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In The Great Works of God, Parts Five and Six: The Mysteries of Christ in the Book of Exodus, Valerius Herberger shows that Jesus Christ is the center of every part of Scripture. The excerpt below is Meditation 47 (Part 5) in its entirety.
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XLVII. JESUS, The Mediator, Places Himself Between Pharaoh and the Israelites (Exod. 14:19–20).

Moses said, “The Angel of God which went before the camp of Israel stood with the pillar of cloud between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of the Israelites.” Above He was called “the LORD” (Exod. 13:21). Moses says the same thing again here in Exodus 14:24. Now then, if it is Jehovah (“the LORD”), it cannot be a created angel. But if it is the Angel of God, then it can be neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, and must be “the Angel of the covenant” (Mal. 3:1), our Lord Jesus, as also the ancient Doctors of the Church and our own professors have proven from St. Paul.

O Lord Jesus, how comforting this is! When Moses sighed and the Israelites wept, You clearly demonstrated that You were alive, as Job 19:25 says, that You heard it, and that it stirred Your heart. And since the Israelites could not make very quick progress, You camped in their midst all night so that Pharaoh would be unable to gain power over them before they had traveled a good way into the Red Sea and escaped his wrath. You are the Angel which encamps round about the God-fearing (Ps. 34:7), like Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). You are a wall of fire round about Your people (Zech. 2:5). You are “the Angel which redeemed Jacob from all evil” (Gen. 48:16). Oh, how beautifully Your comforting office of Mediator is depicted to me here! O Lord Jesus, dear Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5), when the fierce wrath of Your Father burned against me, You stood between us so that the fiery wrath of Your Father would not consume me.

When the world, the devil, and death, yea, every foe of my salvation blew one horn and pursued me in order to capture me, You went behind me and stood between my foes and my misery, that I might be kept on the true road of faith to eternal life. (p. 234)

Excerpts from The Great Works of God: Exodus

The book of Exodus is a fascinating historical account of how God establishes His people as a nation. Valerius Herberger also shows how it can also be read devotionally, with Jesus at the center of all of Scripture. In The Great Works of God: The Mysteries of Christ in the Book of Exodus, this 17th-century Lutheran pastor teaches the faith with a certain timelessness, using a sacramental lens to reveal Christ in the Old Testament. Herberger draws the reader deeper into the text, providing an abundance of wisdom, comfort, and insight for the Church of today.

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“We know that there is no great undertaking in the Old Testament in which our Lord Jesus is not involved. Therefore He was also at work here, protecting His servant Moses on the water just as He preserved His disciples (Matt. 14:26). Yea, every notable history in the Old Testament earnestly anticipates the great history of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.  Thus, our blessed forefathers also compared this wondrous history of Moses with the account of Jesus Christ’s childhood, explaining one by way of the other.

“Moses, the ‘drawer and bringer out’ of the Israelite people, lay in a humble, simple ark of bulrushes. Jesus, the far greater Drawer and Bringer Out of mankind, who would draw the evil foe out of his armor, overthrow him, and bring us out of his power, also lay in a humble little manger (Luke 2:12). In both cases the beginning was poor, but the ending majestic. Miriam carried Moses, the redeemer of the Israelites. Mary (which is the very same name as Miriam) carried the Redeemer of the World, Jesus Christ. Miriam brought the infant to the king of Egypt’s daughter and arranged for him to be cared for by her. Mary brought the infant Jesus to the same land in which Moses was raised long before. ” (p. 24-25)

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“As the tabernacle was enclosed by ten curtains, the Church always carries the ten curtains of the holy Ten Commandments that she may better recognize her sins, and accordingly find hope in the ten curtains of Jesus Christ’s comforting benefits enumerated in the Second Article of the Creed. The five wounds of Jesus Christ must always be fixed to the five books of Moses. Law and Gospel must both be preached, that man may know how to live a Christian life and die a blessed death. We should and must hear Moses and the Prophets together (Luke 16:29–31).” (p. 450)

He Restores My Soul: A new book about God’s promises amidst suffering

Image result for katie schuermannAuthor Katie Schuermann is known for giving voice to the shame of barrenness and Christ’s sure comfort amidst suffering in her book, He Remembers the Barren. Readers often comment in person and in reviews that her compassionate, honest insight into suffering and stress resonated with them, even beyond the subject of barrenness:

“[Schuermann] encourages her readers to lament without falling into self-pity, to be honest with God about their pain, and to look to the promises that He has given in His Son.” 

“This book has opened my eyes to the suffering many women experience and how the grace of God answers their pain, not with explanations, but with hope.”

Now, Katie Schuermann is collaborating with Emmanuel Press and a host of experienced female writers to broaden the discussion of suffering in the Church and apply the theology of the cross to a wider range of topics in He Restores My Soul, a new book set to release in October of 2018.

Utilizing the timeless, rich comfort permeating Psalm 23, He Restores My Soul offers empathy and encouragement to the cross-bearing Christian woman. Never indulging in contemporary self-help rhetoric, Schuermann and friends persist in pointing the reader to a firm trust in God’s promises found in His Word and a resounding joy in God’s mysterious work of conforming us “to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

Various topics addressed within the pages of He Restores My Soul include living the Christian faith in the public arena, carrying a child in the womb who is not expected to live, mothering while working, regretting an abortion, struggling against same-sex attraction, caring for aging parents, children leaving the faith, living with mental illness, suffering from depression and chronic diseases, and raising children apart from one’s own upbringing.

Follow along as we release more information about the book’s topics, participating authors, and excerpts by signing up for email updates on the right sidebar or by liking Emmanuel Press and Katie Schuermann on Facebook.

Thy Kingdom Come: An Excerpt from Maundy Thursday

“The fruit of the tree is on the paten and in the chalice. The angel of death passes over. He has no claim upon us. We belong to God. We bear His watery name. We eat at His table. We are His people and more. We are not merely guests, sojourners in His house for but an hour, but we are members of the royal family raised up from stones. We are not Gentile dogs hoping for crumbs, worshiping what we do not know. We, by grace, are the Lord’s own beloved and immaculate bride. We belong to God. We are baptized. We eat at His table. We are gathered under the protecting shadow of the cross.”

-David H. Petersen in Thy Kingdom Come

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