MOSES A TYPE OF CHRIST AS DELIVERER
[p. 289] MOSES A TYPE OF CHRIST AS DELIVERER
There are certain men who stand out in a very remarkable way in the history of God’s dealings. We seem in a kind of way to know them well. God has presented them to us in such a way that we seem to be well acquainted with them, such as Abraham and Moses and David. I am going to speak especially of Moses, and about the history of Moses; it is only what Moses is in the ways of God that is of interest to me.
When I come to these men, such as Abraham and Moses, all connected with them is of very great interest, because the ways of God are bound up with what they did, especially with Moses.
I just touch for a moment on Abraham. It is very interesting to see in times gone by how God was foreshadowing all that was to come out. That is the great interest of the Old Testament — “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope”. No one can understand the Old Testament except in the light of Christ. In the Old Testament you get detail. If you want to get the great principles of things, you have to come to the New Testament. The New Testament is far greater than the Old, because it gives all the principles of things.
Abraham stands out as a witness to us of the heavenly man; he is a pilgrim and a stranger. He was that because he was a heavenly man, and he was the witness to a commonwealth above. He looked for a city and sought a country. When you put together a city and a country, you get a commonwealth. That is what Abraham was a witness to. He was called out of his own land, he had no part in any commonwealth below, but he was a witness to a commonwealth above. “He [p. 290] looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. He was a witness in the ways of God to a commonwealth in heaven. That is what God will bring to pass in due time, a city and a country. That is what Abraham sought, and the practical result was that he was a stranger and pilgrim below. It is very wonderful that God should have had a witness to that so early, but there it is. And then he is a witness to resurrection. He gave up his son, Isaac, and then in a figure received him from the dead. Where is the city and the country if there is no resurrection? The very fact of there being a city and country above shows there is resurrection. Man is not translated above until there is resurrection, or what is equivalent to it. To get the thought of a city and country above, you must have resurrection. It is set forth in Abraham.
In Moses you get another thing. He comes in on the line of deliverer. There were other deliverers. Abraham was employed as a deliverer to deliver Lot. Joseph was employed as a preserver of life. Moses comes in on that line; he was employed of God to destroy the world power, and in that way he becomes a striking type of Christ. Moses was employed to destroy Pharaoh and his power, in order that the people of God should be delivered and brought into the land of promise. That is what he represents to us. As I said before, I take up Moses more particularly because he presents to us a very striking type of Christ. Pharaoh represents the great world power that held in bondage the seed of Abraham, and Moses is employed as deliverer to set them free that they might serve God. God would not be served by a people in bondage to the world power, so He said to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, that they may serve me”; but He had a further thought than that, He wanted to bring in and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance. They were to be brought in to the place which the Lord had made for Him to dwell in, into the sanctuary which His hands had established. That is [p. 291] what Moses was employed for.
There are two or three points I want to touch on. To begin with the discipline of Moses: it comes out in this passage Hebrews 11: 24 - 27. We get two things here with regard to Moses. The first is that he refused Egypt, and then he forsook Egypt. Things generally follow pretty much in that order. If he had not refused Egypt, he would not have forsaken Egypt. He had a status in Egypt. He refused Egypt, and then he forsook Egypt. He braved the wrath of the king. It brought about the destruction of Pharaoh and his host. That is the case in a certain sense with regard to Christ Himself. He refused Egypt and all the glory of man. Then he forsook Egypt.
I will say a word or two with regard to the first. He “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season”. He would not have any part in the world system, or the world’s glory. He esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward”. That is a very remarkable word to be used more than a thousand years before Christ came — “the reproach of Christ”. Moses preferred to be identified with the suffering people of God. He would not have any part in Egypt. He felt that moral glory was to be identified with the suffering people of God. He esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt”. Can any one doubt that he is going to get the recompense of the reward? If he was content to be identified with the reproach of Christ, he will get the recompense of Christ. If he was identified with the people in bondage, he will be identified with Christ in glory. He refused Egypt, and he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. I take it that that was when he was leading the people out. He forsook Egypt with the people of God. He led them out, not fearing the wrath of the king. It ended in the [p. 292] destruction of Pharaoh and his host; they were swallowed up in the Red Sea. They assayed to follow the children of Israel into the Red Sea, and they were drowned. That was the end.
Moses in a kind of way fails as a type, because he never brought the people in. He brought them out and brought them to God, but he never brought the people in. It is a remarkable thing that no allusion is made here to Joshua. Moses failed, and had to die in the wilderness, and God had to employ another man to bring the people in. That is why Moses falls short as a type of Christ. If you want to get a complete type of Christ, you must put Moses and Joshua together.
I want now to pass on to Christ, and see how these principles come out in Him. Christ has undertaken to bring the people out that they may serve God, but at the same time to bring the people into the land of promise. Christ does not fail. He brings the people out and He brings them in. I want to make it plain that the people are brought out and brought in. The thought of God is not merely to bring a people out, but to bring them in. I wish I could bring that home to you. God’s purpose is to bring us in, and the means or instrument by which God brings us out and brings us in is Christ.
I take up a thought or two with regard to Christ. When Christ came to earth He came as a Saviour, as a Deliverer. That is why Christ came here. There was another thing about the Lord. He came into Egypt, and He refused Egypt. All the world into which He came was Egypt. The Jews were no better than the world. Christ came into Egypt, but He refused Egypt, He refused the world. He was carried down into Egypt that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son”; but He refused Egypt. I look upon Egypt as a type of the world and all its glory. You will remember the temptation of the devil, when he took the Lord “up into an exceeding high mountain” and showed “him all the kingdoms of [p. 293] the world, and the glory of them”. The Lord refused all the glory of the world. He said unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan”.
It is equally true that Christ forsook Egypt. He left the fold. That is brought out in John 10. The Shepherd went before the sheep; He left the fold in order to take the sheep out of the fold. I want to speak a word or two with regard to the ministry of Christ on earth. Every one saw that He did wonderful things — that was evident enough; but it was equally evident that in thought and spirit He was completely outside the world. His brethren said, “If thou do these things, show thyself to the world”. They recognised that He did wonderful things. “Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come”. He did wonderful things, “healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with him”; but He was entirely outside all the system of this world’s glory. He was a Stranger here, entirely outside all the present course of things.
There was another thing. He was the point of attraction. There was something about the Lord down here on earth, which drew people to Him. All sorts of people were drawn to Him. Joseph and Nicodemus were not amongst the poor, but the cultured. So, too, women were drawn to Him. He was the point of attraction here on earth. It was not only that virtue went out of Him; but He was the point of attraction. I will just read a verse in Luke 8 which will serve to show it (verses 1 - 3). It is plain enough that all these people had been attracted to Christ; they were drawn to Christ outside of the world. They ministered to Him in the world, but morally He was outside the world. The proof of that is plain enough, because when Christ was dead and risen, you find all these people gathered together in an upper room. It is plain enough they were outside the world. The effect of the influence of Christ here on earth was to attract to Himself, but they were attracted to Him outside this world. “Now is the judgment [p. 294] of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me”. As I said, He refused Egypt, and in a sense, He forsook Egypt, but He was the point of attraction. He drew to Himself, or rather the Father drew to Him, but those who were attracted to Him were delivered from the world system and the bondage of it.
In the Lord’s ministry here below His thought was to be a Deliverer. In that way He was the antitype of Moses. I refer again to John 12, He presents Himself as lifted up from the earth as a point of attraction in contrast to the world which comes under judgment. A great many people have a difficulty in discerning where the world is. The difficulty at the present time is that the world is no longer heathen, nor Jewish, but christianised. I will give you an idea which makes it clear to me what the world is. It is a system of glory built up which is not according to God. Do you see God glorified down here? It is the place where man is glorified. All the great principles of the world are “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. The world system is where death reigns: sin is reigning unto death. If I apply these tests there is not much difficulty in discerning where the world is. The principles of lawlessness are to be developed in christendom; the man of sin is to arise in christendom. Protestantism will drop down to the level of the world; and on the other hand, popery will ride the beast.
My point is this, that the very thought and purpose of Christ at the present time is to deliver people from this present evil world. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me”. How is it that Christ delivers people from this present evil world, and how does He bring them to the land of promise? With regard to Israel, how was it that they were brought through the Red Sea? Because they were attached to Moses, and had they not been they would never have been brought through the Red Sea. Their deliverance [p. 295] through the Red Sea depended on Moses. How were they delivered from the power of Pharaoh? Pharaoh was swallowed up in the Red Sea. Really the secret of it was their being baptised to Moses. How do you think we are delivered from Pharaoh and his host, for no one will deny that we have what answers to Pharaoh and his host around us today? I think it is by attachment to Christ. How is attachment brought about? In the recognition that He died for us and rose again. Christ came down from heaven and became Man according to the demands of divine love. It is in the appropriation of Christ who died for us and rose again that we become attached to Christ. It is by being attached to Christ, like Israel was attached to Moses, that we get deliverance from Pharaoh. I will tell you how it works: the one who apprehends that Christ died for him and rose again is attached to Christ by the Spirit of Christ. All kinds of temptations come to that person — the thought of how much he is losing — his position — his friends. All that comes from the god of this world trying to overwhelm that person, as thus losing opportunities for privileges and the enjoyment of pleasures in this world. What is your answer to it? How are you able to stand against it? By attachment to Christ. I am attached to Christ, and I gain a great deal more than I can lose — “an hundred-fold now in this time”. That is a great thing, because I see deliverance thus from the world system. I do not think any other thing will save us from the world system. In my own case I was not insensible to how much I was losing; it was pressed home pretty much on me, but the thing was answered by attachment of heart to Christ, and I feel I have gained very much more than I have lost. The things are not to be compared for a moment. The things I have lost are nothing but dung and dross, and I have gained infinitely more. Every one will be prepared to admit that who is attached to Christ — “he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
[p. 296] but unto him which died for them, and rose again”.
I go a point further. Attachment to Christ brings you to the promised land. I do not believe any person ever gets into the promised land at the present time except by attachment to Christ, Ephesians 3: 14 - 19. I will tell you what enables me to understand that prayer. It is the thought of a husband and his wife — an absent husband and a faithful wife. The absent husband dwells in the heart of the faithful wife, and it is by that that the wife is able to enter into the whole range of the husband’s interests. Her intelligence will be greatly quickened, and she will be able to understand all her husband’s concerns. It is the case with us down here. The apostle prays “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” — that Christ might have the supreme place in our affections. He is the absent Bridegroom, and He dwells in the heart of the bride. What is the effect? “That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” — to discover the whole expanse of the land of promise. The way to intelligence is attachment. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith you have very great ability to understand the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. It is really by attachment that we enter the land of promise. I do not think we shall get to heaven until Christ comes to fetch us there. Attachment to Christ is that by which I am delivered from the world’s power; I live to Him who loved me and gave Himself for me; and it is by the same power of attachment to Christ that I am led into the land of promise. I can view the whole extent of the land.
There are two other things that I want to touch upon. You will come into conflict with things down here. There are very few who have not to meet conflict or persecution in some way. You will not meet that by your attachment to Christ, but by Christ’s attachment to [p. 297] you. I turn to a verse in Romans 8 which may serve to impress it upon you — “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us”. Just think of those things, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. You see the apostle had been exposed to every one of these things. There are very few of us who are not exposed in some measure or other to tribulation or distress, to something which would come in to shake our confidence in God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us”. The Lord knows we are exposed to many things which tend to shake our confidence, and we get His priestly care for us, and His love so that we are more than conquerors. You get it in the case of Peter. The Lord knew how Peter would be exposed, and that it might lead him to despair, and he prayed for him. Even Peter became more than conqueror through Him that loved him. The very man who was cowed in the high priest’s palace and denied the Lord, was afterwards bold in confessing Him.
It is by attachment to Christ that we are delivered from the world power, and led into the land of promise, but attachment will not take us to heaven. If it is a question of conflict we want priestly help, and if it is a question of going to heaven we want somebody to take us there. It is Christ’s love to us that takes us to heaven. That is brought out in John 14. That which comes out in the beginning of that chapter is the proof and expression of Christ’s love to the disciples. Did you ever think that Christ loved the disciples? I am sure you have. They were very dull and unintelligent, but they had one thing: they were attached to Christ. It was because there was an indescribable power of attraction [p. 298] in Christ which drew people to Him. But the Lord loved them. Just think what a wonderful thing it was that the Lord had pleasure in their company. “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom”. It is most wonderful to me, and beautiful, too, to see that the Lord had delight and pleasure in the company of the disciples. If they loved Him, He loved them, and “unto the end”. It was because of that love to them that He would come again and receive them unto Himself He says, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. Undoubtedly no one can question that that was the expression of His affection to His disciples, and if it is the expression of His affection to them, undoubtedly it is the expression of His affection to us. The Lord says in John 17: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word”.
Attachment to Christ will undoubtedly bring about deliverance of soul from the world’s power; and attachment to Christ is the secret of entering the land of promise, but you want something more to enable you to stand in the presence of conflict here. Attachment to Christ will hardly take you to heaven, but Christ will come and take us to Himself that where He is there we may be also. These things prove that Christ is a great Deliverer. We look for Christ as Deliverer. “There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”. He will come out as Deliverer.
I have only spoken of things of which we have experience. I trust that all here have attachment of heart to Christ, that we have all proved the reality of attachment to Christ. It is a great place that Christ gets in the heart the more I am delivered from the world, and the god and prince of it. I have not a less sense of the god and prince [p. 299] of the world than I had forty years ago; I have a greater sense, but it is through attachment to Christ. I have the power to live to Him, and it is through attachment to Him. I know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. It is very wonderful that having Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, we can enter into all the expanse of the divine thoughts, into that scene in which God will be glorified. “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ”.
I only wanted to bring before you what Christ is, and the very spirit and principle of Christ is the destruction of the world power. As long as the world power abides here, we are free from it by attachment of heart to Christ, and by the same attachment we are led into the blessed expanse of that scene where God will be glorified, and of which the centre is Christ, who is the blessed Sun of righteousness.