I really love T&S (Types & Shadows) and comparisons in the Bible. Recently, one had opened up. The children of Israel being tempted in the wilderness just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was also tempted in the wilderness. It seems quite astonishing that the temptations we face happen before we get to that promised land. The land flowing with Milk and Honey; that heavenly kingdom. The things the children of Israel faced; were meant to try, refine, to set them apart. One very interesting thing we will see is how they dealt with these temptations and how Jesus handles them. In a sense it is like how to not handle temptations and how TO handle temptations. Let us start in the book of Exodus.
Exodus we see the LORD God had sent Moses to Pharaoh to tell him to let his people go. With the help of the 10 plagues which God sent via Moses, the Pharaoh finally granted their release. Fast forward now to Exodus chapter 13 verse 18.
Exodus 13:18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
We see that God had led the children of Israel into the wilderness. We also see in Matthew chapter 4 verse 1 that Jesus was also led into the wilderness. To get a bit of context we see the last two verses of Matthew chapter 3.
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus had been baptised and Father God had been pleased. What happened next in Chapter 4:1 is the first type and shadow with the children of Israel.
Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Both have been led into the wilderness to face what is next. Let’s look at how Jesus handled it in Matthew 4:2-4.
Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Jesus had fasted for forty days. He was hungry. At that moment it speaks of the tempter coming and tempting him. I can almost picture it. Like Esau when he came in from the field and was starving as unto death, asking Jacob for some food. Here is Jesus no food for forty days and then you see that tempter, ” If thou be the Son of God….. command that these stones be made bread.” I can hear that snideness in the voice that come on… if you can…you should type of mentality. Not Jesus, he wasn’t caving in. I could just visualize his composure, his love for the Father. He was still man, so I am sure his belly groaned…..”It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
The children of Israel was in the wilderness as we seen earlier. when you get to Exodus chapter 16 verses 2-3 we see what the children of Israel were doing.
Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
Exodus 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Well, sounds like these guys were not too happy. They were set free from the enslavement of Pharaoh and the harsh treatment they were receiving. They are traveling to their promised land, but now they are hungry. They are thinking God has led them to their death. Now I realize this doesn’t seem like a type and shadow of Jesus. Jesus didn’t murmur and think that God was going to starve him to death. In the next verses we see how God the Father rained heavenly manna down for the children of Israel to eat. He gave specific instructions to them to help sustain them. Later in Deuteronomy chapter 8 starting in verse 2 we see something that connects this.
Deuteronomy 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
There it is. The purpose, the reason. The type and shadow. Remember in the word where it speaks of God providing every need. He knows what we need and when we need it. He’s God.
Proverbs 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.
Psalms 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Psalms 22:26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
Proverbs 13:25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.
As you see The Lord God will provide and does provide. Those were just a few scriptures that show just that. Well, actually the 4th verse from the Deuteronomy chapter 8; right after Moses explained to the children of Israel why God did what He did, tells us just how much God provided.
Deuteronomy 8:4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Well that was temptation Number 1. Let’s see what the second temptation is. So after the first temptation failed, the devil takes Jesus up and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple. Now, I had to look up exactly what pinnacle means.
Pinnacle: (noun) a lofty peak. the highest or culminating point, as of success, power, fame, etc.: the pinnacle of one’s career. any pointed, towering part or formation, as of rock.
Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
After reading the definition and then reading the verses I see a few things. The first thing I see is the devil took Jesus to the highest point of the temple. Paraphrasing, the devil asks Jesus; if you are really the Son of God, jump. The angels will save you for it is written. Quite interesting that the devil tried using the word against Jesus. The scripture the devil was referring to was Psalms 91:11-12
Psalms 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalms 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus answers again that it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. A quick question arises: Could the angels have saved Jesus? Yes of course. It tells us in:
Luke 22:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
That was after Jesus was praying in the garden. The verse below was when Jesus was surrounded by those who would come to take him in the garden. Peter had just cut off one of the ears of the soldiers. Jesus spoke saying;
Matthew 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
So this is just showing that yes they could have and have helped. However it was Jesus’ response that we take notice of.
Do Not Tempt The Lord Thy God
Let’s look at the children of Israel. They are in the wilderness. What are they tempted next of?
Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
Exodus 17:2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
Exodus 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
Exodus 17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Moses asks these guys in verse 2; why do you tempt the Lord? When things are not going there way they act as if the Lord is not with them. The Lord answers Moses in the next verse.
Exodus 17:5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
What is the point of all this? It is simple. Yes, Jesus could have just jumped but He would have been tempting God. The lesson we see is, trust and believe, but no need to tempt the Lord. The children of Israel had not yet realized that the Lord was looking out for them, taking care of them, but they acted as if he wasn’t there. Jesus was the Son of God and trusted the Father. The children of Israel are a type and shadow of what we are not to do. Once the Lord saves us out of our sinful nature (Egypt) and we become a new creation, we start to learn what the Lord has instore for us. Lessons we must go through in the wilderness (our refining, purging, trying times) heading to the promised land. It is so important for us not to tempt the Lord thy God but to trust and love Him with everything we got.
Psalm 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Psalm 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
Psalm 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Psalm 78:19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Psalm 78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Psalm 78:21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Psalm 78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
Bottom line though they were suppose to be getting refined, tried, purged, they didn’t believe God and didn’t trust in His salvation. Jesus is the salvation. His words to the devil was clear as day. DO NOT TEMPT GOD. God can do anything and everything. God is not a genie in a lamp. The next temptation that is presented before Jesus was the offering of all kingdoms and the riches if he would just worship him instead of God. Let us see how Jesus handled this temptation.
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Jesus brings His answer; a quote from the Bible. Here are a few scriptures that show you that His response was indeed written.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Deuteronomy 6:14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deuteronomy 6:15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
The children of Israel had been given specific directions. They had come out of Egypt into the wilderness and were told point blank:
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Did the children of Israel follow in the manner that Jesus did? Did they Worship only God and serve just Him? God spoke to Moses. Moses spoke to the congregation. We see in the next few verses that things were pretty straight forward.
Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exodus 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
Exodus 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
Moses would get many instructions from the Lord God. God is HOLY! He wanted His people to be holy. This would help them. Then it happened. Moses is called up into Mt. Sinai. The Lord God had some very specific instructions for Moses. Besides the 10 commandments He would give Moses the plans for the Tabernacle as well as the Ark of the Covenant. He was gone 40 days and 40 nights.
What do you think happened with the people? Moses is gone. You guessed it. As much as we are talking about worshipping and serving only God….they messed up.
Exodus 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exodus 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exodus 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exodus 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
Exodus 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Exodus 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
The Lord was not impressed. What was the purpose of going over all this? It’s simple. Jesus was tempted with all the same things we are tempted with , but He prevailed. Our time in the wilderness with the Lord is to try us, prove us, purge us, so we would be Holy as He is Holy. We see through this type and shadow that indeed we are and can serve the one true God. We are to worship Him only. The interesting point with the children of Israel is they thought they would make an image unto the one that brought them out of Egypt. We know in various parts of the bible that we are not to do so ever! One example is in Leviticus.
Leviticus 19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
Jesus goes on in the book of Matthew that we have but two commandments. You follow these two, you have followed them all.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
So you see the children of Israel had many things they were tempted of. This last one they struggled with more times than one can count. The type and shadow is how both Jesus and children of Israel get tempted, tested, and how they deal with it.
One could also visit 1 John and also see the other type and shadow that prolly best goes with the Jesus being tempted comparison.
1 John 2:15-17
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
I will leave you to compare that. I truly hope this study has helped in some way. It had blessed me, I hope it blesses you. I want to be like the children of Israel in receiving the Lord’s instructions, but I don’t want to continuously fail like they did. I want to be victorious like Jesus. If anyone that reads this has any insight or something pops out that they would like to share, please leave a comment. There is more that I would like to add and check out regarding this study, and I hope to do so in the next few days.
Watchmen On The Pod 