Biblical Forensics©

“Deliverance before Judgment”

Part 28

I first began my study of Bible prophecy back on June 7, 1967. It was at the same time as the Israeli Six-Day War, in which Israel took total control of East Jerusalem and was itself a prophetic date.

Most people are helpless when it comes to understanding the Bible and its central message. In this particular segment of “Deliverance before Judgment,” I will be sharing examples of how God saved His remnant in a temporary safe place when trouble came. Today, the only criteria to be delivered from the coming Tribulation is to be a saved ‘born-again” believer who has accepted and believes that Christ Jesus is our Savior. It does not matter how long you have been saved. You could be a new believer today or you could be someone who has been a believer for fifty years like me.

When God decided to cleanse the earth of people, He did so with the exception of a remnant. The way God did that was to temporarily keep His remnant safe in the Ark. Genesis 7:1 states, “Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.” Genesis 7:16-17 relates the story of Noah and his family: “Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed it behind him. Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. This physical event was a type of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theme found in the Bible.
Sodom was condemned but God sent angels to rescue Lot before calamity and he was kept in a nearby city until it was safe. Genesis 19:19-20 states, “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; Now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (Is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” Genesis 19:22 adds, “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.”
Joseph was abhorred by his brothers, thrown into a pit and saved by God for a time in Egypt. God sent angels to rescue him from calamity and kept him in a nearby city until it was safe. Genesis 37:28-29 reads, “Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelite’s for twenty (shekels) of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.”

These three stories from the book of Genesis were actual physical events; however, they communicate a three-dimensional understanding of the text. Hebrew is a 3-D language which will be covered later. Unfortunately, those who read the Bible are largely ignorant [lacking knowledge]. Hebrew scholars who teach the Old Testament know that with each passage there could be as much as three or even four meanings. Hebrew scholars know this as “PRDS”, an acronym for the Hebrew word “paradise”. "Pardes" refers to (types of) approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism or to interpretation of text in Torah study. The term, sometimes also spelled PaRDeS, is an acronym formed from the same initials of the following four approaches:

Peshat (פְּשָׁט) — "surface" ("straight") or the literal (direct) meaning.
Remez (רֶמֶז) — "hints" or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning beyond just the literal sense.
Derash (דְּרַשׁ) — from Hebrew darash: "inquire" ("seek") — the comparative (midrashic) meaning, as given through similar occurrences.
Sod (סוֹד) (pronounced with a long O as in 'sore') — "secret" ("mystery") or the esoteric/mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.⁽¹⁾

Sadly, the Christian community is for the most part completely unaware of this method of Scriptural interpretation. There are many things most Christian pastors do not know. Possessing a working knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is helpful. But for now, just remember that the Hebrew Old Testament is a book written with three dimensional language features. Unfortunately, few pastors have had Biblical language training in Greek, and even fewer have had Hebrew training.

In the book of Exodus, death was decreed for Moses and all male sons born to the Hebrew slaves. But God saved Moses by hiding him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile River. Exodus 1:22 states, “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.” Exodus 2:2-3 reads, “The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.” The man of the house of Levi in verse 1 was Amram, and the daughter of Levi was Jochebed (Exo 6:20). Thus both of Moses' parents were of the priestly tribe of Levi. By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months -(Hebrews 11:23). This must mean that they received some revelation that he was a child of destiny, because faith must be based on some revealed word of God.

Jochebed's ark, like Noah's, is a picture of Christ. Moses' sister was Miriam -(Numbers 26:59). This chapter is full of seeming coincidences. For example, why did Pharaoh's daughter happen to bathe right where the ark was floating? Why did the baby happen to cry and thus draw out her compassion? Why was Moses' mother accepted by Pharaoh's daughter as his nurse?^(a)

Israel was saved in a nearby town of Goshen from the hail that fell during the fourth plague of judgment on Egypt. Exodus 9:26 reads, “Only in the land of Goshen from the hail of the judgements…” The Lord used Pharaoh as an example of what happens to a person who is determined to resist the power of God. The plague consisted of hail and lightning or fire, accompanied by thunder. It destroyed men, beasts, and the flax and . . . barley, that were ready for harvest -(cf. vv. 31, 32); but the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops. The Israelites, dwelling in Goshen, were untouched. In response to Pharaoh's plea, Moses prayed and the plague stopped. But, as Moses expected, Pharaoh became even more adamant against letting the Hebrews leave.^(a)

At this point, the larger picture of “Deliverance before Judgment” for God’s people should be beginning to come into focus. This same portrayal characterizes what applies to the “born-again” Christian as well. We are studying the Word of God through the use of “types” and “themes”. This method of understanding Scripture was lost in the church at the end of the 19^th Century, when liberalism invaded and flooded the Church, nearly overtaking it like a Tsunami. Consequently, from the late 1890’s and forward the Church began to adopt a “Social Gospel” instead of proclaiming the real “Gospel”.⁽²⁾

If we resume and teach this pattern of “types” used by the Creator to communicate the doctrine of “Deliverance before Judgment” through His Word, we are able to understand and grasp His Master Plan for Redemption. In the book of Exodus, the LORD rescued those who were safe in a house marked by the Blood of the Lamb. This represented a symbolic “type” or “shadow” of the future Messiah, Jesus Christ. Exodus 11:4 states, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt.” In Exodus 12:12-13, we read: “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment – I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Then in Exodus 12:23, we read, “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your house to smite you.” This is a perfect example illustrating the three dimensional message of the Hebrew text:

Peshat (פְּשָׁט) - A physical and historical event preceded by a warning describing how the people were to avoid death by the angel of death.
Remez (רֶמֶז) - A spiritual message that God will deliver them to freedom and rest.
Sod (סוֹד) - A prophetic picture illustrating God’s purpose and plan to send a Redeemer who would provide an avenue to obtain salvation for God’s people.

God used some 200 different forms of literary and linguistic devices to teach His Master Plan to Israel and to those who have sought Him out and became believers. “Typology” is but one of the ways God teaches using object lessons designed to drive His message home. His love for His creation is only surpassed by His holiness. Even though His perfect justice requires that sin cannot be left unpunished, He gave the best possible solution by providing His own Lamb, the Messiah Christ Jesus to offer payment for the price of our sins. This is the most perfect example of “Deliverance before Judgment”.

As Pharaoh came to destroy them, the nation of Israel was saved by another flood when the LORD kept the waters from destroying them as they crossed through the Red Sea on dry land. Exodus 14:29 states, “But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” God had a plan for their deliverance and death from the pursuing Egyptian army was not part of God’s plan. He brought them to a location at the Red Sea where a natural land bridge existed that spanned across 11 miles to the opposite side where the land of Midian and their freedom from Egyptian slavery awaited. The land bridge is a half mile wide and was only about 260-meters beneath the surface of the Red Sea. Skeptics scoff but underwater camera and grappling devices have uncovered the bones and remains of the destroyed Egyptians along with parts and wheels from their chariots. The Gospel of Mark, 10:27 states, “Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Arrogance has for more than a century caused man to lie, distort and misrepresent the text and the truth of the story of the Red Sea crossing by the Israelites. We now know it as a proven fact of history! (See Notes 1 – 5 containing 4 interview videos from PITN with Dr. Lennert Moller on Part 17 of Deliverance before Judgment for further discussion related to the land bridge.)⁽³⁾

Ask yourself these questions for a moment:

If God was going to destroy His people, why did God tell them how to escape the judgment?
If He was planning on bringing judgment to disobedient and sinful mankind, why didn’t God simply destroy them all?
If God is such a divine despot, why has God embedded over 300 examples throughout the Bible of where this divine theme of “Deliverance before Judgment is revealed?

On the 3^rd month after Israel escaped and were delivered by God from Egypt, they were to be ready for the Lord to “come down”. Exodus 19:1 states, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” Exodus 19:11 says, “And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.” The people were told to prepare for a revelation from God by washing their clothes and refraining from sexual intercourse. This was designed to teach them the necessity for purity in the presence of God.^(a) To make a long story short, the Israelites could have made their journey to the Promised Land possible in two weeks, but because of their disobedience, it took them forty year to arrive at their final destination. Furthermore, only those 20 years and younger plus Joshua and Caleb were permitted into the Promised Land. All those who left Egypt forfeited their opportunity and died in the wilderness.⁽⁴⁾There is a lesson to be learned for us today in the telling of this story.

Hopefully readers are beginning to see how the three dimensional method of PaRDeS amplifies understanding of the Bible as it unfolds through “types” and brings the Word of God alive in your hearts and minds. Everything that happened to God’s chosen people, historically and physically, were “types” and “shadows” of good things to come in God’s Master Plan of Redemption. –(Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 10:1) In the next segment I will illustrate more examples of “Deliverance before Judgment!”

Pastor Bob

Notes:

Commentaries:

Believer’s Bible Commentary