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Surveying the Text: Matthew

Joe Harby on October 19, 2014

Introduction

We are now continuing with our plan to work through the Bible, a book at a time. We have considered the first five books of the Scriptures, the Pentateuch, and have now come to the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels. Let us begin, as seems normal, with Matthew.

The Text

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…” (Matt. 5:1–2).

Background to the Gospels

As you know perfectly well, there are four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and John were the only two gospel writers who were themselves apostles. Mark got his information (according to early church tradition) from Peter, while Luke tells us that he functioned as a researching historian, getting his information from different eyewitnesses and sources.

The early fathers said that Matthew was the first gospel, while modern scholarship generally thinks that Mark was. A good deal of scholarly consternation has been expended on what is known as the synoptic problem. The first three gospels share many similarities, which is why they are grouped together as the “synoptics.” The word refers to them sharing a “common view” of the life of Christ, with John’s account being very different. But the synoptics are also different from one another in very striking ways. The modern notion is that short means early (and Mark is short), and that Matthew and Luke quarried some material from Mark, and some other material from a source called Q (material that Matthew and Luke share, but which Mark does not). Some folks have even written commentaries on Q, a document that cannot actually be said to exist. Scholarship can be a marvelous thing.

Overview of the Text

The theme of Matthew is the royalty of Jesus Christ; He is a teacher/king. He is repeatedly described as sitting while he teaches (Matt. 5:1; 13:2; 15:29; 21:7; 24:3; 25:31), a prerogative of royalty. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of Jesus (Matt. 13:41). The Lord is given royal titles, like Messiah (Matt. 16:13-20) and Son of David (Matt. 1:1-18; 9:27). The son of man is one who will sit on a throne in order to judge the nations (Matt. 19:28; 25:31). The Lord comes into His reign as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and His regal status is attested by the worship of the magi at the very beginning of the book.

The authority of this royal figure is well-established in the course of the book, and so it is nothing short of astonishing to see how the book culminates in His crucifixion. That is not what we would have expected, given the build-up. But more on this shortly.
The structure of Matthew is straightforward, consisting of an alternating pattern of narrative and discourse, making up five paired sections in all. Each section has narrative followed by a discourse, and each one ends with the phrase “when Jesus had finished these sayings.” The first section is the early years (1-4) and the Sermon on the Mount (5-7). The second is traveling miracles (8-9) and instruction to the disciples on how to behave during itinerant ministry (10). The third section tells us how Jesus collided with the Jews (11-12) and concludes with His parables about the kingdom (13). The fourth gives us a collection of events (14-17) and instruction on life together in community (18). The last section following this pattern is the journey to Jerusalem (19-23) followed by an apocalyptic description of Jerusalem’s end and the end of the world (24-25). The conclusion of the gospel is a separate description of the Lord’s passion and resurrection (26-28).

Christ as Israel

Matthew presents the Lord as the true king of the true Israel, coming into His own as the true Israel. Matthew quotes the last part of Hosea 11:1—out of Egypt I called my son (Matt. 2:15). But that entire verse says this: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, And called my son out of Egypt.” (Hos. 11:1). Christ escaped from Egypt just as Israel had, but the Pharaoh He escaped from was Herod, and He escaped to the old Egypt from a place that had become the new Egypt. And after that, He was baptized in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13), just as Israel was baptized in the cloud and sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2). After His baptism He spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted—just as Israel had spent forty years being tempted. When His days in the wilderness were completed, He invaded Canaan in order to cast out the new Canaanites—demons.

That generation is described as occupied country. A man who has demons cast out of him is described this way: “Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation” (Matt. 12:45). The men in the tombs were possessed by devils (Matt. 8:28), and Mark tells us they were named Legion—a name applied to occupation forces of the Romans. And Mary Magdalene, a type of both the old Israel and the new, had seven devils cast out of her (Mark 16:9).

Stark Contrasts

The Lord’s famous sermon at the beginning of the book is marked by contrasts—wide gates and narrow ones, true prophets and false prophets, and foolish builders and wise ones. Everything always comes down to a point. Believe or don’t. Repent or don’t. Go left or go right. There are no third options.

The Lord comes to earth at the beginning of the book and leaves for Heaven at the end of it. The nativity happened at night, and the whole place was lit up. The crucifixion happens at midday and the sky is darkened. Jesus was worshipped by nobles from a foreign land as an infant in swaddling clothes and mocked by nobles from His own nation as a crucified man stripped naked.

The King as Suffering Servant

Jesus teaches with complete authority, and is in full command of all the circumstances He encounters. He—literally—walked on water. So then, how are we to account for the way the book ends? If that kind of crash happened to anyone else, we would say it was because he got above himself. But that is not possible here, and so something else is going on. This is the deepest wisdom possible.

We are astonished by the end of Matthew to find that Christ was crucified, but when we come to understand that His blood was the blood of the new covenant, we have already learned that it is royal blood. It was also innocent blood. More than all that, it was conquering blood—not conquered blood.

The Lord came down from a royal throne in Heaven in order to live and die here, but He also comes down from various mountains within the gospel itself in order to be stripped naked, flogged, and nailed to a cross. That is true royalty. That is how a king lives and dies—for His people. And because it was true wisdom, the same king lives for His people, down to the present day.

Surveying the Text: Deuteronomy

Joe Harby on September 7, 2014

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Introduction

Remember that the Exodus happened around 1440 B.C., and the book of Deuteronomy was given at the tail end of the forty years in the wilderness, just a short time prior to the invasion of Canaan. This puts it right around 1400 B.C. The name Deuteronomy refers to a “second giving” of the law. In this book, the second bookend of the law is placed at the very end their wilderness experience. The first giving of the law was at Sinai, forty years before, and now they are reminded of the law again on the plains of Moab.

The Text

“For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” (Dt. 30:11-14).

Summary of the Text

This book emphasizes the exclusive claims of YHWH, the covenant God of Israel. The book anticipates a central location for worship, once Israel takes the land. Speaking of “the land,” that is a word that is mentioned over a hundred times in this book. Their focus is forward-looking. The laws of this book are very much concerned for the poor. The Ten Commandments are repeated over again, in chapter 5. As we noted in our section on Genesis, this book is one of the most frequently quoted books of the Old Testament in the New. Jesus quotes it frequently—if Jesus had a favorite book, wouldn’t you want to read it? Wouldn’t you want to understand it, and love it?

Division

One of the ancient literary structuring devices is used here, and is called a chiasm. A chiasm is a device that folds a piece of writing in half, with the matching parts found either in contrast or in parallel. So then, if I were to mention apples, grapefruit, mangos, oranges, more mangos, larger grapefruit, and redder apples, I have given you a chiasm— with the hinge of the chiasm being the oranges. That center often represents the point of emphasis.

In skeletal structure, it looks like this:

A.
B.
C.
B’
A’

In the way this chiasm works, you could read A and A’ as one continuous thought, and do the same for B and B’.

A. retrospective look (1-3)
B. A strong exhortation (4-11)
C. The standards of the covenant (12-26)
B’ The covenant ceremonial (27-30)
A’ A prospective look (31-34)

Things to Note About Deuteronomy

We noted, back in Leviticus, that the second greatest commandment in Scripture, the requirement to love your neighbor as yourself, was found there (Lev. 19:18). The first and greatest commandment is found here in Deuteronomy (Dt. 6:45). The Jews called this section the Shema—“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one . . .” The greatest commandment is to love God with everything available to you. That greatest commandment is found in a passage that is talking about covenant education. This being the case, the way many modern Christians take a lackadaisical approach to their children’s education is just chilling. We are called to love and teach our children, not experiment on them. They are given to you as a solemn charge and responsibility, not as a venue for personal laziness. Educating your children properly will be the hardest thing you ever do. It is also the most blessed, the most fruitful.

And all this relates to another feature of Deuteronomy. Of course, the entire Bible is monotheistic, but the book of Deuteronomy is fiercely so. Deuteronomy requires the Israelites to invade Canaan with a war of annihilation—there was to be absolutely no compromise with the gods of the land (2:34; 3:6; 7:1-6, 23-26; 12:1-3; 13:6-18; 16:21-17:7; 20:16-18).

This book did not prevent Israel from falling into various apostasies during her history, but this book did set the pitch for all the prophetic denunciations of those apostasies, and also set the stage for what has been called the Deuteronomic Histories (Joshua through Kings). The prophets and historians of Israel were shaped by this book, down to and including the apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus.

The ferocity of Deuteronomy against the false gods is interestingly matched by its tenderness to the vulnerable—the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (15:11; 24:14). The Levites, who would not have an inheritance of land, are sometimes included in this (26:13). Some might see an inconsistency in this juxtaposition of ferocity and tenderness, but we should rather see deep consistency. Compromise with false gods is the very worst thing you can do to the poor.

The book requires true loyalty and dedication on the part of Israel, predicts that they will fall away from their loyalty, but also predicts that God in His absolute covenant faithfulness, will bring them back again—which is what He did through Christ. The book concludes with a charge to Joshua—be strong and courageous (31:23). Joshua takes this to heart, because the book of Joshua begins with a reminder of that same charge (Josh. 1:6, 7, 9, 18).

One last thing to note about the book. The New Testament counterpart to Deuteronomy is the book of Hebrews. Consider the content of the books, the placement of the books, and the context of both books.

Jesus in Deuteronomy

The apostle Paul taught us that Christ is the end of the law (end, purpose, telos) for everyone who believes. As we saw in our treatment of Leviticus, the unbelieving heart sees everything as law—either intolerable demand or as a sign post toward the shining path of self-improvement. The believing heart sees Christ in, through, and underneath everything. And not Christ the Judge either, but rather Christ the Savior. We are talking about Jesus, who saves His people from their sins.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom. 10:4-11).

Don’t say that the law is up in Heaven. Why? Because Christ has come down to be with us. Don’t say the law is across the sea, far beyond your reach. Why? Because Christ has risen from the dead. What does this mean? It means that Jesus is your law, your life, your morality, the breath in your lungs. Jesus is everything.

Surveying the Text: Numbers

Joe Harby on August 31, 2014

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Introduction

The dates for Numbers encompass the entire 40 years in the wilderness, following the Exodus in 1440 B.C.—and it extends throughout that 40 year period. The name of the book comes from the fact that it contains the results of two censuses.

To the modern reader, the book can seem like something of a jumble. There are narrative sections, there are random laws, there are census lists, there is the prophetic word given by the pagan prophet Balaam, and though he was a true prophet, he was not a true man. But there is a structure to the whole thing.

The Text

“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Num. 21:5– 9).

Summary of the Text

The two census lists are given prior to two invasions, one abortive and one more effectual. The results of the censuses are roughly the same—around 600,000 fighting men. The people traveled first from Egypt to Sinai, and from Sinai to Kadesh. To invade Canaan from the south would be more natural, and Kadesh was that place. But the people gave way to fear in response to the negative report of the ten spies, and then when they attempted to invade, they were ignominiously defeated. But by the end of the book, they are poised to invade Canaan from the east, across the Jordan, from the plains of Moab. The first travel narrative is found in 9:15-14:45 and the second is found in 20:1-22.

Leadership

One theme of this book has to do with leadership, and challenges to that leadership that arose. You would think that someone who had wrecked Egypt, divided the Red Sea, and drowned Pharaoh, would have a secure spot as a leader. But not so with Moses (16-17). Selfish ambition always blindly takes what the grace of God has given as a starting point.

While Korah’s rebellion was a big deal, there were also challenges to the leadership of Moses that were a little closer to home. Numbers 12 tells us that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of a “Cushite woman” he had married. This is a bit obscure, but Josephus tells us the back story, and it might even be true. When Moses was still a prince of Egypt, he once besieged a city in Ethiopia named Saba. The queen of that city fell in love with Moses from the city wall, and offered to surrender the city if he married her, which he did. If that were the case, and this woman belatedly showed up in the Israelite camp in the wilderness one day, one can easily imagine how it would disrupt the organizational flow chart, and not to Miriam’s liking.

Purification

Certain things would defile an Israelite ritually, things like childbirth, or a woman’s period, or touching a dead body. They were not moral issues, but they were still designed to teach us holiness. This, not that. Here, not there. Think of them as a gigantic audio/ visual aid. We needed this kind of help (over centuries) to teach us the concept of holiness, walking us toward the concept of ethical holiness, toward the idea of righteousness.

In the sacrifice of the heifer, the priest would burn (among a few other things) the fat of the heifer and some cedar wood (Num. 19:5-6). This made the priest unclean (Num. 19:7). Then a man who was clean (Num. 19:9) would gather up the ashes, and place them outside the camp in a cleanplace, where it would be used by the Israelites in the waters of cleansing. Now soap can be manufactured from wood ash and animal tallow. So the manufacture of soap made you unclean, but the use of it made you clean. Remember what I said about germs. Ritual cleansing also resulted in better hygiene. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

This is the lesson pointed out in Hebrews. “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:13–14).

Balaam and the Star

Numbers also contains the Balaam story. The New Testament tells us that Balaam was an unrighteous man (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14), and the Israelites killed Balaam when they invaded (Josh 13:22). Piecing the story together, Balaam was a true prophet, but not a true man. He refused to prophesy against Israel, but was apparently the one who gave the king of Moab the shrewd but ungodly advice to use sex against Israel as a weapon. This resulted in the great apostasy at Baal-Peor.

At the same time, we should look carefully at Balaam’s prophecy. “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num. 24:17). We should at least consider the possibility that the Magi who came from the east were informed, at least in part, by Balaam’s prophecy. Here is a star prophesied by a non-Hebrew prophet, and they came in response to it.

Jesus in Numbers

Even though God commanded that the bronze serpent be made, and those who looked to it in the time of Moses were acting in true faith, the serpent eventually became a snare. It had acquired the name Nehushtan, and Hezekiah rightly had it destroyed (1 Kings 18:4). Nevertheless, it was a type of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14).

The people were afflicted (because of their grumbling) with the poison of “fiery serpents.” The word here is related to the word seraph, or seraphim. From this, and the description of the heavenly seraphim (Is. 6:2-3), I take these as some kind of poisonous winged serpent—small dragons. An image of one of these serpents was cast in bronze and impaled on a pole. Anyone who looked on their affliction there was healed of their affliction here.

That Christ uses this image to describe Himself on the cross is simply astonishing. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). When we look at Christ on the cross, we are looking at the crucifixion of all accusation. What is our snake bite? Is it not accusation? Is it not the sting of the law? Is it not the fact that we are guilty? So look there—there is your guilt, there is your condemnation, there is your poison. Look there and be free.

Surveying the Text: Leviticus

Joe Harby on August 25, 2014

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Introduction

The dates of this book are roughly the same as what we find for Exodus. It provides detailed instruction for worship, picking up where Exodus stopped. The name of the book comes from a Greek phrase for “pertaining to the Levites,” that phrase being levitikon, which was then run through a Latin filter. During the course of this book, Israel is still camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai, at the beginning of their 40 years in the wilderness.

The Text

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:1–2).

Summary of the Text

This book is about ritual righteousness—which must never be detached from actualrighteousness. Here the laws for worship are laid out, the Holiness Code is defined, and the annual calendar for the Israelites is established.

The Levitical Code is set out in the first sixteen chapters (1-16). This is followed by what is commonly called the Holiness Code (17-25). A few miscellaneous things conclude the book (26-27)—blessings and curses, vows and tithes.

The Second Greatest Commandment

This book is where the second greatest commandment is found (Lev. 19:18). It is sometimes easy to assume that the ritual precision that is required by a book like Leviticus means that they somehow didn’t understand the main point. But that is not the case at all.

Cleansing, Consecration, Communion

Whenever someone is exiled from the camp, remember that God dwelt with them in the center of the camp. God is holy, and is in the midst of the camp. This means that the camp had to be be kept holy as well.

Because Christ has come, we no longer worship God by means of actual physical sacrifices. Because of this—even though this is a great blessing for us—we oftentimes do not pay close enough attention to the sacrifices of the Old Testament. They were not all sacrifices for sin. They had a grain offering. They had a whole burnt offering, also considered as an ascension offering. This was a consecration offering, where the entire animal ascended to God in the column of smoke. There was a fellowship offering, also known as a peace offering. A purification offering took care of accidental defilements (4:1-5:13), and the guilt offering was for sin (5:14-6:7).

When sacrifices are mentioned together in the OT, the order is guilt/ascension/peace. This is why many churches (whether intentionally or not) follow a similar pattern—resting in Christ’s fulfillment of all of this—when they confess sin (guilt), when they sing and hear sermons (ascension), and when they partake of communion (peace). The order is biblical, but it also makes natural sense. You wash the day off your hands before coming to the dinner table, and not after.

Both Kinds of Cleanliness

Leviticus focuses on ritual cleanliness, but concerns about hygiene should not be dismissed. It is pretty clear that God, in giving these rituals, also had germs in mind. Cleanliness is next to godliness—but more about that in Numbers.

Jesus in Leviticus

So this book insists on holiness. The holy God has agreed to dwell in their midst, and because He is in the camp, the camp must be holy. The people of God had to be holy because God of the people was holy. We see in this in Levitcus 11:44-5, in our text here, and in Lev. 20:7.

But this is easier said than done. The apostle Paul quotes Leviticus several times to make this point (Lev. 18:5). Obedience means actually doing it, actually being holy. Not only that, but it means doing it by raw effort. “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them” (Gal. 3:12). And in Romans he describes the same kind of guy, climbing up to Heaven on the rope of sand—the righteousness that is of the law quotes Lev. 18:5, instead of quoting Deuteronomy 30:12 like he should have done. And Jesus paraphrases it to the same effect (Luke 10:28), talking to a man who wanted to justify himself.

Without holiness, no one will ever see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). So how do we get from the righteousness of the law to the righteousness of faith? These verses in the Old Testament are not color-coded. How are we supposed to navigate this?
In the gospel of Christ, something mysterious happens. We are transformed from “strivers” to children, children who can be obedient children (1 Pet. 1:14). And what follows on after that? “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16).

Doing must come from being. This means that the foundation must be the absolute grace of God. If you try to attain to being by your doing, you will necessarily fail, time and time again. You can do nothing but fail. What is the problem with the strivers? They do, and they do, and they do some more. The problem is that they spend their lives doing, and nothing gets done.

Everything comes down to whether or not we see Jesus, and you can only see Jesus if you have eyes. And you can only have eyes if God gives you eyes. You can only have ears if God gives you ears.

If you have eyes, if you have God-given faith, you see Jesus everywhere in Scripture. Sometimes He speaks, but He is always present. If you do not have eyes, if you do not have God-given faith, you do not see Jesus anywhere. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

It is not as though some verses are “law” and other verses are “gospel.” There is no division in the Bible this way. There is no law/grace hermeneutic. There is no way you could publish a study Bible will all the law verses in red and all the grace verses in blue. And why not?

Because the righteousness that is of the law turns everything to law. Like a King Midas of lead, every passage turns into a leaden dead weight that condemns and is obnoxious. This can even be done with passages that have GRACE written on their forehead. “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:15–16).

And eyes that have been opened by grace can see the grace of God everywhere and in everything. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7).

There is a sharp divide between law and grace. But it does not run between this verse and that one. It runs between the sheep and the goats.

Surveying the Text: Exodus

Joe Harby on August 17, 2014

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Introduction

The three great themes of Exodus are the deliverance God brings to His people, the giving of the law, and the establishment of the tabernacle. There are other important themes as well, such as the recurring disobedience of the people. Remember as we work through the Bible, each book contributes to the grand theme of all Scripture, which is the redemption of God’s people, accomplished in the context of His reconciliation of all things in Heaven and on earth (Col. 1:20).

The Text

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Ex. 17:5–7).

Summary of the Text

What are the dates of the book? The book of Exodus begins with the death of Joseph (c. 1600 B.C.), but most of it centers on Israel’s encampment at the base of Mt. Sinai (c. 1440 B.C).

The first part of Exodus is simply narrative (Ex. 1-20), showing the deliverance from Egypt and culminating in the giving of the Ten Commandments. In chapters 21-24, we find a collection of assorted laws which amplify the Ten Commandments, and then the last part of the book concerns the building of the tabernacle (25-31). Woven throughout the whole thing we find the grumbling and disobedience of Israel.

The Definition of Israel

This is the book that defines Israel for us. There are three distinctives that set Israel apart from other nations. The first is their national deliverance from the tyranny of Pharaoh. They have ahistorical foundation as a people together. Second, on the basis of this deliverance, this exodus, God gives them His law as a sign of His grace to them. Note particularly the preamble to the Ten Commandments. God identifies Himself as the one who brought them out of the house of bondage, and so the law represents moral liberty. Third, God establishes His tabernacle in their midst so that His presence might be with them. This means that God delivered them, Godinstructs them, and God accompanies them.

If you look at the sweep from Genesis to Revelation, you notice the pattern—from Garden to Garden City. The biblical story summarized is Paradise, Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained. The beginning of an Edenic reestablishment is seen in this book, when the tabernacle is built (an artificial mountain, an artificial Eden). Eden was on a mountain (four rivers had their headwaters there), and God walked with Adam and Eve there. Now cherubim again guarded the way to the mercy seat just as the way back to the tree of life was guarded.

In this book, God adopts Israel as His firstborn son (Ex. 4:22-23). The firstborn of Egypt are all slain, the firstborn of Israel are all spared, and Israel becomes the firstborn of God.

An Unlikely Deliverer

Moses began his career as a likely deliverer. Since God doesn’t work that way usually, He began by turning His likely savior into an unlikely one. When Moses was suitably unsuitable, YHWH appeared to him in the burning bush.

God loves cliffhangers. Throughout Scripture, He delivers His people at the very last moment, and in the Exodus, He does it for millions of people all at the same moment. Pharaoh’s chariots are at their back, and the Red Sea is lapping at their toes, and Moses was perhaps wondering what he had gotten himself into.

A “suitable” deliverance, according to our lights would have been for Moses to face down Pharaoh with an army at his back. Well, he did have an army there, but it was the wrong one.

Ten Plagues

The ten plagues that reduced that era’s great superpower to a smoldering ruin are interesting on various levels. The plagues are first aimed at the various gods of Egypt. Second, the plagues represent a “decreation” move—darkness instead of light, animals dying instead of being created, the first born destroyed instead of established. Third, the plagues provide a kind of counterpoint to the ways in which Israel disobeyed after their deliverance. “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice” (Num. 14:22).

Grumbling and Complaining

Note the introduction of the grumbling motif into Scripture. After God had delivered the people wonderfully, it didn’t take them long to fall back into unbelief. Also mark the fact that you can only repent of grumbling—you can’t steer your way out of it. Look what happened when Aaron tried to “steer” the people’s apostasy in the golden calf incident. He tried to establish syncretistic worship, using an idol in a festival of YHWH. No good at all.

This is a realistic story of deliverance, not a hagiographic story of the bad guys drowned in the Red Sea, with the good guys wearing white bath robes, saying, “Lo!” and “Verily!” No, they were usually muttering in their tents with the Hebrew equivalent of razzum- scazzum.

Jesus in Exodus

The Exodus becomes a grand theme in Scripture for all manner of deliverance. It is a rich source of allusion for all subsequent biblical writers (Dt. 4:32-34). “And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease [hisExodus] which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30– 31).

With all this established, let us return to our text. The apostle Paul throws some additional light on it. “And 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). Christ was the Rock the people drank from, but this means He was also the Rock that Moses was commanded to strike.

They quarreled with Moses, and said he had to give them water. The word here would better be rendered as “lodged a complaint,” or “filed a suit,” or “laid a charge.” Meribah was Lawsuit City. They came first against Moses, but the real issue was whether God was with them or not.

The staggering thing here is not that the people brought a charge, indicting the Lord. The astonishing thing is that God accepted the indictment. Formal charges were filed. God said that Moses was to go in front of the people, with the elders of Israel accompanying him as witnesses. Take a particular rod, He said, the same one you used to turn the Nile to blood. God said that He would then stand before Moses on the Rock, identifying with it. Moses was then to take the rod ofblood, and strike the Rock, and water will flow from it. What flowed from the side of Christ when the Roman soldier struck Him with his spear? Water and blood (John 19:34).

What must the thirsty do? They must drink from the water that flows from Christ (John 7:38). But there is no water unless Moses strikes.