Of the exhibitions of the covenant
of grace under the mosaic dispensation
John Gill
Having traced the manifestation
and application of the Covenant of Grace from the times of our first parents,
through the patriarchal state, to the times of Moses; I shall
now consider it as exhibited in his time, and unto the times of David and the
prophets; and shall begin,
1. With Moses himself, who was
a great man of God; and though the law was by him, he had large knowledge of
Christ; of his person, offices, and grace; of the covenant
of grace, and the blessings of it. "Had ye believed Moses", says
Christ to the Jews, "ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me",
#Joh 5:46.
Moses was an eminent type of
Christ, in whom the grace of Christ, and of the covenant, was eminently
displayed. The apostle in #Heb 3:1-14 runs the parallel between
Moses and Christ, though he gives the preference to Christ, as it was just he
should; they were both, he observes, concerned in the house of God; both
faithful therein; with this difference, Moses as a servant, and Christ as a Son
in his own house. Moses was a mediator when the covenant on Sinai was given, at
the request of the people of Israel, and by the permission of God; and stood
between God and them, to deliver his word to them, #Ga 3:19
De 5:5 in which he was a type of Christ, the Mediator of the new and better
covenant, and the Mediator between God and man. He was a prophet, and spoke of
Christ as who should be raised up a prophet like unto him, and was to be
hearkened to; and who has been raised up; and God has spoken by him all his
mind and will to the sons of men. When Moses and Elias were
with Christ on the mount, which showed harmony and agreement between them; a
voice was heard, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased, hear ye him", as the great Prophet of the church; see #De 18:15
Heb 1:1,2 #Mt 17:5. Moses was a priest, and officiated as such before Aaron was
appointed to that office; and he, indeed, invested him with it by the offering
of sacrifices, #Ex 29:1 Ps 99:6 in which he prefigured
Christ in his priestly office, who became man, that he might be a merciful and
sympathizing one; and being holy, harmless, and separate from sinners, was fit
to be one, and to offer a pure sacrifice for sin. Moses was also a king and a
lawgiver under God; a ruler and governor of the people of Israel, #De 33:4,5.
Christ is King of Zion and King of saints; by the designation of his Father, and with the acknowledgment of his people, who own
him, and submit to him as such; and of whose government there will be no end,
#Ps 2:6 Isa 33:22 9:7. Once more, Moses was a deliverer or redeemer of the
people of Israel, out of that state of bondage in which they were in Egypt, #Ac
7:35 and in this bore a figure of Christ the Redeemer of his people, from a
worse than Egyptian bondage, the bondage of sin, Satan, and
the law; and herein and hereby through him were held forth the grace of the
covenant, and the blessings of it in Christ to the faith of God's people.
There were many things done by
him, and under him, and in his time, which exhibited and
showed forth the covenant of grace, and the things contained in it. The whole
ceremonial law was nothing else than a shadowy exhibition of it; it was a
shadow of good things to come by Christ, the great high Priest, which are come
by him; as peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation. The priests, their
garments, and their sacrifices, with other numerous rites, all prefigured
Christ, and the grace of the covenant, which is by him: the
ceremonial law was the gospel of the Israelites, it was their pedagogue, their
schoolmaster, that taught them the A B C of the gospel in their infant state.
Christ was the mark and scope it aimed at, the end of it, and in whom it had
its full accomplishment; the Israelites, by reason of darkness, could not see
to the end of those things, which are now abolished, and which we with open
face behold. It would be too tedious to go over the various
particulars in the former dispensation, which held forth the grace of Christ,
and of the covenant to the faith of men. It may be sufficient to instance in
three or four of them, which were for a time, or of longer continuance; and
were either stated ordinances, or extraordinary works of providence, which
typified spiritual things.
The passover, which was
instituted at the time of lsrael's going out of Egypt, was kept by faith; not
only of deliverance from Egyptian bondage, but in the faith of a future
redemption and salvation by Christ; hence he is called "Christ our
passover", #1Co 5:7 Heb 11:23. The passover was a lamb without blemish,
slain by the congregation of Israel, between the two
evenings; it was then roasted with fire, and eaten whole with bitter herbs, and
its blood was sprinkled upon the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites;
that when the destroying angel passed through Egypt, to destroy their
firstborn, seeing the blood where it was sprinkled, passed by the houses in
which the Israelites were, and left them unhurt; and hence the institution had the name of the passover; see #Ex 12:1-51. All which was
typical of Christ, who is the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish; who was
taken by the Jews and crucified and slain; who endured the fire of divine
wrath, whereby his strength was dried up like a potsherd; is to be, and is fed
upon by faith; even a whole Christ, in his person, and offices, and grace,
attended with repentance and humiliation for sin; believers
in him, when they look to him by faith, mourn; and a profession of him is, more
or less, accompanied with bitter afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions; and
his blood, which from hence is called the blood of sprinkling, that being shed
and sprinkled on the hearts of men, not only purges their consciences from dead
works, but secures them from the wrath and justice of God; who, looking upon
this blood, which is ever in sight, is pacified towards
them, and passes by them, when he takes vengeance on others.
The manna was another type of
Christ; that was typical bread, Christ is the true bread; hence Christ,
speaking of the manna, and of himself, says, "My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven", #Joh 6:32 meaning
himself, the truth of the type; the manna was only a shadow, Christ is the
substance, the solid and substantial food, signified by it, and therefore is
called "the hidden manna", #Re 2:17 which every believer in Christ
has a right to eat of, and does; so the Old and New Testament saints "all
eat of the same spiritual meat", #1Co 10:3. The Israelites being
in the wilderness, and hungry, complained for want of food, and murmured; God
promised to give them bread from heaven, which he did: this when they first
saw, they knew not what it was; and asked one another, What is it? it was small
in bulk, white in colour, and sweet in taste; this they gathered every day for
their daily food, as they were directed; and ground it in mills, or beat it in
a mortar, and baked it in pans: and on this they lived
while in the wilderness, until they came to the land of Canaan; see #Ex 16:1-36
and #Nu 11:1-35 and #Jos 5:12. All which pointed to Christ and his grace, the
food of faith; who, when he came into the world, the world knew him not; nor is
he known to the Israel of God before conversion; they are without Christ,
without the knowledge of him while unregenerate; until it pleases God to call them by his grace, and reveal his Son in them. And
he is entirely hidden from the men of the world; in whose eyes, and in the eyes
of carnal professors, he is little, mean, and contemptible; yet white and
ruddy, comely and beautiful, pure and holy, and desirable, to truly gracious
souls; to whose taste his fruits, the blessings of his grace, his doctrines,
his word, and ordinances, are sweet and pleasant; and a crucified
Christ, whose sufferings are signified by the manna being ground, beaten, and
baked, is the food of believers in this present state; what is their daily
food, and which they live upon while they are in the wilderness, till they come
to Canaan's land, and eat of the "old corn", the things which God
from all eternity has prepared for them that love him.
The water out of the rock the Israelites drank of in the wilderness,
was another emblem and representative of Christ and his grace; hence called
"spiritual drink", and the rock a "spiritual rock; and that Rock
was Christ", #1Co 10:4.
The
Israelites wanting water in the wilderness, murmured, when Moses was ordered by
the Lord to smite a rock at two different times and places, from whence water
gushed out for the supply of them, their flocks, and herds. Christ was
signified by the rock, who may be compared to one for height, shelter,
strength, and duration; and with which they are followed and supplied while
they are in this world: and as it was by the rod of Moses
the rock was smitten; so Christ was stricken and smitten in a legal and
judicial way, being the surety and representative of his people, by which means
the blessings of grace flow unto them; as justification, pardon, &c. just
as the blood and water sprung from his side when pierced with the spear; and
this rock being thus smitten for believers, they have a never failing supply of
grace through the wilderness.
The brazen serpent was another
figure of Christ and his grace. The Israelites being bitten with fiery
serpents, of which many died; Moses was ordered by the Lord to make a fiery
serpent of brass, and set it on a pole, that whoever was bitten might look unto it and live; which was done accordingly, and the
promised effect followed, #Nu 21:6-9. Our Lord takes notice of this very
significant type himself, and applies it to himself, #Joh 3:14,15. The serpent
Moses made had the form of a serpent, but not the nature of one: Christ was in
the likeness of sinful flesh, but his flesh was not sinful; he was without the
poison of the serpent, sin, original or; actual: it was a fiery
one, denoting either the wrath of God sustained by Christ, or the vengeance he took
on his and our enemies when on the cross; or rather, it may denote his flaming
love to his people, expressed in his sufferings and death. It being of brass,
denoted not only his lustre and glory, but his strength; who, being the mighty
God, is able to save to the uttermost all that come and look unto him for
salvation. The situation of the serpent of Moses on a pole,
may signify the crucifixion of Christ, which he himself expressed by being
lifted up from the earth, #Joh 12:32 or his exaltation at the right hand of
God; or rather, the setting of him up in the ministry of the gospel, where he
is erected as an ensign and standard to gather souls to him; and where he is
held forth evidently as crucified and slain, as the object and ground of hope.
And as the end of the erection of the serpent was, that
such who were bitten by the fiery serpents might look to it and live; so the
end of Christ's crucifixion, and of the ministration of him in the Gospel is,
that such who are envenomed with the poison of the old serpent, the devil, and
whose wound is otherwise incurable, might, through looking to Christ by faith,
live spiritually, comfortably, and eternally; as all such
do who are favoured with a spiritual sight of him, #Joh 6:40.
2. Besides Moses, there were others
in his time, in whom the grace of the covenant was remarkably displayed and
manifested; particularly Aaron, his brother, called "the saint of the
Lord", #Ps 106:16 the Holy One, with whom were the Urim and Thummim, #De 33:8 a type of Christ, in whom all lights and
perfections are; and though Christ, as a priest, was not of the order of Aaron,
but of another; yet Aaron, in his priestly office, prefigured him; he was taken
from among men, from among his brethren, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin,
and did not take this honour to himself, but was called of God to it; "so
Christ glorified not himself to be made an high
priest"; but was made so by his divine Father, #Heb 5:4,5 and has offered
up a sacrifice for the sins of his people, of a sweet smelling savour to God;
which the sacrifices of Aaron and his sons were typical of, by which the faith
of believers in those times was led to the great and better sacrifice of
Christ. Aaron was also a type of Christ in his intercession, as well as in his
sacrifice; he could speak well, and therefore was appointed
the spokesman of Moses unto the people, #Ex 4:14-16. Christ is an advocate for
his people; he can speak well to their case for them, and ever lives to appear
in the presence of God, and to make intercession for them, and is always heard.
3. Joshua,
the successor of Moses, was also a type of Christ, and in him the grace of
Christ, and of the covenant, was evidently displayed. Their names agree, both
signify a Saviour; Joshua is called Jesus, #Heb 4:8. Moses conducted the people
of Israel through the wilderness, to the borders of the land of Canaan, but was
not allowed to lead them into it; intimating, that it is not by the works of
the law, or by the works of righteousness, done by men,
that they are or can be saved; that a man must have a better righteousness than
his own, or he will never enter into the kingdom of heaven; there is no
salvation but in and by the name of Jesus, the antitype of Joshua: as Joshua
led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, and settled them there; so
Christ, by his blood and righteousness, has opened a way for his
people into the heavenly state, and gives them an abundant entrance into his
kingdom and glory. Joshua did not give the true rest in Canaan; for then
another would not have been spoken of; it was only a typical one he gave; but
Christ, our spiritual Joshua, gives spiritual rest here, and eternal rest
hereafter.
The
scarlet thread which Rahab the harlot was ordered by the spies in the times of
Joshua, to bind at her window, that her house might be known by them, in order
to save her, and all in it, when Jericho was destroyed, was an emblem of the
blood of Christ, by which are peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation for
the chief of sinners; for Gentile sinners, as well as Jews; and through which
is security from wrath, ruin, and destruction. Joshua was
favoured with an appearance of Christ unto him, with a sword drawn in his hand,
who declared unto him, that he came as the Captain of the host of the Lord, to animate,
encourage, and assist him. Christ is the Captain of salvation, who has fought
the battles of his people for them; conquered all their enemies, and made them
more than conquerors through himself. There were later
appearances of Christ to others in this period of time, as to Manoah and his
wife, who declared to them his name was "Pele", a Wonder, or
Wonderful, which is one of the names of Christ, #Isa 9:6 and to Gideon, Samuel,
and others, I shall take no further notice of.