Exodus: Pattern for Redemption
Outline of biblical history, Exodus 1-15 [1]:
“In time the descendants of Jacob living in Egypt multiplied to become a
very large number of people. The
Egyptians no longer regarded them with friendliness and made them slaves. God appointed Moses to be the one who would
lead Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan. When the moment came for Moses to demand the
freedom of his people the Pharaoh refused to let them go. Through Moses God worked ten miracle-plagues
which brought hardship, destruction and death to the Egyptians. Finally Pharaoh let Israel go, but then
pursued them and trapped them at the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds). Then God opened a way in the sea for Israel
to cross on dry land, but closed the water over the Egyptian army, destroying
it ” (130).
1. Captivity
a.
Several questions should come to mind while reading the
Genesis narratives:
i.
Why did the land seem out of reach to Abraham’s
descendants even while they lived in it?
ii.
Why did God’s purposes for the land include removing its
inheritors completely from the land to Egypt?
iii.
Why all the perplexing references in Genesis (seemingly
even out of context) to the Canaanites?
iv.
Others?
b. In the
OT, possession of the land (and the accompanying rest—both Sabbath rest and rest
from enemies) is presented as a shadow of the future reality of living as God’s
people in his kingdom
i.
No direct paradigm is suggested in the beginning as to
how one enters the kingdom
1. How
does one enter the kingdom?
2. From
what does one need to be rescued / redeemed / delivered / saved in order to
enter?
3. How
does Abraham merely moving to Canaan from Ur fail to picture this redemption?
ii.
Noah’s redemption through the flood gives a glimpse of
redemption from sin
1. What
aspects does Noah’s salvation from (through?) the flood accurately convey?
2. How
does this account fall short of the ‘process’ by which one enters the kingdom?
iii.
Bottom line—after the entrance of sin at the Fall, any
revelation of the kingdom must deal with sin and how it is ‘dealt with’ with
respect to God and his people
1. There
is a continued need for faith (as seen in the life of Abraham)
2. There
is a need to rescue God’s people from enslavement / oppression (as seen in
Egypt)
3. There
is a need for forgiveness / atonement / reconciliation (yet to come…sacrifices)
iv.
According to Hebrews, even present-day Christians have
yet to experience the full reality of life in God’s kingdom (cf. Heb
3.7-4.13)…this waits the consummation of the age!
c.
The theological significance of captivity in Egypt lies
with its opposition to the covenant
i.
Three of the four covenant promises seem to be in
jeopardy
1. God’s
people enslaved to Pharaoh (semi-divine) and the gods of Egypt…hardly blessing
the world
2. God’s
people not dwelling in the land promised to them
3. No
explicit mention in the narrative of a close relationship between the people
and God
a.
Also no mention of sin as a reason for separation or
bondage
b. The
situation in Egypt is never mentioned as a consequence of sin (like the exile
later was)
ii.
Only the promise of becoming a multitude seems to have
come true
iii.
The rest of Exodus is God’s covenant in action…
2. God’s
man, Moses
a.
Important—too often we look at OT figures (like Moses)
primarily as examples of godliness and faith for ‘Christian’ living, but to do
so neglects their primary role as revealing / foreshadowing the work of Christ
i.
Hopefully our detailed look at God’s chosen people in
Genesis (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.) proved that OT ‘character studies’ often
fail to acknowledge the real humanity of these people
ii.
No OT or NT character can be held up as the perfect
person of God
b. His
deliverance at birth should not be seen as paradigmatic of God’s care / concern
for little children, to look at Ex 2.1-10 in this light is to miss the main
point!
i.
God is sovereignly (and ironically) overruling the powers
that would seek to oppose his kingdom
ii.
He is also providentially caring for his chosen
‘instrument’ and leader, Moses
c.
God continues to protect and provide for Moses while in
Midian
i.
Protecting him from revenge at the hands of Egyptians (Ex
2.11-22)
ii.
Hearing his people’s cries and ‘remembering’ his covenant
(Ex 2.23-25)
iii.
Revealing himself to Moses and setting the scene for
redemption to follow (Ex 3-4)
1. God
identifies himself as the God of the patriarchs…showing his action here to be a
continuation of his covenant with Abraham (not a new work)
2. God
promises to return his people to the land (in keeping with the covenant)
3. But how
will the people believe Moses?
a.
God reveals himself to them by name (Ex 3.14-15), Yahweh
/ Jehovah
i.
In longstanding tradition of deference to Jews, who think
God’s name too holy to pronounce, our Bibles substitute ‘the Lord’ for Yahweh / Jehovah
ii.
Yahweh is God’s covenant name, a personal name not a
title
b. God
grants Moses power to perform ‘signs and wonders’ (Ex 4.1-9; 7.3)
i.
‘Signs and wonders’ a technical term accompanying God’s
redemptive acts
ii.
Used here in Exodus (and later in the OT looking back to
the Exodus) and referring to the ministry of Jesus / the apostles (cf. Jn 2.11,
23 [etc. in Jn]; Acts 2.14-24; 4.30; Heb 2.4, etc.)
iii. Interestingly
enough, also used by Jesus to refer to false signs in the last days
c.
God identifies Israel as the ‘son of God’ (Ex 4.22-23)
i.
Sonship not developed much in the OT, but the concept is
there
ii.
God’s ‘firstborn son’ (Ex 4.22) is ultimately Jesus, the
true Israel and seed of Abraham
d. God’s
chosen man is depicted honestly, shortcomings and all, as God grooms him for
leadership
i.
Moses tries to get out of his role, grumbles against God,
thinks God’s plan is foolish, etc.
ii.
As with Abraham, so many hurdles arise, that is the
people get out of Egypt is must be God’s work
1. No room
for self-confidence here!
2. The
whole event has to be seen as a mighty act of God’s grace
3. Excursus
1: Yahweh / Jehovah, the name of God
i.
What about Ex 6.2-8 and 34.5-7? We have seen ‘the Lord’ used
to refer to God before now…
1. Perhaps
the patriarchs knew God’s name but did not know him to the same extent/depth?
2. Perhaps
God used ‘the Lord’ through the
pen of Moses in earlier dialogues to identify explicitly with the patriarchs
who did not know God as Yahweh but probably as El Shaddai? (more likely)
ii.
Most important issues here:
1. Explicit
ties with Abraham as one continuous covenant plan of redemption
2. The
self-revelation of God’s gracious character
4. Ten
plagues
a.
The ten plagues have saving significance for Israel and
act as judgments on Pharaoh (Ex 5.1-2; 6.7-7; 7.5, 17)
i.
Concerning Israel (…you shall know that I am Yahweh your
God…, Ex 6.7; 10.2)
1. Revelation
of God’s power and covenant faithfulness
2. Demonstration
of his power over the ‘gods’ of Egypt
3. God
continuously acts for his people to strengthen their faith, leading to worship
(see below)
ii.
Concerning Pharaoh / Egypt (…you will know that there is
none like me…, Ex 7.17; 8.10, 22; 9.14; 10.2)
1. Revelation
of Yahweh’s existence and power
2. Demonstration
that the gods of Egypt are powerless
3. God’s
acts are a witness to the nations, savingly drawing some to himself
b. Throughout
the plagues, Pharaoh consistently refuses to let Israel go because his heart
was hardened
i.
God graciously tells Pharaoh in advance exactly what he
will do, but he will not believe (Ex 4.21-23)
ii.
Even though God refrains from complete destruction, in
his mercy (Ex 9.31), Pharaoh remains defiant
iii.
Eventually, after the tenth plague, Pharaoh concedes and
Israel is allowed to leave (with Egypt’s riches!)
5. Excursus
2: Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart during
the plagues?
a.
There is a problem here…
i.
Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (Ex 8.15,
32; 9.34)
ii.
God is said to have hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 4.21;
7.3; 9.12; 10.1, 20, 27; 11.10)
iii.
‘Who dunnit?’
b. There
is tension here…
i.
Pharaoh made a willing choice, deliberately hardened his
own heart, and was judged for it
ii.
God is still seen as sovereign over the whole affair, as
Paul points out (cf. Rom 9.14-18)
iii.
Scripture teaches human responsibility and God’s
sovereignty side-by-side
1. The
Bible never suggests that either truth compromises the other
2. This
reality is simply beyond our finite minds to resolve
3. We must
let the tension stand as presented in Scripture, human attempts to ‘resolve’
the tension invariably fall short of biblical teaching and often lead to
unscriptural answers or heresy
6. The
Passover
a.
None of the first nine plagues affected Israel or
demanded a response from Israel
b. The
tenth plague (Ex 11-12) changes this and offers an important revelation of God’s
kingdom…
i.
The people must believe God and act of their faith in
order to be saved
ii.
The Passover meal is established as a permanent meal for
Israel
1. Established
to remember God’s faithfulness and mighty acts of redemption (both past and
present)
2. Unlike
the Lord’s Supper, there is no implicit anticipation of God’s future acts (cf.
Mt 26.29; Mk 14.25; Lk 22.15; 1 Cor 11.26)
c.
Theological reasons behind the design of the Passover?
i.
Much ink has been spilled linking the details of the
Passover to Christ’s work on the cross but little is explicitly mentioned in
Scripture, so we must be careful to avoiding ‘reading in’ to the details
1. We may
rightly understand the lamb’s blood covered believing households so they
escaped judgment
2. Similarly,
Christ is our Passover lamb without blemish, covering us from God’s judgment (1
Cor 5.7)
ii.
Primarily we see that redemption involves:
1. The
release from bondage
2. The
shedding of blood as a means to escape judgment
7. Redemption
a.
The exodus is obviously a miraculous, saving event due
completely to God’s grace and covenant
i.
Ten plagues as a demonstration of God’s power
ii.
Pharaoh’s hardened heart and resolve to oppress
iii.
Parting of the sea and destruction of Egypt’s army
iv.
‘Road less traveled’ through the desert instead of the
main road
b. Israel
did not have to ‘work’ for this deliverance (Ex 14.13-14) but had to act on
their belief
c.
Now we see why God led Joseph into Egypt…to point out
several aspects of redemption (type/antitype)
i.
Israel’s slavery is a contradiction to the promises to
Abraham…the exodus shows God’s covenant faithfulness and his tender mercy /
steadfast love toward his people
1. The
human condition as ‘slaves to sin’ (cf. Rom 5-6 et al) is a contradiction to
the original creation of human nature in Gen 1-2
2. Through
salvation, God shows faithfulness to his covenantal promises and tender mercy
toward man
ii.
Redemption is God’s act of judgment and triumph against
his enemies (Pharaoh and Egypt) and of salvation for his people who are
powerless to save themselves
1. Calvary
was God’s triumph over sin, death and Satan…ultimate victory though not yet
fully realized
2. As
people dead in sin and under wrath (cf. Eph 2.1-3), we are entirely helpless to
save ourselves
iii.
Salvation also involves a sacrificial offering which
delivers God’s people from judgment
1. Here, the
Passover lamb…though details as to ‘why’ or ‘how’ sacrifice appeases God must
wait
2. Ultimately,
of course revealed fully in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as atonement /
propitiation / satisfaction / judgment for our sins (cf. Hebrews)
iv.
Redemption results in reverent awe, trust, and worship!
(Ex 14.30-15.21)
1. God
reveals himself by his word and deeds, worship must center on retelling what
God has done
2. The
Passover meal finds its ultimate significance at the cross and the Lord’s
Supper
d. Redemption
as release from slavery / bondage / oppression / misfortune now becomes one of
the most prominent themes in the OT (cf. Ruth)
e.
In sum, redemption is “God’s act of releasing his people
from an alien power, and of bringing them to freedom so that they can live as
his people according to the covenant promises” (137).
i.
Redemption brings freedom…
ii.
Redemption also brings responsibility…which we will see
next!
Tidbits from Goldsworthy’s section review…‘good
stuff’ to remember:
Main
themes in Ex 1-15:
§
Captivity
§
Covenant faithfulness of God
§
The name of God (Yahweh or ‘the Lord’)
§
‘Signs and wonders’
§
Supernatural redemption
Some
key words:
§
Covenant
§
Passover
§
Redemption
§
Salvation
The
path ahead:
§
Exodus from Egypt—(Second exodus, return from
exile?)—Exodus of Christ
§
Passover—Christ our Passover (1 Cor 5.7)
§
Israel as son of God (Ex 4.22-23, Hosea 11.1)—Jesus as
true Israel, the Son of God (Lk 3.22-38; 4.3)
