Angelic Conflict part 135: Human history – Psa 105; Exo 17; 1Sa 8:7; Psa 78:15-17; 95:6-11; 1Co 10:1-13.
length: 62:01 - taught on Aug, 6 2013
Class Outline:
Title: Angelic Conflict part 135: Human history - Psa 105; Exo 17; 1SA 8:7; PSA 78:15-17; 95:6-11; 1CO 10:1-13.
Conflict amongst a group of people: Moses and the Exodus. Moses will be used by God to make a people (Hebrew) into a nation (Israel).
This conflict in history means that God has enemies, selfish, arrogant, self-serving people
The exodus is one of the greatest examples of the faithfulness of God, Psa 105.
Ps 104 magnifies the God of creation and 106 the God who chastens His people and forgives them, but this psalm focuses on the God of the covenant (vv. 8-10) who works out His divine purposes in human history. "Make known his deeds" (vv. 1-2, 5) is the major thrust, referring, of course, to God's mighty acts on behalf of Israel. (Psa 78 also) The psalmist saw the hand of God in the events of Jewish history, and this was the kind of encouragement the struggling remnant needed after they entered the Promised Land. He reminded them that they were God's chosen people and that God worked according to His schedule. Beginning with Egypt, the Lord had already revealed His power over the Gentile nations, and He will always keep His promises. Remembering these truths can bring God's people encouragement at any time in history! Verse 5 says “remember” His works. God is constantly encouraging us in a world and amongst a people that oppose Him. Be of courage believer and rejoice, your God, the God of Israel, the God of the Church, is almighty, and eternally faithful.
PSA 105:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.
PSA 105:2 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.
Let us not speak of our failures or the failures of others, but of Him, His wonders.
PSA 105:3 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad [rejoice].
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
PSA 105:4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.
“seek His face” refers to an intimate relationship and not just an abstract knowledge of Him.
Verse 3: seek the Lord and be glad.
PSA 105:5 Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels, and the judgments uttered by His mouth,
PSA 105:6 O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
We could substitute “bride of Christ, His elect ones in union with Christ.”
PSA 105:7 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.
PSA 105:8 He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
PSA 105:9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac.
PSA 105:10 Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
PSA 105:11 Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,"
Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.
PSA 105:12 When they were only a few men in number, Very few, and strangers in it.
PSA 105:13 And they wandered about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people.
PSA 105:14 He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes:
PSA 105:15 "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm."
PSA 105:16 And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread.
PSA 105:17 He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
PSA 105:18 They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons;
PSA 105:19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.
PSA 105:20 The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
PSA 105:21 He made him lord of his house, And ruler over all his possessions,
PSA 105:22 To imprison his princes at will, That he might teach his elders wisdom.
PSA 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
PSA 105:24 And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And made them stronger than their adversaries.
PSA 105:25 He turned their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants.
PSA 105:26 He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen.
PSA 105:27 They performed His wondrous acts among them, And miracles in the land of Ham.
PSA 105:28 He sent darkness and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His words.
PSA 105:29 He turned their waters into blood, And caused their fish to die.
PSA 105:30 Their land swarmed with frogs Even in the chambers of their kings.
PSA 105:31 He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies And gnats in all their territory.
PSA 105:32 He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land.
PSA 105:33 He struck down their vines also and their fig trees, And shattered the trees of their territory.
PSA 105:34 He spoke, and locusts came, And young locusts, even without number,
PSA 105:35 And ate up all vegetation in their land, And ate up the fruit of their ground.
PSA 105:36 He also struck down all the first-born in their land, The first fruits of all their vigor.
PSA 105:37 Then He brought them out with silver and gold; And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled [leaving Egypt].
PSA 105:38 Egypt was glad when they departed; For the dread of them had fallen upon them.
PSA 105:39 He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to illumine by night.
PSA 105:40 They asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
PSA 105:41 He opened the rock, and water flowed out; It ran in the dry places like a river.
PSA 105:42 For He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant;
PSA 105:43 And He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
PSA 105:44 He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor,
PSA 105:45 So that they might keep His statutes, And observe His laws, Praise the Lord!
A few weeks after the Lord tested them with manna the exodus finds itself in yet another wilderness just outside of Sinai.
map
As they moved toward Mount Sinai, the people of Israel were still being led by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. But the Lord was still directing Israel into difficult and trying situations in order to prove His power and build their faith and character. After all, life's journey involves much more than merely reaching a destination. If we aren't growing in faith, in the knowledge of God, and in godly character, we're wasting our opportunities.
EXO 17:1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
They already failed this test and so God now gives them another opportunity and they will fail it again. Their hearts are still in Egypt, many of them are secretly worshipping idols from Egypt, not that it’s a secret from God or His man Moses.
EXO 17:2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?"
The Lord can test His people, but the order of things is completely turned around when His people test Him. Why does a perfect God need to be tested.
EXO 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"
This murmuring Moses called "tempting God," i.e., unbelieving doubt in the gracious presence of the Lord to help them.
In this the people manifested not only their ingratitude to Jehovah, who had hitherto interposed so gloriously and miraculously in every time of distress or need, but their distrust in the guidance of Jehovah and the divine mission of Moses, and such impatience of unbelief as threatened to break out into open rebellion against Moses.
EXO 17:4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me."
A properly motivated teacher of the word of God does his best to communicate what God has communicated to him. If the people reject God’s instructions and suffer, he should not be the object of attack.
And the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.
Again, Moses makes the proper decision and goes to the Lord for direction and instruction.
During this journey Moses is also being tested and he is growing. He will end up in the same place as them geographically but in such a different place spiritually.
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
EXO 17:5 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
So the divine long-suffering and grace interposed in this case also, and provided for the want without punishing their murmuring. Moses was to pass on before the people, and, taking some of the elders with him, and his staff with which he smote the Nile, to go to the rock at Horeb, and smite upon the rock with the staff, at the place where God should stand before him, and water would come out of the rock.
The elders were to be eye-witnesses of the miracle, that they might bear their testimony to it before the unbelieving people.
EXO 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Jehovah's standing before Moses upon the rock, signified the gracious assistance of God.
The Hebrew phrase “I will stand before you,” frequently denotes the attitude of a servant when standing before his master, to receive and execute his commands. Thus Jehovah condescended to come to the help of Moses, and assist His people with His almighty power.
and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
This, and only this, Christ’s cross, is how the AC and all conflicts within it are resolved.
His gracious presence caused water to flow out of the hard dry rock, though not till Moses struck it with his staff, that the people might acknowledge him afresh as the possessor of supernatural and miraculous powers.
The striking of the rock reaffirms Moses’ power and also symbolized the striking of the Savior at Cavalry and the subsequent refreshment given to all who believe in Him.
EXO 17:7 And he named the place Massah [to test] and Meribah [to contend of quarrel] because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?"
We shake our heads wondering how they could even ask such a question after all they have seen and been through and the number of times that God displayed His almighty power.
Yet, I have seen in the life of Christians who go through testing, ask this same question as if God can change.
PSA 78:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
PSA 78:16 He brought forth streams also from the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
PSA 78:17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To rebel against the Most High in the desert.
PSA 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
PSA 95:7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you would hear His voice,
PSA 95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah [complain],
As in the day of Massah [test] in the wilderness;
PSA 95:9 "When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
PSA 95:10 "For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
PSA 95:11 "Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest."
Because they were sinners? No. Because they would not trust Him and therefore would not follow His way, though He made it easy.
Whether it is difficult or easy, following another demands trust, submission, yielding to their superior path.
They did not enter the Promised Land and by choice they did not enter into the rest that God has granted to His people in the midst of the many conflicts that befall us due to this invisible war.
The rock is a type of Christ smitten for us at the cross, 1CO 10:4.
"The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He.
1CO 10:1-4: Privileges are no guarantee of success.
1CO 10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
The cloud stood between their camp and the camp of the pursuing Egyptians and protected Israel and all passed through the sea.
1CO 10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
“baptized” = identified with Moses (not wet). Baptism of the Spirit identifies the CA believer with Christ.
1CO 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food [believers and unbelievers];
1CO 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Then He brought them out with silver and gold;
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
"Baptized unto" him (Ex 14:31) is thus equivalent to 'initiated into the Mosaic covenant:' introduced into relationship with him as the God-appointed leader.
Paul's argument is, The Corinthians, it is true, have been "baptized," into union with Christ through God the HS at salvation. Israel was baptized into a covenant union with Moses, identifying with God’s promises to Moses and therefore identifying with him as their leader, but this baptism did not save them from the doom of lusting for evil, rampant immorality, idolatry, paganism, and testing God. So the Corinthian church started out as babes in Christ with the tremendous potential of the spiritual life, but they too began to crave evil things and worship idols and practice immorality, calling it grace, and testing God and complaining about Paul.
An individual believer and a local assembly can make the same mistakes as the exodus and therefore their experience is written for our instruction.
Egyptians - doomed old man; Israel - newborn life.
Cloud and fire - presence of God, guidance of Christ as the light of the world. Manna and water - the person and work of Christ.
Christ is the pillar-cloud that screens us from our enemies. Christ, "the light of the world," is our "pillar of fire" to guide us in this dark world. As the rock, when smitten, sent forth waters, so Christ, once for all smitten, sends forth the waters of the Spirit to all who believe. As the manna, the mind of Christ has become our spiritual food.
This is all followed by a big “nevertheless” in verse 5.
5 favors from God:
1.Under the cloud (protected from Egyptians).
2. Passed through the sea.
3. Baptized (identified) with Moses.
4. Ate spiritual food.
5. Drank spiritual drink.
1CO 10:5-12: Good beginnings are not a guarantee of good endings. The Corinthian church started strong and then tempted God and craved evil things.
1CO 10:5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.
They were saved from Egypt but did not claim their inheritance in the Promised Land. All believers in the church have amazing potential under equal privilege and equal opportunity, but not all believers realize the fulfillment of their election in Christ and if they don’t, it was for the simple reason that they did not love and adore the word of God.
Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
1CO 10:6 Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved.
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