From whence shall come my help?

I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills [around Jerusalem, to sacred Mount Zion and Mount Moriah]–From whence shall my help come? [Jer. 3:23.] My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth, The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.  Psalm 121: 1-2, 7 AMPC

Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,

the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them.  He remains faithful forever,

executing justice for the exploited

and giving food to the hungry.  The Lord frees prisoners.  The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.  The Lord raises up those who are oppressed. [c] The Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord protects resident aliens

and helps the fatherless and the widow,

but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever, Zion, your God reigns for all generations.  Hallelujah!  Psalm 146:5-10

God is our help.  The Bible is a testament of His love for all peoples.  As He chooses a people, and builds a nation, we see deliberate steps toward delivering humanity ultimately through the birth of His Son.

In the story of the Exodus, you see the Christ foreshadowed not just in the person of Moses but also in the symbolism of the rods used by both Moses and Aaron.

Moses was born to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian captivity and oppression.  Moses foreshadowed Jesus Christ.

God gave Moses a rod, a sign of authority and power, to bring about the release of the Israelites from Pharaoh’s rule, and with which to usher in many plagues.  By being used to bring plagues, Moses’ rod was also symbolic of the wrath of God toward the enslavement of His people.

And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].  Exodus 4:17 AMPC

When God told Moses to throw the rod on the ground before Pharoah, and it became a snake, this was a clear warning to Pharoah that Moses’ God had all Divine power and authority.

And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so, and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.  Exodus 4:3 AMPC

Now, Aaron’s rod was different than Moses.  It foreshadowed the arrival of the resurrected Christ because it had been taken from a living tree, and when broken off from it, it withered and died, but then when placed by Moses into the Tent of the Testimony, the next day, it blossomed, budded, and produced ripe almonds.

And Moses deposited the rods before the Lord in the Tent of the Testimony. And the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and brought forth buds and produced blossoms and yielded [ripe] almonds. Numbers 17:7-8 AMPC

Now, here Aaron’s rod, that had been dead, has blossomed, flowered, and bore first fruits.  It seemed a clear indicator to the Israelites that God was identifying Aaron and his sons, as His priests, and that their job would be to remove off of the people their iniquities.  Does this remind you of Jesus, our high priest?  It should.

AND THE Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear and remove the iniquity of the sanctuary [that is, the guilt for the offenses which the people unknowingly commit when brought into contact with the manifestations of God’s presence]. And you and your sons with you shall bear and remove the iniquity of your priesthood [your own unintentional offenses].  Numbers 18:1 AMPC

Another correlation between Aron’s rod and Jesus is that following a long winter, the Israelites noticed that the almond tree was the first fruit tree to blossom, bud, and bear fruit following the winter.  the decision was then made that Aaron’s budding rod was to be kept in the Tent of the Testimony before the Father as a service to and for the people so they would not die for their complaining and murmuring.

And the Lord told Moses, Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebels; and you shall make an end of their murmurings against Me, lest they die.  Numbers 17:10 AMPC

Like Aaron’s rod, Jesus also went before the Father following His death and resurrection as a service for and to the people, becoming as such our High priest, and cancelled the separation from the Father as a result of sin forever, thereby abolishing death.

This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us]. [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it–a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil, [Lev. 16:2.] Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek. [Ps. 110:4.]  Hebrews 6:18-20 AMPC

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Matthew 28:18 KJV

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.  Revelation 1:18 KJV

You see,

When Aaron cast His rod down before Pharoh’s magicians, it ate their rods, and clearly announced to Pharoah and his wise men that Aaron’s rod had all authority and power, not just a power equal to, but a power superior to theirs, a power even over death.

For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod Swallowed up their rods.  Exodus 7:12 AMPC

But now Christ is risen from the dead and become the First fruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is Swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 54-55, 57 KJV

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].  1 Corinthians 15:58 AMPC

For, I will, I will, I will

…cause you to pass under the rod [as the shepherd does his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and I will constrain you] and bring you into the covenant to which you are permanently bound. [Lev. 27:32.]  Ezekiel 20:37 AMPC

I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant odor when I lead you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations [who will seek Me because of My power displayed in you]. [Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18.]  Ezekiel 20:41 AMPC

And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God. Ezekiel 20:44 AMPC

…Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear…  Psalm 23:4c