Audio Download

Exiles in the Bible: Born into Exile

[Study Aired October 17, 2024]

6: Characters in the bible who typify the spiritual zeal and Godly strength needed from Him to endure through the exile and come out of it, typifying how God’s elect will go onto perfection through Christ.

Chapter eleven of Hebrews gives us a very bright snapshot of what typifies the faith of Christ that is given to His people in order to break free from the sin of self righteousness, taking us out of exile. We must be given power to miraculously put off our flesh, and so boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 3:27), as the Lord works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), becoming persuaded (Heb 11:13) that we have been apprehended by Christ (Php 3:12-14) and are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27) by God’s grace and the faith of Christ (Eph 2:8), and that nothing can separate us from the love of God toward us (Rom 8:35-39).

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The first verse in Hebrews eleven sets the stage for all the typical events of overcoming (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11) that are going to be discussed, and what we are told is this:

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is not seen but it is hoped for, and this statement typifies for us the hope of glory within us, the spirit of God that bears witness that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Col 1:27, Rom 8:16 , Col 3:3 , Gal 4:9).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.[“the hope of glory within us”]

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

These stories in Hebrews chapter eleven are typical of the life of Christ within the few called and chosen (Mat 22:14) in this age, whose lives are greater than John the Baptist’s life simply because it is Christ’s life in us now that makes our lives of great value to our Father (Mat 11:11 , Mat 10:29-31):

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [“two” being a witness that Christ’s sparrows cannot be destroyed spiritually, our life and death are in His hands, our soul and our body (Rom 14:8)].
Mat 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows (Mat 22:14).

As we reflect on some of the verses in this eleventh chapter, let’s consider how the faith given in each different situation typifies for God’s elect today how we can become more than conquerors through him who loved us, as we come out of spiritual exile through the faith of Christ (Rom 8:37, Eph 2:8).

Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.

The elders, by God’s grace in this age, will obtain a good report that can only be accomplished through Christ, and that report is described for us in these verses (1Ti 3:2-9):

1Ti 3:2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
1Ti 3:8  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
1Ti 3:9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.(1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 4:4)

1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.(Col 1:27, Rom 8:29, Rom 8:16, 1Jn 4:5-7).

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

What does the typical language of this third verse mean for God’s elect today? The ‘worlds that are framed by the word of God’ is not only the physical world and universe being discussed, but infinitely more importantly, they represent the “things which are seen [that] were not made of things which do appear“, and were created so that we can compare spiritual with spiritual using the physical worlds that God framed for our sakes (1Co 2:13).

All the exiles typify for us physical events that tell us something spiritual (Rom 1:20). If Christ is in our ‘world’ within (Col 1:27), then that spirit is there for the express purpose of building the temple or house of God that we are “things which are seen [that] were not made of things which do appear” (Psa 127:1 , Heb 11:27). This phrase is a physical representation of what God is doing spiritually within the bride via Christ: “the worlds were framed by the word of God”.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual [using the physical].

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Had Abel not been given this gift of faith, he would not have been able, in type and shadow, to present his life a living sacrifice to God. Having the gift of faith to offer a more excellent sacrifice reminds us that our lives are only acceptable unto God through the faith of Christ that gives us the ability to reflect his righteousness that testifies of his workmanship in us. With the faith of Christ within us we learn that our lives are predestined to bring forth fruit (Joh 15:16, Eph 1:4), and the words “he [Abel] being dead yet speaketh” typifies for us today, as God’s children, that we are dead to sin yet alive in Christ (Rom 6:11), who speaks through each joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16). This power that God gives his children is what gives us victory to come out of the exile that we all must first go into.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

When our ways please God we will not see death, which is what the wages of sin brings to us. We are “not found” because we are ‘translated’ by God, telling us that we are hidden in Christ (Col 3:3) and the world cannot perceive the work that God is doing in His people who He is giving power to come out of her my people, come out of spiritual exile. We overcome by being baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3) which is the only way that we can please God as we are accepted through Christ only. We cannot be “translated”, or moved by the power of God’s spirit from a place of exile without the “testimony” where we are glorifying God in all our thoughts and actions. We ‘please God’ therefore, because of the pleasing work that He is doing in us through Christ (Php 2:12-13).

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

With the faith of Christ, we can believe that God is ever present and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Conversely, without that faith, we cannot see or hear spiritually the words of God or have the desire to continue in the truth that will set us free (Joh 8:31-32) from the bondage and exile that sin wants to constantly keep us captive to (Gen 4:7).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

This verse tells us so much regarding the attitude that God’s elect are to have today in order to escape the exile, the bondage to sin that the whole world lies in today, being deceived of the devil (1Jn 5:19, 2Co 4:4).

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

It is with the faith of Christ that we can heed the admonitions of God today and, “being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear” as God works in us (Heb 11:1). What this tells us is that we are being saved by hope, the hope of glory within, “things not seen as yet” (Col 1:27), enduring in seeing him who is invisible (Heb 11:27) as we’re given the power to move with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-13) ‘to the preparing of the ark’, which ‘ark’ is a symbol of the church, which is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ who are promised will be made ready (Rev 19:7).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Here are more great verses that demonstrate how we are to come out of exile in order to receive our inheritance (Heb 11:8), and it is the typical faith of Abraham that represents the key to our overcoming in this life which happens by the faith of Christ whose faith (Eph 2:8, Rom 3:27) alone can give us the power to quench all the fiery darts of the adversary (Eph 6:16) making it possible for us to be led of the spirit of God (Rom 8:14) and “go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance“. That place is “Jerusalem above” that we go to (Eph 2:6, Gal 4:26), a ‘country’ we continue to seek and strive to enter into, through obedience (Heb 11:14), and if we are granted to continue to die daily, we ultimately will be led to the fullness of that inheritance, which will be found in the first resurrection (Act 5:32, Rev 20:6).

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

We are going out into this new country with the attitude that it is entirely up to God whether we will prosper, and so the comment regarding Abraham’s “not knowing whither he went“, reminds us that we don’t know what is on the morrow (Jas 4:13-15, Php 2:12-13) yet we are told that through the faith of Christ we can have absolute confidence in what God has promised us as the generation who has no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3 , Heb 10:35).

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

The promise land that ‘Abraham sojourned in by faith’ represents how we sojourn in this life in bodies that are likened unto tabernacles (temporal dwelling places), and ‘being heirs of the same promise as Isaac and Jacob’ remind us that in order to inherit the fullness of this inheritance, it will be accomplished through judgement, represented by the number ‘three’ or the three men Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who are typical heirs of the same promise.

The city we are seeking as the body of Christ is one that we know is being built by God (Heb 10:11, Psa 127:1), and so we know our labours are not in vain and that God will reward those who lose their life in pursuit of this new life (Mat 16:25), this new city, that will have a sure foundation that is built upon the rock, Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18).

Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Being a child in a womb is a form of exile until we are delivered (Rev 12:5, Luk 2:6-7), and Sara, who represents the church, was given supernatural strength “to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age“, typifying for God’s elect how God does this miraculous work of deliverance within those who are the weak of the world who make up the church, whose hope is in Christ. Because of the faith of Christ we are able to judge “him faithful who had promised“, being convinced by God’s grace and faith (Eph 2:8) that He who has begun a good work in us will finish it through Christ (Php 1:6, 1Jn 3:3). It takes the faith of Christ and the strength of Christ within us to be Sara to one another, joints that edify and supply in love what we each need in order to grow unto maturation. Christ is performing this work of faith through each of us and for one another, is what this powerful section of scripture is reminding us.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Luk 2:6  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Php 1:6 having this same confidence, that He Who undertakes a good work among you, will be performing it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (CLV)

1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

Heb 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

This verse talks about the inheritance of the saints, and we are Christ’s inheritance and Christ is our inheritance, but the world also is our inheritance “as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Gal 4:26-28).

Gal 4:26 Yet the Jerusalem above is free, who is mother of us all.”
Gal 4:27 For it is written, “Be glad, barren one, who art not bringing forth! Burst forth and implore, thou who art not travailing! For many are the children of the desolate, Rather than of her who has the husband.”
Gal 4:28 Now you, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise.” (CLV)

An ‘exile’ can be likened unto the birthing process (being delivered) and ‘God has called his son out of Egypt’ applies to both Christ and his Christ as these verses demonstrate, showing us that salvation is a process that comes about through a growth process that is accompanied with much tribulation, just like the maturation process of a child in a mothers womb (Hos 11:1, Mat 2:13-15, Act 14:22). There are other examples of typical exiles in the book of Hebrews, but I’ll stop at verse twelve.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue with what will be our last section of this mini study on “Exiles in the Bible”.  The focus will be on Christ’s own examples of preaching to the captives, and what that means for God’s elect today as we continue in the truth, the exceedingly great and precious promises (2Pet 1:4) that we learn from our Lord through the church (Eph 3:10) that we pray that we will be granted to continue in, setting us free from these bodies of death (Joh 8:31-32 , Rom 7:24-25).

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.