Aleethia!

Background

Exodus is the second book of the Law, or Tora. The name Exodus comes from the Greek word exodos, which means “a going out” or “departure.” The Hebrews actually call this book Shemoth, or Names. This comes from the opening line of the first verse.

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob…

Again, Exodus is part of the Tora, or books of Law, written by Moses under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Two possible dates are given by scholars for the exodus from Egypt. Some believe it occurred near 1446 BC, while others think it happened later, around 1260 BC. Good arguments are made for both dates, the main difference lying in how long a “generation” is understood to be.

The text itself does not concern itself with the exact date. The names of the Pharaohs are not given in Genesis and Exodus. I tend to take the text literally so when 1 Kings 6:1 says it was 480 years after the exodus that Solomon began to build the temple, I take that as a literal 480 years and end up with the earlier date of 1446. Those who hold to a later date, take that passage in 1 Kings as “a representative number to stand for 12 idealized generations of 40 years each.” This solves some problems revolving around the names of cities in Egypt which are not spoken of in Egyptian documents until later (name could have changed though). I would rather take the Biblical text literally and assume that the archeologists have it wrong.

There are other factors involved in each argument, including the conquest of Canaan, covenant forms from the various time periods, and other extra-biblical data.

An early date would place Amenhotep II (or his father Thutmose III) as pharaoh, while a later date would have Ramesses II sitting on the throne of Egypt. Either way, the fact is that Israel left Egypt during a period of great strength in the Egyptian empire.

The Story

The story begins by covering great periods of time and then slows down to give us the details of a shorter period. The first chapter starts with the children of Israel (Jacob) living in Egypt peacefully and multiplying. As they increase in number the Egyptians become nervous and enslave them.

Despite the ruthlessness of their treatment, the Israelites continue to grow in number. Pharaoh then decides to have all the male children killed. A significant aspect of this story is that Scripture gives us the names of two midwives, but not Pharaoh. The midwives are faithful and fear God, and are honored in Scripture. This contrast between those who fear God and those who do not, is an important theme throughout the book.

Chapter 1 covers a period of centuries.

Chapter 2 tells the story of Moses birth, and his later crime and exile from Egypt.

Moses is born during difficult times. Pharaoh is succeeding in having most of the Israelite male children killed. When they are born, they are cast into the Nile river to die. The irony of this is that the Nile was the life of Egypt. In a hot desert climate, the entire region depended on the Nile to sustain life, yet Pharaoh uses the Nile to bring death to the Israelites. Keep this in mind as we continue the story.

Moses is indeed cast into the river, but in a baby Noah kind of way. His mother fashions a miniature ark for him out of reeds covered with pitch and tar. His sister watches him from the bank to see what will become of him. Pharaoh’s daughter comes to the river to bath, spies the reed basket and has it drawn out of the water. Inside is a baby she names Moses, which is related to a Hebrew word which means “drawn out” and an Egyptian word for “son.” Again, irony as later in Scripture (Hosea 11:1) God refers to the nation of Israel as his son which he has drawn out of Egypt. This same verse is seen as a prophecy concerning Jesus in the NT, as he is taken to Egypt to survive Herod’s attempt on his life and later returned to the land of Israel.

Also in chapter 2 is the story of Moses great sin. Moses is raised in Pharaoh’s house. He is trained and educated as the finest Egyptians. Once grown however, Moses becomes a murderer. He sees and Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. He takes justice into his own hands, without authority to do so, and kills the Egyptian. Scripture does not condemn him for this action, but it does show the consequences. The Israelites don’t even trust him now as he is seen as a child of privilege and a murderer.

Pharaoh becomes aware of the murder and Moses is forced to flee Egypt as the king seeks his life.

Moses finds his way into the wilderness where he meets some other descendants of Abraham (Genesis 25:1-2). Here he meets his wife, starts a family, and lives the simple life of a shepherd.

At this point we are 80 years into Moses life story.

Chapters 3-40, the rest of the book, detail for us the events of about 1 year’s time. Chapter 3 gives us the famous story of the burning bush. This story is significant because it is the call of Moses. Just like Abraham, or even Paul in the New Testament, Moses does not seek out God, God calls him. God reveals himself to Moses.

The account continues into chapter 4. We see an extreme reluctance on Moses part. And we see God’s anger at his reluctance. There are two things going on here. First, Moses is genuinely humble. Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses was more humble than any other man on earth. So that explains his reluctance, at least in part. Yet God becomes angry at his reluctance. This is the second factor, his lack of obedience. God told him to do something and he made excuses why he shouldn’t. Humility is greatly to be desired, but so is obedience. This isn’t the first time we’ll see Moses disobey. There are three major episodes of disobedience in Moses life, and each time God’s anger is present. This is the first of the three.

From this call of Moses we learn some things about God. This is the first time God has revealed his name, YHWH, in Scripture. This is also the famous I AM statement that Jesus echos in the New Testament. By this statement God is declaring his self-existence, his preeminence over all creation, his immutable character ( I AM WHO I AM, not I AM becoming), and his eternal nature.

More importantly, to Moses especially, God is declaring his intention to be present with his people. This is really one of, if not, the major theme of the book: God’s presence with his people.

When Moses heads back to Egypt to carry out his mission, we see the second episode of disobedience in Moses’ life. The Lord speaks to Moses in Exodus 4:21-23, telling what to say to Pharaoh when he returns to Egypt. In the very next verse, verse 24, it says that God wants to kill Moses.

At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. – Exodus 4:24

The rest of the paragraph explains. God has renewed his covenant once again. This time the covenant is with an entire people, not a single man. Yet Moses is the mediator of the covenant. God holds him responsible to fulfill the obligations of the covenant, namely circumcision. Yet Moses has failed to circumcise his own son. Moses’ wife gets involved, she knew the terms of the covenant apparently, and carries out the circumcision, throwing the bloody foreskin at Moses’ feet and saving his life.

God is holy and just and expects immediate obedience from his people. Especially from the leaders.

Next we are regaled with the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh. In Exodus 4:21 God tells Moses that Pharaoh will not let the people go, because God intends to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Now we run up against another theme of the book, that is the sovereignty of God. He is in control, and exercises that control.

As Moses and Pharaoh square off in this contest of wills, we see that it is really the Lord that Pharaoh has pitted himself against, and it’s a loosing battle.

Exodus 7:22 explains that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened just “as the Lord had said.” As Mark Dever put it in his sermon on this passage.

Circumstances do not determine God’s plan. God’s plan determines circumstances.

Three times God promises to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Six times we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Seven times we are told that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. And three times we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

God promises to harden Pharaoh’s heart (4:21, 7:3, 14:4)
God hardens Pharaoh’s heart (9:12, 10:1, 20, 27, 11:10, 14:8)
Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (7:13, 14, 22, 8:19, 9:7, 35, 14:5)
Pharaoh hardens his own heart (8:15, 32, 9:34)

As each plague comes and takes its toll, Pharaoh asks for relief from God, but then his heart becomes hard and he refuses to let the people go.

At the end of chapter 9 and beginning of chapter 10 one such account serves as a summary for them all. After the plague of hail has destroyed the crops throughout the entire land, Pharaoh asks for relief. He acknowledges his sin. Yet as soon as the plague is ended, we are told that he sins again.

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. – Exodus 9:34-35

Here we see Pharaoh hardening his own heart in sin against Almighty God. We also see that his heart was hardened, and the hearts of his servants and advisors. So those seven times that Scripture tells us the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, could be attributed to his own sin. But continue to read into chapter 10…

The the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, – Exodus 10:1

Even when Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart in a fit of prideful sin, it was according to God’s plan. In fact God claims credit for it. It is not for no purpose that God has done such a thing. His purpose is to display his glory and might over the Egyptians and their gods to such an extent that the people of Israel, the people Egypt, the peoples of the world will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord is sovereign (Exodus 10:2, 12:12)

Earlier in chapter 9, God sends a message to Pharaoh, through Moses, explaining that he could have destroyed Pharaoh long ago, but he was allowed to live for one purpose.

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. – Exodus 9:16

It is this verse that the Apostle Paul quotes in Romans 9 when making his case that God is sovereign over the hearts of men and concludes,

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. – Romans 9:18

Don’t mistake me. Pharaoh is not coerced against his will. He acts out of the desires of his own heart. A heart that is wicked and evil and hostile to God. A heart that will not, and cannot, submit to God.

Pharaoh is not a special case my friends. He is an example of us all. All of us sit on the throne of our own lives, gods of our own making, attempting to rule over our own destiny. Yet none of us has any more control over our own lives than Pharaoh did over the plagues in Egypt. Only by the grace of God are we redeemed. Only by his grace do we repent and turn from our sin. Only by his grace are our hearts softened so that we can, and do, choose to submit to Him.

This is the second major theme of the book of Exodus, God’s sovereignty over everything, including the hearts of men. The first theme is his presence with his people, the second is his sovereignty.

Much time could be spent discussing these 10 plagues. We could discuss what the people of Egypt must be thinking of their king as they dig for fresh water because the river is blood, or as they pile up frogs in such numbers that the whole land stinks, or as gnats are everywhere, flies, their livestock die, they are covered with sores and boils, their crops are destroyed, the sun, moon, and stars are hidden, and then their children die.

We could discuss the various explanations that have been offered for the plagues, in an attempt to explain away the supernatural aspect of these events.

I’ve read everything from volcanic activity putting ash in the Nile causing it to turn red, to red algae, to heavy rains in Ethiopia washing red mud into the river (this fails to explain why water that is contained in jars in people’s homes also turns to blood). The fish die because of the pollution of the river. The frogs leave the river because of pollution. When the frogs die the insects increase rapidly. The flies carry diseases which cause the cattle to die and the boils. The volcanic activity caused the hail storm and the brimstone. The locusts become concentrated because the hail destroyed so much of their natural food, they eat the rest. The darkness is the result of volcanic ash, a solar eclipse, a sandstorm, or swarms of locusts. The death of the firstborn is caused by polluted food which is fed to the firstborn because of their privileged status. Or because they were allowed to sleep on the floor while the younger children slept on the roof. The volcanic action caused carbon dioxide and other toxic gases to leak from the ground due to surface tension and asphyxiated the first born.

None of this explains why these things only affect the Egyptians and not the Israelites living in their midst.

We could discuss the irony of the river turning to blood after the Egyptians had killed so many Hebrew children in its waters.

We could discuss the various Egyptian gods which are being trampled by each of these plagues. Each plague being a direct affront against at least one, if not more, of the Egyptian gods, Pharaoh himself not excluded by the last plague.

The last of the plagues is significant in its imagery of Christ. The nine previous plagues affected the river to the sun and everything in between, but this last one is the most dramatic. The angel of the Lord passes through Egypt in one night, killing the firstborn of both man and animal.

The people of Israel would be spared this horrible judgment if they obeyed God and participated in the Passover. They were to take a lamb, kill it and mark their home with its blood, then roast and eat the flesh that same night. Because of the blood on the door of the home, the angel of death would “pass over” that home and not take the life of the firstborn. This was commanded to become a memorial feast that the Israelites would celebrate every year. The Passover. A time of remembrance. The Lord spared his people because of the blood of a lamb.

For the Christian reading this, we may recall that John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus, cried out

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” – John 1:29

You may also recall that shortly before his death, our Lord met with his disciples in the upper room to observe the passover dinner. As he took the bread and the wine that accompanied the meal, he said it was his body and his blood.

The death of an animal was part of the sealing of a covenant. Jesus said his death was the sealing of the new covenant.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. – Mark 14:24

Jesus is our passover lamb. It is his blood, shed as a sacrifice for our sins, that allows a holy and just God to pass over our sins and give us life.

After this plague, Pharaoh relents and allows them to leave. As the people of Israel exit Egypt, we learn two things.

1. God keeps his promises. The people totaled 70 when they entered Egypt (Genesis 46:27). As they leave, some 400 years later, the total is 600,000 men, not counting women and children (Exodus 12:37). They are becoming a great nation just as the Lord promised Abraham.
2. Many Egyptians believed and joined Israel in the exodus. These could be regular Egyptians who believed, or children of interracial marriages between the two groups. Either way, they are included with the people of God, which demonstrates, even at this early stage of the Biblical narrative, that more important that birth nationality is faith. God has made room for Gentiles among his people.

It says the Egyptians were urgent for the Israelites to leave. I’m sure they were after what they’ve been through with these plagues. But they haven’t gotten far when Pharaoh changes his mind.

God has joined the people. His presence marked by a large pillar of smoke during the day and fire at night. He guides the people along the path of his choosing. In chapter 14 God tells them to stop. And he stops them at an odd place. You see, they weren’t on the run just yet. They were just leaving Egypt, but God takes them by a route that puts them right up against the Red Sea. Then he tells Moses in Exodus 14:4 that he intends to harden Pharaoh’s heart one more time.

So Pharaoh changes his mind about letting them leave, and pursues with his army. Egypt at this time is the most powerful nation on earth. Their army is formidable. And the Israelites are between that army and the Red Sea.

This isn’t a circumstance that God was forced to deal with. This is a circumstance of his design. He parts the sea, the Hebrews walk through with water towering on either side (Ex 14:22).

Pharaoh sends his army into the sea after them, but God bogs down the chariots in the mud. The Egyptians realize that God Almighty is against them and turn to flee, but it’s too late. God sends the sea back to its place and destroys the Egyptian army.

The outcome of this event is this

…the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. – Exodus 14:31

There are other miracles. You should read the book for yourself. It’s amazing. God provides food in the desert for over a million people. Bread from heaven called manna, which points to Jesus, who is the bread of life. And water in the desert, which also points to Jesus who gives all who come to him the water of life.

Eventually, the people end up at Mount Sinai. The same mountain on which God called Moses. Here Moses again meets with God and God gives him the Ten Commandments (Ex 20).

The first four deal with our relationship to God. The last six deal with our relationship with each other. One thing to get clear about the Law. It is not the Law which creates a relationship with the Lord. It is the Lord relating to his people which creates the standards for holiness embodied in the Law. God’s holiness, but also his love and faithfulness, are foundational to the Law.

Following the Ten Commandments are several chapters of laws governing social issues. These are case law. The Ten are moral law. Following the case law are specific instructions for the manufacture of the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and all the items in it, right down to the details of the clothing to be worn by the priests.

Moses is on the mountain for 40 days getting this instruction from the Lord. In the mean time the people get impatient and break the covenant. They get Aaron, Moses’ brother, to create an idol god for them. He takes their jewelry and fashions a golden calf. And they worship this statue. (chapter 32)

We may look at this story and think these people were stupid for worshiping an idol after what they’ve seen from God within the last couple months. Yet we do the same thing. We are no better. We see the goodness of God every day, all around us. We experience his grace every morning when we awake to a new day. Yet we construct our own idols and worship them. We worship TV, sports, money, sex, popularity, work, education, any number of things. We have no excuse, and we shouldn’t engage in chronological snobbery toward the Israelites. We’re just as guilty as they are.

Joshua, who has been on the mountain with Moses this whole time, hears a commotion in the camp as he and Moses return down the mountain and suggests they are under attack. A natural military leader it seems. Moses knows the truth though. It is the sound of a party as the Israelites worship their idol.

Moses gets angry and breaks the tablets of stone with the commandments written on them, then rushes into the camp to set things strait. He melts down the statue, grinds it up, mixes in their drinking water and makes them drink it. Then he questions Aaron, who gives the lamest excuse ever (Ex 32:24).

Moses calls those who are faithful to himself, and the men of the tribe of Levi respond. This is his family. Moses is of this tribe. These men are commanded to go through the camp and kill those who are unrepentant. 3000 men are killed that day.

God offers to kill them all and rebuild the nation through Moses, but Moses passes the test and pleads for God’s mercy on his people. It is at this point that God withdraws from the people. His anger is so fierce that he says he can’t stay in their midst or he’ll destroy them (Ex 33:3).

Moses then asks that God would show himself fully to Moses. God tells him that he will be allowed to see God’s back, but not his face. For no man can see God’s face and live. He prefaces that with an odd, sort of out of place statement.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. – Exodus 33:19

What is this all about? God is declaring his holiness. He is saying that his holiness is such that no one can see his full glory and live, the people deserve to die and He has the just right to carry out that judgment against them. He is saying that he will show mercy and compassion, but only because it is His will to do so, no one can demand it of him. No one deserves it! No one deserves his grace and mercy, it is given to those who are ill-deserving of it. It is given by God’s will alone.

Again, Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9 when arguing that it is God’s prerogative to save some and damn others. No one has a claim on God. No one can claim that it’s not just. Those who are damed get justice. Those who are saved get mercy and grace, by the choosing of God’s sovereign will.

God remakes the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites follow his instructions and build the ark, the tabernacle, the alter, all the priestly clothes, etc. They set up the tabernacle and God inhabits it. God’s presence is seen in the tabernacle by all the people as long as they journey in the wilderness.

From the story of Exodus we learn of Moses, the great lawgiver, judge and prophet.

Moses parallels Jesus in many ways: he is the mediator of the covenant, he is rescued from a wicked king who would kill all the male babies at his birth, he is in the wilderness for 40 years (Jesus 40 days) before beginning his ministry, he goes up on a mountain to receive the law – again 40 days – (Jesus to explain the law – sermon on the mount), he intercedes in prayer for the people, he oversees the construction of the tabernacle and the priests who will serve in it (Jesus is the great high priest who serves in the tabernacle not made by men – Hebrews 8), he leads the people through the desert to the promised land just as Jesus leads his church through this world to the promise of the next.

We also find further revelation of the Lord to his people. We learn of his redemption, of the passover lamb, the law, instructions for worship (and a place of worship), and we see his presence with his people.

God initiated all this. No other religion or people makes the claim that their god initiated a covenant with them. Only Israel made this absolute commitment to its God.

At the end of the book, the Tabernacle is completed. They have laws. They have a place to worship. What they do not have is a way to deal appropriately with their sins

How will a sinful people live with a Holy God in their midst? Leviticus answers this question.