Intro to Exodus

Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and starting a new sermon series through another book of the Bible with you fine people: these are a few of my favorite things.

And this morning, we get to begin a study through the book of Exodus.

Our study in Exodus will mark the 22nd book of the Bible we’ve studied together over the last almost 7 years (between Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings)—all of them in their entirety (except Psalms—we only went through 20 of the Psalms at the time; and Mark which we just started on Wednesday nights a few weeks ago). 2

2 books down, only 44 books lefts. We’re a third of the way through the books of the Bible; We’re chipping away at it!

This book, Exodus, is probably familiar to you whether or not you’re familiar with the Bible. Charlton Heston took on the part of Moses. Disney took a crack at telling the story.

As good as The 10 Commandments or The Prince of Egypt might be, God gave us a Book. And this, not because He was bound by time or technological advancement. He could have slapped this puppy on DVD or Blue-Ray if He had wanted. Instead, He led Moses to write down this account for us, for our benefit: this inspired, dependable, and sufficient account, preserving it for us. And then He set it in our laps.

It’s a really, really good story; it involves some incredible moments: burning bushes, plagues, the parting of the sea, manna from heaven, the giving of the Law, etc. It’s no wonder why Hollywood has tried to capture the story.

You are probably familiar with the story (at least parts of the story) even if you think you aren’t.

You might be wondering why Exodus? Of all the 40-some books of the Bible I could have chosen, why Exodus? Better yet, why not a sermon series on marriage or raising children or a set of topical sermons on current events of the day?

The reason I chose to preach through Exodus is because I believe our study in Exodus will inform how we relate to our spouses, our children, one another; I believe Exodus will help us to make sense of what’s going on in the world around us.

Let’s think about what led the people of God to this place. As we open the book of Exodus, we are introduced to the sons of Israel.

Exodus 1:1–5 NIV

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Jacob is the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham (you know, Father Abraham? He had many sons…many sons had Father Abraham).

The Lord had promised the land of Canaan to Abram and his descendants:

Genesis 15:5–7 NIV

5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. 7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

Now, in the fullness of time, Joshua and his troops ousted the Canaanites, per the providence of God. But it took time—a long, long time before Abraham’s descendants realized the promise of God. It happened generations after Abraham.

This long, long time from promise-to-realization was part of what the Lord spoke to Abram:

Genesis 15:13 NIV

13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

Strangers. Slaves. And mistreated at that.

Nowhere in Genesis or anywhere else in the Bible explains this foretold, 400-year exile and mistreatment. There is never any suggestion that this banishment to Egypt was because of sin. Nothing is said about why the Israelites were enslaved and mistreated in Egypt.

Was their enslavement in Egypt a case of ‘just the way the cookie crumbles’, as they say? It’s been said: “Earthly life is, after all, a chancy affair.”

It would have been “nice” if Israel could have awaited its inheritance while being secure and prosperous, but that was not the way it worked out.

What happened in Israel’s case was all deliberate and part of a greater plan.

Jacob (Abraham’s grandson) was sent to Egypt by the will and word of the Lord, with loving assurances that he would see Joseph, his long-lost son at long-last.

Exodus 1:5 tells us that Joseph was already in Egypt. And this, thanks to his jealous, murderous, greedy brothers who wanted to kill him, but then decided to sell him instead. That’s almost sweet, really; “Let’s not kill him, let’s just sell him instead”.

Jacob and his family all went to Egypt, following the will and word of the Lord, looking forward to what God promised him:

Genesis 46:3–4 NIV

3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

God, in His providential grace, had sent Joseph ahead of Jacob & Family so that all their needs would be met upon their arrival. But by traveling to Egypt, Jacob unknowingly embarked on a journey that would lead to the slavery, the suffering, and the attempted extinction of his descendants.

When the promise of rescue was finally fulfilled (Exodus 12) after all those years, no explanation was ever offered for the years of pain and loss. No explanation as to why. None.

The reason I chose to preach through Exodus is because, I believe our study in Exodus will help us to make sense of what’s going on in the world around us.

Whatever we face, whatever it is we are going through; whatever hardship or illness, whatever trial or tribulation, whatever world-, political-, or current-events transpire—we know:

“This is the mystery of God’s control of history—whether on a national, domestic, or individual level: the great and loving God is in control. And because He is truly Sovereign, He works out His purposes in His way, not our way.

He offers no explanations, but grants His people a sufficient insight into His ways, His character, His intentions, and His changeless faithfulness, so that, however dark the day, they can live by faith and be sustained by hope.”

This is why we are going to study Exodus: to be given insight in God’s ways, God’s character, God’s intentions, and God’s changeless faithfulness.

Our reason, then, for studying Exodus is theological. That is, our reason to study Exodus is to learn about God—He is the Hero of the story.

God is the One who reveals Himself to Moses as the Great I Am.

God is the One who hears the cries of His people in bondage and takes pity on their suffering and raises up a deliverer to save them.

God is the One who sends the plagues on Egypt, who divides the sea and drowns Pharaoh’s army.

God is the One who provides bread from heaven and water from the rock.

God is the One who gives the Law, who maintains His covenant on the mountain and fills the tabernacle with His glory.

From beginning to end, Exodus is a God-centered book, a theological history.

We will meet God the Savior, God the Companion, God the Indweller—the God who will not fail those who so often fail Him.

—>This is a theological book, and a christological book. That is, Exodus points us to and teaches about Christ. Exodus finds its ultimate meaning and final interpretation in the person and work of God the Son: Jesus.

In one way or another, the whole Bible is about Jesus Christ. Think back to this Easter. We walked the Emmaus Road with Jesus and two disciples. On this road, Jesus instructed His wakling buddies about what the Old Testament said about Him:

Luke 24:27 NIV

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Jesus began with Moses—the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of our Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; Jesus explained to His two friends what those books had to say about Him.

I just know that Jesus spent time expounding the book of Exodus on that 7 mile walk down the Emmaus Road, explaining how the events of Exodus were about Him. Because Exodus is about Him.

The Exodus, for Christians, is the gospel of the Old Testament, God’s first great act of redemption.

Exodus is the story that gives every captive hope of freedom. Thus it was only natural from African-American slaves—many of whom were Christians—to understand their captivity as bondage in Egypt and to long for the day when they would be “free at last.”

The exodus shows that there is a God who saves, who delivers His people from bondage.

The Exodus is good news. The Exodus is the gospel of the Old Testament.

As ‘the gospel of the Old Testment’, the Exodus’ connection to Christ is especially strong.

Jesus’ name may not show up in Exodus, but that doesn’t mean Jesus was absent. Jesus, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity, always has been. He was, He is, He ever will be.

I didn’t draw your attention to it as we were going through Jude, but I will now. In Jude 5, Jude (the half-brother of Jesus) writes:

Jude 5 ESV

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt.

The God of the Old Testament is not merely God the Father, but is Father, Son, and Spirit— the Holy Trinity incognito. The Old Testament refers to the one God as Lord of Hosts, LORD, God Almighty, Yahweh, Jehovah, and many other names. Let us remember, though, that God is never less than the Trinity—the God who creates, calls, convicts, saves, indwells.

Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt.

In many ways, the exodus set the pattern for the life of Christ.

Like Moses, Jesus was born to be a savior and was rescued from His enemies at birth. Jesus also spent part of His life in Egypt:

Matthew 2:13–15 NIV

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Like the Israelites, who wandered in the desert for 40 years, Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days.

Jesus went up on the mountainside to teach on the law (the Sermon on the Mount), just as Moses brought the law down from Mount Sinai.

The death of Jesus also follows the pattern of the exodus.

In Luke’s telling of the transfiguration, Jesus went up to pray on the mountain where He appeared to His closest disciples in dazzling majesty.

Luke 9:30–31 NIV

30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

It’s significant that Moses was present. And the word Luke uses for Jesus’ departure is the Greek word exodos.

Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about His exodus. That is to say: they were talking about His crucifixion and resurrection, when Jesus would pass through the deep waters of death to deliver His people from their slavery to sin and take them to the Promised Land.

This explains why Jesus was crucified at Passover. He was the Passover Lamb, the One who takes away the sins of the world.

Many of the words the Old Testament uses to describe the exodus from Egypt—words like ransom, redemption, deliverance—are the very words the New Testament uses to describe Jesus’ work on the cross.

Exodus is more than a story; it’s an illustration of God’s work in our lives; it’s pointing us to Jesus.

It’s a story about us.

We have been delivered from slavery. We used to be slaves to sin…but now have been set free from sin and have becomes slaves to righteousness.

As we take the next several months to trace their journey, we will discover that we need exactly what the Israelites needed.

We need a Deliverer: someone who will save us from slavery and destroy our enemies.

We need a Provider: someone to feed us and give us what we truly need.

We need a Lawgiver: someone to command us how to love and serve Him.

We need a friend: someone to say with us day and night, and forever.

The late, great J. Alec Motyer sums up the Christian’s relationship to Exodus in the way only he could. He said this, many years ago:

“Think about it. Think of what an Israelite would say on the way to Canaan, having come out of the Red Sea and so forth. Here’s what an Israelite would say: If you asked, ‘Who are you?’ he would say, ‘I was in a foreign land under the sentence of death, in bondage, but I took shelter under the blood of the lamb. Our mediator led us out, and we crossed over, and now we’re on our way to the Promised Land. We’re not there yet, but He’s given us His law to make us a community. And He’s given us the Tabernacle because you have to live by grace and forgiveness. And His presence is in our midst, and He’s going to stay with us until we get home.’ This is exactly what the Christian says—almost word for word.”

Exodus is not just some historical, ancient story from a few thousand years ago. It’s our story. It’s the story of God at work—rescuing, redeeming, delivering, teaching, providing, leading, and living with His people.

—>As we spend this time in Exodus, a few things will happen:

We will know God better.

In Exodus, we meet the living God. We will see the God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

In response to our Holy and Awesome God, we should, like Moses, bow down and worship Him.

God is love, yes. But God is to be revered. God is to be worshipped. God is to be honored and obeyed.

The One who has saved us, drawn us out of bondage and slavery, the One who paid an unimaginable price for us deserves our whole—everything we are, everything we have.

To know God better, to grow closer to Him, to have a clearer, more Biblical picture of the God who is—that right there is worth the price of admission; that’s the whole point; to know God is to have eternal life.

Jesus Himself told us as much:

John 17:3 NIV

3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

We will understand God’s redemption better.

God redeems a people for Himself and for His glory. This was His work in Exodus, and it’s His work today. God’s people were in bondage, slavery in Egypt. He sent a deliverer, Moses, to bring them out.

We were, ourselves, in bondage, slavery to sin. God sent a Deliverer, Jesus, to bring us out; to purchase us from the slave market of sin, never to be purchased again. He paid the price—once and for all, redeeming us, restoring us to Himself.

To understand redemption, we need to understand the Exodus and the God of the Exodus.

If you had asked a devout Israelite in the Old Testament period, “Are you redeemed?” the answer would have been a most definite “yes.”

“Are you redeemed?”

“You bet your sweet bippy, I’m redeemed!”

And if you had asked, “How do you know?” they would have taken you to Starbucks, bought you a grande mocha latte, no whip, extra shot of espresso, and told you to settle in for a while as they recounted a long and exciting story—the story of the exodus.

Understanding the redemption God accomplished for His people in Egypt will give depth to our understanding of the redemption Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

We will grasp God’s mission and our mission better.

The mission of the church does not begin with the Great Commission. It begins well before Matthew 28, in the pages of the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, in Exodus, we see that God is concerned about physical injustice and spiritual deliverance. And He expects His people to care about what He cares about—the widow and the orphan, the foreigner and the minority, the oppressed and the marginalized, those who cannot speak and those who cannot speak for themselves. Our concern must match God’s concern.

We need to be a people who care about the enslaved, both physically and spiritually. We need to be a people who [are concerned about] justice, who love kindness, and who walk humbly with our God.

Our mission is to be about God’s mission.

—>Exodus will help us, I’m certain. Exodus will help us to know God, to understand redemption, to grasp God’s mission and ours.

More than anything, though, my prayer is that Exodus would become part of us.

Let me challenge you to read Exodus. If you sat down and read through it in its entirety, it would take you about 3 hours. There might be some of you who could take 3 hours one evening to read Exodus. Turn off the TV, put the kids to bed early, and read Exodus.

For most of us, it’ll be better if we take it a little bit at a time. What about 30 minutes a day? If you started tomorrow, and read 30 minutes a day, you’d have Exodus read by next Sunday. Or read a chapter a day (you’ll be done in 40 days). Maybe you just want to read a week ahead—great! Read chapters 1 and 2 for before next Sunday.

Try it. Not at my suggestion alone; but try it because you want to know God better, because you want to understand your redemption better, because you want to grasp God’s mission and the mission He’s called you to better.

Exodus is such a good story. In many ways, it’s your story. The question is: where are you in the story?

Are you in slavery still? Are you still bound by sin and shame?

Or has Jesus saved you and brought you out to live with Him and for Him?

This much I know: you are somewhere in this story. May the Lord—Sovereign and Gracious—draw you to Himself, set you free, and send you out.