05.02. Two Callings, Two Houses
2 Two Callings, Two Houses
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God (Hebrews 3:1-4).
The thought in the opening verses of Hebrews 3:1-19 turns on a type-antitype comparison between two houses -- the house of Moses and the house of Christ. The former constitutes the type and the latter the antitype. Moses was a type of Christ (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37), and the work which he performed in relation to his house typifies the work which Christ is presently performing in relation to His house. And there must be an exact parallel between the two.
The word "house" is used in Scripture to refer to both a material structure and the inhabitants of or the people associated with that structure, and the thought sometimes merges from one to the other in the same text.
In 2 Samuel 7:1 ff, David sought to build the Lord a house in which to dwell, seeing that he himself dwelled in "an house of cedar" while the ark (resting within that portion of the tabernacle where God dwelled) was surrounded only by "curtains." However, God had other thoughts in mind about the matter; and He instructed Nathan to tell David that rather than David building the Lord a house, the Lord would, instead, take David and build a house out of him (2 Samuel 7:4, 2 Samuel 7:11-13). That which is meant by "house," thus, merges from the thought of a material structure to that of the people associated with the structure.
When on earth the first time, Christ referred to both Israel and the temple as a "house" (Matthew 10:6; Matthew 21:13). The thought in Matthew 23:38 -- "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate [left a ’desert,’ ’wilderness,’ ’waste land’]" -- was a reference to both the people and the temple (Matthew 23:39; Matthew 24:1-2). The house of Israel was left desolate at the time Christ spoke these words (a reference to their spiritual condition, likened to a desert or waste land, void of water), the temple was destroyed forty years later (in 70 A.D.), and the house of Israel has remained desolate since that time.
Antichrist will complete this desolation (beginning in the middle of the Tribulation) by desecrating the rebuilt temple, destroying this temple, destroying the city of Jerusalem, seeking to destroy the Jewish people, and dividing the land presently occupied by the Jews "for gain" (Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:39; Joel 3:2; Matthew 24:15-22; Luke 21:20-24). In this respect, "your house" in Matthew 23:38 could be expanded to include the temple, the city of Jerusalem, the land of Israel, and the people of that land.
The house of Moses likewise has to do with both a material structure and the people associated with that structure. The thought in the opening verses of Hebrews 3:1-19 is drawn from Numbers 12:1-16. In Numbers 12:7, Moses was said to have been "faithful in all mine house." The immediate context has to do with "the tabernacle of the congregation." Events surrounding the tabernacle furnish the backdrop for the statement concerning Moses’ faithfulness, and there is a shift in the passage from "the tabernacle" (a material structure in which priestly activity transpired) to "the congregation" (those who had been separated from Egypt with a view to their becoming "a kingdom of priests" in another land [Exodus 19:6]).
And the thought concerning a tabernacle and the people associated with the tabernacle as both comprising a "house" is the same when it comes to the house of Christ. There is a tabernacle in the heavens, after which the earthly tabernacle was patterned ( Hebrews 8:5). Christ is today performing His high priestly ministry on behalf of Christians within that tabernacle, and He is presently building a house out of Christians -- those separated from this world with a view to their becoming "kings and priests" in another land (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:19-22; Hebrews 9:11 ff; Revelation 5:10; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This is a house separate and distinct from the house of Israel, made up of the "new creation" in Christ, comprising the "one new man" (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:15).
The warning in Hebrews 3:1-19 turns on the thought of the headship of two individuals (Moses and Christ) over two groups of people (Israelites and Christians). There is a tabernacle in each instance (one earthly, the other heavenly [Numbers 12:7; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 10:19-22]); and the warning involves the people associated with both tabernacles (drawn from the experiences of an earthly people in the type [separated from Egypt in order to realize an earthly inheritance in another land], applicable to the experiences of a heavenly people in the antitype [separated from this earth in order to realize a heavenly inheritance in another land]).
(Moses, though of the Levitical line, did not occupy a priestly position following the erection of the tabernacle and the anointing of his brother Aaron. Rather, this priestly work was carried out by Aaron, after which the present high priestly work of Christ is patterned. The positions held by Moses and Aaron are combined in the present position held by Christ. And Christ’s high priestly ministry would have to be viewed as an integral part of His present headship over His house, as the ministry of Aaron was an integral part of Moses’ past headship over his house. The two must function together after an inseparable fashion in both type and antitype.) The Primary, Fundamental Type The Spirit of God moved some forty different men over a period of about fifteen hundred years to record God’s revelation to man after a certain fashion, and Scripture must be interpreted after the fashion in which it was given to man through the Holy Spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11, all recorded Old Testament history is not only an accurate account of past events but it is also fraught with types and meanings -- "Now these things were our examples [Gk., tupoi, ’types’; lit., ’Now these things happened as types for us’]...Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Gk., tupoi, ’types’; lit., ’Now all these things happened unto them for types’]."
The Greek word tupos (pl. tupoi), found in 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11, is the word from which we derive our English word "type." The immediate reference surrounding these verses has to do with the experiences of the Israelites under Moses (and, correspondingly, later under Joshua [cf. Hebrews 3:2-19; Hebrews 4:1-8]). All these experiences occurred as "types for us." However, the thought could not be limited to just this one section of Old Testament history -- covering about one-fifth of the entire Old Testament. The Spirit of God didn’t move men to write this part of the Old Testament one way and the remainder another. History throughout the other four-fifths could only have been written after the same fashion, which is exactly what internal evidence reveals (cf. Matthew 12:40 Luke 24:26-27; John 3:14-15; Hebrews 11:4 ff).
Everything having to do with this earth and man occurred under the sovereign control of the Lord, and all Old Testament history has been recorded to not only provide man with a completely accurate account of certain events in history but also in order that the Lord could, at a later point in time, have these events to draw upon for the express purpose of teaching His people the deep things of God. Revelation of this nature begins in Genesis 1:1 and continues throughout all of Old Testament history.
There’s nothing quite like the study of Biblical typology. This is where the true meat of the word is to be found, and anyone ignoring the study of Old Testament history within a typical framework is not only refusing to study the Bible after the fashion in which it was written but is also denying to himself (and, in many cases, to others as well [by those in positions to teach]) great spiritual truths which God has for His people.
Scripture as a whole simply cannot be properly understood apart from viewing the Old Testament types. The Book of Hebrews is a good case in point. This Book is built around five major warnings, and all five of these warnings draw heavily from Old Testament typology. And the central reason this book has been understood so many different ways over the years is because those studying the book have either ignored or not properly understood the Old Testament types dealt with in the book.
All five warnings draw heavily from what could be called, "the primary, fundamental type." This is the type dealt with through five books in the Old Testament -- from Exodus 12:1-51 through Joshua. The overall type (comprised of many different individual types) involves the numerous experiences of the Israelites under Moses, and later under Joshua, from the point of the appropriation of the blood of the paschal lambs in Egypt to the point of either their overthrow in the wilderness (between Egypt and Canaan) or their entrance into and conquest of the land of Canaan -- the land to which they had been called for a revealed purpose, wherein they could realize the rights of the firstborn. And a person simply cannot understand the warnings in Hebrews apart from viewing them within the framework of this section of the Old Testament.
Within this overall type one will find God’s Own source material given to instruct His people concerning how to safely and successfully move from Egypt to Canaan (that is, how to safely and successfully move from this world to that heavenly land to which we have been called). And, within this type, one will also find something else. One will find the basis for the warnings in Hebrews concerning what will occur if we don’t follow the Lord’s instructions in this respect.
That is to say, this primary, fundamental type covers the whole of the Christian experience -- from the point of salvation to that future time when Christians either come into a realization of or fail to realize the goal of their calling. Hebrews provides instructions for Christians (drawing from the type) concerning how to govern their lives so they can ultimately realize the goal of their calling, and Hebrews also warns Christians (drawing from the type) concerning what will happen if they fail to so govern their lives. The House of Moses The house of Moses was simply the old creation in Jacob (Jacob’s descendants through his twelve sons [Isaiah 43:1]). Jacob and his family had gone down into Egypt during the days of Joseph and, over a period of four generations, covering slightly more than two hundred years (cf. Genesis 15:13-16; Galatians 3:16-17), the descendants of this one family had become a great nation. And it was this nation (comprised of some two million people) over which Moses had been placed for the express purpose of leading the people out of the land of Egypt into the land of Canaan.
Israel was (and remains today) God’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), and the nation was to be led from Egypt to Canaan in order to realize the rights of the firstborn in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 4:23; cf. Exodus 2:23-25; Exodus 3:7-8). Occupying the position of God’s firstborn in this land, Israel was not only to rule over all the Gentile nations (the kingly aspect of the birthright) but Israel was also to be the channel through which all the Gentile nations would be blessed (the priestly aspect of the birthright).
1. Death of the Firstborn
The type begins with the death of the firstborn in Egypt as recorded in Exodus, chapter twelve. The firstborn had to die in Egypt before the nation could realize the rights of the firstborn in the land of Canaan (an individual and national death, brought to pass through the death of the firstborn in the family).
God rejects first things (the earth’s first Messiah [Satan], the earth’s first man [Adam], man’s first birth [the natural birth], etc.), and, consequently, the first had to be removed before the second could be established. This is God’s revealed method for carrying out His plans and purposes (Hebrews 10:9).
In this respect, the firstborn in every household throughout all the land of Egypt (Israelite and Egyptian alike) fell under the sentence of death, a death which had to be carried out. And in order to bring about the death of the firstborn, the Lord was to pass through the land of Egypt at midnight, on a specified day, and slay all the firstborn throughout the land.
However, the Lord made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians by providing the Israelites with a means of substitutionary death. A lamb, previously taken from the flock, could die in the place of, in the stead of, the firstborn in the family -- a vicarious death. And to show that death had already occurred, blood from a slain lamb ("a lamb for an house") was to be applied to the doorposts and lintel of the houses in which the firstborn dwelled.
The paschal lambs were to be slain -- followed by the application of the blood -- on the fourteenth day of the first month of the year "in the evening [’between the evenings’]." Then, when the Lord passed through the land of Egypt a few hours later, at midnight, He looked for one thing alone. He looked for the blood applied to the doorposts and lintel of each and every house.
If the blood was there, the Lord knew that death had already occurred. A lamb from the flock had died in the stead of the firstborn in the family; and, in this respect, in God’s eyes, the matter was viewed as the firstborn in the family having experienced death himself. And since the death of the firstborn had already occurred, the Lord passed over that house. The firstborn had died, and God was satisfied.
But, if there was no blood on the doorposts and lintel, then the firstborn himself, apart from a substitute, was slain (for the absence of blood showed that the firstborn had not yet died; death had not yet occurred). The firstborn in the family then experienced death himself, for that which God had previously decreed concerning the firstborn must be carried out. God must be satisfied. The first had to be removed before the second could be established.
Though the firstborn within a family is singled out after a particular fashion, all members of that family, and consequently the nation as a whole -- God’s firstborn son -- must be included within the larger scope of the type. All members of the family had a part in taking, slaying, and eating the lamb. The lamb was "for an house," not just the firstborn in that house (Exodus 12:3-4). And every family in the camp of Israel was to take, slay, and eat a lamb after this fashion. In this respect they all (the entire nation) appropriated the blood, in the same sense that Paul recounts, "all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink..." (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
This was the point of beginning. The birth of a nation occurred this night in Egypt. There was death, followed by resurrection to life (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). God set aside the first in order to establish the second. Only after this had been accomplished could God move His people out of Egypt with a view to establishing them in the land of Canaan.
2. The Red Sea Passage
Egypt though could have no part in the matter surrounding a substitutionary death. God set aside the first (an individual death, reflecting on a national death) apart from establishing the second, for there was no second to be established. There was no resurrection to life. The firstborn died apart from a subsequent resurrection; and Pharaoh and his armed forces were then buried in the Red Sea, where they remained.
While at the same time, Moses and those whom he had led through the sea (who had experienced the death of the firstborn via a substitute, with its corresponding subsequent resurrection to life) stood on the eastern banks of the sea. They had walked across on "dry ground," with the sea forming two walls of water, one on their right and the other on their left. Because of that which had previously occurred in Egypt surrounding the death of the firstborn, the sea had no power over them. Israel on the eastern banks, not Egypt beneath the waters of the sea, was God’s recognized firstborn -- the nation in line to realize the rights of primogeniture.
The Red Sea lay between Egypt and the wilderness. The Israelites could not enter Canaan directly from Egypt even after the first had been set aside and the second established. They had to first go through the Red Sea and then traverse the wilderness.
God separated His people from Egypt via the Red Sea passage; and once in the wilderness, their thoughts were to be on the land to which they had been called, not upon the land from which they had been separated. Their eyes were to be focused on the goal of their calling, not on surrounding things in the wilderness or on the things back in Egypt (cf. Hebrews 12:1-2).
This though was often not the case. Because of the Israelites’ lengthy prior association with Egypt (dwelling in Egypt and partaking of the things of this land for over two centuries), trouble often developed in the camp of Israel throughout the wilderness journey; and this trouble could always, after some fashion, be traced back to what the people had learned in Egypt and brought out of Egypt into the wilderness with them.
At Mt. Sinai, for example, the Israelites fell into a pagan form of idolatry, desiring "gods" like unto the gods of the Egyptians, gods they had previously worshipped in Egypt (Joshua 24:14). The calf (or ox) was the principle Egyptian god, and Aaron fashioned a "molten calf" for the Israelites while Moses was in the Mount (Exodus 32:1 ff).
On another occasion the Israelites grew tired of the manna which God had provided, remembering the fish, melons, and other food which they had previously eaten in Egypt (Numbers 11:4-8). And at Kadesh-Barnea they climaxed their rebellion against the separation which God had established. At Kadesh-Barnea, rather than following the leadership of the Lord and entering the land of Canaan under Moses, they, instead, elected to appoint another leader and return to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-4).
According to 1 Corinthians 10:2, the Israelites were "baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." The "cloud" was the pillar of a cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night which went before the Israelites -- the Shekinah Glory, the visible presence of God among His people (Exodus 13:21-22); and the "sea" was the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed (Exodus 14:22).
"Baptism" is used in Scripture in the sense of identification. Usually there is an element into which the individual is immersed to either bring about or show this identification (Matthew 3:11), but this is sometimes not the case (Matthew 20:22). The baptism of the Israelites "in the cloud and in the sea" showed their identification with the Lord ("in the cloud") as a people separated from Egypt ("in the sea"). And there was a reason for this identification and corresponding separation, which had to do with their being positioned in the land of Canaan.
They had been buried "by baptism" on the western banks of the sea in Egypt and raised to "walk in newness of life" on the eastern banks in the wilderness (cf. Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). The firstborn had died. The first had been set aside and the second established. There had been a death and subsequent resurrection to life, in which the people were separated from Egypt for a purpose; and, within this new standing, with their eyes fixed on the goal of their calling, God expected His people to govern their lives accordingly.
3. The Wilderness Journey
The Israelites’ march through the wilderness was not directly to the land of Canaan. Rather, through God’s prior command to Moses, the march was first to Mt. Sinai (Exodus 3:12; Exodus 19:1-2). God had to first communicate His Word to His people, and this was to be done through Moses at Mt. Sinai.
In the third month after their departure from Egypt, the people of Israel came into the wilderness of Sinai and camped before the Mount. Moses then went up into the Mount to receive the word of God, and the first thing which God communicated to Moses concerned the Israelites standing before Him. They were to be "a peculiar treasure," placed "above all people" as "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." This had to do with their standing as firstborn; and their occupying this position in the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was contingent on obedience (Exodus 19:5-6).
They had to obey the voice of the Lord and keep His covenant (Exodus 19:5). Thus, at Mt. Sinai, the Lord, after singling out and identifying the people who had been brought out of Egypt under Moses, communicated His Word to His people through Moses.
Also at Mt. Sinai, in connection with God’s communication of His Word to His people, instructions for the building of the tabernacle and the manner in which the Levitical priests were to carry on their ministry were revealed to Moses. Subsequently, at Sinai, the tabernacle was constructed and the priesthood established ().
Then, immediately after Moses had "finished the work" which God had commanded, the "glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle" ; and at this point, a theocratic kingdom came into existence in the camp of Israel.
The people of Israel, in possession of the Word of God (rules and regulations governing them within the theocracy) and the Lord dwelling within the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle in their midst (forming a theocracy), were now in a position to march toward the land of Canaan, occupy that land, and realize the rights of the firstborn in that land.
4. At Kadesh-Barnea
Several months beyond Israel’s departure from the wilderness of Sinai (Numbers 10:11-12), about one and one-half years beyond the nation’s departure from Egypt, the newly established nation, God’s firstborn son, arrived at the borders of the land of Canaan. The end of an era was at hand. Heretofore the descendants of Abraham had been considered "strangers" in relation to the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:13; Genesis 37:1; Genesis 47:9; Exodus 6:3-4). But the sojourn of the seed of Abraham had ended, and the descendants of Abraham were now at the very borders of the land -- an established nation under God (the only earthly nation which ever has been or ever will be so placed) -- ready to enter in and take possession of the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses, as instructed by the Lord, first sent spies into the land to obtain a report concerning the land and its inhabitants. These spies traversed the land, "from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob," for forty days and nights. And at the end of this time they appeared before Moses, Aaron, and the congregation of Israel to give their report (Numbers 13:1-33).
Their report contained both positive and negative aspects. The land was truly a land flowing with "milk and honey," but... The inhabitants of the land were strong, they dwelled in walled cities, and the sons of Anak (the Nephilim) dwelled in the land (Numbers 14:26-29; Numbers 14:33).
Then, Caleb "stilled the people before Moses, and said, ’Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it’" (Numbers 13:30). Within his and Joshua’s thinking concerning the matter, the strength of the land’s inhabitants was not the issue. Rather, that which God had promised and God’s faithfulness to carry out His promises, through His strength, was the issue with them. They believed God would be well able to complete His dealings with Israel through bringing the people of this nation into a realization of their calling (cf. Numbers 14:8), ultimately effecting the fulfillment of Genesis 12:2-3.
The other ten spies though presented an opposing report. They said, "We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we" (Numbers 13:31-33). These spies led the people of Israel to believe that they would be unable to go up against and conquer the inhabitants of the land. And viewing matters after this fashion, they were in essence saying that God would be unable to complete His dealings with Israel through bringing the people comprising this nation into a realization of their calling, resulting in Genesis 12:2-3 remaining unfulfilled.
The people of Israel chose to believe the ten spies with their "evil report," and it is at this point in Israel’s history that we find a national apostasy, resulting in the nation being overthrown in the wilderness. Because of that which occurred at Kadesh-Barnea, rather than the people overcoming the inhabitants of the land and realizing their calling, the nation was overcome outside the land before ever engaging the enemy in battle.
The entire accountable generation, twenty years old and above, was caused to wander in the wilderness (for another thirty-eight and one-half years) until every single individual in that generation, save Caleb and Joshua, had died. Then, the second generation, under Joshua, was led across the Jordan to enter the land, engage the enemy in battle, and ultimately occupy the land.
This is the latter part of the overall type -- that which occurred at Kadesh-Barnea under Moses and that which occurred thirty-eight and one-half years later after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan under Joshua -- and central teachings surrounding the warnings and promises to Christians are drawn from these two places in the type. The House of Christ
Everything is identical when dealing with the house of Christ -- from the death of the paschal lambs in Egypt to the overthrow at Kadesh-Barnea under Moses or the subsequent entrance into the land under Joshua.
Accordingly, the first matter which must be considered in the antitype is the death of the firstborn. The firstborn is under the sentence of death and must die, but, as in Moses’ day, a substitute has been provided. "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). His blood has been shed -- blood which must be applied. And this is accomplished through faith in the One Who shed His blood (John 3:16), effecting the birth from above (John 3:3).
(There is also a "national" aspect to the matter, as in Israel’s case. Collectively, Christians comprise "an holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9), which will be God’s firstborn son during the coming age (Hebrews 12:23); and the firstborn must die, with a view to resurrection to life.)
Then comes the Red Sea passage, showing that the firstborn has died, there has been a separation from the world, and the individual has been raised to walk in newness of life on the eastern banks of the sea. The individual is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12). And all of this is set forth through baptism, occurring following the death of the firstborn, following the birth from above.
Then comes the wilderness journey, wherein the person receives the Word of God and, through this Word, moves from immaturity to maturity in the things of God, with a view to entrance into the land whereunto he has been called. He cannot move from Egypt directly into this land, for he must first be properly equipped to engage and overcome the enemy occupying the land. And becoming equipped after this fashion occurs in the wilderness.
The individual must first be trained in spiritual matters over a period of time. Then, and only then, can he be in a position to move forward into the land, engage the enemy, and overcome the enemy (the different Gentile nations infiltrated by the Nephilim in the land of Canaan in the type, and Satan and his angels in that heavenly land in the antitype [cf. Numbers 13:28-33; Ephesians 6:11 ff]).
But, as in the type, so in the antitype. Most (apparent from the type) will be overthrown in the wilderness. They will be overthrown on the right side of the blood -- eternally saved -- but stopped short of the goal of their calling. They will have failed to follow the Lord’s leadership during the wilderness journey or relative to entering the land to which they had been called. Rather than overcoming the enemy in the land, they will have been overcome, most before ever engaging the enemy in combat. And, as a consequence, in that coming day they will be denied positions with Christ in the land, within the theocracy.
And also, as in the type, a smaller group will realize the goal of their calling. They will have possessed "another spirit," "followed" the Lord, and will ultimately "possess" the land (Numbers 13:30; Numbers 14:24). Properly equipped for battle, they will have moved into the land and overcome the enemy. These are the ones who will occupy positions in the land, within the theocracy, as co-heirs with Christ.