03.02. Ever Burning, but Not Consumed
2 Ever Burning, but Not Consumed
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush... (Exodus 3:1-4 a).
The Book of Exodus records the historical account of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses, and this historical account forms a type of the future deliverance of Israel from a worldwide dispersion by the One greater than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ. In this respect, the Book of Exodus is an account dealing with both history and prophecy as it pertains to Israel and the Gentile nations.
"Egypt" is always a type of the world in Scripture, and God sending Moses back to the Israelites in Egypt is a type of God one day sending His Son back to the Israelites scattered throughout the world. An Assyrian monarch ruled Egypt at the time Moses was sent back to his people (Isaiah 52:4), and an Assyrian monarch will be ruling the entire earth at the time Jesus is sent back to His people (Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 14:25; Micah 5:5; cf. Daniel 8:8-14).
Ten plagues were brought upon the kingdom of the Assyrian in history (Exodus 7:20 ff), and these plagues point to judgments which will be brought upon the kingdom of the Assyrian yet future. These future judgments are described in the Book of Revelation through the opening of seven seals, the blowing of seven trumpets, and the pouring out of seven vials of wrath (Revelation 6:1 ff).
"Seven" and "ten" are both numbers showing completeness. "Seven" is God’s number and is used in Scripture to show the completion of that which is in view. "Ten" is a terminal number and is used to show ordinal completion. Then there are three sets of judgments yet future, with seven judgments in each set; and "three" is the number showing Divine perfection (e.g., the triune Godhead).
The "ten" plagues befalling Egypt during Moses’ day point to all of God’s judgments which fell upon the kingdom of the Assyrian in history; and that which is depicted by the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials -- judgments befalling the whole world during the days of the Son of Man -- points to Divine perfection within God’s complete judgment upon the kingdom of the Assyrian yet future.
Then, in the type, immediately following God’s complete judgment upon the kingdom of the Assyrian, the Israelites were led out of Egypt under Moses. And it will be exactly the same in the antitype. Immediately following God’s complete judgment upon the kingdom of the Assyrian yet future -- judgments during the Great Tribulation -- the Israelites will be led out from a worldwide dispersion by the One greater than Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:30-31; cf. Deuteronomy 30:1-4).
In the type, the Israelites under Moses were led to Mount Sinai where God had previously appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Here the Old Covenant was made with Israel, which had to do with rules and regulations governing the people of God within the theocracy which was about to be established. Then instructions for the building of the tabernacle and for worship therein were given through Moses (Exodus 19:1-25; Exodus 20:1-26; Exodus 21:1-36; Exodus 22:1-31; Exodus 23:1-33; Exodus 24:1-18; Exodus 25:1-40 Exodus 26:1-37; Exodus 27:1-21; Exodus 28:1-43; Exodus 29:1-46; Exodus 30:1-38; Exodus 31:1-18; Exodus 32:1-35; Exodus 33:1-23; Exodus 34:1-35; Exodus 35:1-35).
The Israelites constructed the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai, and the work was completed a few days short of one year from the time they had left Egypt. Upon completion of the tabernacle and everything connected with the tabernacle, "as the Lord commanded Moses," "a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40:18-34).
At this point in Old Testament history a theocratic kingdom came into existence, and the Israelites were then ready to enter the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and realize their calling as "a peculiar treasure" unto the Lord, placed "above all people" as "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Exodus 19:5-6).
In the antitype under Christ it will be the same as in the type under Moses. Once the Israelites are led out from a worldwide dispersion, God is going to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel; and this covenant must, as the Old, have to do with the theocracy (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Then Messiah Himself is going to build the temple (Zechariah 6:12-13), and the Glory of the Lord which filled the tabernacle during Moses’ day (and later Solomon’s temple, departing after the Israelites had been taken into Babylonian captivity [2 Chronicles 5:1-14; Ezekiel 10:1-22; Ezekiel 11:1-25]) will return and fill the temple which Messiah will build (Ezekiel 43:2-5).
Only at this point will a theocracy once again exist upon this earth. And Israel, having appropriated the blood of the Passover Lamb (slain by Israel in Egypt in the type [Exodus 12:1-51], and slain 1,500 years later by Israel in the antitype [Acts 2:23; Acts 2:36; Acts 3:15; 1 Corinthians 5:7]), will then be able to realize the nation’s calling. Only then can Israel be placed back in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob within a theocracy and be "a peculiar treasure" unto the Lord, placed "above all people" as "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."
Persecution First, Then... The preceding briefly outlines the beginning of Israel’s history and Israel’s national future -- from the brickyards of Egypt to the nation being placed in the land within a theocracy. But first, Israel must endure the fires of a persecution so intense that it has no parallel in history. Israel being persecuted in Egypt by the Assyrian was a type of this future persecution by another Assyrian, but the future persecution will be far more intense than the one in Egypt. Scripture describes the end result of this future persecution in these words: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake [Israel’s sake] those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:22; cf. Matthew 24:9; cf. Matthew 24:15-21).
The burning bush during Moses’ day was a picture of Israel undergoing persecution in the kingdom of the Assyrian -- past in the type, and future in the antitype. That God meant this to be a picture of Israel is plain from the context (Exodus 2:23-25; Exodus 3:7-9). The picture is the same as the account of the three Hebrew men -- Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah -- being cast into the fiery furnace in Babylon during the days of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:19-25). The bush burned during Moses’ day, but it was not consumed; and the Israelites cast into the furnace during Daniel’s day were not harmed by the fire.
God Himself was in the fire in both instances. He spoke to Moses "out of the midst of the bush" (Exodus 3:4), and Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth person "in the midst of the fire" (Daniel 3:25), whom he identified as one "like the Son of God [lit. ’like a son of the gods’]."
(Nebuchadnezzar did not know the one True and Living God at this time, and seeing a fourth person in the fire, whom he called, "a son of the gods," was undoubtedly a reference to a heathen deity. However, had he passed through a similar experience in later years, he would have known the identity of this fourth person [cf. Daniel 4:30-37], which, in the light of the type from Exodus, could only have been God Himself.)
The picture in both instances portrays the nation of Israel ever burning in the fires of Gentile persecution, with God Himself residing in the midst of the nation and in the midst of the fiery persecution. Israel cannot be destroyed because God cannot be destroyed. The whole matter is as simple as that. In this respect, Gentile persecution of Israel is persecution directed against God Himself (cf. Matthew 25:41-45). And the short of "anti-Semitism" in this same respect is simply, anti-God.
(Note that the inverse of the preceding is also true. One’s attitude toward and actions in relation to the Jewish people (blessings or curses) are looked upon in Scripture as that person’s attitude toward and actions in relation to God Himself (cf. Matthew 25:34-40). And, accordingly, God either manifests blessings or curses upon individuals or nations, dependent upon their attitude toward and treatment of His people Israel [Genesis 12:3].)
Anti-Semitism began with a persecution of the Jewish people in Egypt over three and one-half millenniums ago during the reign of an Assyrian monarch, and it will be brought to an end at the conclusion of the Great Tribulation after a worldwide persecution of the Jewish people under the reign of another Assyrian monarch. Between these two times, though the type and antitype refer more specifically to Jewish persecution under the first and last Assyrians, the fires of Israeli persecution are never quenched (cf. Genesis 4:14 [Cain slaying Abel is a type of Israel slaying Christ, with continuous persecution following]). And, in that respect, the picture in both Exodus and Daniel could be broadened to reveal spiritual truths concerning the entire history of the nation -- Israel dwelling in a continuous fire, but never being consumed, for God himself resides in the midst of the fire.
Sometimes the fire burns brighter than at other times, but it never goes out. Anti-Semitism has always been present in some form since the days of the Assyrian Pharaoh in Egypt, and it will remain present until Christ returns at the end of the Great Tribulation and takes care of the matter Himself.
1. The Amalekites, Assyrians, Babylonians
The first act of anti-Semitism after Israel had left Egypt was the attack by the Amalekites in Rephidim as the Israelites were enroute to Sinai. The Amalekites hold the dubious honor of being the first of the nations to war against Israel after this new nation had left Egypt (Exodus 17:8; Numbers 24:20). And because of this, God pronounced a terminal judgment upon the Amalekites. God said, "I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven" (Exodus 17:14).
The Israelites were later appointed the executioners of God’s decree (Deuteronomy 25:17-19). God elected to carry out His judgmental decree against Amalek by using the very nation which Amalek had come against, resulting in the decree. However, the Israelites were lax in carrying out God’s pronounced sentence, and it was not until some seven hundred years later, during the days of Hezekiah, that the Amalekites were completely destroyed (1 Chronicles 4:39-43).
The Amalekites have always been somewhat of an enigma to archaeologists and historians over the years, for God did exactly what He said that He would do. God literally "put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Today archaeologists can find no trace of this nation. The slate has been wiped clean, and the Amalekites do not exist beyond the days of Hezekiah after any fashion except on the pages of Scripture.
Assyria and Babylon are two other kingdoms which suffered or will suffer a somewhat similar fate. The Assyrians took the northern ten tribes into captivity about 722 B.C., and the Babylonians took the southern two tribes into captivity about 605 B.C.
Shortly before the Jews were taken captive into Babylon, Nineveh (the capital of the Assyrian Empire) had fallen to the Babylonians (about 612 B.C.); and the Assyrian Empire at this time -- the empire having previously taken the northern ten tribes into captivity, an empire which could trace its beginning to the third century B.C. -- not only totally collapsed but three months later the Kingdom of Assyria ceased to exist. The Babylonian Empire rose on the ruins of the conquered nation, and the people of Assyria, over time, as the nation itself, gradually passed out of existence.
So complete has been the destruction of the Assyrian civilization that no trace of these people remains today. This is something which has puzzled historians, for when kingdoms are conquered, the people of those kingdoms normally live on. This though was not the case with the Assyrians.
The reason for this is evident. The Assyrians, like the Amalekites, made a fatal mistake by moving against Israel. By going down into the land of Israel and carrying the northern ten tribes into captivity, the Assyrians, through this act, committed national suicide. And God brought the matter to pass through the outworking of the principle set forth in Genesis 4:15; Genesis 12:3.
The kingdom of Babylon though is somewhat different, for God’s terminal judgment upon this kingdom for its anti-Semitism awaits a future date. Such a judgment upon Babylon, according to Biblical prophecy, will occur at the end of the coming Tribulation, described in prophecies such as Isaiah 13:1-22; Jeremiah 50:1-46; Jeremiah 51:1-64; Revelation 18:1-24. It will be then that this kingdom, under the last king of Babylon, Antichrist, will be destroyed through suffering a similar fate to that experienced by Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain during the days of Abraham (cf. Jeremiah 50:40 Revelation 18:2; Revelation 18:9-10; Revelation 18:21).
In the light of Biblical prophecy, this is one of the things that makes present world attention centered on the Persian Gulf area of especial interest. Babylon is in Iraq, some 55 to 60 miles from Baghdad. And Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, has, for years, looked upon himself as a latter-day Nebuchadnezzar. For the past couple of decades he has been trying to restore parts of the ancient city of Babylon, and with his hatred for the Jews, that which Nebuchadnezzar did to the Jews would have to occupy a significant place in his plans and purposes.
Saddam Hussein though is not the last king of Babylon or a modern-day Nebuchadnezzar. He is only a forerunner of a man yet to appear, and when this man does appear and becomes the last king of Babylon, the center of world power and commerce will be located in a rebuilt city of Babylon back on the Euphrates River in what is today Iraq.
According to Zechariah, two women, possessing wings like those of "a stork [an unclean bird]" will carry "an ephah [often used as a symbol of commerce]" to "the land of Shinar" to "build it an house" and set it "there upon her own base" (Zechariah 5:5-11). And events in the world today appear to clearly indicate that these two women are about ready to make this flight.
When the Stone strikes the image upon its feet (Daniel 2:34-35; Daniel 2:44-45), that smiting will occur in the Mesopotamian Valley (cf. Jeremiah 51:49). This will have to be the case, for the image is Babylonian in its entirety, from the head of gold to the feet part of iron and part of clay. As the power represented by the head of gold reigned from Babylon, so must the powers represented by all other parts of the image reign from Babylon. These things necessitate the rise of Babylon as the center of world government in the latter days.
(Antichrist is thus associated with both the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon in Scripture. He is called an "Assyrian" because he will arise from within the borders of the ancient Assyrian kingdom, even though neither this kingdom nor its people presently exist; and he is seen in Scripture as the last "king of Babylon" because he will be the last of the world rulers enthroned in this city, immediately preceding its destruction [Daniel 2:40-45; Daniel 7:7; Daniel 7:23-27; Daniel 8:8-14; Daniel 8:22-25 22-25].)
Between the destruction of Assyria 2,600 years ago and the impending destruction of Babylon yet future, history is replete with accounts of anti-Semitism. The fire which Moses saw at Sinai has continued to burn from that day until the present time, and it will continue to burn until the end of the Tribulation. Anti-Semitic nations have risen and fallen throughout history, as they will in days ahead; and the epitaph on their tombstones has always been and will always be the same, in keeping with the principle laid down by God through Moses in Genesis 4:15; Genesis 12:3 : "Risen and fallen according to this nation’s attitude toward and treatment of the nation of Israel."
2. The Nations Today
Viewing the matter more with respect to modern times, preceding Babylon’s impending destruction, the leadership of Germany, immediately before and during World War II, sought to take up the mantle which previous anti-Semitic nations had laid down. The Third Reich under Adolf Hitler (1933-1945) sought to bring about the "Final Solution [a code name used by the Nazis]" to what was known as "the Jewish question," or "the Jewish problem." The ultimate aim of those in the Third Reich was to produce a Jew-free society throughout a German-controlled Europe.
A) The Fate Awaiting Germany
Because of Hitler’s aspirations to bring about this "Final Solution," six million Jews died in Europe between the years 1939-1945. God then used the Allied powers to overrun Germany; and twelve years from the time Hitler rose to power, he lay dead in a German bunker, and the country which he had ruled lay in ruins. But a people with a national identity going back to a lineage from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob continued, for the fire could not consume them.
God though is not through with Germany, and the reason is evident. Germany will be among the nations allied with Russia when Russia (another anti-Semitic nation) comes down against Israel during the coming Tribulation period (Ezekiel 38:6). The final judgment on Germany has merely been delayed for about half a century, and Germany in that future day when her final judgment is executed will experience the same fate as Russia -- a destructive fate which always has and always will await nations having a part in anti-Semitism.
(Even in the interim, those individuals comprising the leadership of German during the days of the Third Reich and surviving the war have been unable to find an escape from their past. At the end of World War II, numerous trials [numbering in the thousands] of Nazi war criminals occurred in countries throughout Europe, including the famous Nuremberg trials in Germany [about 80,000 Germans were tried and convicted in all these trials]. Then, since that time, down through the years, certain Jews have hunted continuously, throughout the world, for escaped Nazi war criminals. And many have been captured and dealt with.
The most notable of the German war criminals, captured in later years, was Adolf Eichmann [the man Hitler had placed in charge of the "Final Solution"]. He escaped to Argentina after the war and assumed a new identity; but he was tracked down, captured in 1960, and taken to Israel for trial. He was tried in 1961 in an Israeli court [a trial lasting almost nine months, in which the entire Holocaust was fully documented] and put to death for his crimes in 1962 by the very people he had sought to destroy -- a modern-day rendition of Haman hanged on the gallows which he had built for Mordecai, the Jew [Esther 5:14; Esther 6:13; Esther 7:9-10]. Germany itself though, because of what was done at a time in the past -- during the days of the Third Reich -- has a yet-to-be-kept date with destiny.)
B) The Fate Awaiting Middle East Nations
With the birth of an Israeli nation on May 14, 1948, only three short years after the conclusion of the war in Europe, the fires of Israeli persecution began to burn brightly once again; and the flame has remained since that date, settling down at times but burning brighter at other times. The Moslem half-brother of the Jews, surrounding the nation on all sides but the Mediterranean to the west, has seen to that (ref. Chapter I).
Then bringing the matter up to date, persecution began to increase in Israel during the latter part of the ’80’s with what is called "the intifada" (a name given to the Palestinian uprising over the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- territories captured from Jordan and Egypt during the Six-Day War of 1967). Hardly a day passes anymore without word coming out of Israel about terrorist acts by Palestinians against Jews. There are stabbings on buses, in the streets, rock-throwing incidents, etc. And the Palestinians have vowed to even go so far as to take these activities right into the Israeli homes before it is over.
The surrounding Arabic nations, with a very powerful weapon at their disposal -- "oil" -- have tried to make it as difficult as possible for nations dependent on Middle East oil to take a pro-Israeli stand. Numerous nations have succumbed to this type strategy, and the Arabic nations patiently wait for other nations to fall in line. Even in the United States, because of who controls the supply of Middle East oil, an increasing number of individuals are beginning to question this country’s policy toward Israel.
The OPEC nations in the Middle East -- all Moslem nations -- use their control over the supply of oil to numerous nations throughout the world as their main weapon in what is called Jihad -- Holy War. This war is primarily against Israel at the present time, but in a larger scope it extends worldwide. Not only must the land which Israel occupies be reclaimed for "Allah," but all lands must be conquered and claimed for Him.
This is the near and far Moslem goal; and insofar as Israel is concerned, the Moslems feel that patience on their part will result in the United States eventually departing from its pro-Israeli position and going the way of numerous other nations. They look at the United States’ involvement in Vietnam and see what eventually happened there, and they feel that the United States’ involvement with Israel will one day take a similar turn. In this respect, the Moslems see time and history as both being on their side.
The Moslems also look at time and history in another respect. They look back to the "Christian Crusades" and see that it took eighty-eight years to reclaim the land for "Allah" then, and they are prepared to wait another eighty-eight years to reclaim this land during the present time if that’s what it’s going to take.
And to bring this about they hold a weapon far more powerful than anything held by their predecessors in the twelfth century. They own the richest oil fields in the world; and they know, as Lenin in Russia foresaw during the first part of this century, that oil from the Middle East is the sea upon which Western economies presently sail.
The OPEC nations need look no farther back than the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to see the power of the weapon in their possession, lying beneath their feet. During the early days of this war, when Israel was running dangerously low on military equipment and the United States began a massive resupply via air, no European country would allow American planes carrying materiel to Israel to fly into or through their air space. Thus, all flights had to be made non-stop from either the United States or an American Air Force base in the Azores; and these flights had to be routed entirely over open water outside the territorial limits of all the different countries enroute -- across the Atlantic, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and across the Mediterranean to Israel. The actions of all the European countries, denying the United States access to their air space, was governed by their dependence on Middle East oil.
The whole thought of Jihad -- Holy War -- directed against Israel in the Middle East becomes quite interesting when one views anti-Semitism strictly from a Scriptural perspective. The Moslems believe God is on their side, and because He is on their side, they will be victorious. The war they are fighting is being fought for "Allah" against "the enemy of God [Israel]."
However, the opposite of that held by the Moslem nations is, in reality, true. The Moslem nations warring against Israel are fueling a fire which was lit over three and one-half millenniums ago, during the days of Moses; and by doing this they are fueling a fire in which God Himself resides. Resultingly, by warring against Israel in this fashion, they are, in actuality, warring against God.
When Arab leaders in the past have threatened to push Israel into the sea, they have, in effect, threatened to push God into the sea. And when an Arab leader today threatens Israel with missiles containing chemical warheads or threatens to burn Israel and wipe it off the face of the earth, as the leader of Iraq has done, he has, in effect, threatened God with these things. He is doing no more than fueling the fire wherein the Holy One of Israel resides.
The OPEC nations are thus using the weapon placed beneath their feet to fight a Holy War against the people of God residing in the furnace and thus against God Himself residing in the midst of the furnace. And because of the principle set forth in Genesis 4:15; Genesis 12:3, any type of anti-Semitism, no matter to what degree, can never be overlooked by God (and the inverse of that is equally true). Resultingly, the outworking of this principle, as it pertains to the actions of the Gentile nations in the Middle East, will have to be brought to pass. This is the ill-fated path down which the Moslem nations surrounding Israel have been led by their religious faith. No Peace, Until...
Strictly from a Biblical perspective, there is no need to even talk about peace between the Jews and the Arabs in the Middle East during the present day and time. It’s not going to happen simply because it can’t happen. According to Scripture, throughout the remainder of the age, Israel must remain in the furnace (Exodus 3:2-4; Daniel 3:19-25), and the Arabic nations must continue dwelling "in the presence of [’over against,’ i.e., be antagonistic toward]" all their brethren (Genesis 16:12).
Israel cannot emerge from the furnace until the end of the Tribulation when Messiah returns and brings the matter to pass Himself. At this time the nation will emerge from the most intense fire of all -- that of the Great Tribulation, "the time of Jacob’s trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7) -- when the furnace will be heated "seven times more than it was wont to be heated [’seven times hotter than usual,’ NIV]" (Daniel 3:19).
And no change can occur among the Arabic nations until this time either, for in Biblical history Ishmael did not die (his status in accord with Genesis 16:12 remained unchanged) until the bride had been acquired for Abraham’s son and Abraham had remarried (Genesis 24:1-67; Genesis 25:1-17).
Within the framework of typology, the reference is clearly to a future change in the status of the descendants of Ishmael, in accord with prophecies such as Isaiah 19:21-25 (which will occur "in that day" [Isaiah 19:21, Isaiah 19:23-24], not during the present day). The Arabic nations will remain unchanged until the bride has been acquired for God’s Son and God restores Israel. Then, and only then, can a change occur, which moves the matter into the Messianic Era. "In that day," not before, Israel will no longer be in the furnace, and the Arabic nations will no longer be antagonistic toward their brethren.
Thus, to talk about peace between Israel and the surrounding nations at any time preceding Messiah’s return is completely out of the question. Antichrist will succeed in bringing about what appears to be peace in the Middle East during the first part of the Tribulation, but this will not be true peace, nor will it last. During this very time, Russia, accompanied by certain other nations (which will include Arabic nations), will make her move against Israel; and "wars and rumours of wars" will continue (Matthew 24:6).
The nations will remain unchanged, and this false peace -- brought about through what Scripture calls, "a covenant with death" (Isaiah 28:15) -- will last for all of three and one-half years. And this period of false peace will immediately precede the most intense time of Israel’s persecution throughout the entire 3,500-year history of the nation, which will also last three and one-half years.
But afterwards, the seventh day (the seventh millennium) will dawn (Hebrews 4:4; Hebrews 4:9), "the Sun of righteousness" will arise "with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2), and He, "The Prince of Peace, will raise Israel up to "live in his sight" (Isaiah 9:6-7; Hosea 6:1-2).