CHAPTER #1

The Gospel = “A Calling Out” into Separation

 

Israel’s Seed in the Exodus Generation

 

“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.” – Hos. 11:1

Several centuries after Abraham’s death, it came to pass that his seed was bound in Egyptian slavery, and from there God saved Abraham’s seed both physically and spiritually. I repeat, God saved them spiritually and not just physically, and for this reason their Exodus (or “calling out”) from Egypt is exactly synonymous to the Gospel experience heretofore described.  God called this special and elect seed of Abraham into a spiritual salvation so that God might be with them, dwell among them, and be in them. In the act that God “separated” these people from all other peoples through the communion of His Presence in their midst (Ex. 33:16), the Exodus Generation became a foremost example of The Church. This Israelite generation was called by God because of the Covenant the Lord made with Abraham, in which He said,

 

"And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." - Genesis 15:13-16

"In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this Land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." - Genesis 15:18-21

At the establishment of the Abrahamic Covenant God told Abraham, saying, “unto thy seed have I given this Land”, and the Lord named the boundaries of the Promised Land (Gen. 15:18-21). The Covenant was verbalized as an answer to Abraham’s question, which was, “whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it” (Gen. 15:8)? God told Abraham that he would inherit the Land in a specific way, in the generation of his seed which would inherit the Land. Abraham would inherit the Land through his seed, God said, Abraham’s seed that would be in the generation that comes out of four hundred years in hard bondage. In the fourth generation, God said, “They shall come hither again” (Gen. 15:8, 13, 16). God promised Abraham that the fourth generation of people that would come out of bondage from Egypt, they would inherit the Promised Land in Abraham’s stead -- This is the Abrahamic Covenant.

The promise was to Abraham concerning this fourth generation whose number would be as the stars of heaven (Ex. 32:13), thus when the year came… God “called”!

“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.” – Hos. 11:1

Serving as a confirmation of the words, God DID come down, and He DID deliver them. In this purpose, God did win the heart and faith of His people, and how? The good tidings of their deliverance (these promises) were confirmed by mighty deeds in the saving power of God so that, beyond their hopes or imaginations God called them out of Egypt! These promises made up their Gospel-call. Because they responded to this call with saving faith they became “The Church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38)! Consider the historical fact, my reader: upon first hearing “The Gospel Call” the Israelites responded in the following manner.  

“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… nevertheless God revived it again! Under the power of Pharaoh’s oppression the people were made temporarily faithless and deaf to the Gospel of God, but God did not let Israel reject Him. God turned their heart back to Himself by a demonstration of His Gospel power! How? Israel watched as their Satanic-Egypt contested with the power of God, and, behold, the serpent did bruise the heel but God did crush the head! 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 the glory of God. You see, God won their heart! Egypt came to recognize, confess, and believe that they were under the wrath of “the God of Israel”, and likewise, 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 Old Testament Israel it was their Gospel via shadow. In it, the inspired writers declared, 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. My reader, look at the heart of the people of Israel! Look how it swelled with saving faith just at the hearing of the Passover ceremony! It was written,

“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.” – Exodus 12:23-28

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 Gospel-experiences accomplished through saving faith, Gospel-experiences whereby lost humanity was administered a carnal and spiritual salvation – statedly and specifically, to the degree that they received the pre-incarnate Person of Christ Himself (proven in the following list of scriptures)! This means that their freedom from Egyptian bondage was not a mere freedom from physical slavery, but a freedom from the spiritual slavery of sin which exists in all once-born men. 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. In addition to this, the Israelites were called “The Church” that was “saved”, thus they were “called out” into the wilderness wherein they sojourned under the nourishments of Gospel-powers.

The Passover (The Gospel of Sacrifice)

Explicitly Named in Identification with 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

Accomplished with & Impossible without Faith… “Though faith He kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them” - Heb. 11:28

The Red Sea Crossing (The Gospel of the Spirit’s Baptism)

Explicitly Named in Identification with Baptism… “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 Accomplished with & Impossible without Faith… “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry Land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned” - Heb. 11:29

Explicitly Named Salvation & Redemption for the purpose of Adoption & Holy Habitation… “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the LORD… The LORD is my strength and song, and He is become MY SALVATION: He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him… Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy Holy Habitation.” – Exodus 15:1-2, 13 Explicitly Named Salvation through Belief… “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” - Psalms 106:8-12

The Manna (The Gospel of the Imperishable Life of Christ)

Explicitly Named a Spiritual Experience with Christ… “And did all eat the same spiritual meat;” - 1 Corinthians 10:3 Explicitly Named in Identification/Correlation with the Spirit of God… “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

Explicitly Named in Identification with Christ as OT shadow-Gospel foretelling NT reality-Gospel… “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

Water From the Rock (The Gospel of the Unfailing, Living Waters of Christ)

Explicitly Named a Spiritual Experience with Christ… “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   Named a Status of Salvation Experience with Christ… “Living Water” – John 4:10   Named a Status of Salvation Experience with Christ… “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 Explicitly Cited as Experiential Salvation via the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost through Christ… “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” - John 7:38 Explicitly Named in Identification with the Person & Presence of God… “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

Explicitly Named in Identification to Salvation & Mercy… “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   Identified as a Status of Salvation Experience… “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   Identified as a Status of Salvation Experience… “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   Prophesied as a Status of Salvation Experience… “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   Psalm 78:15-16, 105:41, 107:35, Exodus 17:6, Deut. 8:15

They Were “The Church”

By Title…“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   By Near-Proximity… “Moses brought for the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the Mount” - Ex. 19:17, Amos 4:12   By Spiritual Adoption… “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

By Value & Royalty… “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   By Value & Royalty (NT parallel)… “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   By Wealth of Being With/Near God… “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 Identified as The Church in Terms of God’s “sanctuary”, the place in which dwelt “the presence of the LORD”… “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.” – Psalm 114:1-7

They Were “Saved”

Explicitly Termed “Saved”… “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 Explicitly Named Salvation & Redemption for the purpose of Adoption & Holy Habitation… “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the LORD… The LORD is my strength and song, and He is become MY SALVATION: He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him… Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy Holy Habitation.” – Exodus 15:1-2, 13 Explicitly Termed “His presence saved them” & “redeemed them”, Because He was “their Saviour”… “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their SAVIOUR. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence SAVED them: in His love and in His pity he REDEEMED them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? where is He that put His Holy Spirit within him? That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting Name? That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead Thy people, to make Thyself a glorious Name.” – Isaiah 63:14

Explicitly Termed “Saved”… “He SAVED them” – Ps. 106:8, “He SAVED them” – Ps. 106:10 Explicitly Termed Salvation through Belief… “Then believed they His words” – Ps. 106:12 Explicitly Identified as God’s “portion”, “people”, “inheritance” with “no strange god”… “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and THERE WAS NO STRANGE GOD with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” – Deut. 32:7-14 Explicitly Identified as the Bride who was Beatified in Holiness & Love… “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of His increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.” – Jeremiah 2:2-3

They had the “Spirit” & “Christ”

Spirituality with Christ… “the same Spiritual meat” – 1 Cor. 10:3, “I am the Bread of Life” – John 6:35 Spirituality with Christ… “the same Spiritual drink” – 1 Cor. 10:4, “that Spiritual Rock” – 1 Cor. 10:4, “that Rock was Christ” – 1 Cor. 10:4 A Relationship with Christ… “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 A Relationship with the Spirit of God… “According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.” – Haggai 2:5

Among them for Adoption… “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” - Leviticus 26:12   In the Midst for Adoption… “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst…” - Deut. 23:14 With them for Rest… “As a beast goeth down into a valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst Thou lead Thy people, to make Thyself a glorious Name.” – Isa. 63:15   Not Merely Among them but “in them” for Adoption… “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 A Relationship Among & In the Spirit of Christ… “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

“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.” – Hos. 11:1

In this way and according to the scripture (in all the aforementioned verses), God “called” His son “out of” Egypt. The Lord used this historical event to expound the doctrine of salvation in terms of the Divinely powerful Gospel-call which subsequently results in the establishment of The Church, “the called out ones”. In this case “the called out ones” have become “The Church in the wilderness” which was, according to Jeremiah, “holiness unto the LORD” (Jer. 2:3). Israel went out into the wilderness to meet with God as a Bride to her Bridegroom, in “love of [their] espousals” (Jer. 2:2). Israel was no longer a once-born and God-hating people; they were a twice-born and God-loving people! Furthermore, the inspired text of the New Testament writers verified this event with infallible insight on how and why Israel became “a people” who were saved, sanctified, and assembled as the foremost example of what “The Church” is supposed to be in God’s sight.

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 Chapter 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” in the KJV) is called a “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 was, 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)! It was at this time that the scripture stated, “Then believed they His words; they sang His praise” (Ps. 106:12)! It is after this, the people said, “He is become my salvation” (Exodus 15:1-2)! After the Passover and Red Sea experience, Israel was promise-laden and promise-confirmed: passed over, blood covered, baptized, sanctified, and Gospel-freed – and thereby they were called by God out of Egypt to meet with God in the wilderness to be unto the Lord, thenceforth, The Church (“the called out ones”).

By sin-remitting and sacrificial blood they were atoned, then they were baptized, thus the Israelite people were a “saved” (Jude 5, Ps. 106:8-12) people who were called “The Church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). 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 said, 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)! The Lord said, “there was no strange God with him” (Deut. 32:12). Yes! None of them worshipped anything or anyone except God Almighty, the one true God! Gathering together before the Lord as saved men and women (“He was their Saviour”-Isa.63:8), 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 New Testament spiritual Israelites to be “a peculiar people” unto God through Christ (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 declared 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

The New Testament 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, yes, but also that we might take warning. We are instructed to behold their glorious beginning and their tragic end. These applications are carefully detailed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12, applications made in full. Please read the entire passage before we continue, my reader.

“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).

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, my reader. Paul is very bold to say, “ALL”, “ALL”, “ALL”, in reference to spiritual baptism, spiritual meat, and spiritual drink, all of which signify that “ALL” were in saving communion with the pre-incarnate Christ! Paul is very bold to say, “that Rock was Christ”! The Manna was not mere carnal meat. Paul interpreted it to mean that the people were spiritually living by Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly, this is why Jesus Christ interpreted Himself to be the New Testament Manna that was sent by the Father from heaven to give saving life to the world in John Chapter 6, saying, “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). Jesus was The Bread from heaven, and by interpretation this means that He was the source of Spiritual Life that was 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 that it was spiritually life-giving, and when they received it by faith, God gave to them the Spirit of God in Gospel-virtue. This aspect of the Old Testament Manna was referenced by the priests in Nehemiah, saying, “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). This is an obvious parallel, with all scriptures considered (1 Cor. 10, John 6, Neh. 9). Men who hold to the doctrine of unconditional eternal security react negatively to the eventual disobedience and final damnation of 600,000 Israelites in this generation; in an unbiblical way they affirm that their experience of “salvation” must have been through mere carnal shadows and that is all, an experience that was utterly void of spiritual powers, void of spiritual life, and absent of any saving nearness to God’s presence… but this is not so! Their experience of salvation was not a carnal salvation according to the inspired interpretation of the New Testament writers! Let God be true and every man a liar.

Exactly parallel to the Old Testament Manna, Christ was 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 was a Spiritual type of Christ, my reader! Yes, and this is why Jesus called Himself “Living Waters” (John 4:10). He was and is the waters that shall 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 was fulfilled when in the 1^st century and thereafter, 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-up of the rivers, the springing fountain of the valleys, the pool of water in the wilderness, and the springs of water in a dry Land, as it was 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 was the water from the rock a “spiritual drink”, but the Rock itself was “Christ”! Without contest, these men were spiritual men; hence they were savingly connected to the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, spiritually speaking!

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 (“the Spirit of Christ which was in them” -1 Peter 1:11)! This is why 2 Corinthians 6:16 quotes the New Testament reality of God’s indwelling presence as an Old Testament 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). Do you see the significance of this reference, my reader? God did not say “I will dwell among them”, merely, He said “I will dwell in them” (2 Cor. 6:16).

Israel believed the Gospel at the Passover via a sacrificial atonement, they believed the Gospel at the Red Sea via baptism, and then they continued to believe the Gospel at the rain-fall of Manna and the Life-giving Rivers of the Rock. However, in following Paul’s burden in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, we can see the end of his argument… Israel was SAVED, and yet this was not the only thing Paul wanted 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 them a strong assurance that they would inherit the Promised Land according to God’s promise, 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 was arguing 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 New Testament Christians do not fall into the same outcome (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 Chapter 10 is a clear explanation of how these Old Testament experiences are repeatable, that they were saved and then damned, and Paul thrusts the final outcome of Israel’s damnation right before the eyes of the New Testament 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). Pause and let the gravity of this warning grip your soul, my reader.

Apparently, the New Testament writers are seeking 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). Jude said, “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this” (Jude 5), just as 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 that 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? Read the context of Hebrews Chapter 3 & 4 to find out, my reader! It is written, “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). Here again, in Hebrews Chapter 3 & 4, 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. This generation (namely approx. 600,000 men of war) lost their salvation, my reader… all except two men. Even 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 lost their salvation. They did not continue to believe, did not continue to receive Christ in figures, and consequentially, sinful works were wrought by them through the unbelief which arose 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 was, my reader? Do you wonder what Gospel this is? 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/shadow of Christ presented to them before their reprobation. Tragically, instead of spiritual life being granted to them through faith in the Gospel, their end was spiritual death. This time, unlike the former times, they denied the Gospel instead of believing it!

“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 Chapter 14 gives an account of this day when they came short of and lost their salvation. The Lord did not deny that He promised the Exodus Generation a persevering salvation. With unashamed boldness the Lord said to them, “ye shall know my breach of promise” (Num. 14:34)! The word breach means break. God did 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 said, “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 a breaking of what was promised beforehand! Do you remember it?

By Gospel-promise expressed in that, God “called”… faith answered. Faith answering “the calling” resulting in real manifestations of saving grace, and that grace, twofold: it represented Christ in shadows which were both carnal and spiritual in their manifestations to wit, the people were separated from the damnable un-holiness and iniquity of Egypt and their old man, and they were reconciled into saving spiritual union with the pre-Incarnate Christ. This same people, the Exodus Generation, who were ushered into life and salvation through speechless miracles of earth-shaking power, were suddenly reprobated, rejected, and made castaways! What happened? They fell from saving faith into unbelief – again and again – and by such long continuance of rebellion they were damned. The prophet Isaiah rehearsed the matter, saying,

“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.” – Isaiah 63:7-10 [see Deut. 32:7-20, Jer. 2:1-2, 21]

This beloved generation who was famed as God’s ransom (who of all people would be likely for partiality) was finally and utterly lost; The Church began and The Church fell (“I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent”-Rev.2:5). Their salvation, which was famed in all nations, conveyed to the world a people’s resurrection from fast-bound misery and hopelessness, a people oppressed by hard bondage and the whip set FREE! But on the morrow, alas… they rebelled! They incurred God’s unpardoning wrath! The generation which was a song of celebration did then become a lamentation. They became a castaway generation, “a tale that is told” (Ps. 90), teaching all future saints to mind their tale and understand the impartiality of justice. The tale is for “The Church”, not the heathen. This generation (along with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) was spiritually saved and regenerated, and they were “the called” who were in union with the pre-Incarnate Christ as “The Church” (Acts 7:38)! They were the very first people to own the title, “The Church”, therefore this example is a warning for those who are recognized as “the called out ones” today, The Church of the New Testament in the 21^st century.

Seeing that this is the case, how are we to understand the Mosaic Law which was established first and foremost, with the Exodus Generation? How does this Law (which most interpret its significance comparable to the fact that it was carnal and outward) relate to The Church in the Old Testament, seeing that these individuals were “called out ones” who were in spiritual communion with the pre-incarnate Christ? According to all the aforementioned scriptures, our expectation should be according to God’s argument heretofore. The Lord made the argument that (Firstly) God saved Israel to bring them into spiritual fellowship and union with Himself (i.e. they became a real Church). Therefore it is to be expected that (Secondarily) all the Mosaic Laws which were implemented with the Exodus Generation would have some kind of spiritual significance even though they are physical and material in nature (just as the Passover Sacrifice, the Red Sea Crossing, the Manna, and the Water from the Rock were physical and material in nature, albeit, they were spiritual experiences). If the Mosaic Law, which is physical and material in nature, follows the aforementioned pattern which has been consistent heretofore, the Mosaic Law will be physical representations of spiritual experiences (saving experiences). If this is the case, the essence and significance of the Mosaic Law will parallel the ordinance of circumcision established in Abraham’s day; a circumcision which was physical, material, and spiritual, a circumcision which was a mechanism whereby God regulated Church purity among His people. Further, if these first two principles are established in perfect unity and consistency with the history of redemption heretofore, then it is certain that (Thirdly) because all these Gospel-experiences were for the purpose of maintaining The Church in the separation of their “called out” identity (a separation via spiritual union with God’s presence), if this separation is compromised via unbelief in the Gospel, then God will disannul and denounce the Gospel “calling” of that Church so that, like Esau and the Exodus Generation, those who were brought nigh to God would then become castaways. However clear these three points have been discernable to you in the aforementioned scriptures contained in Chapter #1, my reader, they are made even more apparent by the scriptures contained in the following Chapter.