Moses, his life and his dealings with God’s people, Israel, is a picture of Jesus Christ and His church. The parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament accounts are clear.
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The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament
The Bible is full of parallels in the course of history as a type for fulfillment at a later date as an antitype. It is therefore not surprising that Moses and his actions have parallels to Jesus Christ, who appeared around 1,400 years later. On the other hand, it is very surprising when people claim that the Old Testament has very little to do with Christianity and can therefore be taken into account, but is no longer relevant.
However, they overlook the fact that the New Testament is based on the Old Testament. Roughly speaking, the Old Testament stands for the promise and the New Testament for its fulfillment. Much of the New Testament can only be understood if the Old Testament is taken into account. This is particularly true of the symbolic language in the book of Revelation (Info).
Parallels Moses and Jesus Christ
Moses and the background to ancient Israel feature a whole series of images of Jesus Christ and His community.
- The bride of God in the Old Testament was the people of Israel (Jeremiah 6:2).
In the New Testament, this bride is the (true) Christian community (Revelation 12:1) - Israel was held in bondage in Egypt (Exodus 1:13-14, Exodus 2:7, Exodus 2:12-14).
The people of God were trapped in spiritual bondage to sin (Hebrews 2:14-15, John 8:32-34) - The people of Israel were slaves to the great dragon (Ezekiel 29:3).
The great enemy of God’s people was a red dragon (Revelation 12:3) - The people of God cried out for deliverance in pain (Exodus 2:23-25)
The woman cried out in her labor pains for the birth of the Savior (Revelation 12:2). - The woman Jochebed gave birth to a redeemer (Exodus 2:1-2)
Mary gave birth to a male child (Revelation 12:5; Matthew 2) - Pharaoh was afraid of losing his throne (Exodus 1:22)
Herod was afraid of losing his throne (Matthew 2:13) - Moses was protected in Egypt when Pharaoh ordered all male infants to be killed.
Jesus was protected when Herod had all male infants killed - Moses was called out of Egypt by God (Hosea 11:1)
Jesus was called out of Egypt after Herod died (Matthew 2:15) - The symbol of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was the lamb (Exodus 12)
Jesus was presented by John at baptism as the Passover Lamb (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7;8) - Moses and the people of Israel were baptized in the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan as a model for the baptism of his people (Matthew 3:16-17) - Moses fasted for 40 days on Mt
Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert and was taken to a high mountain (Matthew 4) - Moses and Israel received the law of the kingdom from God from a mountain (Exodus 19:20)
Jesus proclaimed the law of His kingdom from a mountain (Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7) - When God spoke to Moses on a mountain, the prophet’s face shone (Exodus 34:29-34)
When Jesus heard the voice of God on the Mount of Transfiguration, His face shone (Matthew 17:1-3, Moses was present) - Moses spoke for his people and wanted to sacrifice his own life for it (Exodus 32)
Jesus is an intercessor for his people and sacrificed his own life for them (1 Timothy 2:5, John 2:1) - Moses raised a serpent in the desert, brought water from a rock, and manna fell from heaven.
Jesus represented the serpent because He became sin (John 3:14-16), Jesus is the rock from which comes the water of life (John 4:13-14, 1 Corinthians 10:4, Matthew 21, 42-44), Jesus is the living bread that came from heaven (John 6:48-51) - Moses organized the 12 tribes of the people of Israel (Exodus 24:4) and named 70 elders (Exodus 24:1) so that they could share part of the burden
Jesus appointed 12 apostles and sent 70 to help with His work (Revelation 12:1, Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:1; 17) - The people and the Jewish leaders were always opponents of Moses
The people and the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) were always opponents of Jesus - Moses died, was buried by God himself, resurrected by Jesus and ascended into heaven (Deuteronomy 34:6)
Jesus died, was buried, rose again, and ascended into heaven (Revelation 12:5)
Obedience to Jesus was the counterattack
Satan knew about the birth of Jesus Christ as a human being to save humanity from its bondage to sin. These were the reasons for his attempted attacks and ultimately for the attempt to seduce Jesus Christ into sin. It is striking that Satan used three Bible texts or contexts for his attempt at seduction, all of which come from Deuteronomy.
As is well known, Satan could not make his attacks successful. Jesus Christ recognized the temptations through twisted minds and remained obedient to God’s will. A role model for people who are exposed to such attacks, especially today.
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 8:2
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
