God's "LOOK AT THIS" #1

The writers of the New Testament did not shrink back in applying meaning to major events in the Old testament.  The readily applied things to the Christian walk.  The wrote using 'drash' which, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit laces some text with layers of meaning after we have applied the plain meaning of the text.  We then 'extract out' the drash... a 'Midrash' interpretation.

In 1 Cor 10 Paul places the wandering in the desert of the Hebrews as a warning to us.  So this occurred so that we can look back and stay steadfast in faith and obedience... something the nation did not do. From this type of observation I have used many times that the entire story of the Hebrew nation from being captive in Egypt represents elements of our lives in relation to Salvation:

Egypt represents 'the world'
Pharaoh represents Satan
The taskmasters represent the slavery and bondage of sin
The red sea is when we pass from slavery to freedom... Salvation
The desert:  a place to choose faith and obedience
The Promised Land is where we enter God's rest in Christ.

We are the individual trapped in Egypt waiting for a deliverer.  We are brutally kept in slavery by the taskmaster, 'sin' under the headship of Pharaoh... Satan.  This really fits well but I need more than a nice pattern!  I can find many places where the New Testament writer allude to this so I'm happy to flow with the intention of God to take the Hebrew nation through all this to provide a prophetic theater for all who would delve into the Word of God.

But then I saw that there is a correlation with the Hebrew Calendar date:  Nissan 17 occurs several times throughout the Text and here are on what occasions, The red is what occurs between these events on Nissan 17 :-

1. Nissan 17, Noah’s Ark safely rested on Mt. Ararat (Gen 8:4) Note that the seventh month was later designated as the first month at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 12:2).

Events Leading to Joseph's governorship in Egypt

2. Nissan 17, Hebrews entered Egypt (Exo 12:40-41) 430 years before deliverance.

Slavery, Pharaoh etc

3. Nissan 17, Moses led the Israelites through the Parting of the Red Sea (Exo 3:18, 5:3)

The wandering in the desert

4. Nissan 17, Israel entered and ate the first fruit of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10-12)

The conquest of Canaan, rest

5. Nissan 17, The cleansing fo the Temple by Hezekiah (eight hundred years after entering the promised land. (2 Chronicles 29:1-28)

6. Nissan 17, Queen Esther saved the Jews from Elimination (Esther 3:12, 5:1)

7. Nissan 17, The Resurrection of Messiah (think about it)

Fill in the rest of the Red yourself!  Many are turning to men's wisdom in book and the thoughts of false teachers but the Word of God never disappoints! 

To me there is little doubt that God's design is absolutely forensic, marking out significant times so we can plot where we actually are on his program.  Even more so are the evens leading up to the return of Christ.  We will look at them tomorrow. 

Gary Ward