The Exodus
Exodus 1:8-14, 2:23-3:17, 14:13-18, 14:27-30, Colossians 1:13-14
400 years have passed since the times of Joseph when his family came to Egypt for safety and protection after Genesis. Leaders had come and gone, slowly transitioning Egypt from once a place of refuge to a place of captivity and hostility to the people of God. Though we do not find ourselves as enslaved people in a foreign land today, this story is one of intriguing relatability to the present spiritual reality we have offered to us in Christ.
In the times of Moses, God hears the cries of His people and decided it was time to do something about it. We see very early on that this deliverance is not just to rescue a nation of slaves from a world superpower but to do so with a lasting purpose. That they should know His glory and be His covenant people. God performs miraculous wonders in the plagues, bending the forms of reality such that even Pharaoh’s advisers had no choice but to forfeit their efforts to resist. Nonetheless, in the words of Tim Mackie in the Bible Projects video “Book of Exodus Summary: Part 1”, Pharaoh reached a point of evil, or hardness of heart towards God, in which there was no return. Instead, God chooses to bend Pharaoh’s evil to accomplish His redemptive purposes (2016).
Culminating in the events of the Passover, God uses the last plague to begin defining who His covenant people are; that sacrifice should be the identifier, or mark, to set His people apart. As the wails of the Egyptian families ascend, Pharaoh sets the Israelites free, then pursues them on the run, ultimately resulting in God’s miraculous defeat of the Egyptian army in the sea, completing the miraculous deliverance of God’s people from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army.
Sounds familiar? This hardness of heart in Pharaoh is not isolated to him but is the disease of sin we all have. We are slaves in grueling bondage to sin, with no means of escape, requiring something miraculous to deliver us. Colossians 1:13-14 beautifully paints the picture and completes the foreshadowing Exodus provides in Christ. God has rescued us from greater Egypt, and we have a greater Exodus in Christ!
Remembering the powerful display of God’s love for us in Christ, consider the following questions:
As the scripture walks through the event of Exodus, what is God saying to you?
Remembering Christ as a deliverer, what were you previously enslaved to that He has freed you from?
How can you delight in the covenant relationship you have with God today?
