From Egypt to Canaan

By Arlen L. Chitwood

www.lampbroadcast.org

Contents & Foreword & Introduction

Contents

             Foreword

             Introduction

 1.         Saved for a Purpose

 2.         Two Callings, Two Houses

 3.         Whose House Are We, If . . .

 4.         Companions of Christ, If . . .

 5.         The Sabbath Rest

 6.         The Septenary Arrangement of Scripture

 7.         Let Us Labor Therefore

 8.         Let Us Therefore Come Boldly

Foreword

Hebrews, chapters three and four cover the second of the five major warnings to believers in this book.  And different things in these two chapters have been an enigma to numerous Bible students over the years.

For example, what does the Scripture mean when it states:

" But Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if  . . . ." (3:6)?

" For we have become partakers ['companions'] of Christ, if..." (3:14)?

" Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it." (4:1)?

" There remains therefore a rest ['Sabbath rest'] for the people of God" (4:9)?

The problem that most students of the Word encounter when studying passages such as these in the book of Hebrews is actually self-induced.  Individuals seek to understand these and other passages in this book apart from two main things:  1) Understanding that Hebrews deals, not with the salvation that we presently possess, but with the salvation of the soul, and 2) understanding that Hebrews draws extensively from Old Testament typology at almost every point.

That is to say, issues in the book of Hebrews have to do with millennial rather than eternal verities.  The warnings in this book have to do with the Messianic Era alone, not with one's presently possessed eternal salvation.  And the spiritual lessons surrounding these issues are drawn mainly from the Old Testament types.  This is what the book is about, this is the manner in which the book has been written, and the book must be studied accordingly.  

Introduction

Something that must be understood in biblical study is the fact that Old Testament history has been recorded after a particular fashion.  Not only does Old Testament history comprise an actual account of that which God wants His people to know concerning events throughout the 4,000 years preceding Christ's first coming, but this history is also fraught with types and meanings.

Actually, all Old Testament history has been written after this fashion.  In the words of Paul to the Church in Corinth, "Now all these things happened to them for examples [lit., 'for types']..." (1 Corinthians 10:11; cf. v. 6).  And though this passage written to the church in Corinth refers more specifically to events during the wilderness journey of the Israelites under Moses, other portions of Scripture make it perfectly clear that this is not the only block of Old Testament history that has been recorded after this fashion.

When Christ dealt with the two disciples on the Emmaus road following His resurrection, He began "at Moses and all the prophets" and "expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27).  All Old Testament Scripture is about Christ, beginning with Genesis 1:1.

The Old Testament Scriptures, beginning with the opening verse of Genesis, set forth numerous inexhaustible word-pictures of the person and work of Christ.  And these word-pictures are set forth largely within the numerous divinely designed and established types found in all revealed Old Testament history.

God, in this manner, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, has seen fit to reveal the numerous facets of Christ's person and work — past, present, and future.  This is the way Scripture has been written, and this is the way Scripture must be studied.

This book, From Egypt to Canaan, deals not only with the type extending from Exodus 12 through Joshua but also with the original type in Genesis 1:1-2:3.  The latter type is simply an expansion of the former, adding numerous details.  The original type in Genesis was set perfect in the beginning; and the subsequent type beginning in Exodus, designed and established by the same triune God, can only remain in complete accord with the original at every point, in every detail.

The second of the five major warnings in Hebrews, chapters three and four draws extensively from both types.  Hebrews, chapter three draws its spiritual lessons from the type beginning with Exodus 12;  and Hebrews, chapter four refers back to the original type in Genesis 1, 2 for its spiritual lessons.

Consequently, this book, From Egypt to Canaan, deals with both types.  The first part of the book (Chaps. 1-4) deals with the latter type, beginning in Exodus; and the last part of the book (Chaps. 5-8) deals with the former type, opening the book of Genesis.