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Shadows to Substance: Moses - DJ Dickerson

La Porte Church of Christ Podcast

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  1. This morning we are continuing our

  2. series entitled Shadows to Substance.

  3. And [clears throat] as we have noted

  4. throughout this series

  5. that the Bible truly is one continuous

  6. divine story from beginning to end.

  7. And as stated throughout this series

  8. that although the old testament and new

  9. testament are divided into well we see

  10. old and new both old and new are two

  11. sides of one eternal plan as the old

  12. testament conceals and what the new

  13. testament reveals.

  14. We think about the words again as I've

  15. mentioned the words that mystery that

  16. Paul would talk about that has been

  17. revealed.

  18. So, as we look at the Old Testament,

  19. we're we're not just reading simply what

  20. some of us say, well, it's just history,

  21. but we are reading prophecy in picture

  22. form. And I hope that we're seeing that

  23. throughout these throughout these

  24. lessons that God through inspired events

  25. and lives were that painting shadows of

  26. the greater realities to come in Jesus

  27. Christ.

  28. So,

  29. as the Old Testament gives us shadows,

  30. hinting and outlining of what was to

  31. come, the New Testament gives us the

  32. very substance, the fulfillment of those

  33. shadows in Christ. Even as Colossians 2,

  34. we've noted throughout this series,

  35. talks about a shadow of things to come,

  36. but the substance is of Christ. Now, one

  37. of the greatest figures of the Old

  38. Testament that we many times will study

  39. about, read about, of course, is one of

  40. the great deliverers of his time, of

  41. course, uh, for that of Israel, God's

  42. people, and that, of course, is Moses.

  43. Well, Moses is going to be our study

  44. this this morning,

  45. who, as we know, really is a type and

  46. shadow of Christ. And I'm going to

  47. present several things. As I've

  48. mentioned before, I I have handouts that

  49. that are in the back there that

  50. accompany the regular PowerPoint charts.

  51. If you haven't seen those, there there

  52. are still some back there I can see. Uh

  53. I made extra copies this time. Uh so

  54. hopefully everybody's able to get a

  55. chance to get one of those. Um but

  56. [clears throat] there's a lot of things

  57. that I won't be able to go into detail

  58. because each one of these could be

  59. miniseries. Okay? Isaac could have been

  60. a series. Moses today will be a

  61. miniseries. We could do that, but I'm

  62. I'm giving you some of that of of what

  63. time allows. But as we know with Moses,

  64. he was a lawgiver, wasn't he? He was a

  65. deliverer, a mediator between God and

  66. his people. But as as great as Moses

  67. was, he was never the end of the story.

  68. His life was a pattern. His life was a

  69. prophetic picture of the one who would

  70. come after him.

  71. I want you to look at Deuteronomy

    Deuteronomy 18 chapter mention

  72. chapter 18 and verse 15. Again, we flip

  73. back and forth, of course, during this

  74. series because we we got the shadow on

  75. the Old Testament and the substance of

  76. the New Testament. So, we're a lot of

  77. back and forth. We're going to go to

  78. Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15. I

    Deuteronomy 18 chapter mention

  79. want you to to read and and see this

  80. for yourselves. Don't just take my word

  81. for it, okay? Read it for yourselves.

  82. What's said in Deuteronomy 18:15,

    Deuteronomy 18:15

  83. "The Lord your God will raise up for you

  84. a prophet like me from your midst, from

  85. your brethren, him you shall hear."

  86. Who is the prophet like me? Sometimes

  87. the big hint is the capital P. Okay?

  88. Because other prophets, we don't put

  89. capital P's on on those. We see the

  90. prophet is again referencing Jesus

  91. Christ, the son of God, who is the

  92. redeemer of all mankind.

  93. So, I'm going to walk through this uh

  94. this morning with you as we journey from

  95. shadow to substance yet again from Moses

  96. to Jesus and see how God's plan of

  97. deliverance in the Old Testament finds

  98. its perfect fulfillment

  99. in his son. So the first one I want to

  100. bring before your attention is in

  101. regards to Moses and Jesus is that both

  102. were sent by God to deliver their

  103. people. When God's people cried out

  104. under the lash of Egyptian bondage, he

  105. called to Moses out of the burning bush.

  106. Now this of course is referenced here in

  107. Exodus chapter 3. And you'll find in

    Exodus 3 chapter mention

  108. Exodus chapter 3 much there's a lot. But

    Exodus 3 chapter mention

  109. as Moses was tending to the flock of

  110. Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of

  111. Midian, he led the flock to the back of

  112. the desert and came to Ore, the mountain

  113. of God. And the angel of the Lord

  114. appeared to him in a flame of fire for

  115. the midst of a bush. So he looked, and

  116. behold, the bush was burning with fire,

  117. but the bush was not consumed. Then

  118. Moses said, "I will now turn aside and

  119. see this great sight." Why? The bush

  120. does not burn. Now, as you go on

  121. through, of course, we know that here

  122. you have God calling out to Moses out of

  123. the burning bush, right?

  124. Well, what does he say in verse 10? Come

  125. now, therefore, and I will send you to

  126. Pharaoh that you may bring my people,

  127. the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

  128. Now, as we know, that's what Moses did.

  129. Now, Moses, of course, we know there

  130. were several excuses that was made and

  131. those excuses didn't work because God

  132. told him to go and he did. And uh it was

  133. a very difficult thing as we know with

  134. with Moses going and and delivering the

  135. Israelites out of Egyptian uh captivity.

  136. We'll talk some more about that as as we

  137. go through these next few points. But

  138. the fact of the matter is Moses was

  139. called to be a deliverer of his people

  140. centuries later when the world cried out

  141. under the weight of sin

  142. under captivity of sin. And that's how

  143. we even find it described in the book of

  144. Romans as well. Bondage is another word

  145. that you see with that of sin. God sent

  146. his son from heaven. And what said in

  147. John 3 and verse 17, we know verse 16,

  148. right? For God so loved the world that

  149. he gave his only begotten son that

  150. whosoever believes in him should not

  151. perish but have everlasting life. A lot

  152. of times we forget about verse 17. But

  153. verse 17 says, for God did not send his

  154. son into the world to condemn the world,

  155. but that the world through him might be

  156. saved. What does that say to you when

  157. you read that? Deliverance, right?

  158. deliverance from the bondage of sin. So

  159. Moses was sent to deliver Israel from

  160. the bondage or the captivity of Pharaoh.

  161. Jesus was sent to deliver mankind from

  162. the bondage of sin. Think about think

  163. about what they both faced. Kind of

  164. consider that. Moses, he faced Pharaoh.

  165. He was the ruler of the world's greatest

  166. empire of its time. Jesus faced Satan,

  167. the ruler of the world's greatest

  168. darkness.

  169. But what did both really come with? They

  170. both came with a message. Sometimes the

  171. message I think of from both of them is

  172. let my people go is kind of the idea,

  173. isn't it? Let my people go.

  174. And when Moses stretched out his hand,

  175. what happened? Remember they were they

  176. were escaping the captivity. And as

  177. they're making their way,

  178. they made it to the Red Sea. And then

  179. what what when Moses stretched forth his

  180. hand, what happened to the Red Sea? It

  181. divided. It parted, didn't it?

  182. Think about when Jesus stretched out his

  183. hands.

  184. What happened?

  185. There was grace that was extended,

  186. wasn't it?

  187. When Israel groaned beneath their

  188. burden, God heard their cry. That's what

  189. Exodus chapter 2 and verse 24 that was

    Exodus 2 chapter mention

  190. leading up to this. So God heard their

  191. groaning and God remembered. He

  192. remembered

  193. his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac,

  194. and with Jacob. In verse 25, and God

  195. looked upon the children of Israel, and

  196. God acknowledged them,

  197. God

  198. heard our cry too when we grown beneath

  199. our sin. And he sent not a man, not not

  200. [clears throat]

  201. simply we think, you know, it was Moses

  202. being a man, but he sent his only

  203. begotten son.

  204. And what I take from that is time and

  205. time again, God sends deliverance.

  206. Moses, yes, in this parallel, we would

  207. even think for the Israelites in their

  208. bondage and captivity of Egypt and with

  209. Christ in our bondage to sin. Look at

  210. Romans 5 6-9.

  211. Romans 5:es 6-9.

  212. It says, "For when we were still without

  213. strength, in due time Christ died for

  214. the ungodly. For scarcely for a

  215. righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps

  216. for a good man, someone would even dare

  217. to die. But God demonstrates his own

  218. love toward us, and that while we were

  219. still sinners, Christ died for us. Much

  220. more then, having now been justified by

  221. his blood, we shall be saved from wrath

  222. through him."

  223. That's exactly what we see with Moses

  224. and we see with Jesus

  225. is both were sent by God to deliver

  226. their people. Now, there's some more I

  227. want to share with you on that point in

  228. just a moment. But let's go to the next

  229. one.

  230. Both were rejected by their own, weren't

  231. they? Now, see that parallel? It's

  232. there.

  233. If you if you go back in Exodus chapter

    Exodus 2 chapter mention

  234. 2, I was reading there at the last two

  235. verses of Exodus chapter 2. Uh uh Exodus

    Exodus 2 chapter mention Exodus 2 chapter mention

  236. chapter 2 and verse 14 is actually

  237. uh Exodus 2 gives really the kind of the

  238. background here was about Moses, you

  239. know, when he was born and and uh when

  240. he went to try to defend his uh Hebrew

  241. brothers, one turned to him and said,

  242. "Who made you a prince and a judge over

  243. us?

  244. you intend to kill me as you kill the

  245. Egyptians. So Moses feared and said,

  246. "Surely this thing is known,"

  247. you know. So yeah, they Moses obviously

  248. was defending his Hebrew brothers

  249. and they questioned it.

  250. Years later, Jesus came unto his own,

  251. the children of Israel. And what did

  252. John write in John 1 and verse 11 about

  253. him?

  254. He came to his own and his own did not

  255. receive him.

  256. And we know as you go throughout and

  257. look at at Jesus and the accounts

  258. throughout the gospels

  259. that the same spirit that rejected Moses

  260. in Egypt rejected Christ in Galilee.

  261. And I think about a shadow of Moses who

  262. was refused as a deliverer.

  263. And yet the substance you even find that

  264. Jesus was rejected as the Messiah

  265. even though prophecy over and over again

  266. spoke of Jesus who would be that great

  267. deliverer

  268. of all mankind.

  269. that even in the passage of we know of

  270. the recorded of what we commonly call

  271. the suffering savior of Isaiah 53 and

  272. verse three says he is despised it's

  273. talking about Jesus he is despised and

  274. rejected by men a man of sorrows and

  275. acquainted with grief and we hid

  276. as it were our faces from him he was

  277. despised and we did not esteem him.

  278. How true is it?

  279. A lot of similarities, don't we? Right

  280. off the bat, both were sent by God to

  281. deliver their people and both were

  282. rejected by their own.

  283. What else do we think about when we

  284. think about Moses and Jesus?

  285. I think we see that both were mediators

  286. between God and man.

  287. Moses went up on the mount to

  288. receive the Ten Commandments.

  289. And while he was gone,

  290. what were they doing below? We had kind

  291. of this we had this this we talked about

  292. this a little bit in the the sermon

  293. about uh the Q&A about the difference

  294. between patience and waiting, right?

  295. Well, their impatience,

  296. what happened is they built a golden

  297. calf, right?

  298. And after Israel's sin with the golden

  299. calf.

  300. We know that was recorded for us in

  301. Exodus chapter 32 that God's wrath

    Exodus 32 chapter mention

  302. burned hot

  303. and he was ready

  304. to destroy them.

  305. But what happened?

  306. Well, Exodus 32 records Moses

  307. interceding. Read it with me. Exodus

  308. 32:es

  309. 30-32.

  310. Now it came to pass on the next day that

  311. Moses said to the people, "You have

  312. committed a great sin. So now I will go

  313. up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make

  314. atonement for your sin." Then Moses

  315. returned to the Lord and said, "Oh,

  316. these people have committed a great sin

  317. and have made for themselves a God of

  318. gold.

  319. Yet now,

  320. if you will forgive their sin,

  321. but if not, I pray, blot me out of your

  322. book which you have written.

  323. You ever notice that?

  324. That Moses stood between a sinful people

  325. and a holy God.

  326. But there is a understanding that there

  327. was a limit to what Moses could do.

  328. He could plead

  329. but he could not pay.

  330. And then came Jesus

  331. who is known as the true med mediator. A

  332. lot of true we think about the great

  333. high priest a lot of the terminology

  334. that we think we'll see some of that

  335. throughout this series as well but 1

    1 Timothy 2 chapter mention

  336. Timothy chapter 2 5 and 6 again Moses he

  337. could plead but he could not pay

  338. but Jesus 1 Timothy 2 5 and 6 for there

  339. is one God and one mediator between God

  340. and men the man Christ Jesus who gave

  341. himself what's it say a ransom for all

  342. to be testified in due time.

  343. Because Jesus didn't just plead for

  344. forgiveness,

  345. he purchased it with his own blood.

  346. Moses said, "Blot me out."

  347. What was Jesus saying from the cross,

  348. "Father, forgive them for they know not

  349. what they do.

  350. Moses stood in the gap, but Jesus built

  351. a bridge.

  352. You think about this.

  353. When we sin, we don't need a prophet or

  354. a priest as the Old Testament we know.

  355. We think back to that. We need Jesus

  356. because he is still mediating for us

  357. today at the right hand of God.

  358. What's Hebrews 7 25 say? Therefore, he

  359. talking about Jesus is also able to save

  360. to the uttermost those who come to God

  361. through him since he always lives to

  362. make intercession for them. Y'all

  363. remember Jesus is the one who said in

  364. John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and

    John 14:6

  365. the life. No man comes to the father but

  366. through me. Isn't that what Hebrews 7:25

    Hebrews 7:25

  367. is attesting to as well? Of course it

  368. is. Oh yes.

  369. Both were mediators between God and man.

  370. Moses, he was a shadow, but Jesus is a

  371. substance.

  372. What else do we find? Well, Moses and

  373. Jesus, we also find that they both led

  374. God's people out of bondage. I mentioned

  375. that earlier and and and that this is

  376. where I want to kind of get back to uh

  377. from earlier is as Moses was leading

  378. Israel out of Egyptian captivity. Y'all

  379. remember that what preceded this was of

  380. course the blood of the Passover lamb.

  381. Y'all remember that? And through the

  382. parted waters of the Red Sea. Those are

  383. some really distinct and I believe

  384. wonderful uh wonderful imagery that we

  385. get from this

  386. because when you put those together, we

  387. talked about blood and we've talked

  388. about water several times already and in

  389. doing a study on blood and water

  390. throughout the Bible is absolutely

  391. astonishing. Okay? Because here is yet

  392. another example of this that Jesus leads

  393. believers out of sin through his own

  394. blood and through what? The waters of

  395. baptism. Now, I'm going to bring this

  396. full circle now of what we talked about

  397. uh with with a study of Noah is one of

  398. those places in the Old Testament that

  399. emphasizes that water was the plan and

  400. reaches to the New Testament to teach

  401. such about our deliverance today. The

  402. passage that brother Aiden Mosie read

  403. for us this morning was 1 Corinthians 10

  404. 1-4. Did you pick up on that? Did you

  405. see that? There's a shadow on a

  406. substance right here in 1 Corinthians

  407. 10:es 1-4. It's right there, isn't it?

  408. Because in verses 1-4, the Apostle Paul

  409. used the example of the Israelites to

  410. show to the Corinthian brethren of the

  411. similarities of the blessings they both

  412. enjoyed. And if you'll notice it yet

  413. again in the verses there before you, he

  414. outlines the similar spiritual blessings

  415. as follows. Similarities

  416. under the cloud. Y'all remember that?

  417. That's Exodus chapter 13 21 and 22 where

    Exodus 13 chapter mention

  418. the Israelites experienced the divine

  419. protection and divine guidance of the

  420. Lord. He goes on to say that all passed

  421. through the sea. All were what? Baptized

  422. into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

  423. Where do we find that at? Exodus 14:es

  424. 19- 25.

  425. And having crossed the Red Sea with the

  426. Israelites walking on dry land in the

  427. midst of the sea, and the waters were a

  428. wall to them on their right hand and on

  429. their left. So the Lord saved Israel

  430. that day. That's what Exodus 14 29 and

  431. 30 says.

  432. So what does that mean? Well, the

  433. Israelites experienced the divine

  434. deliverance from the Lord and such

  435. brought them into a relationship with

  436. the Lord and recognized Moses as the

  437. Lord's servant to lead them. That's what

  438. Exodus 14 and verse 31 says.

  439. What else does it go on to say? Well,

  440. all ate the same spiritual food and all

  441. drank the same spiritual drink. What is

  442. that telling us? The Israelites received

  443. divine provisions, mana. Remember that

  444. Exodus 16 and verse 14, water from the

  445. rock, Exodus 17, Numbers chapter 20

    Numbers 20 chapter mention

  446. even. And that was provided to them in

  447. the wilderness that would sustain their

  448. physical vitality.

  449. Interesting. You fast forward

  450. John, you go to the book of John, you're

  451. going to find Jesus saying John 6 and

  452. verse 48, I am the bread of life.

  453. Jesus actually takes that moment to

  454. refer back even to the Old Testament.

  455. Some great lessons that he ties in John

    John 4:10

  456. 4:10, Jesus is found speaking of himself

  457. as one who provides what? Living water.

  458. What did Paul say?

  459. For they drank of that spiritual rock

  460. that followed them, and that rock was

  461. Christ. shadow

  462. substance.

  463. It all ties together, doesn't it?

  464. Because the Lord God has called numerous

  465. passages of the Old Testament as what?

  466. The rock. Deuteronomy 32 and:4,

  467. Psalm 94:22 or just two of the passage

    Psalms 94:22

  468. you'll find where he is identified as

  469. the rock. Jesus is identified as the

  470. rock by Paul as to whom the spiritual

  471. blessings flow to them. And the Lord God

  472. sustained the Israelites with blessings

  473. that flowed from him. And similarly, the

  474. Corinthian brethren were sustained by

  475. the rock that is Christ. Friends, what

  476. what Paul is telling the Corinthian

  477. brethren is that the Israelites passing

  478. through the Red Sea typified

  479. baptism into Christ.

  480. And if you walk through the Old

  481. Testament account again, Exodus 13 and

  482. chapter 14, it is quite intriguing as

  483. one certainly sees those similarities.

  484. The Israelites were in Egyptian

  485. captivity and while they were there,

  486. they heard and believed the promise of

  487. deliverance. That was our first point,

  488. right? They began their journey out of

  489. captivity. And I believe there's an

  490. interesting question in this. When were

  491. the Israelites free from captivity? When

  492. were they free?

  493. Well, I think the answer is clear is

  494. they were not free from their bondage or

  495. their captivity until they had actually

  496. passed through the Red Sea.

  497. To get out of Egypt,

  498. they actually had to pass through the

  499. Red Sea. They had to go through the

  500. water.

  501. Isn't that just so interesting?

  502. As one has said, they weren't out of

  503. Egypt until they were out of Egypt.

  504. Okay.

  505. Paul points the similarities in 1

  506. Corinthians 10. And what he does there

  507. so masterfully

  508. is noting such comparisons to our own

  509. deliverance from the captivity of sin.

  510. The Red Sea was a very dividing line

  511. from captivity and freedom.

  512. And what this illustrate for us today,

  513. just like we talked with Noah about

  514. Noah, as we see yet another type wherein

  515. water has been and still is an intricate

  516. part of God's plan of salvation, you

  517. can't escape it. The scriptures are

  518. quite clear

  519. as one is led out of bondage as Romans

    Romans 6:3

  520. 6:3 and4 talks about or do you not know

  521. that as many of us as were baptized into

  522. Christ Jesus were baptized into his

  523. death? Therefore, we were buried with

  524. him through baptism into death that just

  525. as Christ was raised from the dead by

  526. the glory of the father, even so we also

  527. should walk in newness of life. You see

  528. in Romans, you can go through all these

  529. all of Romans chapter 6. And I'm going

    Romans 6 chapter mention

  530. tell you what you're going to find

  531. interesting when you go through there

  532. because as it's talking about baptism,

  533. how one becomes dead to sin, alive to

  534. God through that passage and and and

  535. goes in those great descriptions here.

  536. But what goes on even further is what I

  537. said earlier in the book of Romans.

  538. You're going to find that he also uses

  539. the type of language that we've been

  540. talking about already in regards to

  541. servants or slaves. The idea of bondage

  542. or captivity that he talks about in this

  543. passage.

  544. But God be thanked that though you were

  545. slaves of sin yet you obeyed from the

  546. heart that former a doctrine to which

  547. you were delivered.

  548. That's verse 17 of Romans chapter 6.

    Romans 6 chapter mention

  549. He would say, "For when you were slaves

  550. of sin, you were free in regard to

  551. righteousness. What fruit did you have

  552. and the things of which you are now

  553. ashamed? For the end of these those

  554. things is death, but now having been set

  555. free from sin." That's deliverance.

  556. And having become slaves of God, you

  557. have your fruit to holiness and the end

  558. everlasting life. For the wage of sin is

  559. death and the gift of God is eternal

  560. life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

  561. See the pictures are all there. The

  562. imagery is quite clear.

  563. The shadow

  564. is Israel passed through the sea, the

  565. Red Sea to freedom.

  566. The substance that we see is Christian.

  567. How do how do we become a Christian? How

  568. do we become a child of God as we pass

  569. through the water to new life?

  570. When Israel looked back,

  571. they saw Pharaoh's army destroyed in the

  572. sea.

  573. And when we look back, we see our sins

  574. washed away forever.

  575. We've been cleansed by the blood of the

  576. lamb.

  577. But what I want us to see is between

  578. that of Moses and that of Jesus. And

  579. what these both show us is you cannot be

  580. free unless you follow the deliverer

  581. through the water.

  582. I think the passages again are so clear.

  583. Let me move to our next point

  584. regards to Moses and Jesus.

  585. Both were lawgivers of a covenant.

  586. Moses, he went to up on Mount Si and he

  587. received the law from God written on

  588. tablets of stone.

  589. And Jesus, he ascended

  590. Mount Calvary and established a new

  591. covenant that was written not on tablets

  592. of stone but on hearts.

  593. What Moses said in Exodus chapter 24,

    Exodus 24 chapter mention

  594. you find in verses 7 and 8, it says it's

  595. Moses said he took the book of the

  596. covenant and read it and read in the

  597. hearing of the people and they said all

  598. that the Lord has said we will do and be

  599. obedient. Look what Moses did there in

  600. verse eight. And Moses took the blood,

  601. sprinkled it on the people, and said,

  602. "This

  603. is the blood of the covenant which the

  604. Lord has made with you according to all

  605. these words."

  606. Fast forward

  607. Matthew 26 and verse 28. and the

  608. institution of the Lord's supper.

  609. This is significant, right? Jesus said,

  610. "For this is my blood of the new

  611. covenant which is shed for many for a

  612. mission of sin."

  613. He said, "It's my blood

  614. of the new covenant."

  615. What was the shadow? The shadow was the

  616. law that condemned sin but could not

  617. remove it.

  618. Then what's the substance?

  619. Substance is grace through Christ that

  620. both forgives and transforms.

  621. What's interesting is you go from the

  622. Old Testament to the New. The law

  623. revealed man's guilt. The cross revealed

  624. God's grace.

  625. And we're no longer under Moses. In

  626. Hebrews, there's a great study in the

  627. book of Hebrews. There's so much that

  628. speaks about those laws, the old

  629. covenant, the new covenant. It's the

  630. similarities that that can give you a

  631. lot of great pictures of and such.

  632. But as as the Hebrew writer would even

  633. go on to tell, we're not we're not under

  634. the old law.

  635. That was nailed to the cross. But we are

  636. under Christ. The shadow has served its

  637. purpose. It has been fulfilled. Now the

  638. substance is what stands before us and

  639. that is Jesus Christ the righteous.

  640. But both of them are lawgivers of a

  641. covenant.

  642. What else do we see?

  643. What about both offering uphealing

  644. through lifting up?

  645. One of the accounts, you know, is

  646. numbers chapter 21 89. It's a pretty

    Numbers 21 chapter mention

  647. scary pretty scary when you really look

  648. at this thing about fiery serpents.

  649. Okay, people are grumbling and

  650. complaining. Should always give us

  651. pause, you know, not to be grumbling,

  652. complaining as as the Israelites did.

  653. But as these fiery serpents were biting

  654. the people,

  655. this is what the Lord said to Moses in

  656. Numbers 21:89. Make make a fiery serpent

  657. and set it on a pole, and it shall be

  658. that everyone who is bitten when he

  659. looks at it shall live. So Moses made a

  660. bronze serpent and put on a pole. And so

  661. it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone,

  662. when he looked at the bronze serpent, he

  663. lived.

  664. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent

  665. and lift it on a pole.

  666. Whoever looked upon it lived.

  667. You know Jesus actually uses this very

  668. passage from Numbers chapter 21 in John

    Numbers 21 chapter mention

  669. 3 14 and 15. And as Moses lifted up the

  670. serpent in the wilderness, even so must

  671. the son of man be what? lifted up that

  672. whoever believes in him should not

  673. perish but have eternal life. See Jesus

  674. referred back to numbers 21 referring to

  675. Moses who lifted up the serpent in the

  676. wilderness and in likeness of such the

  677. son of man must also be what? Lifted up.

  678. And with such with Jesus being lifted

  679. up, Jesus goes on to say that whoever

  680. believes in him will have eternal life.

  681. And being lifted up references the cross

  682. that Jesus would be lifted up to die on.

  683. The way the only way for the sin sick

  684. souls to live.

  685. And although yes, the cross is

  686. representative of death, the one who

  687. gave himself on it would become that

  688. which life could be obtained

  689. for all who would look to him, believing

  690. in him, obeying him.

  691. You see the shadow here, the serpent on

  692. the pole, you know what that brought?

  693. That brought temporary healing. That

  694. kept them alive physically.

  695. The substance though is the savior on

  696. the cross brought eternal life. It

  697. brought spiritual vitality

  698. and those who looked lived. Those who

  699. refused died.

  700. The same is true today.

  701. For the wages of sin is death. Why does

  702. the Hebrew writer say in Hebrews chapter

    Hebrews 12 chapter mention

  703. 12 talking about looking unto Jesus, the

  704. author and finisher of our faith? See,

  705. there's a lot to that, isn't it?

  706. Salvation is still found in looking and

  707. following Jesus, believing, obeying his

  708. word.

  709. It's all right there. Look at all these

  710. passages we're connecting with Moses.

  711. Let me give you another one.

  712. Moses and Jesus both reflected the glory

  713. of God.

  714. You ever think about that? When Moses

  715. came down from Sinai, it it describes

  716. him in such in Exodus 34 29 and 30 that

  717. the two tablets of the testimony were

  718. were uh in in Moses' hand when he came

  719. down from the mountain that Moses did

  720. not know that the skin of his face shone

  721. while he talked with him. So when Aaron

  722. and all the children of Israel saw

  723. Moses, but behold, the skin of his face

  724. shone, and they were afraid to come near

  725. him.

  726. You see, his face shone with reflected

  727. glory

  728. so much that he had to cover it with a

  729. veil.

  730. But when Jesus came,

  731. he didn't reflect glory. He radiated it.

  732. I know that because 2 Corinthians 4:6

    2 Corinthians 4:6

  733. says, "For it is the God who commanded

  734. light to shine in darkness, who has

  735. shone in our hearts to give the light of

  736. the knowledge of the glory of God in the

  737. face of Jesus Christ." Moses was simply

  738. reflecting borrowed light. That's what

  739. he was doing. That's a shadow. But the

  740. substance is Jesus is the light.

  741. He is the light.

  742. At the mount of transfiguration,

  743. Moses stood beside Jesus. But the voice

  744. from heaven said, "This is my beloved

  745. son. Hear him."

  746. So as you go through, you know what you

  747. find? The glory of Moses faded,

  748. but the glory of Christ endures forever.

  749. There's a shadow in the substance right

  750. there.

  751. These parallels,

  752. I think you would agree with me.

  753. are very intriguing.

  754. The shadows and substance are perfectly

  755. aligned.

  756. Now, all of what we've been talking

  757. about sent by God to deliver Israel,

  758. rejected by his people, mediator of the

  759. old covenant. Jesus was mediator of the

  760. new covenant. Led people through water

  761. to freedom. Jesus leads people through

  762. baptism to freedom. Shadow of Moses gave

  763. the law substance. Yes, Jesus came and

  764. gave a new covenant grace and truth.

  765. Signs and wonders were performed by by

  766. Moses as well as by Jesus who has

  767. performed divine miracles. The serpent

  768. was lifted up. Jesus was lifted up on

  769. the cross. Moses reflected God's glory

  770. and Jesus is the glory of God revealed.

  771. Look at all those things we have

  772. covered.

  773. mediator,

  774. all of those miracles confirmed,

  775. authority again. And there I I kind of

  776. go into more detail on those charts.

  777. These are the ones you'll have handouts

  778. as well in the back. So, make sure to

  779. grab those

  780. more

  781. the prophecy of the greater prophet. I

  782. thought the final words too. The fact is

  783. the shadow of Moses, he could not enter

  784. the promised land himself. But what

  785. Jesus did is he opened the gates of

  786. heaven for his people.

  787. And I share all that with you again

  788. because definitely there could be a lot

  789. more to say on on Moses, Jesus here.

  790. Well, it stated a moment ago, the shadow

  791. and substance that I hope we see,

  792. they're perfectly aligned perfectly

  793. because really when you look at the very

  794. account of Moses, you see so much in the

  795. account of Jesus stories in outline, in

  796. spirit, and in purpose. You find it

  797. Moses brought Israel to the very edge of

  798. the promised land, but could not take

  799. them in. Jesus brings us not to the

  800. edge,

  801. but into the very presence of God.

  802. Deuteronomy 18 and verse1 15 was

  803. fulfilled when Christ came

  804. that he would say that a prophet like me

  805. God will raise up from your midst. You

  806. know what that's true. God raised him up

  807. not from a bush

  808. but from a grave.

  809. John 1 and verse1 17

  810. says this

  811. for the law was given through Moses

  812. but grace and truth came through Jesus

  813. Christ.

  814. friends, their birth,

  815. their roles as deliverers

  816. of their people from bondage, their

  817. provision in sustenance,

  818. physical in Moses' case, spiritual in

  819. Christ,

  820. their work and establishing covenants

  821. between God and his people,

  822. them being mediators,

  823. their shared connection

  824. to the promise of a better land

  825. all reveal striking parallels.

  826. I believe that few examples in scripture

  827. display a more vivid type or shadow

  828. relationship

  829. nor one marked by so many corresponding

  830. details. What do you think?

  831. To bring the lesson to a close in the

  832. shadows and substance

  833. lesson,

  834. Moses led Israel out of bondage

  835. from that of Egyptian captivity, from

  836. that of Pharaoh. And again, I remind you

  837. that Jesus leads us out of bondage from

  838. sin.

  839. But what I shared with you earlier,

  840. don't forget

  841. that just as Israel had to pass through

  842. the waters of the Red Sea to be

  843. delivered from their bondage and their

  844. captivity, you must also follow pass

  845. through the waters of baptism to be

  846. delivered from your bondage of sin, too.

  847. Connected, isn't it?

  848. Romans 6:3 and4. being buried with him

    Romans 6:3

  849. in baptism to rise and walk the good

  850. newness of life

  851. and he calls you this morning.

  852. Do you believe that he is a son of God?

  853. If you do, belief, a mental acceptance

  854. is not enough. You have to act upon it.

  855. For we all have sinned and fallen short

  856. of the glory of God. As Romans 3 and

  857. verse 23 says, there's not one

  858. righteous, know not one. Romans 3 uh

  859. Romans chapter 3 and 10. Then repent of

    Romans 3 chapter mention

  860. your sins, confess Jesus to be the son

  861. of living God as Romans 10 says, and be

  862. baptized for the remission of your sins

  863. as you see him do in Acts 2, as well as

  864. what's stated in Romans 6 3 and 4. And

  865. you know what? He will lead you safely

  866. across those waters to a new birth into

  867. the promised land of eternal life

  868. to live faithfully to him to be called

  869. truly a child of God and to be added to

  870. his church that belongs to him that he

  871. purchased with his own blood.

  872. Oh, there's a lot more to say on all

  873. these shadows of substance. There's a

  874. lot.

  875. But I hope that it has helped you this

  876. morning to see yet another connection

  877. in the very wonderful divine story from

  878. beginning

  879. where we are today.

  880. As a disciple of Christ, if there's

  881. something missing your life, this

  882. invitation is for you as well.

  883. Because even as the Israelites, you know

  884. what they did many times is they looked

  885. back to the days of Egypt

  886. and oh did they sin.

  887. Friends, how thankful we are that Jesus

  888. is our mediator, our great high priest

  889. who sits at the right hand of the throne

  890. of God makes intercession for us today

  891. and we can come to him as his child and

  892. we can say forgive me.

  893. Forgive me repenting of your sins. You

  894. can do that and he will restore. He

  895. looks for you. Just like that one sheep

  896. that was astray. He's still looking.

  897. He's still wanting you back in the fold.

  898. Or you need prayers on your behalf for

  899. any any struggles that you may be going

  900. through. Strength, prayers for strength,

  901. whatever it may be.

  902. Or one is not the body of Christ in

  903. baptism, you can do that today. Pass

  904. through the waters. As you're subject to

  905. the invitation call, won't you come as

  906. we stand as we sing the song that's been

  907. selected.