Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 19:1-2

1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.

2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

Moses had received his vision of the burning bush and prophetic calling in Mount Horeb. He had been told at that time to remove his shoes “for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Now, after having fulfilled the first part of his divine calling: leading Israel out of captivity, he came again to the foot of a mountain.

This mountain, Mount Sinai, would be yet another holy mountain. As we will soon read, Moses would ascend into it while Israel camped at its feet, and Moses would receive all the law of the Lord at its summit. Surely, this was “holy ground” once more.

There are many reasons why the Lord would choose mountains as the place for His presence. They literally draw the gaze heavenward. They stand above the lower things of the earth. Their summit resides in the atmosphere, suspended between heaven and earth. They are a place where the elevated meets the debased.

To ascend into the mountain requires effort and determination. Ascending requires overcoming the constant pull of gravity. It requires leaving behind valleys and rivers and homes, having as one’s sole objective the peak.

Just by their natural, physical structure, mountains remind us of God in many ways, and of our journey towards Him. I, myself, am fortunate to live in a part of the world where I am surrounded by mountains, and I have had some of my most precious spiritual experiences within them.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 15:22-24

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

There was a rich symbolism in the plagues that befell Egypt, each one corresponding to the effects of sin upon mankind, mirroring the natural consequences that we face for our evil deeds. Unsurprisingly, that same rich symbolism is present in the account of Israel’s journey into the wilderness. As we encounter each setback the Israelites faced, hear their reaction to it, and see God’s solution, I will pay close attention to how it is a type for the hardships that we, who are faithful, also face in our journeys.

Indeed, if there is any lesson to be learned from the stories of Israel in the wilderness, it is that hardship is not only for the wicked. Yes, the Egyptians received a singular sort of suffering for their crimes, but the Israelites would be tried by fire as well!

And so, in today’s verses, the Israelites found themselves finally free, out on their own, but there wasn’t any water to be found. They pressed on a little further, and there the water was bitter, so much so that they could not drink of it.

As a person who has been a slave of addiction, and associated with many others in the same boat, I have seen the euphoria that befalls a freed soul when he leaves his captor by making a confession of his sins. All at once, that man is out of the place he thought he would never leave, just like the Israelites, and he is sure that the worst is behind him. But now he faces the world without his drug of choice. He still faces difficult relationships, financial pressure, feelings of inadequacy, long spells of boredom, and he has none of his sinful wine to slake his thirst. He is in the bare, open desert, a man alone, and he can see no water.

Then the man might murmur to his mentor, much like Israel did to Moses, “well what am I supposed to do now?” Our slave masters might have been evil, but they also provided a structure that protected us from the harshness of the world. Who will protect and provide for us now?

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 10:12-13

12 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Once again, the Lord instructed Moses to begin the plague by stretching his hand over the land. In response to Moses’s action, an east wind blew across the land. It blew all day and night, and on the next day a swarm of locusts arrived with it. This seems to be proof that the locusts did not spontaneously pop into existence. They were gathered from some distant place, having been grown and cultivated by the Lord for some time in preparation of this curse. Thus, when Moses pronounced the plague it was already long in the making, all that remained was for it to be delivered.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time that the east wind had been used as an ill omen for Egypt. Once before, Joseph had interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream of an east wind blasting the grain and withering it in the stalk. The east wind will also be used a third time as an instrument of destruction on the Egyptian people, when Moses parts the Red Sea and then drowns their armies in the midst of it.

Because of these accounts, the east wind has since been seen as a symbol of death and devastation. The question naturally arises, though, what was the significance of the wind being from the east? Though we are not given a definitive answer in the Bible, a brief examination of a map suggests two interesting possibilities.

First, nearly the entire eastern edge of Egypt is bordered the Red Sea. This sea is notable for its deep-red hue and for being one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth. It has long been considered a symbol of death, both for its blood-like appearance and because its water will kill any plant. Thus, one can see how an east wind that blew to Egypt from the Red Sea could be used as an omen for impending destruction.

There is also a second possible meaning for the east wind. We are told that the Israelites lived in the land of Goshen, which is high in the northern regions of Egypt. If the Egyptians resided nearby, such as in the valley of Ramses, then they also would be in that northern region. And the north part of Egypt is the only part that does not border the Red Sea to the east. It borders the land of Canaan, including the region where Jerusalem would one day be established! Thus it might have been that the east wind had blown in from the land of the Lord. The wind might have represented the hand of God, and if so, then it makes sense that while the east wind only brought death and destruction upon the Egyptians, it always elevated and supported the people of Israel. It empowered Joseph to be a prince of Egypt, it helped convince the Pharaoh to let the enslaved Israelites go, and we will soon read of it covering the retreat of the fleeing Israelites.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 7:15-18

15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

16 And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

17 Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

When Moses showed the miracle of water turning to blood to the Israelite elders, he had merely scooped some water from the river and poured it out on the soil. This time he was to turn the entire river red, causing the land to literally flow with blood. As discussed earlier, this blood is both the blood of the innocent Israelite sons who were cast into the river, and also a sign of the future Egyptian blood that would be shed in retribution.

Of course this miracle would also be mirrored in the future by Jesus turning the water into wine, and wine is a very similar image to that of blood. Thus, the miracle that Moses performed for Pharaoh had direct application to the situation in which it was conducted, but the fact that its same imagery appeared in entirely other contexts shows us that there must also be a larger, more universal interpretation of it also.

One possible interpretation is that of God creating life. The water to blood shows how the Lord is able to turn base material into part of a living thing. And not just living, but also dying. Blood is, after all, both an emblem of life and death. Thus it is God creating the entire mortal experience, from one end to another, birth to death. God draws this existence out of the base materials: dust to body and water to blood. Just as God created the Earth with its bodies of continent and veins of river, he authored the human body of flesh and vein of blood as well.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 27:18-20

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

Yesterday I mentioned that Jacob going to his father in the guise of Esau might be a symbolism for how we are remade in the image of Christ. And in today’s verses, notice how Jacob’s words are almost a perfect fit for what our Savior might have said to his Heavenly Father.

“I am Jehovah thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and receive of my sacrifice, that thy soul may bless me.”

And when each of us is introduced at the judgment seat, I expect we will be introduced in much the same way, having put on his name and image through the atonement. We will be received as God’s firstborn, who did according to how we were commanded, who brought glory to God, and who are now worthy of God’s blessing.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 27:11-13, 15-17

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Yesterday I mentioned my ambition to read this chapter and consider whether it had more meaning than I had previously realized. And for the first time I noticed that these verses seem to be a symbolism for the gospel of Jesus Christ, something I had never seen before.

Recall these three passages:

Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Ephesians 4:22, 24 "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

In summary, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that we are all unworthy on our own, and salvation can only come through Christ. And so we put off our old self and put on the new man, meaning we put on the image of Christ. And when we come to the final judgment we do not stand in our own place, but we are invited to stand in the place of Jesus, the only one who is worthy to receive God’s blessings.

Now, is this there not a shadow of this transpiring in the story of Jacob and Esau? Jacob cannot receive the blessing on his own, so he puts on the trappings of his elder brother. He becomes the man to whom his father can bestow the choicest blessings. And Rebekah even says that any curse that applies to her son will be removed from him and laid on her instead, which is also symbolic of our curse being laid upon Christ so that we may go free.

Granted, I am sure that in the final judgment Jesus will not be dressing us up to try and deceive our Heavenly Father. We will not be sneaking our way into heaven under false pretenses. Yet there definitely seems to be a parallel here, and Rebekah and Jacob were led into this symbolism not knowing the significance of it.