V. Israel's Wilderness Wandering(from the exodus to the Plains of Moab, ca. 1445-1405 B.C.) Israel at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19 to Numbers 10:10)God offered Israel a royal priesthood for all members (Exodus 19:5,6), which they verbally accepted (Exodus 19:8) but later rejected by breaking the Covenant (Exodus 32). The "every-member" priesthood was postponed until the church (1Peter 2:5,9,10; Revelation 1:5,6; 5:10; 20:4-6), with the Levites becoming the priestly group (Exodus 32:27-29).
Ten Commandments - The Decalogue or "Ten Words" (Exodus 20:1-20; Deuteronomy 5:1-22) were given for Israel's good (20:20) and formed the covenant document between God and Israel (Exodus 34:27,28). Covenants were not entered by proxy, but each individual and generation chose to participate (Exodus 19:7,8; 24:3,7; 32:26; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Nehemiah 10:28,29). Covenants are definite and written down (Exodus 34:27,28) and are not a matter of each person just "doing their own thing" (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 21:25). Paul later explained the intended meaning/purpose of the Mosaic Law (Romans 3:20; 4:15; 5:20; 7:7-13; Galatians 2:21; 3:10-24; Acts 13:39). Used properly as a "law" system (1Timothy 1:8-10) to govern Israel in Canaan, the Mosaic Law was holy, righteous, good, and spiritual (Romans 7:12,14).
The Mosaic Law's detailed instructions provided for the spiritual, civil, health, and ceremonial elements of Israel's new national status when they conquered Canaan (Exodus 20:1 - 31:18). Some noteworthy principles:
From Exodus:
23:2/ beware of following the crowd into evil
25:2/ our religion should be financed by free-will offering (Exodus 35:21,29; cf. 1Chronicles 29:17; 2Corinthians 9:5-7)
25:9/ God provides a pattern for what He wants us to do (1Chronicles 28:19; Hebrews 8:4,5; 9:1; 2Thessalonians 2:15; 2Timothy 1:13) From Leviticus5:17/ ignorance does NOT excuse our sin (Acts 17:30) 11:44,45/ God's people are to be holy to the Lord (Lev. 20:26; 1Peter l:l4-16), not following the world's ways (Leviticus 18:1-5; Deuteronomy 12:28-30; 1Samuel 8:5) From Numbers32:23/ Our sin will "find us out" and catch up with us eventually From Deuteronomy4:1-39/ Our greatest danger may be our own negligence
6:4,5/ The Shema (lit. "hear") summarized Israel's duty to YHWH
6:7-8/ God marks His people on the forehead and hand (our thoughts and actions have always marked our real spiritual citizenship and parentage (see: John 8:35-44 and consider this in reference to people "sealed" on their hand or forehead in the book of Revelation)
8:4/ Human existence involves spiritual as well as material elements
8:11-18/ Beware prosperity leading to apostasy (Matthew 19:21; lTimothy 6:5-10)
4:9; 6:7; 11:19/ God's word must be taught to the next generation (cf. Judges 2:10ff)
13:1-4/ Miracles associated with false doctrine, are not from God
18:9-12/ God's prophets are not permitted to use heathen occult methods or tools
18:20-22/ True prophets must be 100% accurate in their predictions
29:29/ God's will, that which is necessary for people to understand, is revealed and written down in Scripture and should be the focus of our spiritual concerns (Proverbs 30:5,6; Isaiah 8:20; 2Corinthians 4:6; 2Timothy 3:14-17). On the other hand, the "secret" (i.e. "unrevealed") things are God's business and should not be the focus of our concern.
The Tabernacle & Aaronic Priesthood
Exodus 25-40/ Israel was given detailed information about the furniture and layout of the Tabernacle. The "Tent of Meeting" was a portable place of worship for Israel during their wanderings. When first setup (Exodus 40:17-35), God demonstrated His acceptance of the the Tabernacle by filling it with His spiritual presence (as would occur later at the dedication of Solomon's Temple (1Kings 8:10,11). The Levites were commissioned as special servants due to their complete tribal repentance and obedience following the Golden Calf incident (Exodus 32:26,29). The Aaronic priesthood was temporary, like the Law, and a "Melchizedek" priest (Genesis 14:18-20) would someday arise (Psalm 110:1-4; Hebrews 7; Revelation 1:4-6) to supersede it. Beyond its physical and practical function in Israelite worship, it was also a type of Christ (John 1:14; 2:18-21; Ephesians 2:19-22; Revelation 21:22) and the church (Hebrews 9).
40 Year Journey from Mt. Sinai to Moab's Plains(Numbers 10:11-13,33-31:54 / ca. 1445-1405 B.C.)
10:11-13,33/ Travel from Sinai to Paran
13-14/ Twelve spies investigated Canaan and Israel could have gone right in and started the conquest right away, but ten of the spies were pessimistic and the people followed their lead. God determined that those who refused to enter the Promised Land by faith in His leading would NOT enter at all (cf. 1Corinthians 10:1-11). Unfaithfulness is seen in constant complaints (Numbers 11:1-6; 12:1-15; 13:31-33; 14:1-4,11, 22; 16; 20:1-5). Moses himself disobeyed God and this was the reason why he was not allowed to lead Israel into the land (Numbers 20:1-12) – plus, it was probably God's purpose to present a typological lesson in having neither Moses (the Law) nor Aaron (a human priesthood) lead Israel into the "Promised Land" (both died outside) - instead, "Joshua" (same name as "Jesus" in Hebrew and Greek) leads God's people in!
25:1-9/ The unfaithful tend to join the sin/idolatry of the worldly folks around them. There is a clear connection between temptation/sin and whether one is guided by (1) surrounding influences/immediate circumstances and opportunity or (2) proven long-term internal moral/ethical principles.
1:46; 26:51/ Two "numberings" were taken, before and after the 40 years of wandering, to show that innocent servitude under grace (Egypt; Exodus 1:7) was better than abused freedom under covenant responsibility (40 years of wandering).
21:6-9/ "Serpent on a pole" typology - salvation from the "sting of sin" comes by looking in faith to one accursed and lifted on a pole (cf. Deuteronomy 21:22,23; John 3:14,15; 12:32,33; Galatians 3:13,14)
Conquest of the Trans-Jordan & Moses' Farewell(Numbers 32 thru Deuteronomy)
(1) All of God's army must fight together until the whole war is over and then everyone settles down to rest (Numbers 32)
(2) Moses recounted Israel's history from the exodus to the conquest of Trans-Jordan (Numbers 33 - Deuteronomy 3)
(3) Moses challenged the new generation to remember and keep their covenant with God (Deuteronomy 4-33) - focus on "revealed" things instead of "secret" stuff (Deuteronomy 29:29) - The "two paths" (Deuteronomy 30:15-20) that we all must choose - Make sure everyone hears the whole Law every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:9-13) - After Moses' death, Israel would turn away (Deuteronomy 31:16-29)
(4) The death of Moses (Deuteronomy 34) Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible To send a question to Chuck: chuck@severnchristian.org
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Thinking Moses dead, many Israelites prepared to return to Egypt and they built
a Golden Calf (possibly resembling an Apis bull) to show their willingness to
honor Egyptian cultural values. The Golden Calf
was another God and an idol, violating the first two commandments, and represented a breaking of the Covenant, so Moses "broke" the stone tablets
(Exodus 32:19; cf. Jeremiah 31:31,32). The Law brings wrath as was illustrated
by 3,000 unrepentant Israelites finding death by not repenting as the Law was
being put into effect (Exodus 32:27,28), but the Gospel brings life as was
demonstrated by 3,000 repentant Israelites finding life (Acts 2:37-41; cf.
2Corinthians 3). God continued to work through Israel because of His
faithfulness to keep His promises to the Patriarchs and bring Messiah through
their descendants (Exodus 32:13; 33:1; Deuteronomy 7:7,8; 9:5; 2Kings 13:23;
Romans 11:28,29).
