Exodus Introduction (part 1)

An Emancipation Proclamation

Do you know who this president is?
He's James Buchanan

President James Buchanan inspired no box office hits.  

No luxury car companies are named after him.  

No works of fiction make him a vampire slayer. 

You have to know this one.

Not so with the next president, Abraham Lincoln.  His fame arguably surpasses every other president in our nation’s past.  Imagine living 150 years ago in 1863 and witnessing his Emancipation Proclamation, ending almost 300 years of slavery.  The Gettysburg address still sends chills down my spine, as distant as I am from the situation.  What an incredible moment in our nation’s history!

The Bible tells of the great emancipation of  a nation in slavery for over 300 years.  The book of Exodus records one of the key events in Biblical history by chronicling the nation of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (1:1-13:16), their descent to Mount Sinai (13:17-18:27), and their dedication to God by the covenant (19:1-40:38).

People have read this great book and drawn strength from it for centuries.  Strike that.  Millennia.  It speaks volumes about the nation of Israel, about our own spiritual battles, and about God’s great Messiah – the Lord Jesus Christ – as He is foreshadowed in the many times God brings salvation.  So as you read through Exodus, keep your eye out for these features.  Read the text:

a.) on a historical level – what God did for Israel

b.) on a personal level – how Israel exhibits your own spiritual weaknesses

c.) on a Christological level –  how  “smaller” acts of salvation foreshadow the greatest act of salvation

DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT (1:1-13:16)

The Historical Level

Hyksos in battle

At the end of Genesis, Joseph’s bones lie in a coffin, waiting in the foreign land of Egypt to return to their rightful place – the land God gave Abraham and his descendants.   Exodus gives us that story.  Between those two books, Israel grows from a large family to a nation and looses their place of privilege when a new Pharaoh, named Hyksos (we know this from sources outside the Bible), subjects them to slavery.  The nation exists where it does not rightfully belong for 400 years.  

But none of this should have been a surprise.  God had warned Abraham that this would happen because He was being patient with the Amorites (see Gen. 15:13-16) before judgment came.  Did Israelites remember this promise?   It seems like some of them were.  Moses thinks God is preparing him to be the long awaited deliverer (Acts 7:25).  I can imagine faithful Israelites “watching the clock” in anticipation of what God would do.  Can you think of the excitement as the time drew near?  Eventually the time was fulfilled.  Right on cue God intervenes.  

The material in the first thirteen chapters of Exodus should be familiar to any Sunday School attendee – 

their oppression as slaves (1)

the birth of Moses and his flight to Midian (2)

the burning bush (3-4)

the command to make bricks without straw (5)

God’s promise of deliverance (6)

Moses’ miracles of the snakes and the ten plagues (7-11)

the Passover (12)

the exodus (13).

But familiarity breeds contempt.  So be careful.  These stories are so well known to many of us and so there’s the temptation to think in a “felt-board world,” as if the stories are made up fairy tales.  But these things actually happened to real people in real history!  If it would have been exciting to witness the Gettysburg address and see the long awaited freedom, how much more exciting would the events of Exodus have been!  As you read through Exodus, remember that this stuff actually happened!

The Personal Level

That’s not to say that there is no application for us personally.  We can easily identify with Moses.  How often do we have dreams for doing something great, even something great for God, and it seems like nothing happens?  How often is there a "detour" in our perfect plan?  Moses had to wait forty years in the desert!  But God was doing a great work in him, making him the meekest man on the earth (Num. 12:3). 

And we can easily sympathize with his reluctance to be used to God when the time does come.  Who doesn’t read the story of the burning bush and think “Oh Moses, what are you thinking?! God’s on your side – you don’t have to be worried about your own inadequacies?”  And then comes the Holy Spirit to us, like Nathan to David, saying “You are the man.”  In Moses we learn it’s about God’s timing, not ours.  And it’s about God’s ability, not ours. 

The Christological Level

Sculpture in U.S.
House of Representatives

He was an Israelite.  He narrowly escaped the wrath of the king.  He lived in Egypt.  He willingly gave up his glory to do God’s will and to identify himself with God’s people.  He was compassionate for his countrymen and wanted their deliverance.  His claims to be deliverer were rejected.  After his rejection, however, his people received him and so God rescued the Israelites.  He was a prophet, speaking as God.  He courageously led the people as a king.  Remind you of anyone? 

In the next post, we'll consider seeing the next two sections (Israel's descent and dedication) at the historical, personal, and Christological level.