From Egypt to Canaan
Introduction
Psalm 105 & 106 give parallel yet contrasting accounts of the journey from Egypt to Canaan. Psalm 105 gives us what God did for them in love whereas Psalm 106 gives us their disobedience.
Outlines
Some of the thoughts below come from George Henderson’s excellent book "Studies in the book of Exodus".
Types of Christ in scripture.
The glories of Christ and His person and work are such that no single OT type can tell out His worth. There are so many types and pictures for us and yet the half hath not been told. If we will meditate upon them then our hearts will burn within us as it did for the two on the way to Emmaus when Jesus opened the Scriptures to them to show them all things concerning Himself.
Genesis – Sin
Exodus- Redemption
Leviticus – Holiness
Numbers – Pilgrimage
Deuteronomy – Reward
Division of Exodus –
Chapters 1-19 History
Chapters 20-24 Law
Chapters 24-40 Worship
Typically we have –
1. Chapters 1-2 The story of the Redeemer
2. Chapters 3-14 The story of Redemption
3. Chapters 15-40 The story of the Redeemed
We have a historical review of Exodus in Acts 7:15-44 and a spiritual commentary on it in Hebrews 11:23-29
God’s Purpose
"And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites." (Exodus 3:7-8)
There were three things God had purposed for them –
He wanted to set them free – EMANCIPATION
He took a nation out of the midst of another nation
"Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" (Deuteronomy 4:34)
The Lord Jesus came to preach deliverance to the captives.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18)
"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13)
He wanted to bring them out – SEPARATION
If God set them free and left them in Egypt they would have only become slaves again another way. It was God’s purpose that they should be completely free from Egypt.
Exodus 3:8 states that God would deliver them not only out of the land but out of the hand of the Egyptians.
The line of demarcation for the believer is clearly set forth in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"
It is said that the worldly Christian is the most miserable man in the world. He knows too much of Christ to enjoy the world and he has far too much of the world to enjoy Christ.
Lot is the most outstanding example in Scripture of such a believer who "vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds" (2 Peter 2:8).
He wanted to bring them in - POSSESSION
Israel were not to think of what they had given up in Egypt but what they had gain. What God was bringing them into was far greater than anything Egypt could ever give them.
A popular conception of Christianity is that it is a system for making us miserable here so that we might be happy hereafter!
But the opposite it true.
"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." (John 15:11)
God’s purpose is that we might have days of heaven upon earth
"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." (Deuteronomy 11:21)
This does not mean that trials and sorrows will not come but God has promised –
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength" (Isaiah 26:3-4)
Israel’s Journey
"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11)
The journey from Egypt to Canaan was in four stages –
From Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 1 – 19)
From Sinai to Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 10:11 – Numbers 15)
From Kadesh Barnea to Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 16 – Numbers 20:21)
From Kadesh Barnea to the Promised Land (Numbers 20:22 – Numbers 36; Joshua 1 – 4)
The journey from Egypt to Canaan pictures the Christian life: not as a journey from earth to heaven as we cross the Jordan as many hymns have it but the three places that Israel dwelt in are all of them three pictures of this world that we as believers lives in.
We are naturally as to our surroundings IN EGYPT.
We are actually as to our experience IN THE WILDERNESS
We are positionally and spiritually IN CANAAN
1. In Egypt – the house of bondage
"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." (Exodus 20:2)
The believer as a stranger living in the midst of a condemned world sheltered by the blood of the lamb; feasting on the lamb and unleavened bread. Here we learn that the world despite its wisdom, wealth and pleasures is nothing but a place of bondage, burdens and bitterness for the sinner.
"Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 22:21)
2. In the Wilderness – the place of testing
The believer as a sojourner, a pilgrim separated to God, guided by Him, fed by Him, satisfied by the living water from the Rock which is Christ, battling enemies, experiencing many trials and failures which strengthen his faith and looking forward to a better, a heavenly country. The wilderness is for the believer the School of God where we learn our own waywardness and worthlessness. It is where we get an every deepening knowledge of God and learn to live by His grace.
Two chapters side by side describe the provision God made for them in the wilderness – Exodus 16 the Manna and Exodus 17 – the Water from the Rock. There are two chapters side by side that describe the same two provisions the Lord has given for our Christian life John 6 – The True Bread from heaven our Lord Jesus and John 7 – the living water – the Holy Spirit of God.
Jeremiah 2:2 reminds us that this time of discipline for their unbelief was also a time when they showed their love to the Lord.
"Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown."
Cf. Hosea 2:14
The purpose of their journey through the wilderness is stated by the Lord in Deuteronomy 8.
"And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee." (Deuteronomy 8:2-5)
They were to (1) Not to forget any of God’s dealings with them – "all the way"; (2) They learned to be humble (3) They learned to obey God in times of testing (4) They learned to put the Word of God above their necessary food (5) and they were taught God’s love for them.
We also need to learn humility. When we first set out on the Christian pathway we know little of the depths of foolishness and sin in our own hearts. We need to learn to lean upon the Lord in all times of testing and we need to give the highest place to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. All the while we learn of His love and care for us.
Illustration: American Indian test of manhood
In the Land – the believer as a solider seated with Christ in the heavenly places and blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3) and fighting his foes that would seek to rob him of the enjoyment of his inheritance (Ephesians 6:10).
Israel’s Enemies
We have three typical enemies that Israel had to face –
1. Egypt - The world
2. In the wilderness - The flesh (typified by the war with Amalek)
3 In Canaan - The devil (typified by the Anakims)
God’s Provision
The food God gave in Egypt was the LAMB
The food God was in the wilderness was the MANNA
The food God gave in the land was the OLD CORN
All three provisions speaks of what Christ is to us in this world.
We feed upon the Lamb when we meditate upon what the Scriptures say about Calvary
We feed upon the Manna when we meditate upon what the Scriptures say about the life of our Lord Jesus
We feed upon the old corn when we realise that the Lord Jesus is the risen and living One. He is the corn of wheat which fell into the ground in death but in His resurrection bore much fruit.
Moses
Deuteronomy 34:7 tells us that Moses died when he was 120 years old. Stephen in Acts 7 divides his life up into three lots of forty years –
First forty years – learning to be something (Acts 7:20-28)
Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became a statesman for he was might in words and became a solider for he was mighty in deeds.
He flung away everything that the heart of man craves and left it all for the reproach of Christ (Hebrews 11:26)
Five words in Hebrews 11 describe his convictions – "refusing"; "choosing", "esteeming"; "respecting"; "enduring".
The lesson is clear that the greater the surrender to God the greater the leader.
Second forty years – learning to be nothing (Acts 7:29-30)
In man’s school we pass from lower to higher but in God’s school the opposite occurs. Just as he learnt to be nothing and to be humble so too God would use him to teach the same lessons to Israel (Deuteronomy 8:11)
God cannot take Israel through the school of the wilderness before He has taken her leader through it.
Moses learnt to be the meekest man on the earth (Numbers 12:3)
Moses hoped the he could deliver Israel by his hand but he was to learn that it could only be done by God’s right hand –
"For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not." (Acts 7:25)
"Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." (Exodus 15:6)
This second part of Mose’s life teaches us that those who would accomplish much for God must spend much time alone with God.
Third forty years – learning that God is everything (Acts 7:31-42)
After learning the lessons God would have him to learn, Moses became the chosen instrument to lay in the dust the mightiest power in the world.
"He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years." (Acts 7:36)
Yet Moses failed in the point in which he was the strongest, his meekness and so could not enter the land. However there has never been a prophet whom God personally buried Himself. Such an honour had Moses and also was honoured to stand with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration to behold His glory. Then he would have seen that it was worth it all!
There is no limit to what God can do through a man who is fully surrendered to Him.
Pharaoh’s heart
Three expressions are used of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart which has caused problems for many.
Ex 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
Pharaoh’s HEART WAS HARDENED
"And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said." (Exodus 7:22)
The LORD HARDENED Pharaoh’s heart
"And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." (Exodus 4:21)
Pharaoh HARDENED HIS HEART
"And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go." (Exodus 8:32)
The rejection of light brings judicial blindness.
This is illustrated by creatures who live in darkness in caves and have lost the use of their eyes.
The Plagues
As Dr. F. B. Meyer points out, the plagues were primarily intended to answer the question of Pharaoh, "…Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2)
They were to be upon all the gods of Egypt
"For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." (Exodus 12:12)
Everything that Egypt worshipped would be shown to be useless against the power of Jehovah God.
After each plague, the Egyptians still had other gods they could turn to but one by one the LORD annihilated them. The final judgment was upon the firstborn and upon all the gods. It showed they had no power to save from death.
"For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward." (Deuteronomy 10:17)
1. Nile turning into blood – the Egyptians worshipped Sothis and Khnum as the gods of the Nile. The river was thought to be the blood of the god Osiris.
2. Frogs – the Egyptian frog goddess Heqet or Heket assisted in child birth
3. Lice - Geb was the Egyptian god of the earth
4. Flies - Uatchit was a god possibly represented by the fly.
5. Livestock diseased – they worshipped the bull and the cow. The Egyptian goddess of love, Hathor, took the form of a cow, and the sacred Apis bull was so highly venerated that it was embalmed and buried in a necropolis with its own sarcophagus at death.
6. Boils - Sekmet goddess that had power over disease. Sunu, the god of pestilence.
7. Hail - the Egyptians found that their sky gods Nut and Shu failed them. Seth the protector of crops.
Nut was the godess of the sky and Set the god of storms.
8. Locusts - Osiris was the god supposed to protect the crops
9. Darkness – Re, the sun god. Horus, a sun god. Hathor, sky goddess.
10. Death of the first born - Pharaoh who was worshipped as god
In Egypt Pharaoh was also considered a deity, and this last plague is directed at him. In the ninth plague his "father," the sun god, was defeated, and now his son, presumably the heir to the throne, will be slaughtered. This is a blow to Pharaoh’s person, his kingship and his divinity.
The four compromises of Pharaoh
Satan is seen in a two fold character in the NT. He is as a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and he appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). When violence and might fails he tries deception. This what Pharaoh tried to do with Moses. Seeing that he had no might against the Omnipotent God of Israel, he tried to make them compromise.
Historically the Roman Emperor Nero is an example of the first and the Roman Emperor Constantine is an example of the second.
Nero’s attack upon Christians only drove them to other lands to preach the gospel but the corruption Constantine introduced is a blow from which the Christendom has never recovered.
John Wesley said. "I have been long convinced from the whole tenor of ancient history, that this very event, Constantine’s calling himself a Christian, and pouring a flood of wealth and honour upon the Christian Church, was productive of more evil to the Christian Church than all the ten persecutions put together."
Compromise 1 – Sacrifice in the land
"And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land." (Exodus 8:25)
The significance of Mose’s demand for a three day journey is the same time between death and resurrection. From the cross to the resurrection was three days. Our place is with the resurrected Lord.
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:11)
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1)
The believer cannot worship God without being separate from this world. Redemption must take place. The worldling wants to Christian to be just like himself. Not to be separate from the world’s sin and wicked ways.
God demands complete separation from the world; the friendship of the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). Since the Egyptians worshiped cows, they would be offended if they saw the Jews sacrificing their cattle to Jehovah. The believer must "come out and be separate" (2 Cor. 6:17).
Compromise 2 – Don’t go very far
Ex 8:28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.
Not very far is a very dangerous place for the believer to live in. Lot is an example of a believer who did not go very far. He pitched his tent towards Sodom but it did not take long before he was in it and vexing his soul every day with the wickedness he saw. He lost everything.
Compromise 3 – Leave your families behind in Egypt
"Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence." (Exodus 10:11)
Parents in the wilderness while the children left behind in Egypt! What a tragedy that is seen even today where Christian parents neglect the spiritual education of their children.
Compromise 4 – Leave your possessions behind in Egypt
"And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you." (Exodus 10:24)
So many believers leave most of their possessions in this world and have little to give in sacrifice to God.
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings." (Malachi 3:9)
Moses stood firm and refused to compromise. In the end Pharaoh had to yield unconditionally to the demands of the Lord.
"And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also." (Exodus 12:30-32)
They went completely out of Egypt never to return, they took their families, their possession but also took huge amounts of wealth that Egypt was forced to give them for years of unpaid servitude.
Those who leave the consequences of making a stand to the Lord will find that He will bless above all that we can ask or think.
The great wilderness failures
"Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice" (Numbers 14:22)
These ten occasions of rebellion are as follows: (1) At the Red Sea (Ex 14:11–12); (2) at Marah (Ex 15:23–24); (3) in the wilderness of sin (Ex 16:1–3); (4) at Rephidim (Ex 17:1–3); (5) at Sinai (Ex 32:1–6); (6–8) en route to Kadesh (three occasions—11:1–3, 4–9, 31–34); and (9–10) at Kadesh (two occasions—vss. 1–4,10).
Added to these ten times were more failures –
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16)
The fornication with the daughters of Moab (Numbers 25)
The golden calf worshipped (Exodus 32)
The Manna despised (Numbers 11)
The unbelief of the ten spies (Numbers 13-14)
Three items were placed in the Ark and each was connected with a great failure on the part of Israel –
"Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron‘s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant" (Hebrews 9:4)
1. The tables of stone with the Ten Commandments
2. The golden pot of Manna
3. Aaron’s rod which budded.
Satan's temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ
What Satan tried with Israel in the wilderness and succeeded, he tried on the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. Satan thought that since the Son of God had become Man, He would be easy prey. He did not realise that the Lord Jesus was impeccable.
Even when the Lord Jesus was asleep on the boat, it seems that Satan tried to drown Him and His disciples thinking that he has caught out the Saviour in what seemed to be a moment of weakness as He lay asleep (Mark 4:35-41).
The temptations in the two wildernesses are connected –
| Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness | Jesus 40 days and nights in the wilderness | |
| Temptation concerning food | "But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." (Numbers 11:6) | "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) |
| Temptation concerning worship | "And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 32:4) | "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew 4:10) |
| Temptation concerning God’s protection | "And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?" (Exodus 17:7) | "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (Matthew 4:6-7) |
Types of Christ
In the journey from Egypt to Canaan there are thus seven types – a perfect picture-of the death of Christ. These are –
1. The Passover.
2. The Red Sea.
3. The Tree.
4. The Smitten Rock.
5. The Red Heifer.
6. The Brazen Serpent.
7. The Jordan.