the context in which ‘the hill’ is used in Numbers can take us to only one Kingdom.
e). With the Kingdom symbolically in view, Moses is seen with ‘the rod of God’ in his hand, figuratively pointing to the scepter of rulership to be held by Christ and His coheirs in that Day. 
f). There is a duality to the type presented here. Moses with the rod of God bringing defeat over Amalek, pictures the Lord Jesus Christ who needs no help, the battle belongs to the Lord. But then, the individual Christian engaged in the battle, also seen in Moses, does need help, hence Aaron and Hur.
g). Within the ongoing battle with the man of the flesh, pictured in Amalek, we all become tired and weary, there is a grinding down in the struggle over time. In the type we see that when Moses grew tired, ‘he let down his hand’ and ‘Amalek prevailed’. Aaron and Hur then came to his aid providing a stone for Moses to sit on and supporting his hands ‘one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.’
h). Moses holding up his hand with the rod of God is a picture of the Christian holding fast the confession of his hope without wavering, but as we have just seen, weariness comes with the prolonged battle, requiring, the help of others also engaged in the battle, Aaron and Hur in the type. 
i). If we go back to Hebrews Chapter 10 where the admonition to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering is found, we might be surprised to make the connection with what comes next – 
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

In the antitype of the battle with Amalek at Rephidim, we will all at some point become weary in the constant battle against the man of the flesh and as we do then those engaged in the same battle with us come along side to hold up our hands, that we may continue without wavering.
j). And how does this happen? Hebrews 10:24-25 has given us the answer. We assemble ourselves together for mutual encouragement, support, and exhortation. To help build each other up in our most holy faith. 
k). And even though we have not mentioned the whole armor of God yet, let’s not think that the battle with Amalek is separate from the spiritual warfare, it is very much a part of it, as we will see in the weeks ahead. 

If we remain, and the Lord is willing, we will continue.