Eleven Parallels Between Old Testament Israel and Us Today

Brethren, we're going to be passing out a handout for those who are visually minded, who enjoy these things. We're going to share with you a chart that's very appropriate for this first day of days of 11 bread.

As you know, in the Old Testament is where this feast of the days of 11 bread originate. But in the New Testament, we also have parallels of what happened in the Old Testament times. So I want to go over this chart with you. Hopefully it's something that you will be able to keep and study because there's no way I can go through all the scriptures. But here are 11 parallels between the Old Testament, the New Testament, the personal application, and then its ultimate fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. Again, this is something that God had in mind.

He put all the pieces there. It was just a matter of being able to join them together. And so let's begin with the first Scripture here about the importance of the parallels in the Bible at this time, in this day. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 10, 1 through 12, you can read it there. He said, 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.

All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. So this was the word that came down and was with the Israelites, sent by God the Father, the one who became God the Father, but at this time that person was Christ. But with most of them, God was not well pleased for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Now all these things happened to them as examples.

We could say types and antitypes. These are the mirror images as examples and they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Israelites thought they were doing great, but most of them fell in the wilderness.

And so it's also to let us be cautious and as we keep these days before God to put our minds to it. I remember one time when Tati and I were there as elder and wife in San Diego. That was the first congregation that we served after I was ordained an elder and then we came there and remember we had a wonderful deacon at that time and he worked for the Federal Aviation Authority. He was one of the heads there in San Diego and he came and he mentioned during these days of Unleavened Bread.

I thought I think it was the Sabbath in between and he said, oh brethren I want to tell you what happened. I kept the first day of Unleavened Bread. We had a wonderful time and then the next day, which was a regular work day, he went and this was like tomorrow is a regular work day and so he forgot everything about the days of Unleavened Bread and they presented him in the morning. They said, hey boss, look what we got you. Your favorite chocolate cake and they cut a slice and he was happy and he took it and he just put the biggest piece in his mouth and all of a sudden he froze.

He said, what have I done? And so it can happen to us because it's a lesson about how it's so easy to fall into sin and that we can never remove every piece of leavening in our homes for no matter how diligent. And so the Israelites did not learn that lesson. They got careless. So here are the parallels and the chart of the Old Testament events during the Passover and days of Unleavened Bread and beyond that are connected to the New Testament events, its personal application, and then its total fulfillment in the kingdom of God. It starts with Israelites as slaves in Egypt.

Then after the ten plagues and celebrating of the Passover, they left Egypt the following night at the start of the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is a night to celebrate as the Bible says forever. Then they began their travels to the Promised Land, recorded in Numbers 33. They miraculously crossed the Red Sea, probably on the last day of Unleavened Bread, as close as we can trace it, as Josephus and Jewish tradition holds. They then went to Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God and the rest of his holy laws.

And so I'd like to now go over the chart with you because again it's in the Bible. It's just a matter of putting it all together. So we have 11 parallels or comparisons between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first, the Israelites are under the cruel slavery of Pharaoh in Egypt. It's beginning there in Exodus 1, 13 through 14 it talks about. They became slaves and then they were multiplying so much that the Pharaoh said we're gonna slay all the firstborn of the Israelites. Now how does that apply in the New Testament? The disciples are under the cruel spiritual slavery of Satan in this world.

So we begin as slaves of Satan. He's the ruler of this world. Many of us didn't even know we were that way until we came to the knowledge of the truth. Notice in Ephesians chapter 2 tells us what our true spiritual state was before we came into church. Ephesians 2 verse 1 it says, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were all condemned by our sins to death. So he has to make us alive. In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others.

So all we deserve was a wrath of God. But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love, which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, in other words, sentenced to death, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And so, just like the Egyptians had the Israelites enslaved, the Israelites did not have the power to break that slavery.

It was only God that can do that. And that's one of the tragedies of this world. So many people go to these churches and they think, well, I'm already converted. I'm already part of God's people and everything. No, you're not. You're half-converted. You're still breaking about half of the laws of God in the Bible. And you didn't even know how off you were, how distant you truly are. And so these halfway places that people get in and then they feel great. They feel, well, I'm doing this for God. I'm sure I'm pleasing him. And they're still breaking God's laws. And every time you break it, there's a sentence. And that accumulates in time.

That's why God has to wipe away that self-righteousness that we have and put us to that spiritual mirror and show us. No, we are not doing what he says. We're doing what the world or the different denominations or churches tell us to do. They don't have authority to set God's laws and change them. So we were spiritually blind and slaves. The personal application, in the past we were under the cruel slavery of Satan in this world due to sin. Let's go to Romans 3 verse 23.

Romans 3 verse 23 tells us very clearly what the consequences are. It says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Not one person gets away from that death sentence. And that's what the people, when they don't come to the knowledge of the truth in this life, they die and that death sentence is still over them. So when they eventually get resurrected, then it comes the sentence, but are you going to repent? Are you gonna recognize and accept what you have done? And then if you do, then the whole conversion process can start anew.

And how's this gonna be fulfilled in the kingdom of God? Satan's cruel world of spiritual slavery will utterly be destroyed with Christ's coming.

Revelation 11 verse 15. It says, Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. So that's the end of Satan's rule of this world's ideas and domination. All of these things are going to go away, just like in Egypt with a mighty Pharaoh and all the mighty armies that had people held in slavery. God, when Christ comes, he's gonna break the slavery of sin that dominates the world. And so you see this first parallel. Let's go to the second one. Pharaoh's hardened heart refuses to let Israelites leave Egypt. Notice in Exodus chapter 3 verse 19. Exodus 3 verse 19.

He says, But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. No, not even by a mighty hand. So I, talking God here, will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst. And after that, he will let you go. So again, now we're virtually powerless to do anything about Satan and his kingdom now and this world's kingdoms. We're not able to do much about it. But when Christ comes back, he has the power. He's gonna eliminate all of these governments on earth and he's gonna get rid of Satan and his demons.

And so finally, God's ways can be kept. Now they can be kept to a point in the church. This is our oasis that we're able to meet on the Sabbath with God's people who are living the laws of the kingdom now, who have been liberated from Satan's slavery. But we can go back. This is conditional. It's not automatic. We have to overcome. We have to fight the good fight of faith because it's easy to just slip and go downhill and end up doing the things that the world is doing.

That's what they want. They don't want to change. They want to change us. And so in the New Testament, the application, Satan refuses to let disciples leave his world of deception. Notice in Luke chapter 4 verse 6, Luke chapter 4 verse 6, what did he say to Jesus? So let's see. Luke chapter 4 verse 6. And the devil said to him, All this authority I will give you and their glory, talk about all the nations and power, for this has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours. And so Satan has great power and he seduces many men to do his bidding. But Jesus Christ and the church will not do that bidding. That's the difference here. When we come into the church, we have God the Father and Jesus Christ over us. It's his kingdom that we are representing here on earth.

Notice the personal application. We were under Satan's influence and he refused to let us go. 2 Corinthians 4-4. 2 Corinthians 4-4. It says here, Whose minds the God of this age has blinded. So Satan is called the God of this age. Who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. So he's the God of this world. And as soon as a person tries to break away, they're gonna be subject to persecution, to accusations. There are a lot of people that are going to break the relationships. Christ said he didn't bring peace to the family. He brought a sword. And sometimes that's what is going to cause the clashing of now different ideals, different principles. And so that's part of the territory. That's part of our job description. And how is this going to be fulfilled in the kingdom of God? Satan won't give up the world until Christ defeats him at his coming.

Revelation chapter 20. Let's see when that happens.

Revelation chapter 20 verses 1 through 3. After Christ returns, which is described in Revelation 19, it says in verse 1, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no longer, no more, till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little time. So we're talking about that thousand-year period in particular now. And that it says Satan is deceiving the world. He has that power, just like Pharaoh had that power over all the people in Egypt and over the Israelites. So let's go to the third parallel. God sends plagues on Egypt to loosen their hold on the Israelites. Exodus chapter 7 verse 2.

Exodus chapter 7.

It says, You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his hand. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay my hand on Egypt and bring my armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them. And Moses and Aaron did so just as the Lord commanded them. So they did. Here we see that God is gonna have to send plagues, just like he is going to in the future. When God intervenes, eventually there will be what is called the seven last plagues in the book of Revelation, which parallel the ones with the Egyptians. And when these plagues come, it's gonna be because people have such hardened hearts. Now they think, oh, God can bring heat, like one of the plagues, it's gonna be so much heat. And they say, oh, we got air conditioning. Well, I'll tell you, these air conditioners are not gonna mean anything because the temperature is gonna be so high, it will blow up all the air conditioners. There won't be anybody that will be able to put up with that. So you see the parallels? We are living in a type of spiritual Egypt now. And we got Pharaoh. And Pharaoh has to do with Satan and his henchmen that are continuing his type of rule on this earth. But God is gonna intervene through wonders and signs. And when it starts, he's going to try the entire world. And those that become rebellious and hardened, he will ramp up the heat and break their wills eventually. But it says they will continue to do their own things. We have such a pampered age now.

It's called the age of entitlement. The age of opulence. People think, oh, we don't have to follow God. We've got all of these computers now that are smart.

And we can get all of these things and wonderful games that we can spend our hours on and entertain ourselves. All of those things are gonna go away. By the time that last plague, the seventh plague, comes, this earth is gonna look like shambles. And people will be hungry, thirsty, and then when Christ comes back they're still gonna shake their fist against him. That's what's coming, brethren. Yet people say, well, how long God are you gonna put up with these things that we see every day, that we sigh and we cry at all the abominations that we see? Well, there's gonna be a moment, just like the people in Egypt, when the Israelites were there, they had to wait until God acted. We have to wait and do our part. So the New Testament event that is parallel to this, God sends Christ as the strong man to loosen Satan's hold on mankind. Satan has already been disqualified, but he hasn't been removed yet. But Christ came and restricted Satan's power. The personal application, God calls us and intervenes in our lives to loosen Satan's hold over us. So even if there's a powerful ruler, 1 John 4, 4 says, he that is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Don't ever forget. This isn't some contest or that contestants, it's Satan against God. No, it's not a contest. God could just plaster and completely just put away Satan. But there's a purpose that God is carrying out. He's putting up with it until all has been fulfilled. But Satan is not as powerful. It's not an even competition here at all. So God is greater than he who is in the world. In the ultimate fulfillment, God sends seven last plagues to loosen Satan's hold on all of mankind and they usher God's kingdom. So we see that in Revelation 16 and further the seven last plagues. Let's go there for a moment.

Let's go. It's Revelation 15. It says here, Revelation 16. Then verse 1, I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. So there's a disease of boils. If you ever had a boil, you know how painful that is. So this is the way God is humbling mankind. Verse 3, Then the second angel poured out a bowl on the sea and it became blood as a dead man and every living creature in the sea died. So there's this immediate poisoning of the seas and people can't eat from there. That's how extensive it is. 4. Then the third angel poured out the bowl on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood. It became unusable.

So here you've now you got contaminated water and the seas and on the land.

4. Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the Sun and the power was given to him to scorch men with fire and men were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory. The hardness of the heart. This is all gonna happen. We see a generation that is just mounting their sins to the point where all of this is gonna happen because God punishes according to the gravity of the sins involved.

So that's just an example of this parallel between the ten plagues in Egypt and the seven plagues in Revelation 16. The fourth, the Passover, the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts, spares the Israelites of any danger. So we know that is the way the death angel passed over all of these houses and struck all the houses of the Egyptians. The New Testament event, the Passover, Christ's blood spares the disciples of sin's ultimate penalty, eternal death. God passes over the death sentence that we had over us through Christ's as the Passover, His sacrifice. And then, personal application, when we accept in faith Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, God passes over our former sins, which He mentions there in Romans 3, that He covers and He blots them out. Continuing, when is this going to be fulfilled? In God's Kingdom, all of mankind that is left will have access to Christ's sacrifice and forgiveness of sins. Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34, talks about a new heart. It's going to be offered to them, and they will know God's ways. And we're not going to have any Easter celebrations when Christ comes back. It's going to be these days. See how awesome God's way is and how awful the world's ways are, because that's a counterfeit. That was done by a man-made laws. They switched from keeping the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. This mother church that took over and called herself Christianity, but it wasn't. It was part of the false teachings. And what did they do? Oh, we can't have these feasts that are in the Bible. No, we're gonna have our own feasts. And so they changed the dates. That's why they're gonna have all of this tomorrow, Friday. They call it Good Friday, but guess what? That's not on God's Holy Days. And then they have this Sunday Easter, which there's no place in the Bible to authorize the change or the establishment of it. And as soon as that happened, back in 325 AD in the Council of Nicaea, when this unconverted Gentile Roman Emperor, because of power and influence, he saw Christianity cannot be stamped out through the sword. And so he made a pact with the group that was willing to back him up. And that's when they changed the Passover to Easter Sunday in the Council of Nicaea. And church people, God's members, they had to flee because now the power of the Emperor and the Roman armies, it's like the Gestapo was gonna get you. And that's when the woman fled for 1260 years into a place where they were protected during this time of great persecution. Because anybody that kept the Sabbath in AD 364 at the synod of Laodicea, the canon or the rule, that verse, rule number 29 said that anybody keeping the Sabbath day is anathema in the Catholic Church.

That means separated, excommunicated, their goods are gonna be confiscated, and probably the death sentence. And so that's the way history changed at that time. And just a very few are keeping it as in the first three centuries Christians were keeping Passover these days of Unleavened Bread. They don't do so anymore. So continuing on...

Let's go to the fifth point by God's power. Israelites leave Egypt with a rich and powerful hand. In the New Testament, Jesus followers begin new life with God's backing and power. So we begin with God in the form of God the Father and Jesus Christ coming in us through the Holy Spirit in a small portion that we have to let it grow and develop in our lives. Yield ourselves more to God. Let Him guide. Let Him live in us and through us. So it's a process and nobody's gonna be perfect. Nobody's gonna make it to the top. Only Jesus Christ made it to the top, but He wants to see us climb. Make the effort and then at the end of our lives or if Jesus Christ comes before, there'll be a resurrection and He'll pull us up and we will see Him like He is because we will be like Him. So there'll be this great resurrection and reward.

So with personal application, we begin our new life with God's backing and powerful help. And in the kingdom, God's power will be greatly magnified. So we won't have to walk so much by faith then because Jesus Christ is gonna be over there in Jerusalem in the headquarters. They're gonna have all these saints that people are gonna see and they're gonna be able to to see them appear before them. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 30.

Isaiah chapter 30. What typical scene is gonna be there once the saints are governing unto Jesus Christ?

It's talking here about God when the saints are reigning.

Let me get this scripture.

Yes, in verse 20 of Isaiah 30, and though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity so you're gonna go through trials and different circumstances and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore. But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, this is the way. Walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left, you will also defile the covering of your images. So God's people will be able to materialize. No, this isn't right! Get rid of that idol.

Get rid of these ideas you've had in the past. See, there's gonna be a direct intervention then, not like there is today. It is just through God's Word.

So the sixth point, Israel leaves Egypt in great haste with their bread still unleavened. In the New Testament, Jesus' disciples leave their sinful lives behind and start a new one based on righteousness. So this is what this reminds us of. We're starting a life with God guiding us and not our own human nature or society. We have to filter all the things that are being told to us and ask ourselves, is this God's will or is this somebody else's will that's telling me what to do? Continuing in the kingdom, Christ will remove sin from the world and will establish a righteous kingdom. So either way, people can do the wrong things now, but you're gonna have to then wait and repent of all of that when Christ comes back. You would not have advanced spiritually. And remember, righteousness is like a large ruler that you have, where you have in the middle zero. That's zero character. And if you advance in your godly character, you can get to 50, you can get to 100, 150. Whenever you die, that's where you end up.

Your character is fixed. But if you start out from zero and you start sinning and doing that, you just go into negative figures. Negative 10, negative 50, negative 100.

And when you die, that's where your character is fixed. And if you want to repent, you're gonna have to start then resurrected. The second resurrection, you start out wherever you ended at the end. Then you have to go all the way, breaking all of these habits to get to zero. And then you can start in the way of righteousness. So you see, nobody gets away. There are no shortcuts here. You're gonna reap what you sow. So let's sow with righteousness in the right way so we can reap the same. Continuing on in the seventh, they arrive at the Red Sea with the Pharaoh and army in hot pursuit. They can only rely on faith. There are times when we have the Red Sea in front of us and we just have to go on our knees and rely on God. The New Testament event, Christ's disciples are persecuted by religious authorities and can only rely on faith. Yes, they felt that power of the authorities at that time and depended on God to intervene. Personal application, we are persecuted by those around us and can only rely on faith to be freed. And its ultimate fulfillment, Satan appears to triumph on the world seen until Christ comes and defeats him. So yes, it looks like Satan is ahead and he's doing great now, but that's only temporary. The kingdom is coming. The eighth, God miraculously parts the Red Sea. Israel is baptized by going under the waters and Pharaoh and the army are defeated. A New Testament event, through their baptism, the disciples can be miraculously protected from their adversaries. Personal application, God through our baptism covers our sins and provides us with miraculous protection and help.

First John 518. In God's kingdom, those baptized and converted will have nothing to fear. Christ will be there to protect them. So we're looking forward to that.

The ninth, the Israelites arrive at Sinai Desert and begin the time of trial and testing their character. In the New Testament, Jesus' disciples begin a time of trial and testing of their spiritual character, which is what we're doing now.

Personal application, after baptism, we begin a time of trial and testing to see if we can overcome. I mean, at least we'll qualify for the race. What a privilege it is to begin the race of increasing spiritual character toward the Kingdom of God. And its fulfillment during the thousand-year reign, it will be a time of trial and testing for the nations. So they will have to learn. It says in Zechariah 14 that they will have to go up and learn how to keep the Feast of Tabernacles and all the other feasts of God. They're gonna have to relearn so many things. Then in the 10th, in this testing, God's presence and guidance is with them in the cloud and pillar of fire. In the New Testament, during the disciples' time of testing, Christ's presence is in them through the Holy Spirit. They had courage. They had faith.

Personal application. Through our trials and tests, God's Spirit is in us to strengthen us so we can overcome. And in the Kingdom of God, God's Spirit will be available to all. The nations will be helped to overcome. So it's a whole process. There's nothing complicated. It just, the cycle repeats, first with the first fruits and then the rest when they come. And everybody gets a fair trial, a fair hearing, an opportunity to repent and avoid the second death. Finally, the 11th, after the time of testing, those who succeeded enter the Promised Land. And in the New Testament, the parallel is after the time of testing, the overcomers will enter God's rest in the Kingdom of God. So that's what's promised us. Personal application after our time of testing, if we overcome, we will be part of that better resurrection in God's Kingdom. Hebrews 11.35 talks about that these men and women of faith wanted that better resurrection. And finally, in the fulfillment in the Kingdom of God, those who persevered will reign with Christ for a thousand years. How's that for a job description? That's the ultimate job.

And you know what? That's what we're working for. That's why we're here. We're all receiving instruction. Why the first day of Unleavened Bread is so important?

Because of the instructions that come from God's Word. So I hope this chart will be helpful to you. Now, you don't have to hear it from me. You can help and teach others as well.