Category Archives: Bible Study

The Exodus Story in Other Places Part 2

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This edition of the Exodus story in other places in the Bible complements the first one. I see all of these references as to how important the Exodus was and is to God. The Holy Spirit directed many authors to a site that period from Egypt to the Jordan River. In many of these God refers to the trip to teach a current lesson.

1 Samuel

  • 10:18 Samuel quoted God when He references His mighty works and the people rejecting Him.
  • 12:6-8 Samuel’s farewell speech.

Nehemiah 9:9-23 Ezra and the Levites recount their history.

Psalms

  • 68: 8+17 A song telling of the Mighty One of Sinai going out with His armies. Written by David. Psalm 68 is very Messianic.
  • 74: 12-15 A metaphorical look at crossing through the sea.
  • 80: 7-11 A metaphorical telling of the story in the second “restore us, O God Almighty” in this Psalm. It is written by Asaph.
  • 81: 5-7, 10 Coming out of Egypt, language we did not understand, waters of Meribah.
  • 103: 7 Made His ways and deeds known to Moses and the people
  • 111 – A “secondary telling “of how God does things. I think it applies to Him bringing the people out and leading them in the desert.

Isaiah

  • 4:5-6 It is a reference to the pillar of cloud and fire that led Israel.
  • 43:3 Egypt was given as Israel’s ransom.
  • 63: 10-16 The people remembered that God was with them when Moses led and they followed His will. Divided seas are mentioned as proof of His greatness.

Jeremiah

  • 2:2-3,6 God gives Jeremiah these two references that describe Israel in the desert. They use to follow the Lord, now they do not even ask about God.
  • 32:20-21 Jeremiah points out the signs and miracles God did in bringing His people out of Egypt.

Hosea

  • 12:9-10 God brought them out of Egypt and they will live in tents again.
  • 12:13-14 A prophet (Moses) was used in bringing them out of Egypt.
  • 13:4-6 God brought them from Egypt. He fed them and they will acknowledge Him.
  • It seems the important part of each verse is what God did to care for the people, not just the fact He brought them out.

New Testament

Acts

  • 7 Stephen testifying
  • 13:16-20 Paul gives a foundation for the Gospel

2 Corinthians – 3:7-18 Moses’ veil after he met God

Hebrews

  • 3:7 testing in the desert
  • 11:23-29 A history of Moses up to the Red Sea.
  • 12: 18-21 Moses at the mountain meeting God.

Jude 9 – Satan wrestling for Moses’ body. (Okay maybe not the actual Exodus) Why would Satan want that body?  

I finished this study to find verses about crossing the Jordan River, this will be another post. To my surprise, there are not many places where that crossing is used. To be honest my study of Crossing Jordan has challenged a long-held thought of mine.

God and Two

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The original focus of God and Two was on the occurrences of two angels being with God. When I did a word search, I found two other verses that just felt like they needed to be added. I am sure there are others, so add them to your study.

Angels

  • Genesis 18:2 – Abraham welcomed three men into his camp. One was God and the other two were the angels who went on to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Exodus 25:22 – The Mercy Seat was formed with two cherubim. I still think the outstretched wings that were touching actually formed a chair or bench, making it a throne. This motif was in the plan that David received from God that Solomon put into the First Temple.
  • John 20:12 – Mary looked in the empty tomb and saw two angels sitting where Jesus had been laid. This is a type of the heavenly Mercy Seat. Remember, John, was writing to show Jesus as God so that we would believe. There are more than just seven miracles in John.

Others

  • Exodus 31:18 – Two tablets of the Law were written by the finger of God. Why two? God could have put them on one. These went into the Ark under the Mercy Seat.
  • Genesis 1:16 – God made two great lights and stars.
  • Daniel 12:5 – Daniel sees a “man” above the waters and then there were two more with that man. This is a theophany. I could not find that the man is Gabriel. (This still under study, as I found it recently.)

With the angels, I feel that three examples are enough to show a pattern. Ezekiel in his vision certainly had other groupings. What does God with two angels mean? I have no idea! I am just surprised that no one has ever named or identified them.

Going further: What would you name or how would you identify the two angels with God?

Last and First

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The words first and last are found together in many verses in the New Testament. The passage that started this study is 1 Corinthians 15: 45-48. Paul is explaining the resurrected body to the church in Chapter 15. He uses the body of Jesus as the example of how His earthy (dust) body was sown in the tomb and a spiritual body came out of it. Paul compared the “first Adam” to the “last Adam” and then changed terms and said the first man and second man (referring to Jesus). In this set of verses first is some form of protos. The word second is deuteros. The word last is eschatos. Sorry, those are English-to-Greek translations (Mounce).  

This first study led to a second one, and this last study provide some surprises. I will use Matthew as the reference book. These stories are also found in the other Gospels and the words and uses of them seem consistent among several major translations of the Bible.

Bad to Worse – These two stories are on different topics but the last to first concept is the same. In 12:45 Jesus is responding to a demand from the Pharisees for a miraculous sign. The final part of the teaching is about a demon that leaves a man and then returns with seven others. The man had it bad at first, but his last condition was worse. The second story has the Pharisees demanding a guard be posted by the tomb of Jesus (27:64). They argued that the first lie from Jesus would be worse than the last lie of the disciples. They said the lie was Him rising from the dead in three days. (No surprises here.)

Shall, First, Last – As a parent, coach, and teacher I have used the iconic saying “the first shall be last” many times in dealing with people. Jesus, the Master Teacher, surprised me by switching the order of the saying on the same day in two different circumstances to deliver two different meanings. This day of teaching occurred before Jesus started His victory parade into Jerusalem during Holy Week, He was on the east bank of the Jordan.

The rich young ruler was the object of the story in 19:30. He had money, and I am sure he was always allowed to be first in line wherever he went. He did not want to give up his money. The end of his part of the story was – the first shall be last and the last shall be first (those who gave up their money).

As Jesus expanded this teaching, He told the parable of a landowner hiring workers – Chapter 20, especially Verse 16. At the end of the day, the owner paid the last workers the same as he paid the first workers. Here the last workers are the object of the action, and they got what was promised them – the last shall be first, and the first last. (Attitude is part of the issue here.)

My surprise came in because of the switch in the order and the condition of whom He was talking about. The phrase still signals a change in position, but apparently, I need to think before slinging around who is first and last, why they are there, and whether they should be moving.

This is my first day writing on this topic, it will not be my last. The thoughts on a first day can be changed after studying, so these mat not be my last thoughts on the subject.

The Ark – Cherubim

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The most iconic part of the Ark of the Covenant are the two cherubim that form the Mercy Seat. How I wish the writer of Hebrews had taken the time to discuss the “cherubim of Glory”. It might have settled many things. Instead, we got the fertile minds of medieval pundits and Hollywood. The medieval pundits did do a better job than Hollywood. Another interesting source that I “flew” through in this study was the mystic Jewish believers. They have been studying angels for a few more years than we have. All of these are interesting, but don’t lose sight that it is the Father we worship and not angels.

Hebrews 9:5 – In this little verse the writer uses three words that are special. The Mounce Interlinear shows they are used here and nowhere else in the New Testament.

  • Cherubim is used 1x. Strong: G5502 For some reason Strong states these only have two wings, I am not sure why.
  • Shadowing or overshadow is used 1x. Strong: G2683
  • Mercyseat is used twice in the New Testament. (Romans 3:25) Strong:G2435

It seems in not discussing them, he still said a lot about their importance. Even though “cherubim” is used only once, the word angel is used almost 180 times in the New Testament (that depends on your translation).    

Ezekiel – This is the book to read if you want to study cherubim. Since I started this; there are no cherubim in his visions that have just two wings. It is more likely that the two on the Ark were only stretching out just two of their wings. (I have seen pictures where the artist has given the cherubim two wings stretched out and two covering the lower body.) I have a feeling that our concept of angel anatomy is off, why does it have to resemble human bilateral symmetry? There are things that the cherubim in these visions do that may be reflected in other visions by different writers. Two that I noticed are touching wings and forming a “chariot” that God uses to soar with or in.

Genesis 3:24 – The cherubs here are guarding (another repeating function) “the Way to the Tree of Life” along with an amazing sword. The movements of this sword sound similar to the wheels in Ezekiel. The mystic Jews consider the wheels a type of angel. Merkabah mysticism – Wikipedia This article is intense.

Back to the Ark – I am saying this again, when Moses oversaw the construction of the Ark, he was reproducing what he had seen in Heaven. Exodus 25:18 is the command to produce the cherubim, not the detailed blueprint. David also received instructions and details from God that he left for Solomon. Ezekiel saw the throne room of God and was given instructions about the Temple and land allotments. The Father wants us focused on Him, not His furniture or buildings. I believe that is why we don’t have detailed blueprints and pictures. Yes, they do offer messages and cast important shadows.

The “earthbound mobile” version of God’s throne room is where Moses and the High Priest were to meet with God and intercede for the people. This is seen in 2 Kings 19:15 where Hezekiah prayed to God who is enthroned “between” the cherubim. This phrase is repeated several times in Scripture and may have been coined by David or Samuel. How you see the cherubim, standing or sitting, and with their wings touching to form a bench or a chair, I believe this represents a throne where God “sits” to meet with us.

From David, we get another interesting picture and job of the cherubim. We also see this behavior in Ezekiel. The cherubs who are touching each other form a structure for Him to travel on. 1 Chronicles 28:18 (NIV) refers to a chariot (see 1 Kings 6:23) and 2 Samuel 22:11 and Psalm 18:10 talk about Him flying. This seems to agree with Ezekiel 1 and 11 which talks about cherubim and wheels moving.  That must be awesome!

Other Cherub Things

  • Solomon and Ezekiel’s temples have cherubim as decorations on the walls and curtains. I find it interesting that the guardians and helpers are artwork “standing guard” over holy places.
  • Not all of them look the same as far as faces and wings are concerned.
  • The symbols for the four Gospel writers are the same as the faces of the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1. These angelic beings are seen again in Revelations. What are the Symbols of the Four Evangelists? (catholicexchange.com)

The medieval pundits were right in the fact that there are different angelic beings, that seem to have specific duties. I always find it interesting that a taxonomy of heavenly beings has been created, even though we have never seen them in person. God help us.

More Study – Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel all lived at the same time. Each was given specific duties, places of ministry, and words and visions. Compare and contrast their angelic visions with their callings. (When you write your book let me do a forward for you:)

How many angels did God have with Him when He visited Abraham? How does this compare to the Ark and its cherubim?

The Poles of the Ark and the Philistines

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1 Samuel 4 through 6 tells the story of the Philistines capturing the Ark of the Covenant. For them to even put it on a cart they had to use the poles that were part of the Ark. In my other post, I explain why I think those poles represent the Holy Spirit. God allowing His Ark to be captured has always puzzled me and my study of the Poles really stirred a lot of questions. (Please read 1 Samuel 4-6 as I am not trying to tell the whole story.)

The first time the Ark was moved in this story. The army of Israel had been beaten by the Philistines. The elders decided to bring the Ark into the battle. Yes, Joshua marched it around Jericho, but God had told him to do it. I am not sure God liked being used as a good luck charm; it is bad luck to be superstitious. The idea may sound like a good one, but God had not told them to take His Ark into battle. Since Eli had sent Hophni and Phinehas with the Ark let us assume that Levities of the Kohath clan moved it on their shoulders and that the cover was over it.

Points to think about.

  1. This seems to be God’s plan to rid Israel of Eli and his sons.
  2. The High Priesthood changed hands that day because Eli’s grandsons were too young for service.
  3. Samuel was a prophet not a priest, he was not a son of Aaron. I have never found an adoption cause for being a Levitical priest.
  4. There were other Sons of Aaron who served. We see both families during David’s reign. As the number of men grew certain tasks were chosen by lot. Remember Zechariah, John’s father.
  5. Shiloh was still important, but the Ark did not return there.

The Ark was moved by the Philistines. Israel lost; the battle, two corrupt priests, and God. The Philistines had God and they were not going to give Him back; it took seven months and a lot of misery for them to change their minds. Two cities were hit hard by a plague and the third city did not want the Ark. See my post on rats for a possible tumor that may have cause agony.

From the battle field to Dagon’s temple and to other cities the Philistines probably used a cart, any cart. But someone still had to pick it up and take it off that cart. They had to use the Poles, that was the only part of the Ark that non-priest could touch and they were not Kohaths. (Hold this thought.)

What happened to the three layers of covers for the Ark when it was being moved? The covers are never mentioned. You would think that they were over it in Israel. Had some of the rules gone by the wayside? (It seems that Samuel slept close to the Ark. That should not have been allowed. David and his team did not know how to move it.) I cannot imagine the Philistines not wanting to take a look at the God they had captured. So, between no cover and touching the Poles, no wonder the Philistines started dying. If Israel had disrespected the Ark by not having it covered that may be another reason they lost the battle.

Numbers 4 tells of God’s concern for the Kohaths and what Aaron and sons had to do to protect them. We know that Uzzah disrespected the Ark by touching it when the ox stumbled-2 Samuel 6:6 and 1 Chronicles 13:9. So, why did God not “break out” against every Philistine that touched the Ark? How about one big teachable moment for two nations. I think this psalm says it well – Psalm 74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. (KJV) Plead could be replaced with defend, and reproacheth could be talks about. The Philistines still attacked Israel, but I am sure they wanted nothing to do with God or the Ark. Israel had to learn to take the promises of God with them into battle and not a good luck charm. Jesus, Peter, and Paul experienced God rising against those who disrespected God’s cause-the soldiers fell down, Ananias and Sapphira died, and Elymas was blinded for a time.

From the Philistines to Jerusalem – Chapter 5 was a bad time for the Philistines, by #6 they were thinking that the God of Israel was very powerful. Not wanting to accept that they constructed a test and a peace offering. I knew the “new cart” was a sign of respect, but it makes more sense if they had been moving it on any cart they had or carrying it by the Poles. The cows added a level beyond their natural world, those cows would not have been contented walking away from the calves. The leaders were happy and they could get back to making the Israelites miserable as long as they left their God out of it.

The sad story is that the Levities had to learn a hard lesson about respecting their God and the rules that applied to them and their life. Beth Shemesh was a Levite town, they should have known better than to look in the Ark of God. Why did they do it? Maybe they thought that the Philistines had gotten away with peeking, or Shiloh had farther-reaching fingers than we thought, (Eli had not taken care of business and things happened.) or they just had to check that nothing was taken. Seventy men died, that may have been the majority of men in that town.    

Kiriath Jearim was called, they were a town of priests. Even though priests are from the clan of Kohath, I am not sure they should carry the Ark. But if it was covered and the Poles were on their shoulders it had to be better than a cart.    

Towns with all Levities and all priest was part of the agreement with God for being chosen to serve the Tabernacle and the Ark. So, to extend that idea Eleazar was a priest and he now had Eli’s job. (Eleazar was a “priestly” name.) It seems the Ark stayed there a long time-twenty-plus years before Saul became king, all of Saul’s reign, and however long David let it stay in Kiriath Jearim/Baalah of Judah. (Just because-No, I do not think the Ark sat outside on a hill.)

Just because their story is not told, where did the Table and the Lampstand go? Were they left in Shiloh or moved away? David got bread from the Table at Nob, but there was no mention of the Ark in that story. You hope the articles of the Tent were united in Solomon’s Temple.

In 2 Samuel 6 David is on a mission to bring the Presence of God to him in Jerusalem. It seems that the knowledge of the proper way of moving the Ark was lost or ignored. Instead of using the Poles and having Levities carry the Ark, David copies the Philistines and puts them on a cart. Someone died. You have to know there were committee meetings and scroll searches but David finally got it right and he moved the Ark to Jerusalem. Again, there is no mention of the rest of the Tabernacle. It seems that David moved the sacrifices away from the Ark. (So many questions and few answers, sorry.)

My purpose was to explore why the Philistines could move the Ark. Another question soon appeared. What happened to Israel and the Ark?

Israel – These are just some musings.

  • Your thoughts and plans may not be God’s plans and desires. The elders had a “thought’ but they did not ask God or the High Priest.
  • The Book of Judges ended with a dark tale of doing what you think is right. This is an extension of that.
  • The Father holds His children to a higher standard than the Philistines. We should not act like them.
  • You can follow rules and not have your heart right with God. The Levities had forgotten the rules.
  • I believe there was a remnant, a “seven thousand” who still wanted God.

Philistines –

  • God will use whom he needs to for His plan to work. Their “victory” did not mean they were right.
  • Their pride brought their downfall. Would you have given back the Ark after the second time Dagon fell?
  • They treated Jehovah as they did their idols. God did not strike them dead immediately, like Uzzah, but rats, plague, and panic came and did their jobs.
  • The Philistines touched the Poles (the Holy Spirit) and disrespected the Ark of the Covenant of God. He took His vengeance.

Wow. My study spread out into areas I did not expect. Israel proved herself from the beginning to the end of this tale. Then it took twenty years for Samuel to spark a renewal. The Philistines were being Philistines, they hated God’s children before, during, and after touching the Poles of the Ark, the Father gave them a chance and they did not take it.