Exodus, Message 8.1: The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War

Crystallization-Study of Exodus, Message 8.1:

"The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War"

The Glorious Triumph of Jehovah as a Man of War

1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: " I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!
2 The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him.
3 The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. (Exodus 15:1-3 NKJV)

After crossing the Red Sea, Moses spontaneously sang a song of praise to the Lord out of his heart, which appears in Exodus 15. He praised the LORD for His salvation, which was for His people, and for His victory, which was over the enemies. The LORD was the man of war who had fought and would fight for His people.

Interestingly, even in this song of praise, Moses gave some prophecies about what were about to happen. Furthermore, knowing God's heart, he mentioned about the 2 goals of salvation that God would accomplish through His people - to build up His tabernacle on the earth and to bring in His kingdom. 

You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation. (Exodus 15:13 NKJV)

17 You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
18 The LORD shall reign forever and ever. (Exodus 15:17-18 NKJV)

He mentioned about these things as if they had already happened. He realised that in God's eye, there was no time. God created time, but He was not limited by it. For God, everything that was going to happen had already happened. Even though the children of God had never fought with those enemies indicated in the song (Exodus 15:14-15 ), they had already won the battle in God's eye. Likewise, God's tabernacle had not been built up and His kingdom had not established yet. In typology, these 2 purposes of God were going to be fulfilled in Exodus 18 when the children of Israel built up tabernacle, and then centuries later when Solomon built up the temple. But in God's eye, these things had been accomplished. He knew exactly what was in God's heart and he was also 100% sure that everything God desired would be accomplished. No wonder why Moses was called the man of God.

Let us have the attitude like Moses. We praise God not only for what He has done, but also for what He is going to do for us, with us, in us and through us. When we are in a difficult situation, we can still praise the Lord, knowing that He will surely work all things, either good or bad, just for our good and will surely help us get through it victoriously. Praising the Lord is the key to overcome any situation, because as we praise Him, we are transcending and soaring over our problems. In any situation, let us praise the LORD, for He is Yahweh the man of war who will always fight for us, and we will share victory over our enemies with Him.

Furthermore, as the army of God, we must be ready for the spiritual warfare. We must be after the desire of God's heart as Moses did. We must aim to build up His habitation on the earth, the reality of which is the Church, the Body of Christ. And together with our brothers and sisters in the Body, we must aim to bring in His kingdom. This is the means whereby God's eternal purpose is fulfilled in us and through us.

 Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Exodus, week 8.
• Life Study of Exodus, messages 29.

  

Exodus, Message 7: The Experiences of Marah and Elim

Crystallization-Study of Exodus, Message 7:

"The Experiences of Marah and Elim"

In Exodus chapter 15, the children of Israel had already passed through the experiences of the Passover, the exodus from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. They had been saved from God's judgment through the Passover, and delivered from the tyranny of Pharaoh and slavery of the Egyptians through the exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea. There was a dividing line separating them from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. They had now received the new resurrected life and entered into a new realm of the wilderness where they were separated unto God and were able to fulfil God's eternal purpose.

This is just a wonderful picture of our experience of salvation in Christ. In typology, the children of Israel represent us as New Testament believers. Their experiences are also ours. We have been saved from God's righteous judgement through the Passover, which represents Christ who died for the redemption of our sins. Furthermore, we have been delivered from the tyranny of Satan (typified by Pharaoh) and the bondage in the world (typified by the land of Egypt) through our experiences of the exodus from the world and the baptism in its real spiritual meaning. We are now living the new resurrected life, which is Christ's life in us. We are living in the wilderness where we are separated unto God, and enabled to have His eternal purpose fulfilled in us and through us.

Exodus 15:22-27 shows us another 2 amazing stories: the experience of Marah and Elim. Even though these stories are not very well known among the believers, their implications and applications are tremendous. They wonderfully depict our experiences of salvation after we have received the resurrected life through the baptism.

 

The Experience of Marah

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
24   And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,
26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." (Exodus 15:22-26 NKJV)

After crossing the Red Sea, God as the pillar of cloud led the children of Israel southward through the wilderness of Shur to the place called "Marah," which means "bitterness." They were very thirsty then because there had been no water for them throughout the 3-day journey. At Marah, they found a lot of waters, but they still could not drink the waters because the waters were bitter. They murmured against Moses. And when Moses cried out to the LORD, he was shown a "tree" in front of him. The bitter waters miraculously became sweet when the tree was cast out into the waters. And then, God revealed Himself to the people as Jehovah Rapha, the LORD who heals them.

There are at least 3 implications that I really enjoy in this passage.

1. Downward experiences are needed for the application of the resurrected life.

Once we receive the new resurrected life in Christ through the experience of baptism, we enter into a new realm of wilderness where we were separated from the world and unto God. We may expect that our lives would go upward only. We expect to have better lives physically, psychologically and spiritually. And of course, resurrection is an upward experience.

From the story, God deliberately led the children of Israel southward or downward to Marah, which was not the direction to the good land. Many times God also deliberately leads us to some downward experiences, even to the bitter circumstances. Not until we have experienced the bitter situation can we see the hidden tree, which signifies our healing tree - the Cross of Christ.

There are times that we behave like the prodigal son who runs away from his father and goes astray. We may also be brought into a bitter situation. We may suffer relationship problems, physical illnesses, and financial catastrophe. We may not understand why God allows these bad things to happen in our lives. Nevertheless, the power of the Cross of Christ is best manifested during those times and our need for God is exposed. God's revelation becomes much clearer to us, and our relationship with Him just becomes more intimate through the experiences. We will greatly cherish the Cross of Christ. And eventually, we all will witness that all things are just for our good and for His glory.

Therefore next time when you are in an unpleasant situation, do not be dismayed. It is an experience of resurrected life. Let the resurrected life of Christ in us be fully manifested in us and through us. God is going to work all things, including bad things, for your good and for His glory.

2. The Cross of Christ is the solution to any bitter circumstance.

When Moses cried out to the LORD, he was shown a tree in front of him. Even though the waters were quite bitter, the tree was there. The tree was the solution of the bitter waters. And this very tree signifies the cross of Christ.

who Himself [Christ] bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness --- by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24 NKJV)

When we are in an unpleasant situation, do not act like the children of Israel who complained a lot. In contrast, let us act like Moses by crying out to the Lord, look to the Cross of Christ and apply it to the situation. Even though God may not change the situation, it will miraculously become sweet to us. We will have joy in the Lord always in any circumstance through the power of the Cross of Christ.

3. The LORD is our great Healer.

After the bitter waters were made sweet, the LORD made an ordinance with the people and revealed Himself as the great Healer.

I do not think that the people of Israel had any severe physical sicknesses. Did they really need a Healer? Why God revealed Himself as the Physician?

Even though they might be physically well, they had something wrong inside their heart. It was exposed by how they acted when they tasted the bitter waters. They murmured.

Murmur is a sign of structural heart diseases. When a murmur is heard, the doctor cannot just ignore it. He has to investigate if the murmur is caused by an underlying heart disease that is life-threatening if untreated. Likewise, the disease of our soul and our spirit may be manifested as a murmur when we complain to the Lord.

Do you think you are sick? You may be physically well, but are you also well psychologically or spiritually? If not, will you humbly admit that you are sick, come to the great Physician and receive the proper treatment?

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Matthew 9:12-13 NKJV)

At any rate, all of us do need Him to heal our heart condition, so that our heart will be made completely pure, wholly devoted to the Lord. We need Him to remove all the root of bitterness from our heart.

To experience this wonderful healing, we just need to apply the Cross of Christ not only to our situation, but also to our lives. As a result, not only will the bitter situation become so sweet to us, but our inner bitterness will also healed by our great Healer.

 

The experience of Elim

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters. (Exodus 15:27 NKJV)

Even though the experience of Elim is only shortly mentioned here, there are some important implications and applications for us.

At Marah, we have the experience of the Cross of Christ. And here at Elim, we have the experience of resurrection, which is signified by the wells or springs of water and the palm trees. The springs of water signify the life that flows out of God in resurrection into His chosen people, whereas the palm trees signify the evergreen life that is flourishing, rejoicing in satisfaction and victorious over tribulation. These 2 items beautifully depict Christ's resurrected life that comes out of God to us, grows in us and flows through us. The experience of this wonderful life will strengthen us and transform us into an army that fights for God's purpose

 

 Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)

 

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Exodus, week 7.
• Life Study of Exodus, messages 30-31.

Exodus, Message 5: The Passover

Crystallization-Study of Exodus, Message 5:

"The Passover"

Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13 NKJV)

Exodus 12 records the institution of Passover, which comes from the English words "pass" and "over." It was during the last plague, the death of the firstborn, after which Pharaoh let the children of Israel leave the land of Egypt. The people were commanded by God to offer Him the sacrifice of Passover lamb, and strike the lintel and the doorposts with the blood of the lamb. The LORD would pass through to strike all the houses in the land and take the lives of all the firstborn. However, if the blood was seen on the lintel and the doorposts, the LORD will pass over the houses.

In the letter to the church in Corinth, Paul states that Christ is not only our Passover Lamb, but every single detail of the Passover. He is the substance of the Passover.

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (1 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV)

There are at least 4 items related to the Passover that typify Christ: Passover Lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and house.

The Passover lamb typifies Christ as our Redeemer and our life supply. The unleavened bread typifies Christ as the sinless One. The bitter herbs typifies Christ who helps us feel the bitterness of sin and leads us to repentance. The house typifies Christ as our dwelling place, under which and in which we eat and feast.

 

The Passover Lamb

The Passover lamb typifies Christ.

Unequivocally, Passover is a type of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29 NKJV)

The blood of the Passover lamb was for redemption of the firstborn of the children of Israel. It therefore signifies the blood of Christ, which redeems us from our sins and from the devastating consequences of our sins, God's righteous judgment.

The children of Israel were charged to eat the Passover lamb after the sacrifice. It is edible and to be eaten. The flesh of the Passover lamb therefore signifies the flesh of Christ, which is not for our redemption, but for our life supply. Christ as our true food supplies us, strengthens us and energises us to move out of the world, which is typified by the land of Egypt.

"For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." (John 6:55 NKJV)

 

The Passover lamb was to be roasted in fire.

8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire --- its head with its legs and its entrails. (Exodus 12:8-9 NKJV)

The flesh of the Passover lamb must be cooked by roasting in fire. The children of Israel were charged not to eat it raw or boiled with water.

The fire signifies God's righteous judgment. The death of Christ was not just a model of sacrifice or a death of a martyr. Christ passed through God's justice and righteousness. He who knew not sin became sin, suffered God's divine judgment and bore the death penalty for our sins on our behalves. Christ is the essence of the Passover lamb roasted in fire.

The Passover lamb was to be eaten in its entirety.

Just as the children of Israel were to eat the Passover lamb in its entirety, we must also take Christ in His entirety.

The head signifies wisdom. The legs signify move and activities. The inward parts signify feelings and affection.

To take Christ in His entirety means that we must take His wisdom, His move, His activities, His feelings and affections as ours. We must be totally confirmed to His image. However, we can never be like Him by trying to imitate Him. We must let Him come into our lives and live our lives.

 

The month Abib

This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2 NKJV)

On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. (Exodus 13:4 NKJV)

Since the Passover, the calendar of the children of Israel changed. Whatever month it was, it would become the first month for them. And this month was to be called the month Abib.

Everyone has civil calendar. But all true believers have an additional calendar since their second birth called the "sacred calendar." Their new era starts with the month Abib.

Abib means sprouting and budding. It therefore denotes a new beginning of life. It is an experience of every believer when he receives Christ. It is the experience of the organic Christ sprouting and budding in us.

This must not be a short-time experience. It must be our everyday experience. We need to come to the Lord every day and have a new start every day. This is our experience of the month Abib.

 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. (Exodus 13:7 NKJV)

The feast of Passover was only one-day event. Following the Passover, there was the feast of unleavened bread, which lasted for 7 days.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul charges us to keep the feast.

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV)

This feast must be the feast of unleavened bread. As the number seven signifies the completion, the feast is to be kept until we go to the Lord or until He comes.

In typology, the unleavened bread typifies Christ's crucified, resurrected and sinless life.

When leaven is added to bread, the bread is softened and easy to swallow.

In our experiences, many times sin makes hard things softened. It can be much easier for us to lie than to tell the truth, because many times lie helps us avoid difficult situations that may follow if we tell the truth. However, we know that any sin inevitably brings us to devastating end. It cuts our fellowship with God and hinders us from the enjoyment of Christ.

If you want to continue enjoying the feast of unleavened bread, we must live a sinless life. Of course, we cannot literally be without sin, but at least we must deal with any sin exposed to our mind. Sin and Christ's sinless life cannot go together. And the only way we can overcome sin and get rid of it is eating the sinless One and become one with Him.

Here we can see an amplification cycle. If we deal with sin, we will be able to continue enjoying the feast of unleavened bread. And the more we feast with Him, the more power we have to get rid of our sin.

Additionally, the feast of unleavened bread is called a feast, not a duty. This signifies that God's salvation is for us not to work. His charge is only for us to eat. In the enjoyment of Christ, there is no place of work.

In conclusion, in the feast of unleavened bread, there must be neither leaven nor the manner of work. It is all about eating Him, enjoying Him and experiencing His life.

 

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Exodus, week 5.
• Life Study of Exodus, messages 23-25.

Exodus, Message 6: The Exodus from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea

Crystallization-Study of Exodus, Message 6:

"The Exodus from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea"

The book of Exodus is perhaps the greatest picture book in the Old Testament. The captions of the pictures can be found in the New Testament, particularly the writings of the apostle Paul.
The pictures in this book vividly depict the experience of salvation that all the New Testament believers have, giving us deeper impressions on this matter. And in Exodus 12-14, we can see 3 big pictures related to our experience of salvation: Passover, Exodus from Egypt and crossing the red sea.

 

1. Passover

When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they had 2 big problems. Firstly, because they had already been "Egyptianised," at least externally, they were prone to God's judgment. Secondly, they were living under the tyranny of Pharaoh and enslavement in the land of Egypt.

In typology, Egypt represents the world, and Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, thereby represents Satan. Before we were saved, we also had these 2 problems that the children of Israel had. We were God's enemy and carnally minded, thereby being prone to God's judgment. We were also living under the tyranny of Satan and enslavement in the world, whether we realised it or not.

This portion of the book of Exodus tells us the good news. Passover, which typifies Christ, is God's solution to save us from His divine righteous judgment. All the believers have already been delivered from God's judgment by Christ's accomplished work of redemption on the Cross. However, the deliverance from Satan's tyranny and enslavement of the world is still ongoing process, as will be further described in the following 2 pictures.

 

2. Exodus from Egypt

So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall say to him, 'By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Exodus 13:14 NKJV)

Exodus is the leaving of the children of Israel from Egypt. In the New Testament, our experience of exodus is therefore our getting out of the world, which is under the usurpation of Satan. Without the book of Exodus, we cannot get such a deep impression on this matter.

All genuine believers have already experienced Passover since they received Christ as their Saviour. But only a very small proportion of them have ever experienced Exodus.

Blood of the Passover lamb is needed for salvation from God's righteous judgment. The hand of the LORD is needed for deliverance from Pharaoh’s usurpation.

In the world, the house of bondage, we are just slaves. We don't have true freedom. We need to metaphorically get out of the world in order to have freedom to serve God and fulfil His eternal purposes. However, the process is not so easy for us. In the story, 12 negotiations and 10 plagues were needed in order for Pharaoh to release the children of Israel from the land. God needed to subdue both Pharaoh and the environment in order to take His people out of Egypt. Likewise, to have the experience of exodus from the world, we need to depend on God's mighty hand to subdue Satan and our environment.

 

And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:36 NKJV)

Some people may have surprised why the holy and righteous God approved His children to "plunder" the Egyptians. However, this action was not at all evil. The people had been working for the Egyptians as slaves for almost 400 years and had not been fairly paid. Now as they were leaving the land, they needed the precious materials for something very important - the building up the tabernacle, God's testimony on the earth.

There are 2 extreme teachings regarding worldly possessions: Prosperity Gospel, which says God will make all the believers materially rich, and Poverty Gospel, which denies all forms of material things, believing that all the believers should be poor and suffer for Christ. These views result from the misinterpretation of the Scriptures and are based on only some verses from the Scriptures. To prevent ourselves from these false teachings, we must consider all the passages in the Bible regarding this issue together.

We need material things for our living and for God's testimony on the earth. We need to plunder the world of its wealth. We need to labour to gain the wealth, but not for indulging ourselves. The wealth is from the world but not for the world. ‎It is for God's testimony on the earth.

 

And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. (Exodus 12:51 NKJV)

Interestingly, the children of Israel did not flee from the land like losers. They victoriously marched out like an army. Their coming out was a great victory.

Like the children of Israel, let us depend on the strength of God's hand to subdue our enemies and victoriously march out of the world as God's army.

 

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine." (Exodus 13:1-2 NKJV)

Exodus chapter 13 is written by Moses as an insert between chapters 12 and 14. It starts with the law of the firstborn. All the firstborn must be consecrated to the Lord. This matter depicts the process of sanctification.

Passover, which signifies redemption, had already been accomplished. The children of Israel had been completely saved from God's judgement. But they still needed to go through the process of consecration or sanctification.

Redemption is for us to have true eternal security, whereas sanctification is for God's purpose. Sanctification is for God to have someone in whom and through whom He accomplished His eternal purpose on the earth.

How can we be sanctified?

For redemption, we need to be identified with Christ as our Substitute who died on our behalves on the Cross. For sanctification, we need to take Christ as our Substitute who lives in us, experience the new beginning of budding or sprouting life (typified by the month of Abib), and deal with any exposed sin.

We have no strength to become holy by ourselves. We cannot become holy by trying to imitate Christ. The only means we can become holy is taking Christ's life as our life and being saturated with His life. We will then be holy as He is.

 

"And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night." (Exodus 13:21 NKJV)

When the children of Israel came out from the land of Egypt, they were led by the LORD in the form of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire.

The cloud typifies the Spirit. The fire, in the sense of enlightening and purifying, represents the word. As the New Testament believers, God in us guides us by the Spirit and the Word. God, the Spirit and the Word are one.

 

19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. (Exodus 14:19-20 NKJV)

Interestingly, when the Egyptian army pursued after the children of Israel, the guiding light became the protecting light for God's people.

Praise the Lord that we always have both guidance and protection from the Lord as we follow Him.

 

3. Crossing the Red Sea

The step of exodus from Egypt was necessary. However, we can see that the people were not completely freed from the power of Pharaoh and Egyptians, as they changed their mind and followed the children of Israel.

In order to be delivered from the usurpation of Satan and the influence of the world, we need the crossing of the Red Sea, which signifies baptism. It is not about ritualistic baptism. It is about spiritual baptism.

We must not be confused. In contrast to what some people have taught, regeneration has nothing to do with baptism. We are not saved by baptism. Salvation is by grace and through faith. However, without baptism, we cannot have full enjoyment of salvation.

From the story, Israel feared to death before crossing the red Sea. With Moses leading, they walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. But all the Egyptians who followed them was overthrown and buried in the sea. As a result, the people of Israel greatly rejoiced when they came out of the sea.

Baptism involves our experience of Christ death, and deliverance from the tyranny of the world and Satan. Power of Satan and the world are buried in the water. We come out of the water with a new life full of the joy of salvation and free from the usurpation of Satan and enslavement in the world. We are now free to accomplish God's purpose, which is to build up the church as God's dwelling place on the earth, as typified by the tabernacle and the temple.

 

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 into Moses in the cloud and in the sea... (1 Corinthians 10:1-2 NKJV)

It is noteworthy that we are not baptised into a religion or a denomination. Don't be in religion. Religion worships God without enjoyment in Him. On the contrary, we must be baptised into a Person.

Moses here was the leader of God's people who exercised God's authority and power. He therefore represents Christ. We as the New Testament believers are baptised in the Spirit (typified by the cloud) and the death of Christ (typified by the sea), and into Christ, who is our centre and our everything.

 

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Exodus, week 6.
• Life Study of Exodus, messages 27-29.