TEN ASPECTS OF GOD’S FULL SALVATION
EXPERIENCED BY THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
God’s full salvation typified by the experience of the children of Israel includes ten aspects: the blood of the lamb, the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the arm of Jehovah, the Angel of Jehovah, the cloud, the manna, the water, and the healing of the Physician.
The Passover clearly typifies the redemptive aspect of God’s salvation. In the Passover the first striking thing is the blood shed by the Passover lamb (Exo. 12:7). The blood is stressed very much by many Christians. However, the Passover includes not only the blood of the lamb; it also includes the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs (v. 8). The blood of the lamb was applied outwardly, being sprinkled on the doorposts of the houses. But the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs were taken inwardly because they were eaten by the children of Israel.
The blood on the doorposts and lintel was a sign to the smiting angel (v. 23). On the night of the Passover, God judged the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt. The firstborn signifies the first man, Adam (1 Cor. 15:45a). According to God’s judgment, all the firstborn should die. God’s judgment included not only the Egyptians but also the Israelites, who were just as sinful as the Egyptians. They were all condemned by God in His righteousness. But on the night of the Passover, all the Israelites had the blood as a sign upon their houses. By the blood upon their houses, the firstborn of the children of Israel were redeemed. God’s redemption took care of their problem directly with God, the problem of God’s condemnation because of their sins. The blood of the lamb dealt with this problem, but it was the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs that saved the children of Israel from Pharaoh, Egypt, and the tyranny of Egyptian slavery.
God’s full salvation experienced by the children of Israel also included the miraculous acts of God. These miraculous acts, such as the opening of the Red Sea, were related to the arm of Jehovah (Exo. 15:16) in the Old Testament. The arm of Jehovah, referring to the power, the miraculous strength, of Jehovah, acted to save the children of Israel. In addition to this, Christ as the Angel of Jehovah led the army of Israel as their invisible Commander. When the children of Israel fled Egypt, before they crossed the Red Sea, the Egyptian army pursued them. The Angel of Jehovah then turned from the front of the camp to the rear in order to protect them (14:19-20).
The children of Israel also enjoyed the pillar of cloud in the daytime and the pillar of fire in the nighttime. These became a covering, a canopy, to the children of Israel (Isa. 4:5). In God’s full salvation, the children of Israel enjoyed such a canopy all the time.
God’s salvation included not only the escape of the children of Israel from Egypt but also their supply while they journeyed through the wilderness. After the children of Israel left Egypt and entered into the wilderness, they did not have a sea in which to gain fish or land on which to farm in order to gain a harvest of grain and cereals. In the wilderness there was nothing to eat. So part of God’s salvation was to give them manna from the heavens (Exo. 16:14-22). They could not get food from any other source. God gave them manna, not from the water or from the land but from the heavens above.
(The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee)
