Jewels From Exodus 12

This morning was delightfully quiet. My children are all away at their Mamaw and Papaw’s house for a nice visit. Selah… I can breathe and pray and praise. This should not be the exception, but all too often it is.

As I sat in the quiet, I asked the Lord to delight me with His Word. This is absolutely my favorite thing to do in life. I LOVE the Word of God and studying it is akin to panning for gold. The treasure hidden therein is beauty beyond compare, and we miss if it we are not intently searching it out. And, as the good and mighty Abba Father that He is, He did indeed delight me again.

I read the following section of Exodus 12 regarding the Passover:

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 This month shall be to you the beginning of months, the first month of the year to you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel, On the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb or kid, according to [the size of] the family of which he is the father, a lamb or kid for each house. 4 And if the household is too small to consume the lamb, let him and his next door neighbor take it according to the number of persons, every man according to what each can eat shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb or kid shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it from the sheep or the goats. 6 And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall [each] kill [his] lamb in the evening. 7 They shall take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel [above the door space] of the houses in which they shall eat [the Passover lamb]. (AMP)

It fascinates me how the Lord uses the very physical events and descriptions of the Old Testament to teach spiritual truths, and these 7 short verses are packed with those multi-faceted spiritual gems. They are dazzling to the eye when viewed through the eyes of Christianity.

First, we are told that the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. Think of this, the Lord God communicated with man in the place of his bondage. Spiritually speaking, we are slaves to whatever and whomever and wherever we are before the deliverance achieved by the Lord on our behalf. He met them where they were, not where He ultimately wanted them to be.

Also, He communicated to them specifically what He needed for them to do in their present situation in order to work a miracle to serve as a witness to His greatness. I heartily dispute anyone who claims the Lord stopped speaking as soon as John put down his quill at the end of Revelation. My God does NOT change. He has not stopped performing miracles and He has not stopped talking. Tragically, those who say He no longer speaks are those who have stopped listening. Nowhere in the Bible does it in any way indicate that He would stop speaking and in fact we are told, the Holy Spirit gifts some to be pastors, some to be teachers, and some to prophecy (Matthew 23:24, John 8:47, John 18:37, 1 Corinthians 12:28-29, Ephesians 4:11). Why in the world would we continue to have pastors and teachers, but not prophets? In such an instance, we are not taking God at His word, but rather picking and choosing what we will believe. He said what He meant, and He meant what He said. But, I digress.

He prefaced His words to them by telling them that this command that He was about to give them was so profound that it would change the way they recorded time. It was to become an entirely new reckoning of time. It was a new Beginning.

3 Tell all the congregation of Israel, On the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb or kid, according to [the size of] the family of which he is the father, a lamb or kid for each house.

The father of each household was to choose a Lamb for his family. Though it is socially unpopular, one cannot escape the command of the Lord for the father to be the spiritual leader of his home. This verse is only one of many that corroborate the importance of his role to the spiritual health of the family. It is God-ordained. Many volumes can and have been written regarding this subject alone. But again, I digress.

Each house was responsible for accepting the Lamb into their home. All of Israel corporately as a nation was commanded to perform this task, yet each family was responsible for their own portion. Each family, with father as head, had a role to play. And, father had to be mindful of the size of his family. He was responsible for each one having sufficient food.

4 And if the household is too small to consume the lamb, let him and his next door neighbor take it according to the number of persons, every man according to what each can eat shall make your count for the lamb.

If there was going to be any left over, they were to share with their closest neighbor, every man according to his appetite. This verse is so very rich! First, if we have more of the sacrifice than we are able to consume, we are to share it! Not only are we commanded to share it, we are told to share it with our nearest neighbor or those closest to us. They were not to go across the camp and share it with someone on the other side, or to search out their relatives. They were to share it right there where God had planted them. We have become a church obsessed with foreign missions.

Please do NOT misunderstand me. I totally support missions here and ABROAD. Everyone should have the opportunity to hear the Great News of the Gospel of Christ. But even the Lord said,"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8) He started in Jerusalem.

There are people right next to us who need to have the soul satisfying supper. They are our responsibility. We should not be so concerned what someone is eating across the camp (globe) if our neighbor is starving for lack of the sacrificial Lamb. Those foreign believers have neighbors and responsible to share with each other as well. However, as I said, if the Lord has instructed someone to go, then certainly go. Let’s just not ignore the widow next door in order to do it. In my humble opinion.

“…Each man according to what he can eat…” Isn’t that amazing? Our Heavenly Father intends for us to be completely satisfied and has indicated that the portion that satisfies us in entirely individual!

A very dear woman of God said to me early in my walk, “You can have as much of Jesus as you want, pray that He always keeps you thirsting and yearning for more.” And so, I have. I believe I could eat the whole Lamb myself! And each time I hunger after Him, I am filled. But, though I am filled does not mean in any way that there is less for anyone else in the family, for all appetites have been considered and the Lamb is sufficient for us all! Just like the miracles of the loaves and fishes, no one who comes to the table of the Lord need ever walk away hungry.

At the same time, we are cautioned to let NONE go to waste. And again, just as he portrayed in the miracles of the feeding of thousands, the remains were collected so that “none would be lost” or wasted (John 6:12). What a tragedy it would be for any of Christ’s sacrifice to remain unconsumed and thus be tossed aside as so much refuse. God said He would not allow His Holy One to see corruption. It is incumbent upon us to be sure that each of our neighbors has been offered to partake.

5 Your lamb or kid shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it from the sheep or the goats. 6 And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall [each] kill [his] lamb in the evening.

We who are in Christ know that He alone was the Lamb without blemish. He was the only sinless, spotless sacrifice ordained from the foundation of the earth. There is no other. He was set apart or sanctified for the work of God. And He was indeed killed by the congregation of Israel. I have had readers on this blog from every part of the world, so no matter where you are, please hear me… I am not anti-Semitic. Jesus was a Jew! They were His chosen people and He loves them, and so must I. Just as the Passover Lamb HAD to be sacrificed in order for the blood to be applied and the Angel of Death to pass over, so too did the Lord Jesus Christ HAVE to be sacrificed. What the Jewish leader of Jesus’ time did was ordained by God.

7 They shall take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel [above the door space] of the houses in which they shall eat [the Passover lamb].

I think the King James Version is a bit more descriptive in this verse. It says that they were to “strike” the door posts.

Imagine the scene with me, if you will. Each family is standing together at the door. Each person dressed in their traveling clothes, as if ready to leave in a moment. They are about to embark on a journey. They have some place to go. Once the miracle of passing from death to life has been accomplished, we begin to move toward the Promised Land. He does not save us from slavery in order for us to stay there. He does not free us, only to have us remain in that place. We are ready to move with Him and on the way we will see the works of His mighty hands! He will rise up on our behalf and show us His power along the way! Oh what a sweet journey! Hard, very hard, but oh so amazing!

So, there they all are at the door of their temporary abode, dressed for the journey. In one of father’s hands is a bowl of blood and in the other is a small bundle of hyssop. As commanded, he dips the hyssop in the blood and strikes or slaps the first door post. Blood is dripping and upon impact with the post, spatters. He dips again and…splat… hits the other door post. More dripping, more spatter. Gravity carries the blood to the floor. Again he dips the hyssop and slaps it upward to the top beam. I wonder how much of the blood is now splattered, splashed, and dripped on father. Scripture does not specify how much or the blood must be used, but I imagine it was messier and bloodier than we initially tend to think.

In your mind’s eye look left, then right, then up, and now down. There is likely a pool of blood across the bottom as well. There is a cross of blood, is there not? Do you see it?

The precious Blood of the unblemished Lamb in a perfect cross on the door posts of your temporary abode, so that the Angel of Death will pass over you. Once you have partaken of the sacrificial Lamb, you are prepared to embark on a journey with Him of Biblical proportions. You are immediately freed and you flee from the oppressor and run with Him, as He escorts you from the place of your bondage to the Land of Promise, the place He has prepared for you. Oh SELAH!

Blessed are You, Oh Lord of all creation! You and You Alone are worthy to be praised! How delightful is Your Word! How amazing! Father I pray that each and every soul who reads these words will be blessed by them. I pray your hand on each one that you will show them the freedom of Christ, if they do not already know Him. I pray that those who do know Him will be brought into fresh remembrance of the beauty and awe of Your Word. Thank You Father for this opportunity to gaze into the record of Your mighty work on our behalf and see You again for who You Are! Thank you for dazzling us with brilliant, vivid jewels You have hidden for us and then reveal to us! Praise You, Father!

El Shaddai

Oh now this is absolutely fascinating!

El Shaddai – translates to God Almighty. Even so, the implicit definitions of this name are debated. For instance, Wikipedia describes it as having a feminine component which speaks of life-giving through nourishment. However, Strong’s exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Old Time Gospel Hour Edition) states, “burly, powerful, destroy, utterly lay waste.”

We see the blessing and nourishing side of El Shaddai when Yahweh reveals Himself to Abraham (Genesis 17:1, 2; Genesis 28:3, Genesis 35:11). We see it also when Jacob speaks of Him to Joseph (Genesis 48:3, 4; Genesis 49:24, 25). And, in Isaiah we see praise to Him as He blesses Jerusalem:

… I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of Gentiles and shalt such the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 60:15, 16)

And in Isaiah 66:13 we see:

For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: them shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And yet, we see the powerful El Shaddai in Ruth when she describes that He has dealt bitterly with her and laid her life to waste. (Ruth 1:20,21)

We see His power also in El Shaddai in Revelation 16:7,14):

And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

And in Revelation 19:15:

And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Revelation 21:22, 23:

And I saw no temple therin: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light therof.

(Above scriptural reference provided by http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god.)

There is one more reference in which God is named El Shaddai. It takes place in Numbers 22-24. And it rocked my world!

Please recall the pages titled “The Numbers in Numbers” (January) and “From the East” (February). PLEASE, PLEASE if you have not already read these, take a few minutes to do that now. It is critical to understanding what is coming next. (Really, go ahead. I’ll wait here. No rush... Oh thank you! OK, now keep that in mind as we go to Numbers 22)

In numbers 22 we find the Israelites camped in Moab on the plain east of the Jordan at Jericho:

(I LOVE technologyJ)

While camped in Moab, King Balak, is overwhelmed with fear the Israelites will attack and destroy them or use up all their resources and lay waste the land. Balak sends his messenger to offer a bribe to Balaam if he will curse the children of Israel so they will leave Moab.

In order to abbreviate a long account, Balaam tells the men he will only do or say as the Lord commands. The Lord tells him not to curse them and so Balaam sends them away. Balak sends the messengers back and asks Balaam to come to Moab and so he goes.

Upon arriving in Moab, Balaam informs Balak directly he will only do as the Lord commands. So Balak takes him to a place where he can offer sacrifices and then curse the people. Instead, Balaam blesses them. (The blessing is beautiful. May I suggest reading it, although at another time as it is not primary to this discussion.)

The distraught Balak takes him to another place, hoping if he sees as small part of them he will understand the plight of Moab, and curse them from there. Again Balaam informs Balak he will only do as the Lord tells him. So again they offer sacrifice and again Balaam blesses Israel rather than cursing them. (Again, beautiful and worth reading)

Balak, now frantic, takes him to yet another place, saying “…perhaps it will please God...” He brought him to the top of Mount Peor. You HAVE to see this!

Do you see?! He was standing on top of the mountain (at the red dot) that looks out over the valley plain where the Israelites were camped. He was standing east and facing west. Consequently, he was looking out over the Israelites standing leterally at the FOOT OF THE CROSS!

Looking out from His vantage, Balaam would also have seen the pillar of smoke, or the manifest presence of God.

²And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel abiding in their tents according to their tribes. And the Spirit of God came upon him     ³And he took up his [figurative] discourse and said: Balaam son of Beor, the man whose eye is opened [at last, to see clearly the purposes and will of God], ⁴He [Balaam] who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty (EL SHADDAI), falling down, but having his eyes open and uncovered, he says:    ⁵How attractive and considerable are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel!    ⁶As valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the riverside, as [rare spice] of lignaloes which the Lord has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.    ⁷[Israel] shall pour water out of his own buckets [have his own sources of rich blessing and plenty], and his offspring shall dwell by many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.     ⁸God brought [Israel] forth out of Egypt; [Israel] has strength like the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his enemies, crushing their bones and piercing them through with his arrows.     ⁹He couched, he lay down as a lion; and as a lioness, who shall rouse him? Blessed [of God] is he who blesses you [who prays for and contributes to your welfare] and cursed [of God] is he who curses you [who in word, thought, or deed would bring harm upon you].

Balaam, standing at the foot of the cross, is filled with the Holy Spirit. He falls down and has a vision in which his “eye is opened and he sees the purposes and will of God!” In verse 4 he hears the words of God and sees the vision of El Shaddai. He immediately praises God and proclaims blessing over Israel, which sounds strikingly like the nourishing El Shaddai of Isaiah in verse 7 and in 8 is the burly, powerful El Shaddai of Revelation!

Is He not simply AMAZING?!

Praise you Lord God, Yahweh El Shaddai! How unfathomable are the depths of Your Word! How rich, how lovely! Thank You that when we ask to see You, when we ask for fresh revelation of Your beauty, You are faithful to delight! Thank You that You deign to reveal Yourself and Your glory to the likes of us! In Your Word we find our delight! Hallelujah!...selah.

The Cross in Our Bodies

Many of you may have heard the message by Louie Giglio, "How Great is Our God," but this link is a doctor's response to what he saw. The grafic amazed me.

http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/jan2011/janm110-3.htm

Did you notice the photograph was Luminous?  I have been taking a Bible Study on the names of God and was interested to learn that holy ("Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord") not only means perfect, sanctified, and set apart, it also means illustrious, radiate, and shine brightly! "Be ye holy, even as I am holy." His light literally shines in and through us!!!

God You are so amazing! I know that when we meet You at the throne we will fall down in awe of Your splendour, but even now in these days I fall to my knees at your magnificence!! Praise You, Lord God Almighty! Yeshua, El Hakkadosh!

From the East

The next thing that is so amazing about the Cross in the desert is its position. Every time the Israelites set up camp, the tabernacle was to be placed with its only entrance point facing east. Then, the tribe of Judah, who would have arrived first, was to set up their standard and their camp to the east of the entrance.

Since the Lord does not add such details to His Word without reason, what kernels can we glean from this information?  Where else is God’s word specific about the use of east to west?

There is the good news of our sins being removed from us “as far as the east is from the west.”

We see the Lord in Genesis 3:24 take the following action after sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden: “He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” In other words, the garden and the tree of life were approached from east to west.

In Joshua we find that when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they entered from east of the Jordon westward into Canaan. Coincidence? Why would the Lord take them all the way around to the east side?

When Jesus was born the wise men came from the east and followed the star to the west to find the Son of God.

The God who created the universe deemed that the sun should rise in the east and set in the west.

“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:7)

In Revelation 7:1-3, we are told “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Very interesting…

The Numbers in Numbers

So often we are tempted to brush over the sections of scripture that seem to have no meaning.  After all, is there really a reason for all of the begats? Why yes, in fact there is. How about all the numbers in Numbers?  Yes, there is a reason, and it is actually quite amazing!

In the second chapter of Numbers, the Lord gives instruction for how the tribes are to camp in the wilderness.  They are told to camp in military style using the tabernacle as the center, they are to set up as follows:

On the east side were the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Judah, one hundred and eighty-six thousand four hundred (186,400) – these shall break camp first.” Numbers 2:9

On the south side were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Reuben, one hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty (151,450) – they shall be second to break camp.” Numbers 2:16

On the west side were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. “All who were numbered according to their armies of the forces with Ephraim, one hundred and eight thousand one hundred (108,100) – they shall be the third to break camp.” Numbers 2:24

On the north side were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. “All who were numbered of the forces with Dan, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred (157,600) – they shall break camp last, with their standards.” Numbers 2:31

Zzzzz…snore…zzzz…

No wake up! Check this out!

Military style meant that they were to organize in rows and columns. Take a really close look at the numbers! What this:

If each block in the following grids equal 1,000 and they are 10 across from the center, the entire camp would look like this:

Do you see it? It’s a CROSS!!

From the perspective of God on the throne of heaven, when He looked down on the children of Israel wandering in the desert, He saw a cross. Not only did He see a cross, but squarely in the center of it lay the tabernacle. The center of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies containing the Mercy Seat, the place of His manifest presence, the place where He met with them.  He met with them on the cross!

Beauty in the Exodus - Introduction Part 2

In my research for some of the upcoming pages on the Tabernacle, I found a section in one of my books on Christ in the Passover as we were discussing yesterday. The book is called, “Seeing Christ in the Tabernacle,” by Ervin N. Hersberger.

From his writing, we may add the following pictures of Christ to the Passover:

·        God specified the hour they were to kill the lamb. It was to be between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 in the afternoon. This would put it at the same time of day when our Lord breathed His last on the cross.

·        “For the blood to be shed and displayed in the vessel was not enough, it had to be applied…The Blood of Christ, shed for all men, avails nothing except for believers who appropriate its cleansing power by faith.” (page 85)

·        The Israelites were instructed to prepare the lamb without adding water to it. This is most interesting:

“The lamb of course typified Christ, and with the cookware of that day the flesh could not be cooked without adding water. Christ shall not be watered down, nothing added to Him, and nothing taken away. The head, legs and purtenance were not to be eaten, but the lamb was to be roasted whole, emphasizing that Christ is to be appropriated in His entirety: nothing added nor removed.” (page 85)

·        Finally, they were not leave any part of the lamb until morning.  To which Hersberger responds thus:

“All that was not eaten was to be burned before morning. Typifying Christ, the lamb was holy. ‘Give not that which is holy unto the dogs’ (Mt. 7:6). ‘Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy one to see corruption’ (Ps 16:106). Those verses tell us why everything that was not eaten should be burned. Nothing should be left for the dogs, nor permitted to decay.  The body of Christ saw no corruption in the grave.” (Page 85)

Do you see how dazzlingly beautiful He is? In one single act, the initiation of the Passover, He gave us so many powerful analogies of the Christ, His Beloved Son. It is like holding a gem in your hand. You turn it over and around and hold it up to the light at different angles to see the magnificent facets all shimmering distinctly yet unified in one jewel.

Isn’t He AWEsome!? Simply breath-taking! Divine!

Beauty in the Exodus - Introduction

Every morning my children and I have been reading from a children’s version of the Bible. Currently we are studying the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. 

As I experience it again, I am reminded of the fascinating symbolism captured in the account.  I absolutely love how God hid Jesus in plain sight in the elements of the Passover and the Tabernacle.

Beth Moore does a most amazing examination of the Tabernacle in the study “A Woman’s Heart God’s Dwelling Place.” It is definitely my favorite of her studies, and that says a lot. It gave me a depth of insight into the mind of God I never knew existed.  It would give me no greater pleasure than to share it here and hope that you are as fascinated and enthralled with it as I have been.

Allow me to whet your appetite…

Before the Israelites are led out of Egypt into the wilderness, they are instructed to participate in the first Passover.  During their preparation, they are told to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, precisely large enough for the family – no more, no less.  They are to take the blood of the lamb in a bowl and using a bundle of hyssop, they are to mark the top of the door frame and the two side posts.

Two things are fascinating to me. First, they are to use hyssop.  Traditionally, hyssop was used as a cleanser because of its bleaching properties; hence, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” in Psalm 51:7. How divine of our Lord to show us plainly the cleansing power of the blood when it is applied.

Second, as Beth points out in “Stepping Up, the Psalms of the Ascents,” when the blood was applied with the hyssop to the top of the door frame, it would undoubtedly have dripped straight down to the floor. When it was applied to the side posts, it would by human nature have been applied at about the same height on either side.  If you follow the path, up and down and side to side, it makes… A CROSS!

We are told from the time we accept Jesus that we have passed over from death to life, but do we truly understand? Do we see the spiritual truth that is spelled out in this Old Testament physical reality? There is a cross of the blood of the Lamb on the doorframe applied by faith, which, when seen in the heavenlies, death passes over! If you have the cross of blood on the doorpost of your heart spiritual death will pass by you. We are saved from spiritual death by the blood of the Lamb who gave Himself to be our sacrifice.

Wait until you hear about the afikomen!  It will astonish you, I promise! It is overwhelming in its richness…

Until tomorrow, Lord willing!