Moses

In expanding the course of restoration from the family level to the tribal and national levels, the central figure was Moses. Most people are familiar with the basic themes of Moses' life.

However, the twists and turns of the Israelites' journey from Egypt back to Canaan — the land that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants — have been difficult to understand.

By applying the principle of restoration to Moses' life, a clear pattern emerges involving three distinct attempts to establish a national course to restore Canaan.

In these courses, Moses was in the position of Abel as the central figure, and the Israelites were in the position of Cain. Through their unity, the national foundation for restoration was to be accomplished, and they would then be able to enter Canaan.

Once they were settled in the land of God's promise, the next stage would be to create the national foundation to receive the Messiah.

Thus, the exact time of the Messiah's coming was not predestined, but would be determined by the ability of the central figures and chosen people to fulfill their portions of responsibility.

During the 430 years after Jacob's family migrated into Egypt, his twelve sons became twelve tribes, and the 70 men of the house of Jacob multiplied to more than 600,000.

Because of their numbers, the Pharaoh of Egypt feared and oppressed the Hebrews, and finally ordered that all their newborn males be killed.

Moses escaped through the sacrificial act of his mother, placing him in a basket on the Nile. (Ex. 1:8-24)

Moses was found and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and raised as a prince of Egypt. Although he grew up in the splendor of Pharaoh's palace, he harbored high patriotism and unflagging loyalty to God and the chosen people, the Hebrews.

Moses was adamantly opposed to the Egyptians' oppression of the Hebrews.

Through his faithfulness during his 40 years in the palace, he established the Foundation of Faith to begin the course of the Israelites' liberation and migration into Canaan to establish their nation. But would they be able to unite with him to establish the Foundation of Substance?

One day, Moses left the palace and found an Egyptian beating a Hebrew; Moses killed the Egyptian. The next day, Moses met two Hebrews fighting and asked the aggressor why he struck his brother. This Hebrew asked Moses if he meant to kill him, as Moses had killed the Egyptian. (Ex. 2:11-15)

Seeing Moses' passion for them and his courage against their oppressors, the Hebrews should have united with Moses and followed him." His 40 years in the palace would then have been the foundation for the deliverance of his people. (Ex. 13:17)

He would have led them in a 21-day course through the land of the Philistines into Canaan. By failing to unite with him and by spreading the news of his act negatively, the Hebrews failed to establish the Foundation of Substance with Moses and lost their first opportunity to leave Egypt and successfully enter Canaan.

Pharaoh too heard the news that Moses had killed an Egyptian, and he now sought Moses' life. Moses fled to Midian, where he had to lay another foundation of 40 years. Thus, God's first plan for the Exodus was never carried out.

1) The Test of Moses

Moses reestablished the Foundation of Faith through his 40 years of exile in Midian. The second national course to restore Canaan then commenced. After dramatically revealing Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai, God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. And He said,

"I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.... And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." (Ex. 3:6-10)

God gave Moses the power to do signs and wonders to demonstrate God's power and convince both the people and the Pharaoh that Moses was God's representative.

Also, since Moses was not eloquent, he asked God for someone to speak for him. God gave him Aaron, his brother, to accompany him. "He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." (Ex. 4:16)

God also allowed his sister Miriam to stand with him as a prophetess in her own right. Thus, a trinity was formed with Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, foreshadowing the trinity with God, the Messiah, and his Bride (or the Holy Spirit).

However, as Moses was about to set out from Midian to Egypt, God tested Moses by trying to "kill him." (Ex. 4:24)

Moses' wife, Zipporah, took a flint and circumcised their son Gershon. She then touched Moses' feet with the severed foreskin, and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" (Ex. 4: 25c)

By circumcising their son, Zipporah rescued Moses and demonstrated her absolute loyalty to the Hebrew tradition. This was the final condition for Moses to become the deliverer of God's elected people.' 4 Canaan was the land that God had blessed and promised to give to Abraham.

Hence, Canaan represented the heavenly world, whereas other countries, such as Haran, Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Roman Empire, represented the Satanic world. Canaan, a land which flowed with milk and honey, represented heaven, where love and happiness prevail.

This was so, not because of any material abundance or natural beauty, but because God had blessed the land. The tribal restoration led by Moses was possible on the foundation of the family-level restoration that Jacob had established. Moses' course, therefore, followed the pattern of Jacob's course.

Although Pharaoh saw firsthand the signs and miracles which Moses performed before him, Pharaoh's heart was only hardened, and he still oppressed the Israelites. Moses countered Pharaoh's opposition by striking him with a series of ten disasters.

As the tenth calamity, all the firstborn sons and animals of Egypt were struck. But the people of Israel were exempted by the lamb's blood, which they painted on their doorposts. (Ex. 7 -12)

This was the providence for the start of the Israelites' course of tribal Exodus and the restoration of the Israelite nation in Canaan.

Moses had said to Pharaoh, "We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us."
(Ex. 8:27)

In this way, Moses deceived Pharaoh to lead his people out of Egypt. God allowed the deception of Pharaoh, who represented Satan, because Satan had used deception to seduce Adam and Eve in the Garden.

This three-day period marked their separation from Satan and began a new life for the Israelites. When Pharaoh learned that the Israelites had fled, he sent his army in pursuit. When the Israelites saw the Egyptians racing after them, they were in great fear and cried out to God.

Moses stretched out his rod over the Red Sea as God bid him, and the waters were divided. Thus, the Israelites crossed the sea on dry ground, but the Egyptians who followed them were drowned as the sea closed over them. (Ex. 14:1, 29)

This shows that even after a person turns to God, by cutting off all ties with Satan, he will still be pursued by Satan, but that the power to destroy Satan will be given to him through the rod of God, Jesus. From the time they left Egypt, God led the Israelites by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. (Ex. 13:20)

After they crossed the Red Sea, God provided them with quail and manna and with pure drinking water which sprang forth from a rock. (Ex. 16:13 14; 17:6)

Meanwhile, the Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim. (Ex. 17:10-13) After the Israelites prevailed over the Amalekites, God led them to Mount Sinai. (Ex. 13:22)

Thus, the Israelites successfully escaped from the satanic domination of Egypt. Before entering Canaan, however, Moses and the Israelites now had to establish the tribal-level Foundation of Substance by uniting under God's Word and following God's lead into the promised land.

When the people reached Sinai, God called Moses and said to him:

If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. (Ex. 19:5-6)

This marked a new chapter in God's dispensation. Before this point, God's work of restoration had centered on symbolic offerings such as the animal sacrifices and the Ark.. Now, however, God was able to communicate His Word to humankind.

God's Word, especially the Ten Commandments, would now be the central theme in determining the faithfulness of the chosen people and their unity with God. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20) written on two tablets of stone and instructed him on the building of the tabernacle, in which the Ten Commandments would be housed.

To receive God's word of a new dispensation, Moses had to establish the 40 days of separation from Satan. By uniting with God's revelation that Moses, in the position of Abel, would bring them, the Israelites could establish the condition to remove their fallen nature.

Thus, Moses and the Israelites together would create the Foundation of Substance and be ready to march victoriously into Canaan. Whenever God accomplishes a significant work, Satan is always very active. Indeed, God's front line is Satan's front line.

When the people saw that Moses was so long on the mountain, they gathered before Aaron, made a molten calf with their gold earrings, and said it was their god.

They sacrificed to it, sat down to eat and drink, and rose to play. Thus, they united with Satan and made a condition for his invasion of the people. (Ex. 32:1 -6)

As Moses neared the camp on his return and saw the calf and the people dancing around it, he became enraged; he threw the tablets down and broke them beneath the mountain. He took the golden calf which they had made, burned it, ground it to powder, scattered it upon the water, and made the people of Israel drink it.

Thus, Moses' 40-day foundation on the mountain was invaded. The Bible reports that God had been ready to destroy the Israelites and start a new nation with Moses as its progenitor.

From the position of Abel, Moses opposed this plan (Ex.32:11-144) and implored God to forgive the people's sin. (Ex. 32:32) Cutting two tablets of stone like the first, he again went up on Mount Sinai as God commanded. He stayed there fasting another 40 days and nights.

After Moses' second 40-day fast, he received new tablets and came down again. Although they initially united with Moses and built the tabernacle as God instructed, the people again became rebellious against God.

They complained to Moses, disparaged God's gift of manna, and longed to return to Egypt. The people of Israel also wept and said:

"0 that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." (Num. 11:4b-6)

God wanted the people to look forward to their new life of freedom in Canaan, not backward toward their old lives of slavery in Egypt.

They were supposed to create a new, God-centered culture by following the Ten Commandments and upholding the tradition of the tabernacle. Instead, the Israelites still longed for their old ways, even preferring Pharaoh's slavery to what they had as followers of God under Moses.

Thus, Moses' second 40-day foundation was invaded. Moses' faith and dedication were unquestionable. This time, the people had to make an indemnity to restore their faith by making a new 40-day foundation.

For this purpose, Moses chose twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes, and sent them to spy in the land of Canaan for 40 days. Ten brought back a discouraging report and said that the Israelites would not be able to enter the land because of the great strength and size of the inhabitants and the many large, fortified cities. (Num. 13:28-33) Upon hearing this, the Israelites were frightened and murmured against God and Moses, crying through the night. The whole congregation confronted Moses and Aaron:

"Why does the Lord bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" (Num. 14:3)

But the remaining two spies, Joshua and Caleb, were courageous and steadfast in their faith and begged all the congregation not to rebel against God, who had promised them that they could occupy the land immediately.

By uniting with Joshua and Caleb, the Israelites could have established the Foundation of Substance and entered Canaan. But the congregation said to stone them. (Num. 13:30; 14:6 -10)

And the Lord said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me?

And how long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs which I have wrought among them?" (Num. 14:11)

Because the Israelites did not accept the report of Joshua and Caleb with unquestioning faith but complained instead to God about their feared plight, the 40 days of spying in Canaan were lost.

Thus, three 40-day foundations had been taken:
1) Moses' first 40-day foundation on the mountain, which was claimed by Satan through the episode of the golden calf;
2) Moses' second 40-day foundation on the mountain, which was claimed by Satan when the people wanted to return to Egypt; and
3) The 40-day foundation of spying in Canaan, which was invaded by Satan when the people rejected Joshua and Caleb's report.

Because this was the third such failure, Satan now had a basis for claiming the entire 40-year Foundation of Faith that Moses established in Midian in preparation for the Exodus. Satan invaded, and the second course of Exodus into Canaan failed.

To restore the lost Foundation of Faith, Moses and the Israelites together had to wander in the wilderness for 40 long years. Only Joshua, Caleb, and the new generation under 20 years of age were allowed to enter Canaan.

Despite all the faithlessness, Joshua had remained steadfast and had never complained. Thus, he inherited the Foundation of Faith and the position of central figure. God chose him to succeed Moses to create the Foundation of Substance and lead the people into Canaan.

At the end of the course in the wilderness, Moses commissioned Joshua before all the congregation. (Num. 27.18-21)

This time, the people united with Joshua and determined to follow him at the risk of their lives, saying: "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go....

Only be strong and of good courage." (Joshua 1:16-18) Restoring the earlier 40 days of spying that had been claimed by Satan, Joshua sent two men to spy out the fortifications of the city-state of Jericho.

They were assisted in their task by Rahab, a harlot who resided in the city. Jericho was well fortified both inside and out. For them to claim Canaan, the Israelites had to overcome Jericho.

This was accomplished when, at Joshua's command, they marched in procession around the city, once each day for six days. They carried the ark of the covenant and were led by priests who sounded trumpets. On the seventh day, they marched around the city seven times, shouted in unison, and the walls collapsed. The Israelites surged in and, as God had commanded, destroyed the city (Joshua 2-6).

This act foreshadows the trumpet-call of the archangels — the revealed truth, which in the last days will judge and destroy a world well fortified with falsity: the world of Satan.

By their victory over Jericho, the Israelites and Joshua finally established the long-sought Foundation of Substance and simultaneously set up the tribal foundation for the Messiah.

However, before the Messiah could be born, a national-level foundation had to be established. The twelve tribes of Israel would have to become a nation centered on God's Word (the Ten Commandments) and the ideal of the national-level Temple, which was based on the pattern of the tribal-level tabernacle.

The struggle to accomplish the national-level foundation for the Messiah is too long to recount in detail here. The following is a summary: During the next 400 years, the Israelites settled in Canaan in separate tribal areas.

Under the Judges, they gradually developed a national identity and finally established a united monarchy under King David.

David's son Solomon expanded his empire and built the Temple according to the pattern of the tabernacle. However, the United Kingdom lasted only 120 years because the Israelites failed to uphold the ideal of the Temple and thus could not establish the national-level foundation for the Messiah.

As a result, they suffered invasion and defeat by enemy nations and existed only as a divided kingdom for the next 400 years. God sent His prophets Elijah and Jeremiah to bring Israel back to His ways. But when Israel failed to respond, the Temple was destroyed, and the leading families of Jerusalem were taken into exile in Babylon.

Eventually, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and sponsored the rebuilding of the Temple.

Two hundred and ten years later, during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Temple was finally rebuilt, and the Jews were firmly united under God's tradition.

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate, and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month.

And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand, and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God; and all the people answered, 'Amen, Amen,' lifting their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 8:1-6)

Thus, at this point, the Israelites fully united with the ideal of the Temple. Over the next 400 years, they upheld this ideal passionately, facing numerous persecutions and enduring terrible suffering. Thus, the national foundation for the Messiah was finally accomplished.

With the coming of John the Baptist, the conditions were at last established for the Messiah to appear. It had taken 2,000 biblical years from Adam to Jacob for the family-level foundation of restoration to be established, and it took another 2,000 years from Jacob to John the Baptist for that foundation to be successfully expanded to the national level. Now the worldwide course of restoration, involving the Messiah himself, could finally begin.