Command the Raven

Genesis 5:21 [show/hide]Genesis 5:21 [21]When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. (ESV)

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah.

Heb. ‘chanowk’, initiated. Enoch was the only one mentioned as being godly in Seth’s line except Noah [Cp. 6:9; 7:1]

He was a prophet [Jude 14 [show/hide]Jude 1:14 [14]It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, (ESV)
]. He was translated by FAITH [Romans 10:17 [show/hide]Romans 10:17 [17]So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (ESV)
; Heb. 11:5 [show/hide]Hebrews 11:5 [5]By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. (ESV)
].

His experience parallels that of Elijah [2 Ki. 2]. Both were taken to Heaven bodily without dying: both were prophets of judgment; both fought idolatry and apostasy; both knew the time and purpose of their translation [2 Ki. 2; Heb. 11:5 [show/hide]Hebrews 11:5 [5]By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. (ESV)
].

Could they not fulfill Zech. 4:11-14 [show/hide]Zechariah 4:11-14 [11]Then I said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" [12]And a second time I answered and said to him, "What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?" [13]He said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." [14]Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth." (ESV)
; Mal. 4:4-6 [show/hide]Malachi 4:4-6 [4]"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. [5]"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. [6]And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." (ESV)
; Rev. 11:3-11 [show/hide]Revelation 11:3-11 [3]And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." [4]These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. [5]And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. [6]They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. [7]And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, [8]and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. [9]For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, [10]and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. [11]But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (ESV)
?

Heaven is a material place with cities and inhabitants [Heb. 11:10, 13-16 [show/hide]Hebrews 11:10 [10]For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (ESV)
; 13:14; Jn. 14:1-3 [show/hide]John 14:1-3 I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life [14:1]"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2]In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3]And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (ESV)
; Rev. 4:4, 6 [show/hide]Revelation 4:4 [4]Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. (ESV)
; 5:3- 10:13; 12:12; 13:6; 18:20; 19:1-10]; food and living conditions [Ex. 24:11 [show/hide]Exodus 24:11 [11]And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (ESV)
; Ps. 78:25 [show/hide]Psalm 78:25 [25]Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.
; Lk. 22:16, 18, 30 [show/hide]Luke 22:16 [16]For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." (ESV)
; Jn. 6:31 [show/hide]John 6:31 [31]Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" (ESV)
; Rev. 2:7, 17 [show/hide]Revelation 2:7 [7]He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' (ESV)
; 7:17; 22:2].

Could not two prophets, therefore, eat and live in heaven all these millenniums? Paul and John were others who went to heaven [2 Cor. 12:1-7 [show/hide]2 Corinthians 12:1-7 Paul's Visions and His Thorn [12:1]I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2]I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. [3]And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- [4]and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. [5]On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. [6]Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. [7]So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (ESV)
; Rev. 4:1 [show/hide]Revelation 4:1 The Throne in Heaven [4:1]After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." (ESV)
].

All resurrected saints will eventually go to heaven and live until they come back to earth with Christ to set up His kingdom [1 Th. 4:14-17 [show/hide]1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 [14]For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. [15]For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16]For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17]Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (ESV)
; 1 Cor. 15:51-58 [show/hide]1 Corinthians 15:51-58 [51]Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52]in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. [53]For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. [54]When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." [55]"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" [56]The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57]But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58]Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (ESV)
; Rev. 7:9-17 [show/hide]Revelation 7:9-17 A Great Multitude from Every Nation [9]After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10]and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" [11]And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, [12]saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." [13]Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" [14]I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [15]"Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. [16]They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. [17]For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
; 19:1-21].

They will then reign as kings and priests with Christ for 1,000 years helping to put down all rebellion [1 Cor. 15:24-28 [show/hide]1 Corinthians 15:24-28 [24]Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25]For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26]The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27]For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "all things are put in subjection," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28]When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. (ESV)
; Eph. 1:10 [show/hide]Ephesians 1:10 [10]as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (ESV)
].

God will move His capital city to earth and live among men forever. [see 2 witnesses, p. 306 of N.T. Dake A.R. Bible].
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible : Page 36.

Genesis 11:28-29 [show/hide]Genesis 11:28-29 [28]Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. [29]And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. (ESV)

Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldees.
And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. [Amplified Bible].

Abram’s home town was Ur of the Chaldees. As a result of extensive archaeological excavations there by C. Leonard Woolley in 1922-34, a great deal is known about Abram’s background.

Space will not permit more than a glimpse at excavated Ur, but a few items will show the high state of civilization.

The entire house of the average middle-class person had from ten to twenty rooms; measured forty to fifty-two feet; the lower floor was for servants, the upper floor for the family, with five rooms for their use; besides a guest chamber and a lavatory reserved for visitors, and a private chapel.

A school was found and what the students studied was shown by the clay tablets discovered there.

In the days of Abraham the pupils had reading, writing and arithmetic as today. They learned the multiplication and division tables and even worked at square and cube root.

A bill of lading of about 2040 B.C. [about the era in which Abram is believed to have lived] showed that the commerce of that time was far-reaching.

Even the name “Abraham” has been found on the excavated clay tablets. [Based on J.P. Free’s ‘Archaeology and Bible History].
- The Amplified Bible: page 13.

Genesis 12:3 [show/hide]Genesis 12:3 [3]I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (ESV)

And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you shall all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed – by you they shall bless themselves. [Amplified Bible].

To look with disfavor on the Jews was to invite God’s displeasure; to treat the Jews offensively was to incur His wrath.

But to befriend the Jews was to bring down upon one’s head the rewards of a promise that could not be broken.
- The Amplified Bible: page 14

Genesis 19:26-28 [show/hide]Genesis 19:26-28 [26]But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. [27]And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. [28]And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. (ESV)

But [Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went up early next morning to the place where he [only the day before had] stood before the Lord.
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the valley and saw, and lo, the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace. [The Amplified Bible].

Lot’s`wife not only “looked back” to where her heart’s interests were, but she lingered behind; and probably overtaken by the fire and brimstone, her dead body became incrusted with salt, which, in that salt-packed now Dead Sea area, grew larger with more incrustations – a veritable “pillar of salt”.

In fact, at the southern end of the Dead Sea there is a mountain of table salt called Jebel Usdum, “Mount of Sodom”. It is about 6 miles long, 3 miles wide and 1,000 feet high. It is covered with a crust of earth several feet thick, but the rest of the mountain is said to be solid salt [George T.B. Davis in ‘Rebuilding Palestine According to Prophecy, adapted]

Somewhere in this area Lot’s wife looked back to where her treasures and her heart were, and “she became a pillar of salt.”

Jesus said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” [Luke 17:32 [show/hide]Luke 17:32 [32]Remember Lot's wife. (ESV)
].

Not only were Sodom and Gomorrah blazing ruins, but also Admah and Zeboiim [Deut. 29:33 [show/hide]ERROR: No passage found for your query.
; Hos. 11:8 [show/hide]Hosea 11:8 [8]How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.
], as well as all the towns in the alley of Siddim, Zoar alone being excepted.
- The Amplified Bible: Page 23

Genesis 27:41 [show/hide]Genesis 27:41 [41]Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (ESV)

And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are very near. When [he is gone] I will kill my brother Jacob. [The Amplified Bible].

Here began a feud that was to cost countless lives throughout succeeding centuries.

Esau’s descendants, the Amalekites, were the first enemies to obstruct the flight of Jacob’s descendants from Egypt [Exod. 17:8]; and the Edomites even refused to let their uncle Jacob’s children pass through their land [Num. 20 [show/hide]Numbers 20 The Death of Miriam [20:1]And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. The Waters of Meribah [2]Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. [3]And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! [4]Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? [5]And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink." [6]Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them, [7]and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [8]"Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle." [9]And Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he commanded him. Moses Strikes the Rock [10]Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" [11]And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. [12]And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." [13]These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy. Edom Refuses Passage [14]Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: [15]how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. [16]And when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. [17]Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory." [18]But Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you." [19]And the people of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more." [20]But he said, "You shall not pass through." And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. [21]Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him. The Death of Aaron [22]And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. [23]And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, [24]"Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. [25]Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. [26]And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there." [27]Moses did as the LORD commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. [28]And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. [29]And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days. (ESV)
: 17-20].

Doeg, an Edomite, all but caused the death of Christ’s chosen ancestor David [1 Sam. 21, 22 [show/hide]1 Samuel 21 David and the Holy Bread [21:1] Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, "Why are you alone, and no one with you?" [2]And David said to Ahimelech the priest, "The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, 'Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.' I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. [3]Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here." [4]And the priest answered David, "I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread--if the young men have kept themselves from women." [5]And David answered the priest, "Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?" [6]So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. [7]Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. [8]Then David said to Ahimelech, "Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste." [9]And the priest said, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here." And David said, "There is none like that; give it to me." David Flees to Gath [10]And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. [11]And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?" [12]And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. [13]So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. [14]Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? [15]Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?" (ESV)
].

Bloody battles were fought between the two nations in the centuries that followed. It was Herod, of Esau’s race [Josephus, Ant. 14:1, Sec. 3], who had the male infants of Bethlehem slain in an effort to destroy the Christ child.

Satan needs no better medium for his evil plans than a family feud, a “mere quarrel” between two brothers.
- The Amplified Bible: page 35

Daniel 5:28 [show/hide]Daniel 5:28 [28]PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." (ESV)

PERES [singular form, same root as upharsin], Your kingdom and your kingship are divided and given to the Medes and Persians [Foretold, Isa. 21:2, 5, 9 [show/hide]Isaiah 21:2 [2]A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.
.]

For many people it may be difficult to understand why all the wise men, the soothsayers, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers were unable to translate a few simple words, especially when Daniel’s prescribed education in languages was the same as their own, and he had no difficulty.

The answer is that any wise man present probably could recognize the four inscribed words, but only the uncompromising man of God – who knew God by daily fellowship and communion with Him, who was so dedicated to Him that God could speak to him and through him – only such a man could tell what the words really meant.

Blessed – happy, fortunate, prosperous and enviable – are those who DARE TO BE A DANIEL!
- The Amplified Bible: page 1003

Genesis 48:14, 19 [show/hide]Genesis 48:14 [14]And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). (ESV)

And Israel reached out his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands intentionally, for Manasseh was the first-born. [The Amplified Bible].
But his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and shall be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. [The Amplified Bible].

God acts independently of the claims of priority based on time of birth when he chooses men. He too “crossed His Hands” in the case of Seth over Cain; or Shem over Japheth; of Isaac over Ishmael; of Jacob over Esau; of Judah and Joseph over Reuben; of Moses over Aaron; of David, whom He chose over all his brothers; and of Mary over Martha.
- The Amplified Bible: page 65

This prophecy begins to be fulfilled “from the days of the Judges onward, as the tribe of Ephraim in power and compass so increased that it became the head of the northern ten tribes, and its name became of like significance with that of Israel; although, in the time of Moses, Manasseh still outnumbered Ephraim by 20,000 [Keil].

Joshua, whom Israel so long regarded as their ruler, was an Ephramite, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim, which increased the tribe’s prestige. How could Jacob have prophesied Ephraim’s supremacy so positively, except by divine inspiration?
- The Amplified Bible: page 66.

Exodus 1:9 [show/hide]Exodus 1:9 [9]And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. (ESV)

He said to his people, Behold, the Israelite are too many and too mighty for us – they outnumber us both in people and in strength. [The Amplified Bible].

Is there in all human history a more amazing spectacle than the Exodus? A family of 70 immigrants grows into a race of slaves.

Suddenly, according to God’s detailed and pre-announced plan, they are seen flinging away the shackles of generations of slavery, and emigrating to a new country and a new life, with miraculous deliverances rescuing them from destruction again and again.

The marvel of the Exodus grows in wonder when, more than 3,000 years, we see the same race, often persecuted almost to extinction, carrying out in startling detail God’s predictions for their amazing national revitalization and prominence “in the last days.” [Adapted from many historians].
- The Amplified Bible: page 69

Exodus 2:4, 15 [show/hide]Exodus 2:4 [4]And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. (ESV)

And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away, to learn what would be done to him.
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.

They launched the ark not on the Nile only, but on God’s providence. He would be captain, steersman, and convoy of the tiny bark. Miriam stood to watch. There was no fear of fatal consequences, only the quiet expectancy that God would do something worthy of Himself. They reckoned on God’s faithfulness, and they were amply rewarded, when the daughter of their greatest foe became the babe’s patroness [F.B. Meyer in ‘Through the Bible Day by Day]. – The Amplified Bible: page 70.

“There was true heroism in the act, when Moses stepped down from Pharaoh’s throne to share the lot of his brethren.

But it took many a long year of lonely waiting and trial before this strong and radiant nature could be broken down, shaped into a vessel meet for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work….One blow struck when God’s time is fulfilled is worth a thousand struck in premature eagerness” [F.B. Meyer in ‘Moses, the Servant of God,’ adapted].
- The Amplified Bible: page 71

Exodus 40:7 [show/hide]Exodus 40:7 [7]and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. (ESV)

And you shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

Why was it necessary for one exact position for the laver to be demanded of Moses by God?

Those who have published charts of the tabernacle furniture arrangement, with the laver off to one side or the other of the door into the sanctuary, have missed a point here.

The laver was to be placed directly “between [the doors of] the tent of meeting and the altar of burnt offering,” thus completing the CROSS made by the arrangement of the furniture, from the ark to the altar.

It could have no significance to the Jews of that time, but the One Who planned it had those in mind to whom Christ would one day say, “And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me!”

How fitting that at the foot of that Cross there should be the altar, picturing our complete surrender, and the laver, picturing our cleansing, that we may enter in through Him Who alone is “the Door” to the eternal Holy of Holies [John 10:1-9 [show/hide]John 10:1-9 I Am the Good Shepherd [10:1]"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. [2]But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [3]To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4]When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [5]A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." [6]This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. [7]So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. [8]All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. [9]I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (ESV)
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- The Amplified Bible: page 119