In the last message we saw the kernel in Genesis, Christ and the church. Christ is God’s image, our life, and the One who destroyed the enemy. In these matters we have the divinity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, and the redemption of Christ. Today, we enjoy Christ’s image, Christ’s life, and Christ’s work of destruction. This Christ has destroyed everything negative, including the world, sin, death, and Satan. What a wonderful Christ we have! Out of this wonderful Christ there comes into being the church, composed of many Abels, Enoshes, Enochs, Noahs, Abrahams, Isaacs, and Jacobs. All these people are the components of the genuine church life. If we would see what the church is, we must see the significant aspects of these people.
In the book of Genesis we mainly see individuals, such as Abel and Enosh. However, with the last one of these individuals, Jacob, there is the house of Jacob. When we come to the book of Exodus, the second book of Moses, it is no longer a matter of individuals; it is absolutely a matter of the house of Jacob, the house of Israel. In Exodus we do not see individual believers; we see the house of Israel as a corporate body. This is a type of the corporate church. In this book God deals with the house, the congregation, not with individuals.
At the beginning of the book of Exodus, the house of Israel was in a fallen state in Egypt; all the Israelites were held in slavery by the Egyptians. The Israelites were suffering under such bondage, and they needed God’s deliverance. Hence, the Lord came into their situation. In this coming, the Lord is signified by two kinds of persons.
The first of these persons is the Angel of the Lord. The Angel who appeared to Moses in Exodus 3:2 is not a common angel; He is the Angel of the Lord. Most Christian teachers agree that this Angel is the Lord Jesus. In his translation, J. N. Darby capitalizes the word Angel to show that this Angel is not a common angel, but an extraordinary Angel, even Christ Himself. According to verse 6, this Angel says, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Thus, the Angel of the Lord, who came to deliver the children of Israel, is the very God.
The Lord also came to the Israelites through Moses, who was a type of Christ. In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses said, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” The Prophet about whom Moses was speaking was Christ (Acts 3:20-26). Therefore, Moses was a shadow of Christ. When the Angel of the Lord came with Moses to visit Israel, this indicated that the Lord came as the Angel and as Moses. Today, we know that Christ has come to us as the Angel of the Lord to deliver us from bondage and as Moses to speak to us.
The Lord also commanded the house of Israel to prepare a lamb (Exo. 12:3), which also was a type of Christ. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In the Old Testament the lamb was slain on the day of the Passover, and its blood was put on the doorposts (Exo. 12:6-7). Then the children of Israel ate the flesh of the lamb “roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs” (Exo. 12:8). The fact that the house of Israel slew the lamb, put its blood on the doorposts, and ate its flesh indicates that we must apply Christ to our situation. Before we were saved, we were not only under bondage; we were under God’s judgment. Hence, we had to apply Christ both for our redemption and for our deliverance. Christ is our Redeemer. If we apply His blood to our sins, in the eyes of God we are under His blood and we are forgiven. God passes over us because we are under the covering of the blood of Christ.
Under the blood, we enjoy Christ as the life supply, for we eat His flesh. Thus, we have not only the redeeming blood, but also the nourishing life. Christ is good for eating. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” and, “He who eats Me shall also live because of Me” (John 6:48, 57). Christ is not only our Redeemer; He is also our life. We are not only redeemed by His blood, but also nourished by His life. Consider the picture of the house of Israel in Exodus 12. Because the Israelites were under the blood of the lamb, God passed over them. Furthermore, by eating the flesh of the lamb, they were nourished and strengthened to leave Egypt.