The Cross Throughout the Scriptures - Part 8
1. The Cross Appears, Gen 3:15.
2. The Foreshadowings of the Cross in Abel’s Lamb, Gen 4.
3. The Flood Is a Type of the Cross, Gen 6-8.
4. Mount Moriah Points to the Cross, Gen 22.
5. The Lamb Without Blemish, Exo 12.
6. The Red Sea Is a Type of the Cross, Exo 14.
7. The Bitter Waters of Marah Sweetened by the Tree, Exo 15.
8. The Stricken Rock of Horeb, Exo 17.
The too much water test at the Red Sea, Exo 14:9.
The wrong kind of water test - the waters of Marah = bitterness, Exo 15:23.
The “no water test,” Exo 17:1.
Every test is a glorious opportunity to trust the Lord in a hopeless situation and to recognize once again that we are really helpless.
They rejected the authority of their leader, but they demanded that he give them water.
If the Jews reject the authority of Moses, why do they ascribe to him the supernatural power of providing water for 2,000,000 people and their children?
They ascribe to Moses a power that he does not possess, while rejecting the authority he does possess.
Mat 26:45 Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Luk 22:14 And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.
Joh 12:23 “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
kal imperative - nathan = they demanded it.
Fear, worry, anxiety, anger, hatred, violence and murder.
Grumbled = kal imperfect - luwn = to grumble, to complain, to criticize.
In their irrationality from emotional sins and hysteria, they assign to Moses their very own motivation and flaws.
Leadership cannot afford to be frightened in a pressure situation.
He does not try to justify himself before the people.
Locked-in arrogance causes this great flaw, self justification.
Moses is not responsible to the people; he is responsible to the Lord.
In leadership, if you are afraid of anyone under your command, you have failed as a leader.
He was to take the very staff he struck the Nile river with - to remind them of all the Lord had already done, but they forgot.
Deu 32:18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth.”
Psa 78:11 And they forgot His deeds, and His miracles that He had shown them.
Psa 106:13 They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel.
Psa 106:21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
Hos 13:6 As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore, they forgot Me.
Horeb is the place where Moses saw the burning bush, so he is right back on old ground.
The staff = the judgment of God.
The striking of the rock = TLJC being struck on the cross.
1Co 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Why was it used on this particular occasion at Meribah, which means to murmur, complain, rebel etc.?
To remind the Jews that their sins and failures had been judged on the Cross, and they could recover from their murmuring and complaining if they chose to.
Isa 55:1 Ho! every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “come.” and let the one who hears say, “come.” and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Psa 78:20 Behold, He struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams were overflowing;
Joh 7:37 “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”
Luk 20:17 What then is this that is written, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone”?
Zec 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;”
Mar 14:27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’”
It all points to the same astounding fact: in the cross of Christ healing streams of eternal life flow forth for all mankind.
Joh 19:34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.
Joh 19:36 For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
We all have some thirst and are consumed by it, Ecc 3:11.
9. The Rock Stricken Again - A Mistake on the Part of Moses, Num 20.
The efficacy of the work of Christ on the cross.
Moses had done a terrible thing in giving an erroneous view of the Cross with its once and for all consummation of the infinitely glorious work of redemption.
Rom 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Heb 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries 2002
8. The Stricken Rock of Horeb, Exo 17.
8. The Stricken Rock of Horeb, Exo 17.
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
1. The Cross Appears, GEN 3:15.
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
The Cross Throughout the Scriptures - Part 1 - Phi 2:8 In fact, although having being discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of spiritual death, even death on a cross. 1Co 1:18 “For the doctrine concerning the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Josephus described crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths” - suicide was preferable to the cruel fate of being put on the cross. It originated several centuries before the Common Era and continued into the fourth century AD when the practice was discontinued by Constantine. The brazen serpent being lifted up on a pole, Num 21:9. People would watch Him as He was suffering publicly, Psa 22:7-8. His hands and feet would be pierced, Psa 22:16. Not one of His bones would be broken, Psa 34:20. They would offer the Lord Jesus Christ gall and vinegar, Psa 69:21. The prophecy of His crucifixion, Isa 53:12. The piercing of Jesus’ side, Zec 12:10. Death by crucifixion was invented by the Persians which is now Iran. Later it was adopted by the Phoenicians (Canaanites, a perverted people) and the Carthaginians (North Africa). Only one word can describe death by crucifixion: agony. “On the cross there are only two things, pain and eternity. They tell me I was only on the cross twenty-four hours, but I was on the cross longer than the world existed. If there is no time, then every moment is forever.” Mass executions in which thousands died, such as the crucifixion of 6,000 followers of Spartacus as part of a victory celebration in 71 BC, appear in literature. Alexander the Great had 2,000 survivors from the siege of Tyre crucified on the shores of the Mediterranean. During the times of Caligula, AD 37-41, Jews were tortured and crucified in the amphitheater to entertain the inhabitants of Alexandria. Many researchers have believed death occurred as the result of a ruptured heart - Joh 19:34 - the water and blood flowing out of the wound. Other scholars have regarded asphyxiation or suffocation as being the cause of death. If the victims are hanging with their hands extended over their heads, death can occur within an hour, or in minutes if the victim’s legs are nailed. For exhaling to occur in a normal manner two sets of muscles are needed - the diaphragm and the intercostalis muscles between the ribs. As a deterrent in the ancient world, many of its victims were crucified where the criminal event took place. It was common to have a procession through the streets of Jerusalem where the criminal, along with a statement of his crime, could be publicly displayed. Mar 15:20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, and put His garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. Mar 15:21 And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. He carried the patibulum - the crossbeam. Around our Lord’s neck hung the titulus on which were inscribed the charges for which He was being executed. To add further humiliation to the process the victim was stripped completely naked. Once stripped, the victim would be thrown on his back upon the patibulum, the crossbeam. The long, square-headed spikes would inevitably pass through or close to the median nerve of the hands or the wrists so the nerve was severely damaged. The crossbeam would drop into place with such force that the victim’s shoulders would often be dislocated, increasing the suffering and torture. Isa 53:6 Rom 8:31 Heb 11 Heb 12 Psa 22:14 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries 2002
2. The Foreshadowings of the Cross in Abel’s Lamb, Gen 4.
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
The Cross Throughout the Scriptures - Part 2 The victim was given thirteen stripes on the left shoulder, thirteen stripes on the right shoulder, and thirteen stripes across the thighs. The Roman scourging was much more severe and was known as “halfway death.” This trained man used a whip called a flagellum, with a stubby wooden handle to which was attached a bundle of leather whips. At the tip of the whips, bits of bone or chain or lead weights shaped like small dumbbells were fastened. As each whip hit, the bits of bone, chain, or the dumbbells would dig in deeply into the flesh and even into the muscle. This veil has to do with the glory of the cross of Christ throughout the Scriptures. The cross was a shock to Satan - it was God’s masterpiece in the universe. “Calvary marked the greatest hour in the entire meritorious history of Deity.” Gal 6:14 But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. At the cross, God found a way to justify the ungodly, and yet remain just, Rom 3:26. The central theme of the Bible is the cross. At the cross, God found a way justify the ungodly, and yet not compromise with sin, Rom 3:26, Hab 1:13. Rom 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; Rom 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Rom 5 - At the cross, God declares the wicked, righteous, without a shadow of blame or unrighteousness falling upon His righteous character. At the cross He provided a forgiveness which satisfies all the demands of the Law and has power to transform the wicked into saints. 1. The Cross Appears. Gen 3:15 The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, Rev 13:8. Act 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, 1Pe 1:20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world. Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries 2002
3. The Flood Is a Type of the Cross, Gen 6-8.
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
The Cross Throughout the Scriptures - Part 3 John 19:1 Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him. The victim was severely beaten about the back, shoulders, and sides of the chest until he was raw and bleeding profusely from thousands of small gashes. After this happened to our Lord and Savior, He was punched and beaten in the face, spit upon, had a crown of thorns forced upon His head and then mocked. Mar 15:19 And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting at Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. He was paraded through Jerusalem with a crossbeam tied to His back to face one of the cruelest and most humiliating forms of punishment in the ancient world, crucifixion. Only one word can describe death by crucifixion: agony. It was humiliating, tormenting, slow, and public. Psa 22:14 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” “Calvary marked the greatest hour in the entire meritorious history of Deity.” Gal 6:14 But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. At the cross, the meritorious attributes of God come to their most majestic expression. Rom 5 - At the cross, God declares the wicked, righteous, without a shadow of blame or unrighteousness falling upon His righteous character. It is only when the believer discovers the glory of the cross that he first comes to see the Bible in its truest light. 1. The Cross Appears. Gen 3:15 The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, Rev 13:8. Act 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, 1Pe 1:20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. Ecc 12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Could it be that God’s original plan in the creation of man should fail? Was Satan to be permitted to lord it over man, having deceived him and having brought him under his bondage? Was there no hope of forgiveness and liberation for Adam’s race? Could a reconciliation be effected and man be brought back to God, freed from Satanic oppression? Would God forever be dishonored, His Fatherhood denied, and His purposes unfulfilled? Was it in God’s power to undo what the wicked one, under whose power the whole world lies in, had done? 1Jo 5:19. Was God to be frustrated eternally because man was made in His image and for the satisfaction of His heart but man sinned? 2Pe 3:8 Though the immediate result was rebellion and sin, the final outcome of it all would be restoration. The Lord God turned the curse into a blessing, Deu 23:5. What Satan meant for evil, God would turn into good, Gen 50:20. Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 1Jo 3:8 The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Man could not be restored by a divine command. Man had chosen to follow the ways of Satan in the same way: to use his own free will against the will of God. Without freedom of choice, man would not be man, nor would he ever be able to satisfy the desires of God’s heart. Rev 12:9 Satan deceives the whole world; The mere exercise of divine authority and divine power could not fulfill the demands of the case. Man must learn to hate “self,” Satan’s agent within man as the governing principle of his life. He could undo the First Adam’s rebellion and sin by refusing Satan’s claims upon man, in the full and free exercise of His own free will, and shatter the alliance. The Seed of the woman, Christ our Lord, would bruise the serpent’s head. Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries 2002