Passover to Tabernacles - Part 3

Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.

We will continue to look at the importance of Israel in the fulfillment of God's redemptive purpose.

The full text of this message and supplementary study questions can be found on our website.

Transcript

Sunday November 14th 2021
Passover to Tabernacles
Part 3



1). Jn 4:22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

Jon 2: 9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.”

It is so important that we have settled in our understanding that where salvation is concerned there is an inseparable connection between Israel and the Christ.
a). Whether it is with regards to the redemption of the earth now under a curse or the redemption of Man, past present and future, Israel and the Christ must be seen together, even if they are not specifically mentioned.
b). Therefore, when we see the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in Revelation 13:8, we know that Israel must be involved as they were the only ones who could slay the Lamb and that the Lamb is Christ. Israel and the Christ are inseparable in this respect.
c). And this is of particular significance because of the importance this attaches to Israel in the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose; the nation’s importance with regards to the fulfillment of God’s stated reason for creating Man – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion……..

And as we consider God’s stated reason for creating Man, let’s make the connection between Genesis 1:26 and that which the Lord said to Abraham in - Ge 22:15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Again, the statement is made that Man will have dominion in the place of Satan and his angels and that dominion, possessing the gate of their enemies in the heavens and on the earth, will be the prerogative of the descendants of Abraham, to whom it is promised, the man God had chosen, whose lineage can be traced back through Shem and Seth to Adam in one direction and forward through Isaac, Jacob, David to the Christ in the other. The Christ who has come from the Jewish nation descended from Abraham, who will always remain a Jew.
d). And if we look at what is taught through the typology in Genesis Chapter 22, it will become obvious that Abraham’s descendants will possess the gate of their enemies, because God did not withhold His Son, His only Son, to die as the Son of Man, as Israel’s Passover Lamb, the same Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. And once again, Passover comes to the forefront as the beginning point that will enable God’s purpose for Man to be brought to fulfillment.
e). This is just what we have seen at the beginning of Genesis, where the foundational type has been laid out for us, it is what we have seen in Exodus, with events in Exodus providing the prophetic type for what is yet to come in Daniel’s seventieth week and beyond.
f). And because of Israel’s central role in this we have spent a good amount of time laying the foundation to Israel’s existence as a nation, through the lineage of Abraham, so that we may know both how and why God has brought this to pass in the way that He has.
g). As we have seen, the Lord has made it clear that it will be Abraham’s descendants who will possess the gate of their enemies and the Scripture has made it equally clear that Abraham’s descendants are to begin with Isaac and not Ishmael – Ge 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.

And from Isaac we come to Jacob, the son who possessed the rights of the firstborn and not Esau who was born first – Ge 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” 27 And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. 28 Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

And it is ‘in Jacob’ that God performed an act of creation,  producing one son from the twelve sons of Jacob and their descendants, the nation of Israel - Isa 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.

Then in Exodus Chapter 4, Israel, the son of God created ‘in Jacob’, was declared to be God’s firstborn son - Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” 

A firstborn son by adoption, and now with the rights to rulership, the right to possess the gate of their enemy. The rights given to the firstborn.

2). Ge 15:13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

In these verses from Genesis Chapter 15, God set out succinctly for Abraham an overview of the history of his descendants, from the birth of Isaac to the Exodus from Egypt – Ex 12:35 Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

And that which was said in Genesis 15:14 and seen in Exodus 12:36 foreshadows what will take place yet future when the promises to Abraham are fulfilled - Isa 60:5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you…………..10 “The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy on you. 11 Therefore your gates shall be open continually; They shall not be shut day or night, That men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And their kings in procession.

But Abraham was told by the Lord that the promise made concerning his descendants and the blessing of the nations through them would wait at least four hundred years. And this was the time that God had deemed necessary to take Abraham’s descendants, which began with Isaac, a small family of seventy persons, and turn them into the great nation He had promised – Ge 12:2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

And through Jacob and his family, seventy persons, going into Egypt to prosper and multiply and be persecuted, we are provided with the type for the Jewish people scattered throughout the Gentile nations from the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, even to this present day.
a). And the first generation of Israel’s persecution at the hands of the Assyrian Pharaoh in Egypt, is the prophetic type that pictures Israel’s coming persecution at the hands of another Assyrian, the Antichrist, during the Great Tribulation. And just as Moses was sent to the nation a second time to deliver them from Egypt – Acts 7:35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

So, the Christ will be sent a second time to deliver His people Israel from the hands of Antichrist. And in the same way that Pharaoh’s kingdom was devastated through the ten plagues, so Antichrist’s worldwide kingdom will be devastated through the opening of the seven seals on the seven sealed scroll. And just as Moses took the people from Egypt, following Passover and the devastation of Pharaoh’s kingdom, to the border of the promised land, so the Christ, will take the Jewish people from the Gentile nations where they will have been scattered, following the fulfillment of Passover and the devastation of Antichrist’s kingdom, into the land and back to Jerusalem – Jer 23:7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”

Let’s go back to the events recorded in Exodus – Ex 19:3 And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

The promise given to Abraham concerning the land of his inheritance and his descendants is irrevocable. It can never be given to any other, only to Abraham’s descendants. But here in Exodus Chapter 19 we see that the participation of this first generation of Israel in the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham is conditional. All that God had promised Abraham, would be the possession of this first generation if they would indeed obey His voice and keep His covenant.
b). What was required of them then, was faithful obedience; to believe what God would say to them and do it. In Exodus 19:8 the commitment to faithful obedience was made by them, however, in practice, for the majority, this was not the case. And because of having a sin nature, the wrong choice could easily be made, and so, the second of the feasts given to Israel, Unleavened Bread, is seen in conjunction with Passover – Ex 12:13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.

The length of this feast, seven days, points to the removal of that which would bring corruption to God’s stated purpose, that which He had said to them, for a complete period of time. This corruption, the leaven, would come from their assimilation into the ways of Egypt during the two hundred and ten years they spent there, that which would be manifest through the sin of unbelief, doing what was right in their own eyes.
c). And in conjunction with that pictured through the Feast of Unleavened Bread, once they were in the wilderness, God instituted the priestly ministry in the Tabernacle – Ex 40:12 “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water. 13 You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. 14 And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. 15 You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”

And this priestly ministry in the Tabernacle in the wilderness was to provide cleansing for the sins of the saved nation as they journeyed from the land of their birth to the land of their calling. And this cleansing was to be accomplished through the death and shed blood of animal sacrifices – 
Le 1:1 Now the LORD called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock. 3 “If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD. 4 Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5 He shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting……………. 

And the work of the priestly ministry, culminating in the sixth feast, that of Atonement, parallels the work seen in days two through six in Genesis Chapter 1. And the purpose for this ministry was to produce a cleansed people who would dwell in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob within the Theocracy that began when God’s glory filled the Tabernacle – Ex 40:34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

And within this Theocracy, Israel was to enter the land of promise, to be at the head of the nations, having been adopted as God’s firstborn son, with those nations then being evangelized by and blessed through Israel, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham.
d). And as we consider this, we cannot help but see the parallel that exists with respect to Christians in this dispensation. After Christ’s death and shed blood those who have believed on Him for eternal life are to be in the constant process of putting to death the old man, the sin nature. Constantly removing that which can corrupt God’s purpose for us, that which He has said, our involvement with the things of the world, the sin of unbelief, doing what seems right in our own eyes.
e). And to make this possible the Lord has instituted the High Priestly ministry in the Heavenly Tabernacle to provide cleansing for the sins of the saved, based on His death and shed blood – Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And the Lord’s present High Priestly ministry on our behalf also parallels the work done on days two through six as seen in Genesis Chapter 1, and is the antitype of Israel’s Tabernacle ministry, and the purpose of the Lord’s High Priestly ministry is to produce a cleansed people who will be able to dwell in the heavenly land promised to Abraham and his descendants, within the Theocracy to come in the Seventh Day.
f). And knowing that it was the presence of the glory of God that filled the Tabernacle that began the Theocracy at Sinai, we might now have an even greater understanding of the significance of that seen in verses such as – Isa 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.

Tit 1:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing [the appearing of the glory] of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, when the whole earth will be filled with His glory, is the coming of the Theocracy, the rule of God from the heavens and on the earth with His firstborn sons, during the Seventh Day, fulfilling the promises made to Abraham, thereby fulfilling God’s purpose for creating Man, bringing to fulfillment the Feast of Tabernacles.

3). Ex 12:40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

‘On that very same day’, precisely four hundred and thirty years to the day that God gave the promise to Abraham while he was in Ur of the Chaldees, ‘the armies of the Lord’, the nation of Israel, now some two million in number, ‘went out from the land of Egypt’ – Ge 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The land that God would show Abraham is the land that Israel, delivered from Egypt, was to receive as an inheritance. And just as Abraham had left the land of his birth to go to the land of his calling, so the Jewish people left the land of their birth to go to the same land, the land of their calling. They were now ‘the great nation’ that God had promised, and in them all the families of the earth could have been blessed.
a). And ‘on that very same day’ the first generation of Israel had been commanded, as we saw in Exodus Chapter 12, 17 So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt

And we can see a parallel here with the command given to Abraham to get out of his country, from his family and from his father’s house, to separate himself from everything that could corrupt God’s purpose for him, that which God had said to him. We could perhaps say that he was to remove the leaven for seven days.
b). And both journeys, that for Abraham and that for Israel, brought them to the same place, the land of Canaan. Neither Abraham, Isaac, nor Jacob received their inheritance in Canaan but will do yet future, and the first generation of Israel did not receive their inheritance either because of unbelief, and except for Joshua and Caleb, they never will.
c). As Israel left Egypt, Passover had been kept and unleavened bread was in place, but once in the wilderness the other five feasts were added to the nation’s observance, recorded in Leviticus Chapter 23 –
Le 23:4 ‘These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread……….9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD……….15 “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD…………….23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation…….26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 27 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD…………33 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 

And in giving these seven feasts, the Lord has established a prophetic calendar for the Jewish people, a calendar that takes them beyond the literal keeping of seven annual feasts, to a process that will bring to fulfillment the promises given to Abraham.
d). Each feast, in turn then, must be brought to the fulfillment of its prophetic type, beginning with Passover, before that in Tabernacles can be brought to pass.
e). And in giving these seven feasts, the Lord had demonstrated that Israel would have to go through process before the promises would be realized: confirming that seen in the six days and the Seventh Day in Genesis Chapter 1, in the promised Seed of the Woman in Chapter 3, the death of Abel in Chapter 4 and the sacrifice of Isaac in Chapter 22. A process that must take place to bring about the transition as the creation in Jacob is formed into Israel.
f). And in the typology found in Exodus, beyond Chapter 12, the death and shed blood of the Christ that would come almost one thousand five hundred years later, is pictured on two specific occasions.

This will have to wait until next time though – if we remain and if the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.