A Shadow of Christ

The point of the Exodus was not simply to redeem people from oppression. but to redeem them. Not just from something. but to something. from slavery.

to worship. And that's true. in an even higher manner. In the redemptive work of Christ in the New Testament, we are not saved simply out of God's grace for our needs. But we are his called ones.

to worship him. That's the point of your salvation. to worship The Lord your. God. The writer of Hebrews reminds us in chapter three.

that Jesus is the great of Moses. And so, as we consider Moses and his miracles, We must see how this points us to the unique nature of our Saviour. The Son of God, in whom the fullness of God is revealed in power and majesty. It's good to have you with us for this Saturday edition of Renewing Your Mind. As we conclude our time in our Sea Sprawl series Moses and the Burning Bush.

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So how is Moses a shadow of Christ? Here's Dr. Sproll. I think it's safe to say that the greatest mission. ever accomplished.

in the history of the world. is the mission that was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. in the redemption of his people, From Sen. But I would have to say that the second most important act of redemption. ever accomplished in history?

and the second most difficult mission ever given by God to a human being, is the mission God gave to Moses to perform. I mean, we're so familiar with the story that I don't think that we catch the flavor of the existential agony. that Moses had to go through in his own person. as the enormity of the task that God set before him. struck his consciousness sent to his heart.

Again, we go back to that interchange. From the burning bush. Whereafter God reveals his sacred name to Moses, saying, This is my name forever. This is my memorial to all generations. We're still in chapter three of Exodus.

God then said, Go and gather the elders of Israel together. And say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. appeared to me Saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt. And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites. the Hippites and the Jebusites to a land flowing with milk and honey.

And then they will heed your voice. And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt. And you shall say to him, The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us, and now please. Let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Now, God is still speaking to Moses. He says, I'm sure. that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Not even by a mighty hand. And so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders.

which I will do in its midst. And after that. He will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely of her who dwells near her house.

particles of silver. articles of gold and clothing.

So that you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters.

So you shall. Plunder. The Egyptians.

Now if I'm standing there hearing this message out of the Burning Bush, what's going through my mind is Is that all I have to do?

Okay. You're telling me? that I'm going to go. and tell these people That you appeared to me in this burning bush, and that they're supposed to follow me on the largest wildcat strike in the history of the world against the most powerful king on the face of the globe, and they're going to follow me? That's what I'm thinking.

And I don't think it's that far from what Moses was thinking, even after God gave his assurance. I know that Pharaoh's not going to let you go. I know he's going to resist you all the way. But I will reveal my power. against Pharaoh.

Till the point that he will let you go so that you can come out to the mountain and worship me there.

Now, again, Don't miss this. that the point of the axon is was not simply to redeem people from oppression. But to redeem them. not just from something. But to something.

From slavery. to worship. And that's True. and an even higher manner. in the redemptive work of Christ in the New Testament.

We are not saved simply out of God's grace for our needs. But we are His called ones. to worship him. That's the goal. That's the point of your salvation.

to worship The Lord your. God. That's why, for example, the author of Hebrews says that we ought never to neglect. the assembling together of the saints. And yet the statistics tell us that On any given Sunday, One quarter of the people of God will not be.

in church. Why? We don't come to church. Just to have our attendance taken. We come to church because he has redeemed us.

And the people of the Lord are supposed to say so. And we come with our hearts filled with reverence and adoration, coming into. The corporate assembling of the people of God. to worship him. But Moses hears this.

And he struggles with it. As we see at the beginning of chapter 4, listen to what we read. Then Moses answered and said, But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice. Suppose they say the Lord has not appeared to you.

Now, what an interrogation this is: is that Moses is asking God to consider some possibilities that maybe he hadn't thought about up to this point. Just suppose, God. That these people won't listen to me, and they're going to say, sure, Moses, what have you been smoking out there in the Midianite wilderness? And Moses is thinking, what am I going to do? I'm supposed to go to these people.

And say We're leaving. The Egyptians.

We're going to a marvelous land of milk and honey. No more slavery. We're going to be Free. And They're going to say, How do you know that?

Well, I'll tell you. He said, and then. I'm supposed to go to Pharaoh and knock on the door of his palace and When the chamberperson comes and says, Who are you? He says, My name's Moses. I see, I don't know you, except I've heard of.

Story about a fugitive by that name. Who's still on the loose? Do you have an appointment? No.

Well, what makes you think you can come in here and talk? To Pharaoh.

Well, you see. I was talking to this bush out in the minute.

So Moses is trying to deal with all of this, and he says to God, Think about this. Suppose The people won't believe me. or listen to my voice. Suppose they say the Lord has not appeared to you.

Now this is the question that Moses has. How am I ever going to convince anybody, the people of Israel, and Pharaoh? That I am speaking your word. How can I prove? That this message It's not something I dreamed up.

in the heat of the afternoon in the desert. But that I am speaking. the unvarnished truth that you gave to me.

Well, how would you answer that? Is Moses supposed to say to the people, well, That's the experience I had. You fellas have to just take it by faith. Or Pharaoh, you may not believe this. But you're just going to take a deep breath.

and jump into the darkness, into the abyss, and then leap of faith. And maybe you'll come to the conclusion. that indeed the Lord God omnipotent Is the author of of this message. That's not what God told Moses to do. I think it's very important for us to understand how God.

answered this question that Moses had. Listen to it. In verse 2. And so the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, a rod.

And God said, Well, cast it on the ground.

So Moses cast it on the ground. And it became a serpent. And Moses saw the transformation of this rod into a snake. And he fled as fast as he could away from that snake. Then the Lord said to Moses.

Reach out your hand. and take it by the tail. What? God, that's a poisonous snake. You want me to pick it up?

That's what I said. Reach out your hand. Stick out your hand. Come up close to that snake. Grab it by the tail.

So he reached out his hand and caught it. And once again it became a rod. in his hand. And God said, that they may believe. That the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

has appeared to you. Um giving you this ability. to turn this stick into a snake.

so that these people might believe. That you are truly communicating my word. You know what I hear all the time among people that they say, If I could just see a miracle, then that would prove to me that God exists. You know, miracles in the Bible are not given. to persuade people of the existence of God.

The existence of God is already established. Long before there's any kind of episodes of the miraculous. The purpose of the miracle in the Bible It's not to prove the existence of God. But it is to prove The legitimacy And the validity of an agent of revelation. of someone whom God has commissioned to speak his word.

The purpose of the miracle is the verify The messenger Of the Word of God. Watch that in Scripture throughout. You know, we have a tendency to read the Bible as if miracles were occurring behind every bush. And every other day. by everybody in history.

But actually, if you look at the appearance of miracles in the Bible, they're clustered. There are all these miracles that attend. Moses in his Mediatorial Office. And then Very little miraculous activity takes place. First centuries.

Until when? Not Jesus. Elijah. That's the next redemptive historical. period that has a cluster.

of miracles. Isn't that interesting? that God verifies the law. And then the prophets. Yeah.

They're giving. of miraculous powers. And then you don't hear about miracles from Jonah or Bacch that they performed or. Ezekiel, I mean the other prophets of the Old Testament. Until again.

The world becomes a blaze of miracles. with the appearance of Jesus. And so notice that. that there is a special focal point. For the clustering of miracles in biblical history.

all surrounding the issue of the Word of God. And so After this miracle, That God gives Moses. He adds this.

Furthermore.

Now put your hand in your bosom. And so he put his hand in his bosom like Napoleon. And When he took it out again, behold, His hand was covered with leprosy. Like snow. And God said, Put your hand in your bosom again.

So Moses does it. And when he did it this time and drew it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored. like the other flesh. Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be: if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, then you shall take water from the river, pour it on the dry land, and the water which you take from the river will become blood.

on the dry land. This is exactly what happens. With a series of plagues that fall upon The Egyptians. Designed to demonstrate to Pharaoh that Moses is not some dreamer with a poppy cock vision. But that Moses is speaking the words of the Lord God omnipotent.

You come to the New Testament. We're the greatest blaze of miracles ever. In recorded history takes place. during the ministry of Jesus. And the purpose of Jesus' ministries is not to prove the existence of God.

On the contrary. You know who really understood why Jesus did the miracles he did? Principal Reese? This fellow came to him at night, whose name was Nicodemus. And he said, good teacher.

We know That you are a teacher sent from God. Or else you would not be able to do these things.

Now at that point The theology of Nicodemus, at least at that point, Later on, it gets pretty suspect. But at that point, his theology was absolutely sound.

So much more sound than the enemies of Jesus. Like the Pharisees. Who didn't deny The miracles of Christ. But they came perilously close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. when they attributed the power of Jesus' miracles not to God.

But to Satan. As if Satan would work against Satan. One of the discussions I get in all the time with people is. whether Satan can actually perform miracles. And I say, no, no, no.

Hm, a thousand times no. Satan never performed a miracle in his life. But doesn't the Bible warn us against The signs that Satan will perform, deceiving if possible. Even the elect? But how are those signs described?

Lying signs and wonders. That doesn't mean that they are true miracles. performed in the service Yeah. Satanic. Purposes.

No.

They are not true signs. used for a bad reason. They're false assignments, false work. Tricks. More astonishing than the best magicians you can find in this world, but still.

Tricks. Because this is something we can never ever forget. Satan is not God. Satan cannot do the things that God can do. a real miracle that God uses to authenticate his messengers.

And authenticate agents of revelation are acts that only God can do. Like bringing something out of nothing. Like raising People from the dead. Satan can't do that. Satan can't create something out of nothing.

Satan can't make an axe head float. Satan can't control the laws of nature. He's just a magician. A good one. But a wicked one.

He's good at his craft. But his craft is altogether evil. And we see that taking place In the confrontation, that Moses has with the magicians at Pharaoh's court. What happens? Moses.

Takes that rod that God gave him, throws it on the ground, turns it into a snake. And the magicians of Pharaoh just yawned. He says, Is that the best you can do? And so they all threw their sticks on the floor. And they all became snakes.

How did they do it? All this trick. In the history of Slight of the These guys all had their sticks. And inside each stick was a snake. Snakes were there all the time.

They didn't turn sticks into snakes. They let sticks. Collapse so that the snakes that were already in there can come out. And they thought that's all Moses was doing, that he had his snake hidden inside that rod. No.

Yeah. Moses was real. They bring their snakes. Moses throws his down, and his snake eats up all their snakes, and that's the end of the game. They were no match.

For Moses. Because they were no match. For God. And all the trickery. And the machinations that the court magicians of Pharaoh had could not really turn.

the now into blood or bring about the plagues and certainly did not have the power. of the Passover. And so we see these miracles in the New Testament. That have an immediate purpose of healing people who are sick, raising people from the dead, ministering to suffering, and all of those things that are acts of compassion. But in the final analysis, those miracles.

Authenticate. and vindicate That Jesus is the word of God. That Jesus speaks the truth. That no demon can possibly Duplicate.

So that we see in this burning bush The revelation of the person of God. The revelation of the power of God. The revelation of the eternality of God. The revelation of the compassion of God. A revelation of the redemption of God.

And now finally the revelation. But the truth of God. And that concludes our Sea Sprul series, Moses and the Burning Bush. This is Renewing Your Mind, the daily discipleship podcast of Ligonier Ministries. I'm your host, Nathan W.

Bingham. Whether you listen daily on the radio, on YouTube or RefNet, on your favorite podcast app, or at renewingyourmind.org, I would love to meet you at an upcoming Renewing Your Mind live event. I'll be in Sydney, Australia, with Sinclair Ferguson this Monday. but we'll also have events in Anaheim, California on October 29. San Jose, California on November 4.

and Raleigh, North Carolina on November 12. These are the final dates for 2025, so register while there's still space. We'll share an evening of fellowship, teaching, giveaways, and more. You can find more details, register, and keep an eye out for 2026 dates when you visit renewingyourmind.org slash events. Thank you for joining us as we celebrate over three decades of broadcasting truth through Renewing Your Mind.

Today's message is the final message in a 10-part series called Moses and the Burning Bush. This familiar narrative of Moses and the burning bush evokes wonder and awe. But do you know God's motives for revealing Himself in this manner to Moses? Spend time this fall considering this incredible event when you request the entire series. Simply give a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast show notes and we'll send it to you on DVD.

When the package arrives, you'll also find a copy of the companion book by Dr. Sprawl as well. Plus, if like me you like to listen while you're in the car or out on a run, the series will also be unlocked for you in the Ligonier app. In the app you'll also find the study guide. Which will be a great help if you choose to use this material in an upcoming Bible study.

Respond before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org. But don't delay. this offer will not be repeated next Saturday. Are these the last days? How should we understand the book of Revelation?

Despite the confusion, This is not a book that was written to be confusing. Beginning next time, you'll hear from W. Robert Godfrey's series Blessed Hope. It's his overview of Revelation. As we focus in particular on the seven letters to the seven churches.

So be sure to join us next Saturday here on Renewing Your Mind.