Hear His Voice

And he usually does, so thank you. And by the way, welcome back, Mr. and Mrs. Peterson. We've missed you. And also, Jerry, four services in a row. It's good to have you here, too, as well. So I hope that keeps up. Brethren, I'd like to talk to you about a topic that God actually revealed in the Scriptures. He revealed it for a purpose. He wanted us to understand what it was. Sometimes we don't always see it, though. It's been there all along, but we don't notice it.

And yet it's very important, particularly for His people that have been called and received His Holy Spirit and have their eyes open to begin to understand all the ramifications of the meanings that are in the Scriptures. Many prophecies in the Bible are dual in nature. We've been going through in the Bible study the book of Daniel, and we see there's a type, and then there's an ultimate fulfillment at the end.

And yet that type is there for us to understand. It's there to help influence us, to help us to see what God intended all along, and that we can make choices and decisions that will guide our lives. You know, even in the Old Testament, a number of the books that we would consider historical actually have some prophecy or prophetic meaning to them, some of this duality that I've begun to introduce in the topic today, whether it be Joshua, Judges, Chronicles, Kings. They're considered also prophetic books, even though they're very historical.

You know, the last time that I spoke and gave a message, we talked about the New Covenant. You know, we've been talking about examining ourselves, and then we're talking about that when we entered into a new covenant, that God began to help us to understand the commitment that He's making to us, because that's what a covenant is. It's an agreement between two parties, two separate parties that make a voluntary choice to come together in an agreement.

God makes incredible promises to us, and then He asks us to make certain promises to Him before we enter into this covenant. We talked about the lessons that we could learn from God's people in the Old Testament. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 1, as we begin to open the message this afternoon. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1. And we'll read here some of the things that happened to Israel, God's people, the children of Israel, way back when. It says, Moreover, brethren, I don't want you to be unaware that all of our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea.

Another place he talks about they were baptized into Moses. Again, another type of what was going to happen later on when God would be asking His people to repent and be baptized, to be immersed in water when they began to enter into that covenant with Him. And it says, And they were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And 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. It's not well known, brethren, is it, that Jesus Christ was with them. He was with Moses. In fact, He was the one that talked to Moses because no one has ever heard the voice of God.

No one has ever heard the voice of the Father, rather, as Jesus told us in the New Testament. And so Jesus Christ was there, not well known. He was that spiritual rock that went with them and that was following them. And that was Christ. But with them, most of them, God wasn't pleased.

He wasn't 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 all lusted. So God begins to introduce through Paul that these were examples for you and for me. That it wasn't just history for history's sake, but we were to learn from them. He goes on, and do not become idolaters, as were some of them. So they began to pull away from the covenant relationship they entered into with God and began to worship all false gods.

Someone other than the only true God. And he goes on to say in verse 8, Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and one day 23,000 fell. Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. Nor complain, as some of them also complained, and they were destroyed by the destroyer.

Verse 11, he says, Now all of these things, everything we've covered, all of these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Brethren, God said, I'm going to give them your example. He's saying that to you and to me. They didn't necessarily have examples like we do. So we're really held a little bit more accountable because we do have an example, don't we? They did not have preceding generations that could be examples for them. Today, brethren, we begin observing the days of 11 bread. And many of the events that Israel went through, that the children of Israel went through, leading up to, during, and following the Exodus, are dual in nature.

There's things that we can learn. There's things that God put there all along. And sometimes we just don't see, but He wants us to see. He wants us to understand because it may guide our feet, the path that we walk, the direction that we go. Many of the events leading up to, during, and following the Exodus have dual meaning. They are types, even, of future events, events that happen later, and events that are still yet future that haven't yet happened.

As we study the Exodus, we'll find there are different analogies that we can draw from. We have to be careful with types. We have to be careful with analogies because they're not perfect, and sometimes they do break down. But God has put some pretty obvious ones there for us to be able to glean from. Let's give you a couple of examples before we get into it a little bit deeper.

We understand, most of us, I think, here understand, that the Passover lamb, that the children of Israel slaughtered and continued to slaughter as they kept an annual Passover, they killed an animal, they shed the blood of the animal, they put it on their doorposts, etc., particularly when they came out of Egypt, that that represented Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ is a Passover lamb. Another example would be that there are many types of, or a type or anti-type, where Moses and Jesus Christ have an incredible, a lot in common.

They have a lot in common. They share a lot of commonality. There's a correspondency. Moses, in many ways, typifies Jesus Christ. We'll take a look at some of that today. So there are several analogies and types that we really want to investigate today. We'll look at some of the connectivity between Moses and between Jesus Christ. And we'll come to understand that many of the events surrounding the Exodus happen later on, some of them in the first coming of Jesus Christ Day, and some of them are yet future that have not yet been fulfilled.

So let's turn over to Deuteronomy 5 and verse 4. For our second scripture, Deuteronomy 5 and verse 4. I've got a lot of scriptures today, maybe a few more than I normally have, so I may refer to a few of them, otherwise we won't have time to get through the entire message. You can turn to them if you'd like, if you have time to do so. But if you don't, maybe you'll happen to write them down so you can look them up later.

But let's look at Deuteronomy 5 and verse 4. Now God utilized Moses to lead his people out of slavery, the slavery of Egypt. And perhaps you are already beginning to see the application of Jesus Christ, that God the Father used him to bring his people out of slavery, the slavery of sin. There are so many analogies we'll cover today, and you may even come up with some that I don't have time to cover. The context here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 4 is that we're about three months into the Exodus, that the children of Israel have left and they've come to Mount Sinai, and God personally gives them the Ten Commandments.

Let's see what it says here in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 4. It says, The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. So God himself spoke with the people in his own voice. And it says, And I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord. So we begin to see that Moses started to stand between God and the people. He became a mediator. And we know that Jesus Christ also fulfilled that role as a mediator between God and man.

And so he says, I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not come up to the mountain. So they were afraid. They were hearing God's voice, and it was powerful, and it was frightening. It says they were afraid. And they didn't know how much more of the voice they could hear, or how much more of the trumpet blast that they could hear. Well, let's jump to verse number 23.

So Moses says, you know, the leaders came. They knew that if something didn't change, that they may not continue to live. And verse 24, and you said, And we have seen this day that God speaks with man, and yet we still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. So they didn't want to hear God's voice any longer.

They didn't think they could live through it. And so they said to Moses, you listen to God. He'll speak to you. And then you tell us what God wants us to know. Well, let's go on here. Verse number 26, And then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, And the Lord said, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you.

They are right in all that they have spoken. You know, this was actually falling in place with the plan of God, because he knew he was going to send a prophet, a new prophet, a prophet like Moses. And a true prophet of God, and we've covered this in the past, is somebody that doesn't speak his own words, doesn't speak the thoughts of his own heart. He speaks simply what God tells him to speak. And then he relays it to the people that God has told him to speak to.

Let's turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15. Moses was this type of prophet. Moses was a very great prophet of God, because he spoke only what God told him to speak. He didn't add to it. He didn't take away from it. And he had a very important responsibility to lead God's people out of slavery, the slavery in Egypt. So in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, we'll pick it up.

And Moses said, The Lord your God is going to raise up for you a prophet like me. From your midst, from your brethren, him shall you hear. So now the prophet Moses is giving a prophecy. He's talking about there's going to be coming, another prophet that's going to come. They'll come in the future. And it's important that you hear this prophet. And Moses said it's going to be a prophet like me. Now it's an obvious reference to Jesus Christ, as we'll see shortly.

But how would he be like Moses? You know, we think about it. You say, you know, your children are just like you. But what does that mean? You know, the way we are in looks, the way we are in temperament, the way we are in abilities, or skills, or traits, or our genes. What he was saying is that someone was going to come, a prophet was going to come that was going to be very similar to Moses in his calling, as a prophet to lead God's people out of slavery.

He was a prophet that was going to have a similar call, a similar duty, similar responsibility. And notice, he's going to come from your midst. So he was going to be an Israelite. So God told us that ahead of time. He said, He would be an Israelite, and Him shall you hear. Why does Moses say this? Well, verse 16, I think, gives us a little bit of a clue. He says, According to all you desire to the Lord your God in Horeb, and the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die.

And the Lord said to me, What they have spoken is good, because I am going to raise up for them a prophet like you, from among their brethren. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. So this prophet, whoever he was, wasn't going to speak his own words. He was going to speak the words of God the Father. And he's going to speak everything that God would command him.

This is a pretty strong statement by God. God says, you know, there is a prophet to come. And it's going to be very, very important that you hear what he has to say. And I think by hear what he has to say, I think God is trying to tell us it's not just that the fact that we hear something, that we hear and we heed. We hear with the sense of heeding what he has to say.

Let's notice the last part of verse number 18 here. Going back to verse number 18.

You know, I will refer to Exodus chapter 4 and verse 10, but Moses was that type of prophet. Exodus chapter 4 and verse 10 through 12. It says that he didn't speak his own words. And that's an important aspect of a prophet of God.

So this prophet to come, which was Jesus Christ, was going to be someone that wouldn't speak his own words. That's not always understood. Because a lot of people think that Jesus Christ brought some new information from the God of the Old Testament. That the God of the Old Testament was a little harsher. He maybe wasn't quite as progressive. He wasn't quite as kind. He wasn't quite as considerate, gentle. And yet, Jesus Christ says what I'm telling you isn't my words at all. These words came from the Father. Brethren, that's not well understood in the religious community. Let's go over to Acts chapter 7 and verse 20. Acts chapter 7 and verse 20. We'll spend a lot of time in this chapter. And so you may want to possibly keep it fairly close at hand. Or maybe put a marker in there because we'll be coming back and forth between Acts chapter 7 and some other scriptures. Acts chapter 7 and verse 20. We see a correlation that Moses was a prophet of God to bring God's people out of slavery. And Jesus Christ was going to be a coming prophet of God. And that we needed to hear what he had to say. Acts chapter 7 and verse 20. It says, at this time Moses was born and was well pleasing to God. And he was brought up in his Father's house for three months. Acts chapter 2 and verses 1 and 2 pretty much says the same thing. There was something special about Moses. God was basically calling him pretty much from the womb. Pretty much pretty close to when he was born, possibly even before. So Moses was sanctified from the womb. And God had chosen him to be a prophet and to deliver his people. Jesus Christ was preordained from the foundation of the world. I'll just refer to Revelation chapter 13 and verse 8. He was preordained from the foundation of the world to be a lamb. That was going to be sacrificed, a Passover sacrifice for the sins of the world. Romans chapter 6 and verse 16. Let's take a look at that. Romans chapter 6. And we'll pick it up in verse number 16. It says, Don't you know, to whom you present yourself slaves to obey, that you are that one's slaves whom you obey? Whether of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Now, the Scripture here explains that we have been slaves to sin. You know, sometimes I don't think we understand that as completely as God does. That we have been slaves. You know, we were born into slavery. Just like that generation of the children of Israel that were born into Egypt. They didn't know anything else. And you know, a few years ago, I think I remember a booklet that the church put out. You may remember it too, about a world held captive. Remember that title? A World Held Captive. Implying that we've been born into slavery and that we have been slaves to sin and slaves to the present ruler of the age. God speaks about this over and over again in the Scriptures, that we are slaves to sin. That we can't serve two masters. And that He wants us to begin to understand that we need to come out to freedom. Because He knows where slavery to sin leads. It leads to death. And God doesn't want us to go there. He doesn't want anyone to perish. But He wants everyone to be a part of His family to have everlasting life. Yet He speaks about sin and slavery and how serious it is and how dangerous it is.

He speaks about it over and over again and how deceitful that it is. And that even our own hearts are deceitful. And we can find ourselves moving in that direction without even realizing it. And so God wants us to understand it. He wants to understand that we've been slaves to it, but that we can become free with the help of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and begin to come out of slavery.

And to begin to work towards the Kingdom of God, the Promised Land. When the children of Israel left, there's another one of the analogies. They left Egypt. They spent some time in the wilderness before they got to the Promised Land, didn't they? And so that's where we're at. We're in the wilderness wanderings, time of testing. God needs to know what we will do. Jesus Christ came to free us from the slavery of the cruelest kind, the kind that leads to death where we cease to exist, and that that's not God's desire at all.

His command that he gave to his prophet Jesus Christ was everlasting life. That's his desire. That's his hope. That's what a father wants for his family. Let's notice verse 22 of Acts, chapter 7. We'll go back to Acts, chapter 7, and pick up verse number 22. In some times, God does things a little differently.

In fact, a lot of times, he does things differently than what we anticipate. It says there in verse 22, And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. That last part kind of caught me a little bit by surprise, because I remember later on that Moses is saying, Well, who am I? I can't talk. I can't communicate. I've got this little bit of a lisp. But it says here he was mighty in words and in deeds, and was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

Now, Josephus has this to say about Moses. He indicates that Moses was a general. And as such, he would have accustomed to organizing armies and various weaponry and all that was involved in moving large masses of troops to different territories and different areas on short notice and having all the provisions and the food and the weaponry that was there. And so this is maybe something that we haven't thought about. But let's read on in verse number 23. Now, when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and he avenged him who was oppressed, and he struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand. But they didn't understand. There's a lot here in these few verses that we just read. First of all, he knew that the Israelites were his brethren, didn't he? Somehow he knew.

Scriptures don't say much about exactly how, but he knew he wasn't an Egyptian. He knew he was a Hebrew. He knew he was an Israelite. And apparently, Moses thought that God was going to deliver Israel out of their captivity and their slavery by his hand. I mean, after all, he did have the background. He did have the training. He was a general. You know, all these other Israelites were slaves. They wouldn't have had the background that he had. So he just assumed, God looked down and he said, I'm the right guy. I'm the right man for the job. I've got the experience.

Moses probably thought that God would do this because of his background and training. He'd been prepared. He'd been educated. He had experience. But he wasn't ready. One thing was lacking. One thing was lacking. He didn't have the attitude that God could use. And when we don't have the attitude that God can use, he can't use us. Let's notice, verse 26 here as we read on. It says, And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, Men, you are brethren. Why do you wrong one another? But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, and he said, Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday? And then at this same, Moses fled. He realized that this thing was known. And he fled. And so he got out of there. He became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. And when forty years had passed. So there was quite a bit of time afterwards, wasn't it? Another forty years. I mean, he was now twice the age of what he had been. He'd been forty years before, and God worked with him for another forty years.

He went out into the field, and he became a shepherd. He began to learn the things that shepherds learn. Because there's a lot to learn. You know, in taking care of people, shepherding people, pastoring people. So he had a lot to learn, and so God began to teach him. He began to humble him. He began to see that people need to be cared for. They need to be fed. They need to be watched for. They need to be healed when they're sick and cared for when they're wounded. So when forty years had passed, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire, in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.

And so we see, we jump to verse number 34, that there was a change in this man. He had changed, and now he was ready. In verse 34, God is speaking, he said, I've seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I've heard their groaning, and I've come down to deliver them, and now come, I will send you to Egypt.

God felt now that he was ready. He'd become humble. A transformation had taken place. I'll just refer to Numbers 12, in verses 1-3. You can turn there if you'd like, but I'll refer to it. Now God could use Moses, because it says there that Moses had become a different man. Moses had become, it says, the meekest man on the face of the earth. And that's quite a trait for a man who was going to have this responsibility to bring God's people out of slavery.

And so we see that he became humble. You know there's a tie-in with Jesus Christ? We'll get to that in a moment. But God didn't deliver Israel in the manner that Moses thought. He thought, wow, I've got the experience. I've got the savvy. I've been there. No, he didn't do it that way at all. He waited another 40 years so he could learn a few things about being a shepherd. God didn't guide the people logistically in a way they would have assumed. You know, we see that as something that, you know, he took them to the Red Sea.

And what was he? He had something else in mind, and the people thought. I mean, that made no sense at all, but it made perfect sense to God. Because God was going to utilize that opportunity to destroy the Egyptian army at that time. You know, they didn't realize when God was first thinking about bringing them out of slavery, this Egypt that we think about that typifies sin, spiritual Egypt.

They didn't realize that God was going to destroy Egypt before they came out. And that's why he hardened Pharaoh's heart. He utilized that as an opportunity so that they would begin to understand who God was. And also, because of the fact there needed to be recompense for the things that they'd done. You know, this is another sermon, really, in itself, entirely in itself.

But there's an analogy between Pharaoh and Satan as the ruler of spiritual Egypt, the present ruler of this age. There's an analogy there as well. We don't always see the overall direction that God leads us in, either. We don't always see it. But that's where faith comes in, because it's not walking by sight. It's walking by faith. That's how we walk. Well, let's look at some of the applications to Jesus Christ. The people of God didn't always necessarily think that things were going to happen, that they should have happened the way that they did.

But that's the way that God works. You know, the Jews of Jesus Christ Day were looking for a king, someone that would deliver them out of slavery. They were preoccupied, or they were occupied by foreign power, by the Roman authorities. And they were thinking that God was going to deliver them through a messiah. And God, of course, is going to do that, ultimately. It's at the end of the age, though. Not at the first coming.

But they didn't understand that Jesus Christ would first have to come as a lamb to die for the sins of the world. He didn't come as they expected. Jesus had the right attitude. We saw how Moses became meek, and Jesus Christ had that right attitude. I'll just refer you to John, Chapter 5, and Verse 19 and 30. John, Chapter 5, Verses 19 and 30, where Jesus said, I can do nothing of myself. What a humble attitude. And he goes on to say, you know, I look to see what the Father does, and that's what I do. I don't do anything of myself. I don't speak my own words.

I don't do anything of myself. And he had a humble attitude. In fact, it talks about the fact that Jesus Christ was humble. He had humility. He said, I'm meek and lowly and humble in spirit. He says, learn of me. That's the way that I am. And so we have these tie-ins between these men that God chose to lead his people out of slavery. That they were prophets of his. We often don't think of Jesus Christ as a prophet. We think of him as other things, many other titles, but not as a prophet. But that's exactly what he was, of the many things that he was. And he came with a prophecy that God's kingdom was coming to the earth, and that God wants you and I to be a part of it, part of his family.

He says there are some things that we have to do in order to do that. Let's go back to Acts 7. Maybe you're already there, so we didn't leave Acts 7. And we'll see a couple of other things that tie in. That God was trying to help us to see, actually, the things that were there all along. Because basically God was telling them and us, is that look to Moses. Because if you see the way the type of prophet that Moses was, the type of man that he was, the type of leader that he was, there's going to be someone else that's coming like him.

Look to Moses. But sometimes the people didn't look to Moses, or they had a different thought of Moses within what the Scriptures say. Acts 7 and verse 37, it says, It says, So Moses received the living oracles from God to give to God's people. He was a mediator. And he was a lawgiver, and so was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ amplified the law. It says he made it honorable. He helped us to understand what it really meant in all of its fullness. Both Moses and Jesus Christ were lawgivers. That's another tie-in. Let's go back to verse number 35.

It says, You know, that ties in with Jesus Christ as well, doesn't it? Because he was rejected. Moses came as their deliverer and savior, and they didn't see it. They didn't see it. And they didn't often listen to the words that God spoke through him. God used him to perform signs, and wonders, and miracles, and all the plagues of Egypt.

But it says in verse 39, Brethren, Jesus Christ was rejected as well. John 1 and verse 11, No matter who they were or who they are, we can see the tie-in here. And this was an important prophet, because the Father said, This is the one I want you to hear. And if you don't hear this prophet, there's going to be accountability. There'll be something required of you and me. John chapter 1, we'll pick it up here in verse number 11. John chapter 1 and verse number 11.

He says, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. He came to His brethren. He says, If He come in someone from their midst, He'll be one of your brethren. So He came to His brethren, and His brethren did not receive Him. Let's notice Luke chapter 19 and verse 12. Luke chapter 19 and verse 12. Jesus is speaking, and it's a parable. He said, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And so He called ten of His servants, and He delivered them ten minas, and He said to them, Do business until I come. But His citizens hated Him, and they sent a delegation after Him, saying, We will not have this man rule over us. So He came to His own. His own wouldn't receive Him. And His citizens hated Him. He said, We won't have this man rule over us. Let's go to Luke chapter 24 and verse 19. Luke chapter 24 and verse 19. Some of the tie-ins between Moses and Jesus Christ. And He said to them, What things? He was talking to the people here, and they said to Him, He'd been talking to a couple along the road. He'd been resurrected from the dead, and they didn't know. They hadn't seen Him yet. And He saw a couple of men, and they were talking about all the things that had happened. So He kind of joins them. And He says, What are some of the things you're talking about?

Sounds like Moses, doesn't it? It says the same phraseology, that Moses was mighty in deed and in word. And it goes on to say, Mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. And so we see that Jesus Christ also was mighty in deed and word, and that He had hoped to redeem Israel. That's why He was sent. And yet the people rejected Him. You know, those that rejected Moses, they lacked faith, and they died in the wilderness, didn't they? And that's some of the reasons why God has some of those things for us today. They never entered in the Promised Land. You know, when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ, they ended up going through a captivity. The temple was destroyed. They would fare as their forefathers did. These are all things for us to learn from. And you know those people that rejected Christ, the Jews that rejected Christ, they're not going to enter the Promised Land for at least a thousand years after it begins, the Kingdom of God. They'll be part of a second resurrection. God will give them an opportunity to take away the blindness from their eyes. But you know, they will miss the first thousand years of God's kingdom, because they rejected Jesus Christ and they rejected Moses, the prophets of God. Let's go back to Acts 7. Acts 7. Brethren, God's going to hit us right between the eyes as to why were there problems among God's people? Why did they reject His prophets? Why did they reject Moses? Why did they reject the one to come that God says you really need to hear, or will be required of you and me? What was the problem? Let's notice it in Acts 7, verse 51. He says, You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? And now they killed the just one, the one who was foretold, the coming of the just one of whom you now become the betrayers and murderers. Brethren, I don't know if we see ourselves in their shoes sometimes, but I think God is trying to tell us to think about it that way. That's why He said in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 to take a look at all the things that they went through and learn from their examples. You know, 1 Corinthians was written—we talked about this in a message here that I gave last—that it was written just prior to the Passover season in the days of Unleavened Bread. And God was trying to get our attention. These are the things to be thinking about when we renew our covenant with Him on an annual basis of what we said we'd be willing to do. Because the children of Israel entered in that covenant, too. But they didn't uphold their part of the agreement.

Let's talk about a different theme here. The first theme we've been talking about is how Moses, in a sense, can be a type of Jesus Christ in his first coming. But let's also take a look at the second theme that maybe we haven't touched on yet. And the second theme is the second coming of Jesus Christ and the dual applications of the events that surrounded the Exodus and Moses.

There were things that happened at the Exodus that were going to happen again in the future, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And those things are there for us to learn from. There are some tie-ins here. So let's notice the application to the second coming of Jesus Christ. I'll just refer to Acts 7 and verse 17. We've been talking about here that there was a promise when the promise was drawing near. In that context, it was talking about that it was the promise of God's people entering, leaving Egypt, the slavery of Egypt, and going to the promised land. But there's another promise in the Bible about the second coming of Jesus Christ in a journey to the kingdom of God. Let's notice Acts chapter 3 and verse 19.

This is part of the message that God wants you and I to hear that came from His prophet, His Son.

He says, Now, Christ had already come when this was being written here.

Basically, what He's saying is that these are the words that God the Father wants you and me to hear about this slavery that we've been in. It must be more important than maybe we realize it must be more powerful than what we realize. He says, Boy, there's a time of restoration coming that's going to exceed our expectations. You know, when God created the heavens and the earth, it says the angels shouted for joy. And that was before our enemy had a chance to begin to influence our first parents. But it was a beautiful place. It was gorgeous. The angels, it says, shouted for joy.

And there was going to be a restoration of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all of His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said, and he points how this will happen, Moses truly said to the fathers, The Lord your God is going to raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him shall you hear in all things whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every person who doesn't hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. That sounds pretty harsh. Sounds pretty final. But that's what God's telling us. He says He doesn't want anyone to perish. But He wants all of us to be a part of His family. But He knows that not all of us will make that choice.

You know, I won't turn there, but it talks about in the book of Matthew that there was the transfiguration, remember, I think it was Peter and James and John that went up on the mountain with Jesus Christ. And they saw Jesus Christ begin to change right before their eyes. His image was changing, His eyes became like flames of fire. And all of a sudden there was this voice that came down from above that said, This is my Son. Hear Him. God's made it very, very clear to me and to you that He wants us to hear what Jesus Christ has to say. That this is a major prophet. And if we don't hear, He tells us in verse 23 what will happen. James 5 and verse 7.

We're going to be so fortunate that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to begin to show us the way to come back out of slavery, to free us from sin and death, so that we may live. James 5 and verse 7. He says, So now we begin to see what God inspires us to do. To be patient until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient. And while we're patient, He goes on to say, to establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. It's going to be coming sooner than what we think. It's going to be here before we know it. And then He goes on to say in the same context, Don't grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. So again, our words are so important. He goes on to say, Lest you be condemned, behold, the judge is standing at the door. In other words, He's close. And a judge, of course, He's referring to Jesus Christ as well. Prophet and judge. And He's standing at the door. My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed to endure, who have you've heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, don't swear, either by heaven or by earth, or any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Lest you fall into judgment. So again, He talks about how important our words are. 2 Peter 3, verse 8. Jesus Christ, part of His words are, He said, Yoke yourself up to Me. He said, My burden is easy. It's light. Sometimes we think it's hard, but I wonder if it isn't easier than what we think. God said to Cain, He said, You know, sin is knocking at the door, but you can rule it. And God wouldn't have told us anything that is beyond our capabilities to do. We have maybe more power than what we realize with God's help to begin to rule sin. And maybe as we begin to fall into the habit of obedience, it becomes easier and easier. And it's not that difficult. But it can be at first, initially, as we begin the journey. But He says here in 2 Peter 3, verse 8, He says, But, beloved, don't forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day. But the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness. But is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So now we know very clearly what God's will is. He doesn't want anyone to be a slave of sin. He wants no one to perish, but He wants all of us to come to repentance. But that day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and so it's going to come unexpectedly. So He's trying to tell us to be ready, to be at it now, to be examining ourselves now, to be looking at our dwellings now. But God isn't slack concerning His promise. He will come through. I imagine you've noticed that the return of Christ hasn't happened exactly like we thought it might. For those of you who have been around for a while, we're still here. It's 2013. Not 1972, not 1975, not 1982, not 1989.

But, brethren, let's understand something here. Christ is going to return. And the exact events that lead up to the church being protected and Christ's return may not be exactly as we envision it. Most likely it's going to be different, exactly the way He works out the details.

There's a parallel between Jesus Christ coming back to deliver Israel and the world from bondage and a parallel between what Moses did when he delivered the children of Israel. There are really some amazing parallels, and we'll cover just a few of them. Let's notice Exodus 10, verse 7.

Exodus 10, verse 7.

It says, referring to Pharaoh, So, they said, this isn't even after all the plagues are done. There's still more plagues to follow. But they're telling Pharaoh, enough is enough. Don't you know that our nation has now been totally annihilated. We're nothing of a world power like we were just a short while ago. That the nation is destroyed. Egypt is destroyed. Why did God do this, brethren? Why did He do it? Let's notice Exodus 14, verse 4.

Exodus 14, verse 4.

God said, That the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord, and they did so.

God hardened His heart. And so, what ended up happening is that things got worse for Egypt. And, you know, God was going to judge Him accordingly. He hardened His heart.

But God said, the people need to know that I'm God. Not the false gods that they've been worshiping.

And, you know, the Word got out to other nations as well. They began to realize that this God of Israel is... there's no other God like Him.

Let's notice Joshua 2, verse 8. Joshua 2, verse 8.

God says, I am God, and there is no other God but me.

Joshua 2, verse 8.

This is Rahab, and we're in Jericho, and God's people are about to enter the first city in the Promised Land.

And they sent a couple of spies into the city. And in verse number 1, they met a harlot named Rahab, and they lodged with her, and she kind of protected them.

And we'll pick it up here in verse 8. Now, before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof. She's hiding them up there. And said to the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you.

She said, I know that the Lord has given you the land, and this earth is part of God's dominion, and He's going to reclaim it. His kingdom will be here.

It's going to be here. There will no longer be a spiritual Egypt. There will no longer be spiritual Babylon.

Well, let's go on, verse number 9, or verse number 10.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted.

Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God, in heaven above and on earth beneath.

Sometimes we think God is really harsh here. He says He utterly destroyed the Amorites, but you know, God had told Abraham, hundreds of years before, that I'm going to give you this land, but it's not time for you to go there yet because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Their wickedness, their evil, isn't yet full.

And so it's not time to punish them yet, and maybe there was time for them to change.

But apparently, they didn't change, and eventually it did become full.

When Jesus Christ returns to the earth, and a lot of people don't think of Jesus Christ this way, He's going to come with a sword. A sword, it says, that comes out of His mouth. He's going to come to fight.

He's going to come to reclaim part of the creation of God for God.

Let's notice Revelation 11, verse 18.

When Jesus Christ returns to the earth, He's going to have to destroy the military might, the economic powers, the political powers of the nations, before they will accept His government. They're not going to relent on their own.

They're going to fight Christ when He comes. Revelation 11, verse 18. Revelation 11, verse 18.

The nations were angry, and God's wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants and prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who are destroying the earth.

God has to stop what's happening. He has to intervene, because it's gotten so bad.

It's hard to imagine that people could get this bad, but He says, I'm going to destroy those who are destroying part of my creation, human beings that I've created, the earth that I've created.

I'm going to intervene. They won't surrender. They're going to fight me, and I'm going to fight. I'm going to destroy them.

You know, I won't take the time to look through Revelation 6, but it talks about the various seals. It talks about false religions, wars, famines, pestilences, martyrdom, heavenly signs, and the day of the Lord.

It goes on to talk about the seven trumpets, which, of course, the last one is the accumulation of the return of Jesus Christ in God's kingdom coming back to the earth.

But there are seven trumpets, and there are a lot of tie-ins in Egypt with these seven trumpets.

It says, fire, hail, burns up one-third of the trees and grass.

There was a hail of fire in Egypt.

It talks about that there would be waters that would be turned to blood.

One-third of the sea would become blood, it says.

Waters in Egypt became blood.

It goes on to say that there would be seven last plagues.

You know, we often think about the plagues of Egypt, but what we don't understand, or maybe haven't thought about, is that there would be going to be plagues at the return of Jesus Christ when He begins to lead us out of slavery.

Seven last plagues, which include severe sores on mankind.

We know that there were boils in Egypt, seas that are turned to blood, creatures that die in the sea and in the oceans.

No, in Egypt, God made a difference between His people and the Egyptians.

You know, they shared in the first three plagues, but they didn't share in the last seven plagues.

God protected them. He made a difference for them.

And I think that's going to happen in the future.

God's going to protect His people, many of His people, from the seven last plagues that are talked about in the book of Revelation.

With all of these plagues that are happening, do the people repent or are their hearts hardened?

Well, let's see what God says. Revelation 9 and verse 20.

Revelation 9 and verse 20.

We have to ask the question, what happened to Pharaoh?

Seems like some things don't change.

Revelation 9 and verse 20.

But the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

And they didn't repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

You know, the spiritual Pharaoh wants to be worshipped.

Satan wants to be worshipped. In fact, he proclaims himself to be God.

And it says, at the end, it says, who is like the beast?

And we know that Satan the devil was behind the beast.

But the prophet himself wants to be worshipped.

There's going to be very powerful things happening at the end of the age before God comes back with a deliverer.

Let's notice Revelation 16 and verse 9.

Revelation 16 and verse 9.

And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues.

It's God that's bringing these plagues just like he did in Egypt.

And they did not repent, and they didn't give him glory.

Let's notice verse number 11.

They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

Verse number 21.

And great hail from heaven fell upon men.

Each hail stoned about the weight of a talent.

Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since the plague was exceedingly great.

We're here in Revelation. Let's go to chapter 17 and verse 12.

Revelation chapter 17 and verse 12.

It says, The ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. And these will make war with the Lamb. There's going to be war when Jesus Christ returns, He will fight, and they will fight against Him.

It says, These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because there is nobody greater than He. He's the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. And those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. Brethren, hopefully that'll be some of us that'll be with Him when He comes back to fight.

So it seems like the people don't repent. It seems like their hearts are hardened.

Israel rejected the prophet that God sent to them. Their hearts turned back towards Egypt. God says, It's a possibility for you and for me. The Jews in Christ's day rejected Him as a prophet, as their prophet, as their Savior. And it appears that the world as a whole will reject Christ at His second coming.

Hard to imagine.

I talked about the fact, though, that God protected the children of Israel from the last seven plagues.

And there seems to be scriptures that God will protect His people also in the future at the end of the age.

Let's take a look at some of those scriptures. We may suffer through some of the seals, there may be some difficulties, and we know some will be martyred. But we'll also see some scriptures of hope. Revelation 3, verse 10.

Revelation 3, verse 10.

God has to find a way to show a difference between His people and the spiritual Egyptians, I suppose. Revelation 3, verse 10.

Because you've kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. So apparently these plagues are going to be a test. It's going to be an hour of trial, which will come upon the whole world, but God says there are some that He's going to keep from the hour of that trial.

Revelation 9, verse 4.

Revelation 9, verse 4.

We'll pick it up in verse 3 to pick up some of the context. Then out of the smoke, locusts came upon the earth, and to them was given power, as scorpions of the earth have power. And they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads.

Sounds like God's going to protect some, doesn't it?

That they can't be harmed, because they have God's own seal in their foreheads.

Let's notice Revelation 12, verse 4.

God protecting, God watching over, God making a difference, God delivering, God protecting.

Revelation 12.

We'll pick it up in verse 1. Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads.

He drew a third of the stars of heaven, and he threw them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

She bore a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This was to happen on the earth, these nations. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

And then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for 1,260 days, a three and a half year period. And then war breaks out in verse 7.

And so it appears that God will protect some of his people, as he did to the children of Israel when they were in Egypt.

You know, there are other analogies. We'll just include with a couple more here.

You know, in Egypt, the magicians were able to duplicate some of the plagues that Moses and Aaron did. But in the end, you know, they couldn't continue to duplicate. They couldn't continue to do what God was able to bring and the plagues that he brought through Moses and Aaron. And we know that in the end, there's going to be a false prophet who's going to do many signs and wonders and miracles.

And so, just like the magicians, there's going to be something that they can do as well.

But you know, there'll be a couple of witnesses that God is going to give power to at the same time. Very interesting that there'll be two witnesses, similar in a sense to Moses and Aaron when they went before Pharaoh. There'll be two witnesses at the end of the age when these false prophets or magicians or whatever we want to call them are doing their miracles and their signs. There'll be two witnesses that God will give power to.

And the implication seems to be that these false prophets will be somewhat limited. They'll be able to do some signs and wonders, but it's not going to be on the scale that the two witnesses will do. And it seems logical that God would inspire the two witnesses to tell the beast and the false prophet about all the plagues that are going to happen that God's going to bring before they happen. Probably one reason why they're hated. When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He made a covenant with them.

He made a covenant with them. It was a covenant that He made promises to them, and they made promises to Him. And God now has made a new covenant with you and with me in order to enter into a new covenant with better promises.

You know, God had to wait for a very long time. He put up with a lot for 430 years while He waited for the iniquity, I suppose, to become full, where He was going to deliver His people out of Egypt, and He was going to free them from slavery. But in the very same way, He's waited 6,000 years. He has waited 6,000 years until the iniquity becomes full. And then He's going to deliver His people from the slavery of sin. He's going to bring us out of slavery.

There's some lessons I hope that we can learn from some of this that God has given to us in the Scriptures, things that we can look at. As Moses led the children of Israel to the Promised Land, Jesus Christ is leading us to the Kingdom of God. Israel rejected Moses. They turned back to Egypt in their hearts. The Jews rejected Christ at His first coming. Let's finish up with Hebrews 3 and verse 8. We'll wrap things up. Hebrews 3 and verse 8.

Even the world will resist and reject the prophet when he comes. Christ will have to fight them. He'll have to overcome them and defeat them, soften them up a bit, and then He will rule for the good of all human beings. Hebrews 3 and verse 8.

Let's pick it up in verse 7. He's told us earlier not to resist the Holy Spirit. Verse 7, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, in the day of trial and in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me and tried Me, and they saw My works for forty years. Now, the writer of Hebrews is talking to God's people. He's talking to Christians. And He's saying, I want you to look at what happened to them, and I want you to learn. He said, I don't want you to have your hearts hardened, as their hearts were hardened. Verse number 10, therefore, I was angry with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath that they shall not enter into My rest. Beware, brethren, lest there be any evil heart of unbelief in you and departing from the living God. Brethren, there's a danger for us. There's a lesson here for us. I mean, there's a reason why God put this here for me and for you. He says the danger is for us to turn back to Egypt, to harden our hearts, and turn back to the world. The danger for us is to become discouraged and to want to give up and to quit. The danger for us is to reject God's prophet, Jesus Christ, and Moses, to reject the leadership that God has given to us and stop hearing, stop listening. We stand at the threshold of the kingdom of God. Brethren, let's not quit. Let's use this time as a springboard as we go forward, these wonderful days of 11 bread, to show us how serious and how dangerous this slavery is and what it can do to us and where it leads. Let's hear His voice. Let's follow His lead. He's there to help us. He's got more power than anyone in the universe. So let's go forward from here. And let's not harden our hearts as in the days of the rebellion. And let's learn from some of the things that God put in there for us so that they wouldn't be wasted, but they'd be examples that truly guide the path that our feet walk.