If we would be sanctified to God by taking Christ as our substitute, we need to experience the month of Abib (13:4), a period of time that signifies our whole Christian life, a time during which we enjoy new life. We have pointed out that the word Abib means sprouting, budding. Hence, it denotes a new beginning of life. In order to be sanctified to the Lord for His satisfaction, we need such a new beginning of life. We need to be a green ear of wheat sprouting with new life.
In this new beginning of life there must be no leaven. We have pointed out that in the Bible leaven signifies sinfulness or corruption. We need to deal with all sin that is exposed. We must not tolerate any sin after it has been exposed. To eat unleavened bread in this way is to have a true memorial to the Lord, a genuine remembrance. Those who are sanctified by having Christ as their substitute and who have a new beginning of life without sin will have a daily living that is worthy of being a memorial. If we have a proper experience of God’s salvation, we shall have a marvelous spiritual history. After our Passover, we shall be sanctified to the Lord by taking Christ as our substitute to live in us. Then we shall have a new beginning of life, and all exposed sin will be dealt with. Such a living will be a memorial, a remembrance. Every day we live this kind of life will be a day of memorial. In our Christian life every day should be such a memorial day. Any day that is not a memorial is a day of defeat.
I am concerned that many Christians will have very little to remember when they are in the New Jerusalem. But if we live with Christ as our substitute, have a new beginning of life, and deal with all exposed sin, we shall have a great deal to remember in eternity. Every day we live in this way is a day worth remembering. It is possible for every day of our Christian life to be a memorial. May the Lord save us from having to repent over wasted days, days in which there is no new beginning of life and no thorough dealing with leaven. After we have been saved through Christ as our Passover lamb, we need to take Him as our substitute for the beginning of a new, sinless life. Then we shall have many days of memorial.
Exodus 13:19 indicates that Joseph’s bones were brought out of Egypt with the children of Israel. It may seem strange that these bones are mentioned in the same chapter that speaks of the month of Abib. Apparently, there is no relationship between these two things. Green ears of wheat, signified by Abib, are full of life. But dead bones have no life. We should remember, however, that in the Bible bone signifies an unbreakable life, a life in resurrection (John 19:36). Therefore, the bones in 13:19 have something to do with resurrection life.
Hebrews 11:22 says, “By faith Joseph, when near his end, remembered concerning the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.” Joseph believed that one day God would visit His people and bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Furthermore, Joseph “took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence” (Gen. 50:24-25). The bringing of Joseph’s bones out of the land of Egypt into the good land signifies resurrection. The only way dead, dry bones could enter into the land of Canaan was by resurrection. According to the picture, the bones that were taken out of the grave and brought into the good land signify resurrection life.
In 1 Corinthians 15:50 Paul says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” According to the Bible, flesh and blood denote the natural man (Matt. 16:17; Gal. 1:16). In resurrection, Christ has flesh and bones, but no blood (Luke 24:39). The fact that Joseph’s bones were brought into the good land indicates that the saints who have died will enter the kingdom in resurrection. (The living saints will be raptured and then enter the kingdom.) Those who share in the kingdom will no longer be in the natural life signified by flesh and blood, but in the resurrection life signified by Joseph’s bones. As God’s people today, we need to be in resurrection; we need to be bones that move in resurrection life.
In the eyes of God all the children of Israel had been dead and buried in graves in Egypt. That was their situation before the Passover. The land of Egypt was a huge cemetery in which God’s people had been buried. Hence, from God’s point of view, His people in Egypt were dry bones. The picture of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 illustrates the condition of the children of Israel in Egypt: they were dry bones that needed to be resurrected and formed into an army (Ezek. 37:1, 10). The exodus from Egypt, therefore, was actually a resurrection. This is seen in particular in the crossing of the Red Sea.
The principle of resurrection applies to the matter of substitution for sanctification. According to Galatians 2:20, we have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives within us. For Christ to be our substitute for sanctification is to be in resurrection.
Without resurrection, it is impossible for God’s people to come out of the world. Both Joseph’s bones and the crossing of the Red Sea point to resurrection. In our natural life we cannot make an exodus from the world. To make such an exodus, we must be a resurrected people. Although we are dry bones, we are bones that move. Like the bones in Ezekiel 37, we shall be made alive and become an army.
Just as the children of Israel were dry bones in Ezekiel 37, so at the time of Moses they were also dry bones. However, they were resurrected to become the army of God. This should also be our experience today.
The reason Joseph’s bones are mentioned in 13:19 is to show us that the exodus is accomplished only in resurrection. We are sanctified to the Lord and made acceptable and satisfying to Him in resurrection. Only in resurrection can we have a new beginning of a sinless life and thus have a day of remembrance. Every aspect of the exodus from Egypt is related to resurrection.
According to our experience we can testify that without resurrection life there can be no exodus from the world. The exodus is accomplished only in resurrection. Many sermons are given exhorting Christians not to love the world and to make their exodus from the world. Such sermons are filled with empty words. No one can leave the world unless he is enlivened by resurrection life. If we would come out of Egypt, we must be dry bones that have been buried in the world. But although we have been buried, we have been chosen by God and we shall come forth in resurrection.
We may be dead bones, but these bones signify a life that is unbreakable and divine. Only when this life comes forth in resurrection are we able to have an exodus from the world. Therefore, we come out of Egypt, not by our own energy or by our natural life, but by the resurrection life. Although Joseph had been chosen by God, he was buried in Egypt. However, in resurrection his bones were moved out of Egypt. The principle is the same with us today. Although we have been chosen by God, we have been buried in the world. But in resurrection the dead bones can move out of the world. This is life out of death! Hallelujah for the resurrection life that brings us out of the world!