Types and Shadows of Christianity #2
Studies from the Book of Exodus
Moses – a Shadow of the Coming Christ
There are many parallels in the lives of Moses and that of Christ.
While Moses was the chosen man for the deliverance of God’s chosen nation, Israel, Jesus was God’s Son, the Chosen One, God in the body of man’s flesh, the Deliverer of all man from their sin and death.
1) Both Jesus and Moses were preserved and protected from death as infants.
Matthew 2:14-15, "When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son."
Exodus 2:2-3, "And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink."
Satan is ever attempting to destroy God’s plan of salvation. Satan thought that if he could destroy Moses that Israel would be destroyed as a nation and God’s bloodline for the coming Messiah would be stopped cold. He is so blinded! Could Satan not understand that God would only raise up another nation or another deliverer if Satan’s plan would have succeeded?
Satan attempted to stop Jesus from going to the cross too. Then he actually played into the hands of God and fulfilled God’s plan for a Deliverer when Jesus was on the cross. Satan thought he had won the war but found out that this was his Waterloo, his ultimate defeat.
2) Both Jesus and Moses had to face the powers of hell in great times of trouble.
Exodus 7:11, "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments."
Matthew 4:1, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."
Nothing worthwhile is accomplished in the work of the Lord without a battle in both the spiritual and earthly realms. We will also face the powers of darkness in the process of building a work for the Lord. Satan’s tactics have not changed. Get geared up for battle!
3) Both Jesus and Moses fasted for 40 days.
Matthew 4:2, "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."
Exodus 34:28, "And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
Fasting and prayer are two of the most important elements of having power and influence with God. They destroy the power of the flesh to overcome and bring the spirit into alignment with God’s will. Fasting makes the flesh weak and susceptible to temptation but the power of prayer along with it gives us the power to resist and overcome every temptation.
4) Both Jesus and Moses caused the winds and the seas to obey them. Of course Jesus did by his own power and Moses did so by the power of God.
Exodus 14:21-22, "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left."
Matthew 8:26, "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."
Jesus has complete power and authority over all of creation because He is God. He created the winds that obey him. He spoke the seas into existence and they obey him still.
Moses could only command as directed by God but with God’s power behind him, the seas were under his command.
All of us can have that mountain moving, sea splitting, and wave calming power if we will only have faith in God and give him glory for what he does.
5) Both Jesus and Moses were instrumental in feeding the multitude!
Matthew 14:20-21, "And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children."
Exodus 16:15, "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat."
Jesus is the Bread of Life and he was demonstrating the fact that the life that he gives is without limit and everlasting. There is not only sufficiency for our every need in Jesus but he says that the will give us blessings pressed down, shaken together and running over; blessings that we cannot contain.
Moses, being a mortal man in obedience to an eternal God, did not produce the bread for that Bread was representative of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and the people were to take only that bread, or manna, that was necessary for one day.
We cannot store up enough of Jesus in our hearts that it is unnecessary for us to go again the next day for more of Him. Each day contains new temptations, new trials and each day we need a new portion of the everlasting Bread of Life in Jesus Christ.
6) Both Jesus and Moses had one point in their lives where their faces and appearance shone forth with the glory of God.
Matthew 17:2, "And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."
A few years ago there were cartoons and toys on the market that were called “Transformers”. An ordinary car would transform by bending and twisting various parts, into a mechanical robot with great powers and weaponry.
Jesus was transformed or went through a metamorphosis on the top of the mountain that day while Peter, James and John looked on. The glorious nature of God that was in the body of flesh of the man called Jesus, shone through like the noon-day sun. The clothes that Jesus wore could not stop the glow of God’s power. Nothing of this world can overcome or compare with that glory of God that comes upon us when we draw near to him.
Exodus 34:35, "And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him."
While Jesus was transfigured and his own glory shown through, Moses’ face was so altered and made to glow by the presence of the Lord that he had to wear a veil over his face to keep from frightening the people of Israel.
It really is a shame when people who are supposed to be called Children of God are ashamed and afraid of God’s glory. How many people in our Pentecostal churches have never experienced the glory of God as he fills the house?
Likewise, once you have been truly touched by the power of God and his Spirit rests upon you, you will have a different look and a different attitude. The glory of God will shine forth from your heart and other people will know that you have been with Jesus.
7) Both Jesus and Moses had to endure people who murmured against them.
Mark 7:2, "And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault."
If there is one thing that the church is never short of, it’s those who love to murmur and complain. Nothing is ever good enough, right enough, nice enough or done right way. They consider themselves to have the “gift of criticism” and the right, given by God, to use that “gift” on anyone and everything in the church.
Murmurers bring division, cause strife and grieve the Holy Spirit. Murmurers and complainers will kill any move of the Holy Ghost. Even so, they are everywhere and we must learn to deal with them.
Exodus 15:24, "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?"
Numbers 14:36-37, "And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD."
Israel was bad about murmuring and complaining just as we are sometimes. They refused to trust and obey God and it cost them their entrance into the Promised Land. I often wonder just how many people will miss Heaven because they do nothing but find fault!
The 10 Israelites at the banks of the Jordan River who brought back a faithless and evil report not only caused the whole nation to miss out on God’s best but they died with a plague before Israel was ever turned back into the wilderness to wander for another 40 years.
God will not tolerate complainers, murmurers and faithless, disobedient people. Heaven will be a place only for the faithful and those who are content in God’s blessings that he has bestowed upon them.
8) Both Jesus and Moses were discredited in their own home.
John 7:5, "For neither did his brethren believe in him."
At first they probably accepted and embraced their oldest brother, Jesus, as the Messiah. It’s is certain that Jesus’ brothers had often heard of the miracles surrounding his birth and God’s hand upon him. It was likely that they all expected that he would set up an earthly kingdom. There is no doubt that they also might hope, on account of their relation to him, according to the flesh to enjoy great hono rs and privileges.
But when they figured out that Jesus was not going to set up an earthly kingdom, they grew sick of him, and rejected him, as the Messiah. His own family rejected him as the Messiah. Jesus knew what it was like to have brothers and sisters that were lost and yet rejected his blood as a sacrifice for their sin. I wonder how many of Jesus’ own earthly family are in hell today because they rejected him?
Matthew 13:54-58, "And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
When was Moses rejected by his own family - Numbers 12:1, "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman."
Moses had married Zipporah from the land of Midian. She was a Cushite and was likely very dark skinned. The family wasn’t angry because of who or what she was so much as they were angry with him, because he got married without their approval and chose whom he pleased, without consulting them.
There are a lot of controllers in the church. These are people who want to have control of everything that the church does and they want it done their way. God only puts one person in control of his church, under the headship of Jesus Christ, and that’s the Pastor. Anything that tries to develop a second head is a freak and destined for destruction.
Sometimes it is those who we trust and love the most who give us the least amount of support and belief in what we can become. How many times have I heard parents say to their kids’, “you will never amount to anything”? Your family will often be the hardest and last ones that you can reach with the gospel message or convince them that you are able to do anything. Some of us are blessed with families that are very supportive but there are more who aren’t supportive at all.
9) Both Jesus and Moses were intercessor in prayer for other people.
John 17:19, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."
Jesus is our great intercessor. 1 John 2:1 says, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:" Jesus is our lawyer in courtroom of God. He speaks in our defense every time the devil attempts to bring an accusation against us.
Romans 8:34, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
Exodus 32:32, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."
Moses was always interceding for the Children of Israel. God had determined on more than one occasion to destroy the whole nation and begin again but Moses’ intercessory prayer saved them. At one point he even told God that if God was going to kill the whole nation then take Moses out with them.
How many of us are willing to give up our lives to save the lives of others? That’s what we must be willing to do if we are going to be useful in building the Kingdom of God.
10) Both Jesus and Moses chose 70 helpers.
Luke 10:1, "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come."
Numbers 11:16-17, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone."
Thank God for those who are called to help in the work of building God’s Kingdom! God knows that we are weak, frail beings and that we need support from time to time. It is never his will for us to become so overloaded that we can’t function properly. Therefore He appointed help for both Jesus and Moses in accomplishing the will of God for their lives.
11) Both Jesus and Moses established memorials during their lives.
Luke 22:19, "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me."
Exodus 12:14, "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
Both of these memorials, the Communion and the Feast of Passover, are initiated as a reminder of the power of the Blood of the Lamb, God’s perfect sacrifice. Memorials are given to keep us under constant remembrance of the terrible price that had to be paid for our salvation.
