God’s Glory Through Exodus Part One
Exodus 3:16-22, Exodus 6:2-7, Exodus 12:21-28
The Exodus is the greatest redemptive event in the entire Old Testament, which the rest of the Old Testament points to again and again. The first half of the book of Exodus is an exiting adventure of God’s redemptive power, his love, his sovereign reign, and his justice packed into a few pages of the bible.
As an overview of the first part of the book of Exodus, God’s people, Israel, have been enslaved in Egypt. Under the reign of the most powerful government and empire in the world, God’s people are slaves in a foreign, hostile, and God hating land. And just when it appears that God’s people are down and out, the story of Exodus reminds us that God no matter the circumstance remains faithful to his people. In Exodus 2:25 it says, “God saw the people of Israel - and God knew.”
Jump forward into chapters 3 and 4 of the book and not only has God remained faithful to his people he also appoints a mediator between him and his people, Moses. In Exodus 3:10 God is speaking to Moses and proclaims this, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses, filled with fear and insecurity, reluctantly obeys God’s call and goes to Pharaoh as an advocate of God’s people. From Exodus 4:27-7:13, Pharaoh responds to Moses and in turn to God with pride, rejecting God’s demand. God thunderously responds to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, pouring out his power and justice through many signs and wonders against Egypt in Exodus 7:14-10:29. The culmination of these signs and wonders is God’s power and justice being displayed on the night of the passover where God passes over killing the people of God who have their sins paid for with a worthy sacrifice in Exodus 11:1-13:16. The first half of the book of Exodus highlights that God is on a rescue mission to save his people, and this salvation is a triumph of divine grace, revealing the glory of God.
To begin, in Exodus we see God’s glory on display through the rescue of his people out of the slavery of Egypt. God is worthy of all praise, all worship, and all adoration. The story of Exodus, like most stories in the Old Testament, is a foreshadow, a taste of what is to come. In Exodus, God is faithful to remember his people and is faithful to bring forth their freedom from the hand of their capture. This is just a foreshadow to Jesus, where God’s ultimate display of faithfulness to redeem his people from the bondages of sin and death is put on display. God’s grace to save his people in the Exodus and on the cross is the pinnacle of God’s glory. God’s grace is an immense display of his sacrificial power to love and redeem his people. The slaves have been set free. The chains have been released. The king of slavery is no longer on the throne but God the king sits rightly over his people. Oh praise God and his mighty grace, how glorious is he.
Second, the first half of Exodus reveals God’s glory by displaying God’s use of a mediator and worthy sacrifice to connect God’s people to God and appease his justice during passover. Moses was the mediator to God, connecting God and Israel. Again, Moses as a mediator is a foreshadow of Jesus. Jesus came as the greater Moses, the ultimate mediator, our great high priest, bridging the gap between God and his people once and for all. During the passover, God’s justice demanded a penalty for the sins of the people of Egypt, the death of the first born child. God’s people, to satisfy the justice of God, sacrificed a lamb and put its blood over the door. The blood of the lamb covered their house and God passed over the killing of his people. Like Jesus, the lamb of God’s death on the cross covers out life so we live under the covering of his blood to give us the righteousness of Jesus.
In Exodus, God’s thunderous display of his underhindered grace reveals his power and his glory. No world super power, no corrupt king, no economic circumstances nor anything else stops God from pouring out his grace to his people. Oh how glorious and powerful and gracious is our God. He is worthy of our worship.
Wonder:
How do you see God’s glory on display through the grace you see in the book of Exodus and the grace you have experienced in your life?
