“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect”   1 Peter 1:18-20

In this lesson we transition from Genesis and the fallen condition of mankind to the book of Exodus.  In Exodus we see the working of God to free his nation (and us) from the bondage of slavery.  Hopefully, you have had the chance to read Ray Stedman’s summary of the book of Exodus.  If not, please read it, it is excellent and it summarizes our journey in this study.  You can access this summary through the link on our ‘Cool Stuff’ page of this website.

Notice how everything we studied in Genesis focused primarily on the status of mankind and our need for restoration to the garden.  The creation of man, the sin of man and his nakedness, the cleansing of the earth via the flood, promises given to Abram and his offspring, and finally man’s pursuit of these same promises.  A large part of the end of Genesis tells the story of Joseph and the symmetry between life of Joseph and Christ. In Exodus we find God’s redemptive work in the freeing of an Israelite nation from bondage and it’s symmetry to Christ’s freedom for us.  Everything in Genesis is about man and man’s condition before God, in contrast to Exodus where everything is about God and his redemption work for all mankind.   

The last verse of Genesis ends with Jacob breathing his last, joining his ancestors in death, emphasizing the existing problem of death which began in the garden.  As Israel suffers in bondage of Egyptian rule, mankind remains bound to the bondage of sin and death in the world. Exodus emphasizes freedom for Israel as God delivers the nation of Israel, culminating with the death of the Passover Lamb, just as our freedom is illustrated as God delivers us from the bondage of sin and death through this same Passover Lamb.  A freedom delivered only through the hands of a Holy God.

Into Slavery.

We begin the book of Exodus with the 70 descendants of Jacob (Israel) entering Egypt under the protection and care of Joseph.  Egypt is the most powerful and educated nation on earth at that time, and also the perfect location for God to grow his new small nation.  But, not in the way we might expect given the prominence of Joseph in Egypt. 

After the incredible story of Joseph and the Israelite transition to Egypt, a new Pharaoh rises to power, a Pharaoh who did not know of Joseph or what he had done (Exodus 1:8).  This new Pharaoh feared that the nation of Israel was growing too large for the Egyptians to control, so out of this fear they oppressed the Israelite people, working them ruthlessly as slaves in an attempt to subdue them.  Finally as a last effort, Pharaoh gave the order to kill all the newborn Hebrew boys.  In the midst of this attempt at genocide, Moses is born and placed in a basket in the Nile River only to be discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter who wishes to keep him.  She seeks out a Hebrew woman to care for “her” newfound son.  So not only does Moses live through attempted genocide, his own mother cares for him in his infancy (and gets paid for it) and he is raised in the home of royalty “educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22).  Only God!

At age 40, Moses goes out to visit his own people and witnesses their oppression first hand.  Attempting to defend one of his fellow Israelites he murders an Egyptian slave master. It becomes known what Moses had done which forces Moses to flees to Midian where he lives for his next 40 years.  God appears to him through the familiar story of a burning bush.  Now it was God’s time for Moses to lead Israel out of their oppression and slavery in Egypt just as God had promised Abraham (Genesis 15:16).

God powerfully demonstrates his sovereignty by bringing a variety of plagues in the land.  Each plague is a direct confrontation between the ‘gods’ of Egypt and the God of the Israelites.   The plagues come to a pinnacle ending with the final plague being a direct assault on Pharaoh himself (Pharaoh is viewed as the greatest god in Egypt) is the death of all of the firstborn in Egypt.  Israel is protected from this final plague through the blood of a lamb spread on the doorframes of their homes.  It is this blood that protects them from death.  A blood which causes the Angel of Death to ‘pass over’ their home, protecting Israel and demonstrating God’s love for his firstborn just as He had promised when sending Moses back to Egypt. 

 Exodus 4:20-23: ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God. ²¹ And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go. ²² Then you will tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son. ²³ I commanded you, “Let my son go, so he can worship me. But since you have refused, I will now kill your firstborn son!’”

 Notice how the Israelites eat the Passover meal during the night of the final plague.  They eat ready to leave Egypt, with their cloak tucked into their belt, sandals on their feet, and staff in their hand.

At this point Israel is set free from the bondage in Egypt.  They are free from the bondage of slavery, accomplished only through the power of God.  This is exactly the same freedom we receive in Christ through His completed work on the cross.  The blood of the Lamb redeems us and delivers us from the punishment of death, frees us from the bondage and slavery to sin.  Not only are we set free from the bondage of sin, we are set free with incredible riches.  Our lives take on a new focus, we realize our strength is completely reliant on the God who delivers us. Christ has delivered us from this bondage, Christ has broken the chains that tie us to our sin and shame, Christ is the Passover Lamb. 

 The Passover sacrifice in Egypt demonstrated to us that we can be delivered from death only by means of a sacrifice that takes our place.  Scripture is completely clear that this Passover celebration and delivery from the death (as promised in the Garden) is fulfilled for us in Christ as the Lamb of Passover.  To present just a few of these: 

• Christ was without blemish or defect like the Passover lamb (1 Peter 1:19)
• Christ is specifically referred to as being the Passover lamb for us (1 Corinthians 5:7)
• Christ’s legs, like the Passover lamb were not broken (John 19:32-33)
• The Crucifixion of Christ occurred during the celebration of the Passover feast (John 19:14)
• His body was taken down before morning of the next day. (John 19:31)
• His body is referred to as real food which is broken for us and gives us nourishment for the journey before us. (John 6:31-34)
• John the Baptist refers to Christ as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)
• Christ refers to His blood as being “poured out as a sacrifice for the sins of many” (Matt:26:28)

Jesus, in the Synagogue spoke of the blood and body of the Lamb (His blood and body, the body and blood of the Passover Lamb) as real food and drink as the source of eternal life.  The people could not understand this and would have been completely offended at Christ’s words.  The leaders were fully aware of God’s command through Moses to not eat anything with the “lifeblood” still in it;

Compare:

John 6:53-54:  ⁵³ So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. ⁵⁴ But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.

 With:

Genesis 9:1-4: ¹ Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. ² All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. ³ I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. ⁴ But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.

In Deuteronomy this instruction to the Jewish nation becomes even clearer.  God tells Moses that the “blood is the life of the sacrifice”

²⁰ “When the Lord your God expands your territory as he has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat whenever you want. ²¹ It might happen that the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—is a long way from your home. If so, you may butcher any of the cattle, sheep, or goats the Lord has given you, and you may freely eat the meat in your hometown, as I have commanded you. ²² Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat that meat, just as you do now with gazelle and deer. ²³ But never consume the blood, for the blood is the life, and you must not consume the lifeblood with the meat. ²⁴ Instead, pour out the blood on the ground like water. ²⁵ Do not consume the blood, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what pleases the Lord.

 So why at the last supper does Jesus tell them to violate these instructions given to Moses by God?  Notice how these commands play out in the body and blood of Christ, a seemingly contradictory set of instructions and teaching become fully complete in Christ. The body of the lamb gave nourishment to Israel as they started their journey to the Promised Land of God.  The blood of the lamb was a sign foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ.  We ‘drink’ this blood for the very reason it was prohibited for Old Testament Israel, because it is the life of the sacrifice, it is Christ’s life, and we receive His life through his blood shed for us.

After being freed from Egypt, the Egyptian soldiers pursue Israel attempting to once again enslave them.  Once again God delivers Israel, this time by destroying Pharaoh’s army in the sea.  Four times it is mentioned that Israel crosses the Red Sea “on dry ground”.  Notice again the separation of the righteous people of God from the sea once again, the sea of abyss, chaos and destruction. 

Now the Red Sea closes in on Pharaoh’s army pursuing them, that which held Israel in slavery, was cast into the sea of destruction.  Egypt is now on the other side of the sea.  Sure, Israel is now in the wilderness and the fear of the unknown future must have been very real, but they had a God leading them to a much bigger plan, into a land of promise.  As believers in Christ, the crossing of the sea typifies our break with the world and our break with our ‘old self’, leaving our old way of life behind.  We are asked to move through into a new life of promise, a life of unspeakable excitement and reward.

Now, God’s purpose for bringing Israel to Egypt becomes very clear, the Hebrew nation of Israel (the nation of promise) would remain completely separate from the Egyptians. Genesis 45:32 teaches us that the Egyptians despised Hebrews and would not even share a meal with them (this even before they were mistreated as slaves).  This transition to Egypt was completely necessary and completely God’s plan to grow them both in number and in trust in God to ultimately protect them.  Remaining in the land of Canaan, there was a constant battle with the intermarriage of God’s chosen nation with the people currently occupying that land.  The nation of Israel would have quickly become diluted into the detestable practices of the people of Canaan, actions that would eventually make them unrecognizable as God’s chosen nation and lead to their full destruction (Genesis 15:16).  In Egypt, in the midst of slavery, Israel would remain completely separate from the people in the land, God would grow them in number, teach them patience and trust in God and finally teach them about His incredible power as One True God.  Notice how Israel is not spared from the difficulty of life, they are enslaved and treated ruthlessly.  The promises given to Abraham of a promised land flowing with milk and honey must have been so distant and forgotten.  Their life must have seemed hopeless. 

Do we see our lives here?  What influence of life are we surrounded with?  Are we more impacted by the influence of people attempting to lead us away from God and His instruction, or are we more focused on God. On a life ‘set apart’ in a place where we can grow in faith, patience and wisdom in His ways? A place where God’s power can be displayed as He sets us free.  We tend look at our lives and only see the adversity and difficulties that try to consume us, our eyes are unable to see how God’s plan ultimately unfolds for us, our children, our children’s children.  His plan protects His people, sets them apart, and matures them to a place where the only hope is found in Him. A place of ultimate protection, a place of promise, a place in the presence of a Holy God.