01.038. WHAT GOD DID THROUGH MOSES
Lesson Thirty-Three WHAT GOD DID THROUGH MOSES Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:24-29; Hebrews 3:1-6.
Scriptures to Memorize: “And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken; but Christ as a son, over his house, whose house are we, if we hold fast our boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end” (Hebrews 3:5-6). “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
82. Q. What was the institution of worship in the Patriarchal Dispensation?
A. The Altar.
83. Q. When did the Patriarchal Dispensation come to an end?
A. It came to an end when the Hebrew people were organized into a nation at Mount Sinai, under the leadership of Moses.
84. Q. What followed the Patriarchal Dispensation?
A. The Jewish or Mosaic Dispensation.
85. Q. What type of priesthood prevailed throughout the Jewish Dispensation?
A.The Levitical or Aaronic Priesthood. With the establishment of the Mosaic ritual, a particular order of men was appointed to the priesthood, with most solemn and imposing ceremonies; and from that time, the offering of sacrifices was restricted, in the main, to those who were duly invested with the priestly office. See Exodus 28:1-43, 2 Chronicles 26:18. At the same time, the Altar was incorporated into the Tabernacle, and became known as the Altar of Burnt-Offering; and by this change it ceased to be a family altar and became a national altar. All the posterity of Aaron were, at this time, divinely appointed to be priests, except of course such as were disqualified by special provisions of the Mosaic Code. The office of High Priest was also established, and Aaron himself, the great-grandson of Levi and brother of Moses, was divinely designated to be the first man to occupy that exalted office (Exodus 6:16-20); and, by divine appointment also, the firstborn of the family, in direct descent and in regular succession from Aaron, came into incumbency of the office by divine right. The High Priest thus became the chief of the whole Jewish priesthood, and later the virtual head of the Jewish Theocracy. The Aaronic succession continued, despite numerous apostasies and captivities, down to the time of Jesus; and came to an end only with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions under Titus, A. D. 70, and the subsequent dispersion of the Jews among all nations.
86. Q. How is Moses described in the scripture records?
A. He is described as the great Lawgiver of Israel and the Mediator of the Old Covenant.
Galatians 3:19—“the law was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.” John 1:17—“the law was given through Moses.” John 7:19—“Did not Moses give you the law?” Cf. Exodus 20:18-21, Deuteronomy 5:4-5.
87. Q. What, firstly, did God do through Moses?
A.It was through Moses that He organized the children of Israel into a nation and established the Theocracy. A theocracy is defined as “a government of a state by the immediate direction of God”; hence the Hebrew commonwealth, before it became a kingdom, is usually referred to as a theocracy. The Old Sinaitic Covenant was essentially a national covenant, and the Mosaic Code was for both the civil and religious government of the nation. For purposes of comparison, the Decalogue or Ten Commandments might be said to correspond to our federal Constitution; and the other laws, statutes and commandments of the Mosaic Code, to the body of statutory law by which our society is organized and its government administered. The New Covenant, by way of contrast, is strictly spiritual, and separate from the state in every particular. Jesus Himself tells us to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
88. Q. What were the outstanding features of the Mosaic Ritual?
A. They were: (1) Circumcision, (2) the Passover, (3) the Sabbath, (4) the Levitical Priesthood, (5) the Tabernacle, (6) the Solemn Sacrifices, and (7) the Solemn Feasts and Convocations.
(These matters will be discussed in detail in a subsequent lesson.) 89.Q.Where is the Mosaic Code and Ritual revealed?
A. In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
90. Q. What, secondly, did God do through Moses?
A. Through the mediation of Moses, He enlarged the Abrahamic covenant into a national covenant, retaining Circumcision as the seal of the covenant.
Just four hundred and thirty years after the Promise was given to Abraham (Galatians 3:17), its carnal or typical side was fully developed in the Sinaitic or Old Covenant. Genesis 17:7—“I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations” (the words of Jehovah to Abraham when the Promise was given). The Mosaic covenant and ritual was therefore, but an enlargement of the Abrahamic covenant, which took in Sacrifice, the essential ordinance of the Patriarchal system, also. It will thus be seen that the whole procedure was a progressive development of true religion.
91. Q. What, thirdly, did God do through Moses?
A. It was through Moses that He revealed the eternal principles of right and wrong, in the provisions of the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments.
(This proposition will be treated in detail in Lesson Thirty-Four.)
92. Q. What is the Old Covenant or Mosaic System commonly designated in the apostolic writings?
A.It is usually referred to as the Law. The Mosaic System is so called because it was essentially a legal system. John 1:17—“For the law was given through Moses.” John 7:10—“Did not Moses give you the law?” Galatians 3:24—“the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ.”
93. Q. What were the successive institutions of worship under the Jewish Dispensation?
A. The Tabernacle, the Temple, and the Synagogue.
(1) The Tabernacle began with Moses. God Himself gave Moses all the plans and specifications for it. See Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-27, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43, Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18. It was a portable institution adapted to the needs of the people during the period of their wanderings in the wilderness. (2) The Temple was built by Solomon, who received the idea and inspiration from his father David. See 2 Chronicles 1:1-17, 2 Chronicles 2:1-18, 2 Chronicles 3:1-17, 2 Chronicles 4:1-22, 2 Chronicles 5:1-14, 2 Chronicles 6:1-42, 2 Chronicles 7:1-22. The general design of the Tabernacle was carried out, on a grander scale of course, in the building of the Temple. The first Temple was built at Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, about one thousand years before Christ. The Temple was designed to serve the people as a national institution of worship after they had become firmly established in Canaan. (3) The Synagogue began with Ezra, after the Exile. In purpose it was similar to our local churches; hence there was a synagogue in each community. Each synagogue served for a place of worship, a law-court, and a school; and was presided over by local elders or “rulers” (Luke 13:14; Mark 5:22; Acts 13:15; Acts 18:8).
94. Q. When did the Jewish Dispensation end?
A. It ended with the death of Christ on the Cross. By His death He abrogated the Old Covenant, and at the same time ratified and established the New Covenant.
(1) Hebrews 9:16—“For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it.” Colossians 2:14—“having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us; and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” See also Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6-13; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18, etc. (2) “The Old Sinaitic Covenant had to be taken out of the way, before a new covenant could be fully inaugurated as a separate and independent Institution. This was done at the death of Christ. Henceforth it was no longer binding on any one as a religious Institution; though it was, through the forbearance of God, allowed to remain as a civil and social Institution for about thirty-six years longer, until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in A. D. 70” (Milligan, Scheme of Redemption, p. 78). (3) The New Covenant, moreover, was not merely an enlargement of the Old. It was distinctly a new covenant. Jeremiah 31:31—“I will make a new covenant,” etc. Ephesians 2:15-16—“that he (Christ) might create in himself of the two (i.e., of Jew and Gentile) one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross.” Note well: “one new man.” Cf. Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians 12:13, etc.
95. Q. On what grounds accepted with God? were the faithful souls of the Jewish Dispensation
A. They were accepted on the ground of their faith which manifested itself in their obedience to the laws of God which were in force throughout the Jewish Dispensation; and on the further ground of the certainty of the Perfect Atonement for sin which was made once at the end of the ages.
Deuteronomy 7:12-13, “And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the loving kindness which he sware unto thy fathers; and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee,” etc. See also Deuteronomy 8:6-20; Deuteronomy 28:1-6; Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Deuteronomy 30:1-10, etc. See also Nehemiah 9:9-37, etc. Hebrews 9:15—“And for this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Galatians 4:4-5—“But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” See Question 66.
REVIEW EXAMINATION OVER LESSON THIRTY-THREE
82. Q. What was the institution of worship in the Patriarchal Dispensation?
83. Q. When did the Patriarchal Dispensation come to an end?
84. Q. What followed the Patriarchal Dispensation?
85. Q. What type of priesthood prevailed throughout the Jewish Dispensation?
86. Q. How is Moses described in the scripture records?
87. Q. What, firstly, did God do through Moses?
88. Q. What were the outstanding features of the Mosaic Ritual?
89. Q. Where is the Mosaic Code and Ritual revealed?
90. Q. What, secondly, did God do through Moses?
91. Q. What, thirdly, did God do through Moses?
92. Q. What is the Old Covenant or Mosaic System commonly designated in the apostolic writings?
93. Q. What were the successive institutions of worship under the Jewish Dispensation?
94. Q. When did the Jewish Dispensation end?
95. Q. On what grounds were the faithful souls of the Jewish Dispensation accepted with God?