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#4.
Types of the Usurpation.
pp. 62 - 64
When we read the blessed words, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth" we know that
they refer to Christ; He Who was born at Bethlehem, Who lived as man, and Who died
and rose again. When Satan is said to be worshipped in Rev. 13: 4, his agent, the
Beast, who was slain and who had been raised again, is, according to verse 12,
worshipped too. Throughout the unfolding of the ages there have been men who were
outstanding types and foreshadowings of this final "Man of Sin and Son of Perdition".
The Pharaoh of the Oppression and of the Exodus is one such character. He "knew not"
Joseph (Exod. 1: 8), and he "knew not" the Lord (Exod. 5: 2). When the Lord visited
Pharaoh with judgment, He at the same time executed judgment "against all the gods of
Egypt". Egypt not only was an oppressor of Israel, but became a snare, and, in more than
one sense usurped the place of God. It snared Abraham and involved him in deceit and
loss (Gen. 12:). After the Exodus the people of Israel turned back in heart to the land of
bondage; they thought of the "leeks, the onions and the garlick", and said one to another:
"Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt" (Numb. 14: 4).
In later days their children trusted in Egypt. Isaiah cried,
"Woe to the rebellious children . . . . . that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not
asked counsel at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to
trust in the shadow of Egypt" (Isa. 30: 1, 2).
"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help . . . . . the Egyptians are men, and not
God: and their horses flesh, and not spirit" (Isa. 31: 1, 3).
It will be seen that Egypt is presented in the two very different guises of Oppressor
and Refuge. These represent not a change of heart or purpose on the part of the enemy,
but only of tactics, leaving unchanged the strategy or main purpose of the conflict.
When Israel were redeemed from Egypt and settled in their land, they were still the
object of Satan's attack, and, in the book of Judges, we find this exemplified by another
instance of his methods. To anyone acquainted with the significance of number in
Scripture, the fact that there were twelve judges of divine appointment and one, making
the total thirteen, who usurped this authority over Israel, will suggest a type of evil. The
parable which Jotham uttered as a warning to Israel sheds light upon Abimelech's action.
In the parable
"the trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive
tree, Reign thou over us . . . . . they said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us . . .
. . then . . . . . to the vine, Come thou, and reign over us . . . . . Then said all the trees unto
the bramble, (or thistle, see margin) Come thou, and reign us. And the bramble said unto
the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my
shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon"
(Judges 9: 8-16).