Linking Old and New #6: A Three-Day Journey
The Old Testament
When God first revealed himself to Moses on the backside of the desert at Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God, God told Moses that one day the Israelites would serve God on that very same mountain and they would be brought out of Egypt (Exodus 3:12). Moses was instructed to go back to Egypt and to tell the people that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had appeared to him out of a bush that burned but was not consumed and that Moses was to instruct Pharaoh that they be released from slavery so that they might journey “three days” into the wilderness to make sacrifices to the Lord (Exodus 3:18).
When Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh, they said, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I don not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go’” (Exodus 5:1-2). Therefore by his denial and refusal to let the Hebrews go, Pharaoh was setting the stage for the subsequent plagues that God would send that would judge the gods of Egypt and of Pharaoh.
Have you ever gone on a journey not knowing your destination? I doubt that few of us have. Actually the closest I ever came to that was when I was in the military during the Viet Nam conflict. I was fortunate to get an assignment in the US Public Health Service Hospital in Norfolk, VA. My wife and I were looking forward to the experience as neither one of us had lived anywhere by Texas. Since this was a stateside assignment, I did not think I would have to worry about having to go overseas. I found out differently when I arrived. Our commanding officer informed us upon our arrival that one of our names would be drawn from a hat and that person would have to serve a one-year tour of duty with the Coast Guard in Southeast Asia. I was fortunate. My name was not drawn.
Instead, the remainder of our group only had to serve on a Coast Guard cutter on weather patrol in the North Atlantic. Our tour on weather patrol only lasted one month. It turned out to be a remarkable experience. Obviously, I was a member of the crew as the ship’s doctor; however, we did not know our destination other than it was in the North Atlantic Ocean somewhere south of Greenland. As far as having any other knowledge about our destination, we were totally left in the dark. We were at the complete mercy of the captain and his crew.
One night I ignorantly went to walk out on deck in the middle of a storm. I noticed the crew had tied large ropes across the stern of the boat in crossed patterns. After I took a few steps, the crew began to yell at me to get back. Just as I got back to where they were standing, a huge wave enveloped the entire deck of the stern. They had placed the ropes there for men to grab on to as a last resort safety net in case the waves of the storm began to wash them over board. I came to know and trust the captain and his crew on this thirty-day journey.
Spiritually, we must come to know and trust God as our Captain. He often leads us on spiritual journeys with unknown destinations; however, He is in control. He knows the storms of life that lie ahead, and we must listen for His directions and trust Him with our safety.
Biblical journeys are also documented as leading through storms and requiring trust. Moses only wanted to go three-days into the wilderness. Other three-day journeys are also recorded in the Old Testament. Abraham was instructed by God to take Isaac, his son whom he loved, to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain which God would reveal to him as he arrived (Genesis 22:2). It was on the third day when Abraham lifted his eyes as saw the place far off (Genesis 22:4). Isaac carried the wood on his shoulders and was bound to the altar as a sacrifice. Abraham took the knife to slay his son, but God intervened and a ram, whose horns were caught in the brush became the sacrifice instead and Isaac’s life was spared.
The New Testament
Centuries later, God sent his only Son, Jesus, to be the ultimate sacrifice for out lives. When Jesus came, it was for the purpose of fulfilling a “three-day” journey too. In Matthew 12:40, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” When Jesus went in to the temple in Jerusalem at the beginning of His public ministry, He said, “Destroy this temple, (speaking of the temple of his body) and in three days I will raise it up.” He did exactly that when He was resurrected on the third day after His crucifixion.
Through our faith in Christ, the destination of our journey can be clearly known. We will not be able to see the "storms" of life that we may encounter, but we can know the one who is the Captain of our soul, Jesus Christ. When we trust Christ for our salvation, He not only promises to be with us during our earthly journey, but He secures our eternal destination with Him in heaven.