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Signs and Wonders
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Old
Testament Signs of the Cross |
Had the children of Israel looked closely at the Old Testament signs
they would have realized that God had given them the signs of the
redeemer that was to come. God arranged the ordinances and positions of
the children of Israel as to show to them and to us that salvation would
be wrought on a Roman cross. This was long before there was a Roman
cross.
First, when God
gave the Passover to the children of Israel, he had each house to keep
up a lamb and slay it and sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the upper
door post and two side posts of the doors of the houses in which they
dwelt. The Lord said this concerning that fateful night: Gen. 12:12 "For
I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the
gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood
shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to
destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." The positioning of the
blood of the lamb on the doors of the houses of the children of Israel
was as the blood would be on the Lamb of God as he hung upon the cross
of Calvary.
Second, when
the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, God caused a great East wind
to part the waters of the Red Sea. Thus the north-south running sea was
parted by an east-west blowing wind. The wind crossed the sea. There at
the crossing of the wind and the sea, the children of Israel were
delivered from their enemies. Likewise, at the cross of Calvary, Jesus
Christ delivered the elect family of God from their enemies.
Third, when God
gave the children of Israel the tabernacle for them to worship Him in,
he had the furniture arranged in such a way that if you looked down on
it from above it would appear as a cross. The following pieces of the
furniture were in a straight line: brazen altar, brazen wash pot, the
candlestick, Ark of the Covenant, and mercy seat. On either side of the
candlestick was the table of showbread and the golden incense altar.
Fourth, God had
the children of Israel march across the wilderness for forty years they
set up camp in a certain configuration. On the east side the tribes of
Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon were to set up camp. On the south side the
tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad were to set up camp. On the west side
the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin were to set up camp. On
the north side the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali were to set up
camp. According to the instructions of the Lord the tabernacle and the
tribe of Levi were in the center of the encampment: Num. 2:1 "And the
LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2 Every man of the
children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of
their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation
shall they pitch…17 Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set
forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they
encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their
standards." Thus, the encampments of the children of Israel were in the
form of a cross.
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