The Exodus

Ok, just a really cool insight from Thursday’s class on the Exodus.

In the book of Exodus, Moses frees the children of Israel from the land of their enemies or Egypt on the day of Passover. They sacrifice the pascal lamb, and smear blood on the door post. The blood is a sign for the angel of death to pass over that house and not kill the firstborn son. They leave Egypt, cross the Red Sea (baptism), and then go to Mount Sinai where Moses receives the law, written on tablets of stone. While he is in the mountain, they hear thunder, wind, and see fire etc. on the mountain. (Exodus 19:18, 24:17) After that, they wander for 40 years, after which they finally enter into the promised land.

Move forward 1400 years or so. Jesus is crucified on the day of Passover. He is the sacrificial lamb, and it is his blood that redeems us from death. He is also the firstborn son who is slain. He leads his people out of sin. 50 days later, after he has ascended, the Jews are celebrating the day of Pentecost. This is the traditional day for the giving of the law. The disciples were gathered together, and like a rushing wind, they receive the Holy Ghost. They speak in tongues and see flames of fire on each other’s heads. (Acts 2:1-3) Note this is the same language as in Exodus. They receive the law, not written on stone, but by the spirit on the tables of their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3)

Move forward another 1800 or so years. God commands his people to leave the land of their enemies (New York) and go to Ohio where He will give them His law. (D&C 37, 38:31-32) When they get there, they don’t have a mountain, so they build a temple, which is almost the same thing. In the temple, they have an experience similar to the Sinai and Pentecost, where there are divine revelations, speaking in tongues, etc, and Joseph receives section 42, which is “the law.” Later on, Brigham Young, a modern day Moses or Joshua, leads them into the “promised land” which turns out to be Utah. One more cool thing is that Utah has a living lake (Utah Lake) that feeds a dead lake (the Great Salt Lake) through the Jordan River. Compare to the Sea of Galilee that feeds the Dead Sea through the Jordan River. Utah is the only place on earth that mirrors the Holy Land like that.