Introduction to Exodus

Exodus is a fascinating story of how God established the nation of Israel.  At the end of Genesis a family moved to Egypt as honored guests.  Four-hundred years later this family had grown into millions of people who had become oppressed slaves.  The famine that took the children of Israel to Egypt lasted seven years.  God had not called them to live in Egypt but apparently they became very comfortable there so they just decided to stay instead of returning to the land of Canaan which they had been called to possess.  It is a dangerous thing to become comfortable outside of the will of God; because it will always lead us into slavery.  Exodus is the story of how God redeemed His nation from slavery and established a nation that worshiped Him.  It is a story that can be divided into four acts.

PREPARATION: When God decides to intervene in the course of history in a super-natural way, He always starts by preparing a man for the task at hand.  In this case that man was Moses.  Israel has been oppressed as slaves but Pharaoh has so much fear of their growth that he decides to start killing the male offspring of the children of Israel.  Moses was one of these babies that, by law, should have been killed but, by grace, God miraculously has him taken to the very palace of Pharaoh to be raised as an adopted Egyptian prince.  The life of Moses can be summed up in three periods of forty years.  He spent forty years thinking he was “something” then he spent forty years learning he was “nothing” and then he spent forty years where God could use him to do “anything.”  During his “something” stage Moses was educated like Egyptian royalty and he seemed to understand that he would free the children of Israel as he tries to take matters into his own hands and murders an Egyptian slave driver and ends up having to flee for his life.  During his “nothing” stage he becomes a humbled sheepherder that tends his father-in-laws animals.  He is so humbled that he argues with God about His calling to return and set Israel free.  God convinces Moses to go through a series of miracles and promises that leave Him dependent upon God and ready to do “anything” that God calls Him to do.   

LIBERATION: God responds to the cries of his people and with great mercy, love and power sets them free from slavery and bestows upon them all the riches of Egypt.  It is a beautiful illustration of God’s grace and ability to not only release men from slavery but also to reward them with blessings that far exceed their merits or expectations.  When Moses returns to Egypt and proclaims his intentions to demand their release to Pharaoh; the children of Israel are elated.  However, when Moses is not well received by Pharaoh and increases his demands on the children of Israel that elation turns to accusation.  It is important for us to remember that God does know what He is doing but that He usually does things in a way that we do not understand and would never choose.  They wanted immediate relief and release with no additional suffering.  However, had that been the case they would have left Egypt empty-handed.  Because God knows best He afflicted the nation of Egypt with a series of ten plagues that were aimed at demonstrating His superiority over all the gods of Egypt.  By the time God was done with His assault on Pharaoh and the people they sent Israel away and gave them all that they owned just to leave.  God’s path to blessing almost always takes us through suffering. God’s final judgment on Egypt was the killing of the first-born in all the homes that had not offered a perfect lamb as a sacrifice and applied the lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes.  This is a perfect demonstration as to how God redeems all men everywhere through the sacrifice of His Lamb, Jesus when His blood is applied through faith on the doorposts of our hearts.  God longs to release all of us from our slavery to sin so He will lead us to the cross of Christ and through the paths of suffering to an eternal life of blessedness in His presence.

INSTRUCTION: Once the people were free, God takes them to the desert where He has many instructions for His people.  God wants His children to know Him, so He reveals Himself to them in ways that make who God is what He expects of His people crystal clear.  God reveals Himself to the people as Protector as He opens the Red Sea so they can escape the army of Pharaoh then He gives them strength to defeat the Amalekites as long as Moses held his hands up to the Lord.  God reveals Himself as Provider by sending manna and quail to feed them and providing fresh water from a rock.  God’s presence accompanies them as He leads them in the form of a cloud or pillar of fire.  God proclaims His will to the people by audibly declaring the Ten Commandments and then God records them for the people by writing them on stone tablets.  God instructs Moses as to how He expects His people to worship Him as well as treat one another.  He also gives a very clear and detailed set of instructions as to how the Tabernacle is to be constructed.  Up until this point of history God’s Instructions have never been so complete and detailed.  He clearly sets forth His expectations for mankind and He begins to reveal His own holiness to the nation.  It is a wonderful thing to have access to the revelation of God and be instructed about who He is and what He requires of His children.  The children of Israel were given a unique blessing to have these instructions from God.  We who have the Bible today are blessed in an even greater way.  However, we must never forget the billions of people with whom we share this planet who have never been exposed to these instructions because they do not have access to God’s Word.  We must proclaim to them what has been so clearly reveled to us through God’s Word.

CONSTRUCTION: It would be a wonderful thing if we could say that the children of Israel heard the Word of God and simply set out to obey Him.  Unfortunately, despite their verbal commitment to obey all that God had told them to do; they rebelled against God by making an idol in the shape of a calf and many were involved in a drunken orgy while Moses was on the mountain receiving these instructions.  Moses intercedes with God on behalf of the people and the sons of Levi go through the camp killing thousands of men who were taken up in this sinfulness.  Finally the people set out to obey the instruction of God by building the Tabernacle exactly according to the specifications that were given to them by Moses.  The people generously gave of all of their possessions in order to provide the materials to the point that they had to be instructed to stop giving.  God gifted men with the abilities necessary to do the work that was required and the result was the completion of the Tabernacle.  When God’s people depend upon His equipping and offer both their resources and themselves to the work of the Lord; the result is always amazing.  God continues to have clear instructions for His people today.  He continues to equip men and women for the task of making disciples in all nations.  He continues to call us to give of our resources and ourselves to accomplish this mission.  Unfortunately, many are far too busy promoting their own comfort instead of promoting the worship of God in the nations.