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The Exodus Generation Saved by Faith
The Israelites responded in faith at the first presentation of the gospel. Upon the hearing of faith it is written that they worshipped God – “And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped” (Exodus 4:29-31). |
The Israelites began well, in faith (as accounted Exodus 4:29-31), but their faith was soon lost because of the increased burden of labor and anguish of spirit. Under the power of Pharaoh’s oppression the people were made faithless and deaf to the gospel of God, but God did not let go. God turned their heart back to Himself by a demonstration of His gospel power! Israel watched as Satan’s Egypt contested with the power of God, and behold, the serpent did bruise, but God did crush. How? Seven miraculous plagues of wrath afflicted Egypt…but Israel, she dwelt in the midst of these stormy swarms of wrath as under an invisible shield! Israel wondered how they went on unharmed, and their faith was renewed to glorify God. God won their heart! Egypt came to recognize, confess, and believe that they were under the wrath of the God of Israel, even so, Israel came to recognize, confess, and believe that they were set apart and saved because they were loved by God!
7 Plagues
The swarm of flies – “to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between My people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be” (Exodus 8:22-23).
An unnamed Plague – “all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And this is the “sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt” which He spoke of (Exodus 9:6, 4).
In the miracle of the boils – “the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians,” but there is no mention of it being upon the Israelites (Exodus 9:11).
The plague of hail mixed with fire – “the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail” (Exodus 9:25-26).
The plague of locusts – Ex. 10:13-18 – the plague appeared to be only in the land of Egypt, for the locusts destroyed only what “the hail had left” “through all the land of Egypt” (Ex. 10:15). The plague of locusts was so grievous that the land was dark by the thick multitude of locusts that came over the land; it is suspected, as with the others (and the hail plague), that the Israelites were excluded.
The plague of darkness – The LORD then brought a “darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt” (Exodus 10:21). It is written of the Egyptians that “they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23).
The smiting of the firstborn - By all this time, the LORD won the hearts of the people by His mighty deeds; now they certainly believed. By the time the LORD pronounced His wrathful judgment to smite all the firstborn of the Egyptians, not one Israelite died (Exodus 11:6-7).
In the last plague, the firstborn of Israel could have died, but Israel demonstrated saving faith in that they believed and obeyed the gospel of their Passover, and so, they were passed over by the wrath of God. This is a famed type of Christ for New Testament believers, and to them it was their gospel. In it, the inspired writers declare, they received Christ “in a figure” (as Abraham, see Heb. 11:19), just like Abraham received Christ in a figure in his own lifetime. The Exodus generation took a lamb without blemish, roasted it in the fire, broke no bones of it, and ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs with their apparel girded. They ate it in haste and were gloriously saved from the destroyer when the LORD saw the covering of the Passover’s blood. Not one Israelite went out of his house, defied the ceremony, and was slain by the destroyer. All of Israel stayed and observed the ordinance according to the word and commandment of the LORD through Moses. Firstly, look at their hearts of saving faith at the hearing of the Passover ceremony:
An unnamed Plague – “all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And this is the “sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt” which He spoke of (Exodus 9:6, 4).
In the miracle of the boils – “the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians,” but there is no mention of it being upon the Israelites (Exodus 9:11).
The plague of hail mixed with fire – “the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail” (Exodus 9:25-26).
The plague of locusts – Ex. 10:13-18 – the plague appeared to be only in the land of Egypt, for the locusts destroyed only what “the hail had left” “through all the land of Egypt” (Ex. 10:15). The plague of locusts was so grievous that the land was dark by the thick multitude of locusts that came over the land; it is suspected, as with the others (and the hail plague), that the Israelites were excluded.
The plague of darkness – The LORD then brought a “darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt” (Exodus 10:21). It is written of the Egyptians that “they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exodus 10:23).
The smiting of the firstborn - By all this time, the LORD won the hearts of the people by His mighty deeds; now they certainly believed. By the time the LORD pronounced His wrathful judgment to smite all the firstborn of the Egyptians, not one Israelite died (Exodus 11:6-7).
In the last plague, the firstborn of Israel could have died, but Israel demonstrated saving faith in that they believed and obeyed the gospel of their Passover, and so, they were passed over by the wrath of God. This is a famed type of Christ for New Testament believers, and to them it was their gospel. In it, the inspired writers declare, they received Christ “in a figure” (as Abraham, see Heb. 11:19), just like Abraham received Christ in a figure in his own lifetime. The Exodus generation took a lamb without blemish, roasted it in the fire, broke no bones of it, and ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs with their apparel girded. They ate it in haste and were gloriously saved from the destroyer when the LORD saw the covering of the Passover’s blood. Not one Israelite went out of his house, defied the ceremony, and was slain by the destroyer. All of Israel stayed and observed the ordinance according to the word and commandment of the LORD through Moses. Firstly, look at their hearts of saving faith at the hearing of the Passover ceremony:
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Exodus 12:23-28: “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”
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This ceremony was the first of several experiences which was soon to come upon the Israelites, all of which, according to the New Testament inspired writers, serve as examples of saving experiences by saving faith, administering a carnal and spiritual salvation, even to the degree that they received the pre-incarnate Person of Christ. This means that their freedom from Egyptian bondage was not a mere freedom from physical slavery, but a freedom from the slavery of sin. In the subsequent events after the Passover ceremony, we will see the gospel of an atoning sacrifice, the gospel of the Spirit’s baptism, the gospel of the imperishable life of Christ, and the gospel of the unfailing Living Waters of Christ. Furthermore, the Israelites were called a “Church” that was “saved.”
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The Passover
(The Gospel of Sacrifice) The Red Sea Crossing (The Gospel of the Spirit’s Baptism) The Manna (The Gospel of the Imperishable Life of Christ) Water From the Rock (The Gospel of the unfailing, Living Waters of Christ) They Were A Church They Were SAVED! They Had the SPIRIT! They Had CHRIST! |
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). “And did all eat the same spiritual meat;” (1 Corinthians 10:3). “And did all drink the same Spiritual drink: for they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). “Living Water” – John 4:10 “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14) “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18). “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). “This is he, that was in the Church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us” (Acts 7:38). “Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the Mount” (Exodus 19:17). “And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:7-8). “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 1:5). “the same Spiritual meat” – 1 Cor. 10:3 “I am the Bread of Life” – John 6:35 “the same Spiritual drink” – 1 Cor. 10:4 “that Spiritual Rock” – 1 Cor. 10:4 “that Rock was Christ” – 1 Cor. 10:4 “Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them tempted” – 1 Cor. 10:9 “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” – 1 Pet. 1:11 “received Him in a figure” – Heb. 11:19 |
“Through faith He kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them” (Heb. 11:28).
“By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned” (Heb. 11:29). “Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they His words; they sang His praise” (Psalm 106:8-12). “As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:32-33)…“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and witheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst” (Neh. 9:20). “And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which Thou hadst sworn to give them” (Nehemiah 9:15). “And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out” (Isaiah 48:21). “For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). “And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Revelation 21:6). Psalms 78:15-16, 105:41, 107:35, Exodus 17:6, Deut. 8:15 “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine…” (Exodus 19:4-5) “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:” (1 Peter 2:9). “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13). “He SAVED them” – Ps. 106:8 “He SAVED them” – Ps. 106:10 “Then believed they His words” – Ps. 106:12 “Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11). “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people” (Leviticus 26:12). “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst…” (Deut. 23:14). “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). |
Jesus Christ is called “our Passover” that is “sacrificed for us,” thus herein the Israelites “received Him in a figure” (1 Cor. 5:7, Heb. 11:19). Without faith they could not have kept this Passover! As it is written, “Through faith He kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that destroyed the firstborn should touch them” (Heb. 11:28). After receiving the sacrifice of Christ, in a figure, they were baptized by water when they were, “under the cloud, and all passed through the Sea” (1 Cor. 10:1), but this was NOT water ONLY! 1 Corinthians 10 affirms this as a Spiritual experience, otherwise it would not have been called a baptism – “baptized unto Moses” (1 Cor. 10:2). Baptism is a word which describes a spiritual experience of salvation, like as it is written in Romans 6:3-4 – “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). This baptism is Spiritual and not only carnal, exactly as the Manna, or “meat,” is called “Spiritual meat” (1 Cor. 10:3), just as the “drink” is called a “Spiritual drink” (1 Cor. 10:4), just as the “rock” was called a “Spiritual Rock,” which “was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). In the crossing of the Red Sea it is, without contest, an act which required saving faith, an act which was made possible by saving faith, faith that was worthy enough to make it into the Hall of Faith – “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.” The faithless Egyptians were drowned, but the faith-filled Israelites “were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the Sea” (1 Cor. 10:2)! Praise God! After the Passover and Red Sea experience, Israel was promise laden and promise confirmed, passed over, blood covered, baptized, sanctified, and gospel freed!
By sin-remitting, sacrificial blood they were atoned, then they were baptized, thus Israel was now a “saved” (Jude 5, Ps. 106:8-12) people who were now called “the Church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). Did you know the scripture identifies these men as “the Church”? At Sinai they received “the lively oracles” of God (Acts 7:38), and this was a possession obtained only by God’s holy people (Eph. 2:12-13). They were called out of Egypt by the power of God, and God says, see “what I did unto the Egyptians,” “how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself,” therefore it is evident that this gathering was indeed a holy convocation (Ex. 19:4-5)! Gathering together before God as saved men and women, Israel became the people of God brought nigh to God. All others were, therefore, “far off” as “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the Covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12-13). Israel became God’s “peculiar treasure” (Ex. 19:5), even as we understand NT, spiritual Israelites to be, as the Holy Ghost signifies, “a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9, Tit. 2:14).
The Israelites were delivered and “did according to the word of Moses,” “and the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside the children” (Exodus 12:35, 37). This is the promised generation who were delivered from slavery that they might inhabit the Promised Land, thus God declares His express intention in saving them – UNDER BINDING OATH – “And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:7-8). Can a people so mightily saved, who were blood-covered and baptized by so great a power of God, can they fall from their gospel of grace?
NT writers interpreted this generation as comparable, relatable, exemplary, and parallel to God’s relationship to saved individuals in the New Covenant. They command us to look at them and learn from their salvation, but lo, we are directed to take warning by beholding, not just their beginning, but the final fate that they suffered! These applications are carefully detailed in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12. Please read the entire passage before we continue:
By sin-remitting, sacrificial blood they were atoned, then they were baptized, thus Israel was now a “saved” (Jude 5, Ps. 106:8-12) people who were now called “the Church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). Did you know the scripture identifies these men as “the Church”? At Sinai they received “the lively oracles” of God (Acts 7:38), and this was a possession obtained only by God’s holy people (Eph. 2:12-13). They were called out of Egypt by the power of God, and God says, see “what I did unto the Egyptians,” “how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself,” therefore it is evident that this gathering was indeed a holy convocation (Ex. 19:4-5)! Gathering together before God as saved men and women, Israel became the people of God brought nigh to God. All others were, therefore, “far off” as “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the Covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12-13). Israel became God’s “peculiar treasure” (Ex. 19:5), even as we understand NT, spiritual Israelites to be, as the Holy Ghost signifies, “a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9, Tit. 2:14).
The Israelites were delivered and “did according to the word of Moses,” “and the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside the children” (Exodus 12:35, 37). This is the promised generation who were delivered from slavery that they might inhabit the Promised Land, thus God declares His express intention in saving them – UNDER BINDING OATH – “And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD” (Exodus 6:7-8). Can a people so mightily saved, who were blood-covered and baptized by so great a power of God, can they fall from their gospel of grace?
NT writers interpreted this generation as comparable, relatable, exemplary, and parallel to God’s relationship to saved individuals in the New Covenant. They command us to look at them and learn from their salvation, but lo, we are directed to take warning by beholding, not just their beginning, but the final fate that they suffered! These applications are carefully detailed in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12. Please read the entire passage before we continue:
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“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).
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One must acknowledge, like Paul, that Israel was saved by the Passover and Red Sea Baptism, but look closer still. Israel was presently and progressively being saved by the Manna and the Water from the Rock, as Paul cites, and these things were not only CARNAL experiences. These were not merely carnal experiences of salvation, as noted before! It was said of the food they did eat in the wilderness (speaking of manna), that they “did all eat the same spiritual meat” (1 Cor. 10:3). Notice the words “spiritual meat” – this means that it was not just meat. Christ interprets the Manna to be a type of spiritually living by God; thus, He calls Himself the NT Manna that was sent by the Father from heaven to give life to the world – “As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:32-33)…“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Seeing that Jesus is the bread from heaven, by interpretation this means that He is the source of spiritual life that is sent from heaven, and this also signifies that what He spoke on earth was life-giving to those who heard Him through faith. His words – take note – “they are Spirit, and they are Life” (John 6:63). Therefore, in like manner it was said of the Manna in the wilderness. It was spiritually life-giving, and when they received it by faith, God gave to them the Spirit of God in gospel virtue. As it is written again, “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst” (Neh. 9:20). The disobedience of the Israelites in the OT inclines men to fancy that their experience of saving grace was merely carnal shadows which were absent of spiritual powers, spiritual life, and nearness to God – but this is not so. It was not a carnal salvation!
In like manner as the Manna, Christ was being revealed and received when God “turned the Rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters” (Psalm 114:8). The Israelites were presently and progressively persevering in salvation when they “did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). The Rock was smitten and poured forth, and the water is called a “spiritual drink.” This means that it is a Spiritual type of Christ! This is why Jesus calls Himself, “Living Waters” (John 4:10). He is the waters that never fail, that are “springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14, Jer. 2:13). If saving waters of a Spiritual salvation are waters that never fail, then God’s people that are saved do never thirst (John 4:13, Neh. 9:15, Isa. 48:21), hence the appeal – “I will give unto him that is athirst of the Fountain of the Water of Life freely” (Rev. 21:6). This was prophesied before as a type of Christ in the major prophets (Isa. 48:18), and it came to pass when Jesus Christ came in the 1st century, and also, when He abideth on earth within Christian men, as Christ said – “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). In this way Jesus Christ was the opening of rivers, the fountain in the valleys, the pool of water in the wilderness, and the springs of water in dry land, as it is written – “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18). Not only is the water from the rock a “spiritual drink,” but the rock itself is “Christ!” Without contest, these men were spiritual men; hence they were savingly connected to Jesus Christ!
My dear reader, all of these things teach us that these individuals were regenerated, that they had the Spirit of God within them - in type, by law, spiritually speaking, and in reality, as it is written – it was “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” (1 Peter 1:11)! This is why 2 Corinthians 6:16 quotes the NT reality of God’s indwelling presence as an OT reality – “…as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2 Cor. 6:16, Lev. 26:12, Deut. 23:14).
Israel believed the gospel at the Passover and the Red Sea crossing, and then they continued to believe the gospel at the Manna and the smitten Rock of life giving waters. However, in following Paul’s burden in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, we can see that he argues that Israel was SAVED, and yet, this is not the only thing Paul wants us to see. Read onward and take note of 1 Corinthians 10:5-12. This generation which did abound in spiritual salvation, whose faith was built upon 7 gospel messages giving an assurance to inherit the promised land, whose faith was wrought through the manifold mercy of seven sanctifying miracles in the land of Egypt – most of them did not continue in faith. They, as Paul stated, “were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Cor. 10:5), even though many continued for a long while in the steadfastness of faith. Paul is saying that they have become “our examples”, of what? An example for “our” admonition, he says, meaning they are examples for us who are SAVED, and why (1 Cor. 10:11)? This is because these Israelites were saved, like us, but then they provoked God by wicked behavior…so much so that they were smitten down in wrath and “overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Cor. 10:5), and Paul specifically cites four ways in which the wrath of God overthrew them as examples for us, so that NT Christians do not fall into the same fate (1 Cor. 10:7, 8, 9, 10). Jude had the very same burden when he wrote to the saints. Does this sound familiar? “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 1:5). Because this generation fell from gospel-grace unto their final reprobation, which we shall soon detail, they have become an example that we, as saved men and women like them, “should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted” (1 Cor. 10:6). 1 Corinthians 10 is a clear explanation of how these OT experiences are repeatable, that they were saved and then damned, and Paul thrusts the final fate of Israel’s damnation right before the eyes of the NT Israelites so that they might take heed to themselves, lest they, in the same manner as Israel, do also “fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
The New Testament writers do seek to put us in remembrance of the sure damnation we will undergo if we begin to be unbelieving, though we do now, at present, savingly believe. Look closely and you can see how this is what Jude is warning of, when he said – “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 5). As Jude says, “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this” (Jude 5), Paul first said, “brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant” (1 Cor. 10:1). Can you see how they are writing the very same burden? Read both chapters and you will see – it is the same message! Therefore we should “take heed” to ourselves as “brethren” (Heb. 3:12), as “holy brethren” who are “partakers of the heavenly calling”, who have become the “house” of Christ on earth (Heb. 3:12, 1, 6)! Take heed for what? “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Heb. 3:12-14). Again in Hebrews, the writer is writing about the same exodus generation who finally suffered the loss of their salvation.
Thus far the same burden and interpretation has been written in 1 Corinthians 10, Jude 5, and now Hebrews 3-4. See, this generation (namely approx. 600,000 men of war) lost their salvation, all except two men, though they partook of all the promises and oaths of the Covenant (Ex. 2:24, 3:8, 17, 12:25, 13:5, 11), wherein Christ was spiritually ministered unto them. They did not continue to believe, did not continue to receive Christ in figures, and consequentially, sinful works were wrought by the unbelief in their hearts. These spouts of rebellion did provoke God many times, until eventually, the Israelites provoked God to the point of no return – reprobation. They heard the gospel at the Passover, at the Red Sea, when the Manna fell, at Sinai, at the Rock of Waters, and finally, they heard the gospel the last time – but this time they denied it! What am I talking about? It was written that “the gospel” was “preached” “unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2). Do you wonder when this is? What gospel? We know that they received the gospel of the Passover, the Red Sea, the Manna, and the Rock, which were all types of Christ, but this “gospel” is found cited in Hebrews 4:2, and it was the last figure of Christ presented to them before their reprobation. Tragically, instead of spiritual life, their end was spiritual death, for, this time they denied the gospel instead of believing it.
This day is called “the day of temptation” or “the provocation” (Heb. 3:8). This is taught and applied to be a possibility for a NT saint in Hebrews chapters 3-4. Psalm 95 is quoted in verses 7-11 of Hebrews chapter 3:7-11. Hebrews 4 explains how they (the Exodus generation) came short of the promise (the gospel), and the NT Christians are warned likewise – “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1). The warning is that, in like manner as Israel, we can come short of the promise of our salvation – “departing from the Living God” (Heb. 3:12, 4:1). NOTE: you cannot depart from what you have never been brought into, or, you cannot woefully leave what you have never savingly received, or, you cannot fall from what you have never arisen into, namely the salvation in God. The rest in Hebrews 4:1 is Israel’s typical heaven (typically speaking), however the immediate, physical context of their rest was the literal inheritance of the Promised Land. Even so, our Promised Land (or rest) is Heaven, and according to Hebrews 4 we need to strive for it, lest we fall from it, like they did! As the OT Church was presently and progressively partaking of a Christ-empowering gospel, we too must be tried and found steadfast in our present progressive participation in Christ. Christ was then and is now! We too must persevere and not come short of a rest, promise, Covenant, and gospel that will consummate in our inheriting of the Kingdom of God – thus the rest is something to “labour” for, not rest for, nor should we rest in it as if we possess heaven now! “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb. 4:11). This rest is something we receive in the future, even though now, in another sense, we have spiritual rest in Christ from our own works. Nevertheless, we must labour because we must walk in His works (Heb. 4:1, 9, 11) – RESTING IS WORKING. For NT Christians, the rest in Hebrews 4 is something we do not presently possess, a rest we do not rest in now, but rather, a rest we must labor for now so as to obtain it later, or, rest in it later. We, like the Israelites, are looking forward to a rest, an inheritance, and the consummating gospel in the future, but they fell short of theirs.
In like manner as the Manna, Christ was being revealed and received when God “turned the Rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters” (Psalm 114:8). The Israelites were presently and progressively persevering in salvation when they “did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). The Rock was smitten and poured forth, and the water is called a “spiritual drink.” This means that it is a Spiritual type of Christ! This is why Jesus calls Himself, “Living Waters” (John 4:10). He is the waters that never fail, that are “springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14, Jer. 2:13). If saving waters of a Spiritual salvation are waters that never fail, then God’s people that are saved do never thirst (John 4:13, Neh. 9:15, Isa. 48:21), hence the appeal – “I will give unto him that is athirst of the Fountain of the Water of Life freely” (Rev. 21:6). This was prophesied before as a type of Christ in the major prophets (Isa. 48:18), and it came to pass when Jesus Christ came in the 1st century, and also, when He abideth on earth within Christian men, as Christ said – “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). In this way Jesus Christ was the opening of rivers, the fountain in the valleys, the pool of water in the wilderness, and the springs of water in dry land, as it is written – “I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18). Not only is the water from the rock a “spiritual drink,” but the rock itself is “Christ!” Without contest, these men were spiritual men; hence they were savingly connected to Jesus Christ!
My dear reader, all of these things teach us that these individuals were regenerated, that they had the Spirit of God within them - in type, by law, spiritually speaking, and in reality, as it is written – it was “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” (1 Peter 1:11)! This is why 2 Corinthians 6:16 quotes the NT reality of God’s indwelling presence as an OT reality – “…as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2 Cor. 6:16, Lev. 26:12, Deut. 23:14).
Israel believed the gospel at the Passover and the Red Sea crossing, and then they continued to believe the gospel at the Manna and the smitten Rock of life giving waters. However, in following Paul’s burden in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, we can see that he argues that Israel was SAVED, and yet, this is not the only thing Paul wants us to see. Read onward and take note of 1 Corinthians 10:5-12. This generation which did abound in spiritual salvation, whose faith was built upon 7 gospel messages giving an assurance to inherit the promised land, whose faith was wrought through the manifold mercy of seven sanctifying miracles in the land of Egypt – most of them did not continue in faith. They, as Paul stated, “were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Cor. 10:5), even though many continued for a long while in the steadfastness of faith. Paul is saying that they have become “our examples”, of what? An example for “our” admonition, he says, meaning they are examples for us who are SAVED, and why (1 Cor. 10:11)? This is because these Israelites were saved, like us, but then they provoked God by wicked behavior…so much so that they were smitten down in wrath and “overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Cor. 10:5), and Paul specifically cites four ways in which the wrath of God overthrew them as examples for us, so that NT Christians do not fall into the same fate (1 Cor. 10:7, 8, 9, 10). Jude had the very same burden when he wrote to the saints. Does this sound familiar? “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 1:5). Because this generation fell from gospel-grace unto their final reprobation, which we shall soon detail, they have become an example that we, as saved men and women like them, “should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted” (1 Cor. 10:6). 1 Corinthians 10 is a clear explanation of how these OT experiences are repeatable, that they were saved and then damned, and Paul thrusts the final fate of Israel’s damnation right before the eyes of the NT Israelites so that they might take heed to themselves, lest they, in the same manner as Israel, do also “fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12).
The New Testament writers do seek to put us in remembrance of the sure damnation we will undergo if we begin to be unbelieving, though we do now, at present, savingly believe. Look closely and you can see how this is what Jude is warning of, when he said – “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not” (Jude 5). As Jude says, “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this” (Jude 5), Paul first said, “brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant” (1 Cor. 10:1). Can you see how they are writing the very same burden? Read both chapters and you will see – it is the same message! Therefore we should “take heed” to ourselves as “brethren” (Heb. 3:12), as “holy brethren” who are “partakers of the heavenly calling”, who have become the “house” of Christ on earth (Heb. 3:12, 1, 6)! Take heed for what? “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Heb. 3:12-14). Again in Hebrews, the writer is writing about the same exodus generation who finally suffered the loss of their salvation.
Thus far the same burden and interpretation has been written in 1 Corinthians 10, Jude 5, and now Hebrews 3-4. See, this generation (namely approx. 600,000 men of war) lost their salvation, all except two men, though they partook of all the promises and oaths of the Covenant (Ex. 2:24, 3:8, 17, 12:25, 13:5, 11), wherein Christ was spiritually ministered unto them. They did not continue to believe, did not continue to receive Christ in figures, and consequentially, sinful works were wrought by the unbelief in their hearts. These spouts of rebellion did provoke God many times, until eventually, the Israelites provoked God to the point of no return – reprobation. They heard the gospel at the Passover, at the Red Sea, when the Manna fell, at Sinai, at the Rock of Waters, and finally, they heard the gospel the last time – but this time they denied it! What am I talking about? It was written that “the gospel” was “preached” “unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2). Do you wonder when this is? What gospel? We know that they received the gospel of the Passover, the Red Sea, the Manna, and the Rock, which were all types of Christ, but this “gospel” is found cited in Hebrews 4:2, and it was the last figure of Christ presented to them before their reprobation. Tragically, instead of spiritual life, their end was spiritual death, for, this time they denied the gospel instead of believing it.
This day is called “the day of temptation” or “the provocation” (Heb. 3:8). This is taught and applied to be a possibility for a NT saint in Hebrews chapters 3-4. Psalm 95 is quoted in verses 7-11 of Hebrews chapter 3:7-11. Hebrews 4 explains how they (the Exodus generation) came short of the promise (the gospel), and the NT Christians are warned likewise – “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1). The warning is that, in like manner as Israel, we can come short of the promise of our salvation – “departing from the Living God” (Heb. 3:12, 4:1). NOTE: you cannot depart from what you have never been brought into, or, you cannot woefully leave what you have never savingly received, or, you cannot fall from what you have never arisen into, namely the salvation in God. The rest in Hebrews 4:1 is Israel’s typical heaven (typically speaking), however the immediate, physical context of their rest was the literal inheritance of the Promised Land. Even so, our Promised Land (or rest) is Heaven, and according to Hebrews 4 we need to strive for it, lest we fall from it, like they did! As the OT Church was presently and progressively partaking of a Christ-empowering gospel, we too must be tried and found steadfast in our present progressive participation in Christ. Christ was then and is now! We too must persevere and not come short of a rest, promise, Covenant, and gospel that will consummate in our inheriting of the Kingdom of God – thus the rest is something to “labour” for, not rest for, nor should we rest in it as if we possess heaven now! “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Heb. 4:11). This rest is something we receive in the future, even though now, in another sense, we have spiritual rest in Christ from our own works. Nevertheless, we must labour because we must walk in His works (Heb. 4:1, 9, 11) – RESTING IS WORKING. For NT Christians, the rest in Hebrews 4 is something we do not presently possess, a rest we do not rest in now, but rather, a rest we must labor for now so as to obtain it later, or, rest in it later. We, like the Israelites, are looking forward to a rest, an inheritance, and the consummating gospel in the future, but they fell short of theirs.
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“For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it” – Prov. 2:21 |
The frightening reality is that Israel was a partaker of the gospel and promises of God, the spiritual manifestations of Christ, the Covenant of Abraham, a salvation based upon the faithfulness of God, the spoken word of God, the promise of God, and the oaths of God, yet Hebrews 4:1 warns of coming short of the promises by unbelief! Numbers 14 gives an account of this day when they came short of and lost their salvation. God does not deny that He did promise them salvation. He says to them, “ye shall know My breach of promise” (Num. 14:34)! The word breach means break, and reader, we will see this more as we continue to study. God does this in many ways, many times – “breach for breach” (Lev. 24:20) and “break” for “break” (Ezek. 16:59, 17:18-19). Justly, unashamedly, and righteously, God says, “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (Num. 14:30). My reader, Hebrews 4:1 should utterly stagger you! It is the New Testament application of what God called in the Old Testament – “My BREACH OF PROMISE" (Num. 14:34)! Do you remember all the promises and oaths of God that were upon this generation, confirming it, that they were supposed to inherit and take the Promised Land!? But God rose up their children in their stead, and this, my reader, is breaking what was promised before! Do you remember it?
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Motivation and Intent for Salvation
Salvation as a work of God based upon the faithfulness of God The spoken word of God The Promise of God The Oath to their faithers The Oath to the present Exodus generation |
“God remembered His Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” – Exodus 2:24
“I am come down to deliver,” “to bring them up out of that land,” “unto the place” (the Promised Land) – Exodus 3:8 "And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey." ( Exodus 3:17) "And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service." (Exodus 12:25) "And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month." (Exodus 13:5) "And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee," (Exodus 13:11) |
The whole generation was killed off in the wilderness, even 600,000 men of war who refused to believe for the salvation that had already been given to them (Deut. 1:20-21). This was a generation whose number was supposed to be as the stars in number when they inherited the Promised Land, but this generation was reduced to two men of war! Even so, God decides to raise up their children in their stead. They refused to take the Promised Land as a gift of grace, and God condemned them to hell. He reprobated them without any possibility of repentance even though they sought after it with tears (Deut. 1:41-46 like as Heb. 12:17). My reader, I repeat, we know that they lost their salvation because they did once partake of Christ and the gospel (1 Cor. 10:1-4, etc.), and then they forsook the gospel which was preached to them while they stood on the edge of Heaven (Heb. 3:16-4:1)! On the edge of final perseverance their faith failed! HOW TERRFIYING! Verily, even the writer of Hebrews was AFRAID, therefore feelingly, he said – “LET US THEREFORE FEAR” (Heb. 4:1)! What about you?
For the Promised Land to be inherited by Israel, each man had to “cease from his own works” and walk in the faith and works of God, wherein He, as He said to them, would fight for them – even as He did fight for them in Egypt when He secured for them their exodus. With gospel-power, again, God said – “The LORD your God which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes” (Deut. 1:30). The people needed “diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:11-12), but they didn’t have it! We must live by “faith and patience” also, which is active in “diligence” and “labour” (Heb. 4:11), and we must avoid slothfulness and lukewarmness (Heb. 6:11-12, Rev. 3:16). These deeds of faith do mandate an inheritance of the promises of God if we keep them unto the end, otherwise, like the Israelites, we will come short of them (Heb. 4:1). “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1).
We are warned of an “evil heart of unbelief” that would cause us to depart “from the living God,” and we cannot depart from God if we were never with Him (Heb. 3:12). This is an example and charge to NT, regenerate Christians who are presently “partakers of Christ,” that they do not undergo their own day of provocation until they are, like the Israelites, “cast away” (1 Cor. 9:27) or made “reprobates” (2 Cor. 13:5). When a saved man is “cast away” (1 Cor. 9:27), or in other words reprobated, he does fall away and lose his salvation – thus at this point repentance becomes an impossibility. This impossibility for repentance is a theme repeatedly pressed upon the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, and it was a reality that this reprobated generation experienced in Deuteronomy 1:41-45. God commanded Israel to take the Promised Land – their gospel – but they refused, and right when the word of their reprobation was spoken they tried to repent…but it was too late.
For the Promised Land to be inherited by Israel, each man had to “cease from his own works” and walk in the faith and works of God, wherein He, as He said to them, would fight for them – even as He did fight for them in Egypt when He secured for them their exodus. With gospel-power, again, God said – “The LORD your God which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes” (Deut. 1:30). The people needed “diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:11-12), but they didn’t have it! We must live by “faith and patience” also, which is active in “diligence” and “labour” (Heb. 4:11), and we must avoid slothfulness and lukewarmness (Heb. 6:11-12, Rev. 3:16). These deeds of faith do mandate an inheritance of the promises of God if we keep them unto the end, otherwise, like the Israelites, we will come short of them (Heb. 4:1). “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Heb. 4:1).
We are warned of an “evil heart of unbelief” that would cause us to depart “from the living God,” and we cannot depart from God if we were never with Him (Heb. 3:12). This is an example and charge to NT, regenerate Christians who are presently “partakers of Christ,” that they do not undergo their own day of provocation until they are, like the Israelites, “cast away” (1 Cor. 9:27) or made “reprobates” (2 Cor. 13:5). When a saved man is “cast away” (1 Cor. 9:27), or in other words reprobated, he does fall away and lose his salvation – thus at this point repentance becomes an impossibility. This impossibility for repentance is a theme repeatedly pressed upon the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews, and it was a reality that this reprobated generation experienced in Deuteronomy 1:41-45. God commanded Israel to take the Promised Land – their gospel – but they refused, and right when the word of their reprobation was spoken they tried to repent…but it was too late.
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“Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you” (Deuteronomy 1:41-45).
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They sought repentance “carefully with tears” (Heb. 12:17), and weeping (Deut. 1:45), “but the LORD would not hearken.” An impossibility to repent is warned to NT Christians in Hebrews 6:6, 10:26-29, 12:15-17. In like manner, there is a repeated warning to the NT saints, a warning of sure damnation, if, like Israel, they do continue to disobey the voice of God. This would mean that they are willfully sinning (Heb. 2:1-4, 3:7-11, 4:7, 10:26, 12:25). Surrounding these passages is a glorious description of the Covenant of Christ elevated above the Covenant of Moses (Heb. 1, 2:5-18, 5:1-10, 7:1-10:18) – but NOTE – the superiority of the New Covenant is NOT the impossibility of wrath for the Church, but on the contrary, a MORE SURE and SEVERE wrath to backslidden saints. Hebrews is an argument that shows the Covenant of Christ to be a greater salvation, and if neglected by those who are presently saved, it is a greater, more severe, and surer condemnation (greater than it was for those who were disobedient to the Covenant made through Moses). To trace and prove this argument (inspired and applied by the Holy Ghost in Hebrews), I now turn.