-John 1:17
For the past weeks my church’s college group has been studying a series that we titled “Shadows”. The purpose of this series is to take a look at Old Testament characters and to see how they reflect who Jesus is. So far we have studied Adam, Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and Samson. I have written on all of these characters except Moses, because I was busy preparing my discussion on Samson last week. So today I decided to go back and to write about Moses, and how he is a shadow of Jesus.
I’m going to give a brief overview of some parts of Moses’ life, only covering the major events that I think are important in regards to this series. When Moses was born, the Israelite people were greatly oppressed by the Egyptians. The leader of Egypt, Pharaoh, made a decree that any boy that was born to a Hebrew must be killed. A man from the tribe of Levi and his wife had a son, whom they decided to keep, despite Pharaoh’s decree. As this boy, Moses, grew older, they could no longer keep him in secret. As a result, they put him in a basket and placed him into the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter sees Moses, and has compassion on him. She takes care of him as he grows older.
When Moses became an adult, he went out and saw the Hebrews being oppressed by the Egyptians. He saw a Hebrew being beat, and Moses killed the Egyptian who was persecuting the Hebrew, thinking no one was watching. Later, Moses finds out that the Hebrews knew about Moses’ deed, which causes him to flee Egypt. Moses lives outside of Egypt for a while, where he speaks to God, who took the form of a burning bush. God tells Moses to go back to Egypt, and to deliver the Israelites from the bondage to the Egyptians.
Moses goes back to Egypt, and he and his brother Aaron approach Pharaoh. Pharaoh demands a sign from them, and God places many plagues on the Egyptians. Each time, Pharaoh hardens his heart, and does not let the Israelites go free. Finally, God tells Moses that He will kill all of the firstborn children and livestock. God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites to place a lamb’s blood on their doorframe, in order for God to spare the firstborn of that house. This is the first Passover, which is celebrated by the Israelites even up to today. The name “Passover” comes from the idea that by placing the lamb’s blood on the doorframe, God would pass over your house and spare the firstborn.
Finally, Pharaoh tells Moses that the Israelites can leave Egypt. This is known as the “Exodus” of the Israelites. They all leave with Moses, but Pharaoh realizes that he doesn’t want to lose the services of the Israelites. The Egyptian army chases after the Israelites, but God fights for them. Moses is instructed to raise his staff, and God splits the sea so that the Israelites can walk through on dry ground. As the Egyptians follow behind, God collapses the sea on them, killing the army.
After this event, the Israelites complain often to Moses, about food, water, or disputes among each other. Moses is given the law from God, most famously as the Ten Commandments. Among these laws are offerings for sin, such as the sacrifice of animals. These offerings had to be done repeatedly, in order to atone for the sins of the people.
I spent the effort to recall the events of Moses’ life because it helped me see how Moses shadows Jesus. Moses was born as a Hebrew, but he had the privileges of the Egyptians due to his upbringing from Pharaoh’s daughter. Jesus was in very nature God, and had all authority and power that God had. Yet, like Moses, Jesus chose to identify Himself with the people He came to save. The Israelites were held in bondage to the Egyptians, just as all mankind is held in bondage to sin and death. Moses helped bring deliverance to the Israelites by telling them to place the blood of a lamb on their doorframe, thus saving them from God’s destruction of the firstborn. Jesus is the Lamb of God, whose blood saves us from God’s wrath due to our sin. Through Jesus, we are delivered from our bondage to sin. Further, where Moses gave the law for the people to deal with their sins, Jesus gave His life to permanently atone for our sins. The law was only a temporary solution to sin, which could never fully address the consequences of sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection was once for all, and does not need to be repeated.
Here are the questions for us to reflect on what we’ve discussed.
- In what ways am I in bondage to my sin?
- Am I prone to complain about my life, or to thank Jesus for delivering me?
- Do I believe that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and that through Him I have passed over from death to life?
- Do I believe that Jesus’ sacrifice is enough to cover my sin? Am I trying to earn my salvation through “the law”?
- How can God use me to deliver others?
-Smart
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