The Amazing Aspects of the Bible (Part 2)
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).
Genesis is a book of origins, revealed to Moses by the Holy Spirit through inspiration. It provides a brief summary of the Creation of the world, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, God's selection of one man through whom to makes His promises (Abraham), and a history of that family, which left them all in Egypt. The Bible passes quickly over the next 400 years because only the significant events that occur are related. As Exodus begins, we find that the new Pharaoh no longer appreciated what Joseph had done in his lifetime to save the nation. They had enslaved the Israelites (who had now become a great nation).
The first half of the book of Exodus contains an account of Israel's great deliverance out of Egypt via the Ten Plagues and the giving of God's great law—the Ten Commandments. The reader might ask, "Why does God wait until now to introduce the subject of miracles?" Actually, the creation of the world was a miracle; so we have already been prepared for further acts of Divine intervention. Genesis recorded the fact that Joseph could interpret dreams. God spoke directly to Abraham; so we have already seen direct and miraculous events.
But now God is ready to save His people from Egyptian bondage. Slaves are trained to work, not to fight. None of the Israelites has any military training at this point. Furthermore, God does not want them to think they were delivered by their own skill and military prowess. He will do the delivering. Pharaoh will need a lot of convincing, however, because he is one of the most stubborn men who ever lived. There is no reason that he should take Moses' requests seriously because he controls a mighty, conquering army and therefore has no reason to let the people go for even a day, let alone permanently. God will convince Pharaoh that He has more power than the Egyptian army, beginning with the water in the Nile turning to blood and ending with the death of the firstborn.
Finally convinced, Pharaoh lets the Israelites go. Although this major event occurs relatively early in the collection of the Holy Scriptures, it remains significant to this day. Below are some of the important aspects of the exodus.
1. God demonstrated His power in such a way that even the mightiest army on earth was powerless to respond. They fight against men, but how does one deal with water that has become blood, locusts, destructive hail, mingled with fire, frogs, and other pests? In fact, how can one fight at all in the presence of thick darkness, where one could not see a hand in front of his face? How does one do battle against an unseen enemy that slays your firstborn? Even Pharaoh's skeptical magicians realized that they were no match for the power of God. Who would not want to obey Him Who is all-powerful?
2. The deliverance God gave to His people here symbolizes an even greater deliverance from an even more severe bondage—that is, man from sin. God set the Israelites free from earthly taskmasters; Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the cruel slavery of sin (John 8:31-36). Jesus' blood washes away sins (Rev. 1:5) when we are baptized for their forgiveness (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:9-11). After writing about being buried with Christ in baptism (Rom. 6:3-5), Paul adds: "knowing this first, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin" (Rom. 6:6). Christians, then, have been freed from both the contamination and the domination of sin. These facts do not mean that we will never sin again, but we do have the power to overcome it. It is also the case that, when the Israelites left Egypt, they were free from their past and future enslavement. They ultimately had to wait for the crossing of the Red Sea and the death of Pharaoh's army underneath that body of water.
3. Even that event is typical, as pointed out in the New Testament. When Pharaoh had a change of heart as to letting Israel go, he pursued them and was able to back them up against the Red Sea. But the Lord kept them back by placing a pillar of fire between the two peoples. Moses was told to stretch out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night. The waters were divided, and the ground became dry. The children of Israel crossed in the midst of the sea. When Pharaoh's army began to pursue, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea again, and the water returned to normal, thus drowning the Egyptians (Ex. 14:19-29). This completed the process of deliverance that began when the nation left Egypt. The people sang a song of celebration afterward.
This entire historic occurrence also serves as a type of the sinner's transition in becoming a Christian. Each individual must leave Egypt (which stands for repenting of sin) and be baptized in water, which frees us from sin (Acts 2:38). Paul notices this comparison in 1 Corinthians 10:1-2: "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized by Moses in the cloud and in the sea." Just as the Flood in Genesis typified baptism (1 Peter 3:21), so now does the passing through the Red Sea symbolize it, also. The rejoicing of the Israelites occurred when they were safe on the other side of their "baptism." Likewise, the queen's treasurer went on his way rejoicing after coming up out of the water (Acts 8:39). How interesting that these two marvelous events are both linked to salvation!
4. But there is more. God commanded that their deliverance be commemorated for the entire remainder of their history. On the evening of their deliverance, He required that they eat a male lamb without blemish and put its blood on the doorposts and lintel of their house. When God saw the blood, He would pass over that house and not take the life of their firstborn. They also ate unleavened bread (Ex. 12). This Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be observed each year from that day forward as a reminder of God's great salvation.
Christians likewise remember their deliverance from sin; only this observance occurs every first day of the week instead of annually. Jesus told His follower to partake of the unleavened bread, which represents his body, and the fruit of the vine, which represents His blood. In the first century, Christians began doing so immediately (Acts 2:42; 20:7)—even though sometimes they did not do it properly and had to be rebuked (1 Cor. 11:17-34). Since Jesus was crucified on our behalf, we Christians could not do otherwise than to honor Him the first day of every week. We may never realize all the suffering that was involved when He tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9), but we owe Him everything.
When Moses wrote down Genesis and Exodus, did he have any idea that Jesus would come to earth 1,500 years later and that both the Flood and the crossing of the Red Sea would be symbols of our salvation? If he did, it was only because God so informed him. How many living today, two thousand years later, with the added benefit of hindsight, still do not see the beauty in the connection of these events? What ingenious human being would have been clever enough to have linked these two tremendous events together to the salvation of man from his sins?
The Ten Commandments
Having brought the Israelites out of the midst of a nation that practiced idolatry and various immoralities, God knew that His people needed a law that came, not from various cultures, but directly from Him. Before He gave it to them, however, they needed to know something about Him. They had seen His power; they also needed to be aware of a crucial part of His being—His holiness. Prior to receiving the Law, Moses was instructed to sanctify the people and have them wash their clothes (Ex. 19:10,14). Once they were made holy, God spoke to them His Law.
The Egyptians had made idols of nearly everything. Ra was their sun god. Jehovah demonstrated His superiority over him with the thick darkness to shut out his light. Therefore, the first two commandments had to do with the truth concerning Deity. There is only one God. (Old Testament writers speak of the Spirit, and they also knew that the Angel of the Lord was Divine; so they had a concept of the Trinity, even though it is more clearly defined in the New Testament.) This God does not take second place to anyone; He proved that He was greater than any of the "deities" in Egypt (which were invented by man and therefore were fictitious anyway).
The second commandment excluded their possession of or bowing down to any idols that would serve as representations of those false gods. They were not to make any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. These two laws should forever settle who is God and how not to worship Him. The third commandment deals with the fact that God is holy and that even His name is to be revered. God will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His name in vain. All those who persist in including OMG in their texts or in their speech ought to take note. The fourth commandment was for them to keep the Sabbath day holy.
That the Bible comes from God is easily seen in that man would not have and did not originate any of these. Man invented idolatry (Rom. 1:21-23) and chose to become polytheistic. Man still has no reverence for God's name (particularly in television, movies, and popular songs). And one day in seven to keep holy and dedicate to God? Why, even some brethren think that two hours in the morning is a bit much. Clearly, these precepts did not originate with man.
The fifth one bade the Israelites to honor their fathers and mothers. This one might be the least objectionable one of the ten to modern man. "Oh, but everyone agrees that the next one, forbidding murder, is a correct moral principle." Really? Not everyone is in favor of it. The pro-abortion lobby certainly takes issue with it. They want the government to finance a woman's right to destroy her child. In various nations, children were sacrificed to idols; they are in America, also—to the idols of Selfishness and Personal Comfort. No, radical feminists take emphatic issue with the sixth commandment.
Most people understand that adultery is wrong, but that knowledge is not keeping millions of people from doing it anyway. To allow theft is not practical, but both customers and employees steal from stores and businesses who will never "miss it anyway." In other words, while no one wants his own property stolen, he may feel justified in taking someone else's. Bearing false witness against someone is seldom taken seriously; truthfulness is not the main concern of most citizens, who freely admit to lying often. While laws against stealing might, to some extent, be obeyed, people are still free to covet to their heart's content. Why would God even give a command like this—unless implicit in it is that He knows our hearts?
Men would never have been so restrictive if they were making up commands. Yes, many of them have a practical value, but they would not have been agreed to in the time period leading up to the Flood. Nazi Germany certainly did not agree with the one concerning murder. Neither have most Communist regimes. The argument that these are just principles based on practicality fails. Is it practical for people to smoke and ruin their health? No, but many choose to do so. Is it practical to sell alcoholic beverages to people, who may or may not know how to handle them, with many deaths accruing each year from the ones who don't? People often choose to ignore practical concerns. The Ten Commandments are of Divine origin.
Exodus – Leviticus
The second half of Exodus contains a variety of other laws for the nation of Israel. Then a great deal of attention to detail is provided for the construction of the tabernacle. Leviticus begins with a list of commandments concerning the various offerings which God required of the people. Few are interested in these details since no one is commanded to offer them today. However, one cannot help but be impressed with the facts that innocent animals were killed because of the sins of mankind. Every time an offering was made people would be reminded that such actions were the penalty of their sins. Today, Jesus is our offering, and we need to be likewise reminded of the awfulness of sin—that an innocent man had to suffer and die to obtain forgiveness for us. The Lord's Supper reminds us each week of that blood of Jesus that was poured out for our sins. Those who do not face this weekly reminder often tend to trivialize sin.
Both Exodus and Leviticus emphasize that certain things are holy and that there is a difference between the holy and the profane. An image is presented in Leviticus 10:1-2 that makes this point vividly. "Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord" (Lev. 10:1-2).
What these two sons of Aaron did was worse than what Cain had done. He had brought an offering to the Lord that consisted of what he wanted rather than what God had required. That being the case, God did not have respect for Cain or his offering (Gen. 4:1-7). But Nadab and Abihu had been properly instructed as to what to offer God. For whatever reason they ignored their obligation, deciding that there was no reason to distinguish between the holy and the profane. Their poor attitude and bad reasoning cost them their lives.
Aaron began that day with four sons but ended with half that many. The fact that his sons were ordained to be priests did not keep God from punishing them. As priests, they were, above all others, to be careful to be holy in their administration of holy things, which they did not take seriously. Some think that the admonition not to be drinking intoxicating beverages when ministering to God implies that they had been drinking (which it might) (Lev. 3:9), but whether they had or not, they were burned to death because they failed "to distinguish between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean" (Lev. 10:10).
Thus, the book makes these discernments so that the priests and God's people will know precisely which is which. The over-riding point, then, is that things pertaining to God are holy. God had Moses tell these words to the congregation: "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2). Even though Christians today are under a different covenant, this verse is still cited as a principle that is valid for us (1 Peter 1:15-16). God wanted His people to be holy then, and He requires the same thing of His people today. All manner of moral considerations are presented throughout the pages of this book. The reader will understand what is acceptable behavior to God and what constitutes an abomination. Chapters 18-20 particularly cover moral laws.
When Jesus cited, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," He was referring to Leviticus 19:18. Worth reading several times is Leviticus 16, which describes what was to occur on the Day of Atonement. In just the first three books of the Bible, we have the basis for our atonement and two types of our salvation, both of which involve baptism. Salvation is not a new concept only discussed in the New Testament; it is found throughout the Old Testament as well. Skeptics never see the beauty, the harmony—the amazing aspects of the Bible because they are consumed with nitpicking and finding alleged discrepancies. How sad that they waste their time looking at the Bible with a profane outlook rather than seeking the holiness that the Book can impart.