The book of Exodus begins with an introduction to Moses and the explanation that Israel was in bondage in Egypt because the new ruler of Egypt had forgotten who Joseph was. For many believers in Yeshua, the book of Exodus is one of those Old Testament books that is only really good for making sermon points because we now have the New Testament.
Those Old Covenant books like Exodus have been replaced by the “new” and “better” books of the New Testament. This understanding is not only dangerous theologically, but it is bad prophetically.
Our understanding of the prophecies of the Bible requires our understanding of the texts of the Old Testament books. For instance, our understanding of a redeemer cannot be fully grasped without understanding the role of Moses. After all, the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 18:15 that Yeshua (Jesus) would be a prophet like Moses.
So, it would be impossible to fully identify Yeshua as Messiah without knowledge of Moses. The truth is that the keys to understanding both the first coming and the Second Coming of Yeshua are directly tied to our understanding of the Torah, especially as it relates to the book of Exodus.
By way of clarification, let me provide one example of a prophetic link between the book of Exodus, the first coming of Yeshua and the return of Yeshua. In the book of Exodus, Israel is under bondage to Egypt because hatred of Israel rose among the Egyptians.
But slavery isn’t the only evil thing we see begin to take place in Egypt. We also see that in order to defeat the people of G-D, the Egyptians begin to kill babies. It is only after Egypt begins to hate the Jewish nation and espouse infanticide that G-D raises up Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt.
Roll forward to when Yeshua came the first time. The Jewish people were under bondage to Rome and, as in Egypt, the Romans began the slaughter of babies. Once again, it was after the rise of hatred and infanticide that Yeshua came as our redeemer.
For those of us who believe that Yeshua is going to return one more time for the final redemption of Israel (which includes non-Jewish believers also: Eph 2:11-20), it should be easy to see this prophetic pattern in Scripture and apply it to our eschatology. The first two redemptions took place after the rise of hatred of the Jewish people and governmentally promoted infanticide.
In our world today, we have seen over the past few years a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism, unfortunately even among those who profess faith in Yeshua. We have also watched as government increased its promotion of infanticide (abortion) to the point where we have politicians calling for after-birth abortions.
In the Bible, when we see both the rise of hatred against the Jewish people and infanticide, we also see the redemption of Israel. Come, Yeshua, come! {eoa}
Eric Tokajer is author of With Me in Paradise, Transient Singularity, OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry, #ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer, Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians and Galatians in Context.
