Exodus Part 2

Bible Survey

Exodus

(Remember: when you start thinking, wow Eric these charts are pretty good, you are pretty smart, I merely borrowed them, if you want to see the smart guys I borrowed them from, I will give you their names)

• Theological Themes

The first theme I want us to look at in Exodus is the character of God. God is picture as revealing himself to Moses and the people. It is not the people who are smart enough to reach up to God. It is he who reaches down to them. He is also the ever-existent on and the God of the people and of the covenant (Ex. 3:14). He is the God who frees them from bondage and slavery. He is more powerful than all the other 'gods' (Ex. 15:11-12) and over all the nations (even the greatest super-power of that time) (Ex. 15:4-6). Again God is constantly revealing himself to Moses and the people (Ex. 34:6-7).

When God acts against Egypt he is also attacking the gods of Egypt. Each plague is supposedly an attack at one of the Egyptian gods of that time, showing that the God of Israel (our God) is really the one who is over all the earth. Here is a nice table that illustrates this:

The Plagues of Egypt
Plague	Reference	Possible Egyptian Deity
Nile to Blood	Ex. 7:14-25	Khnum: guardian of the Nile Hapi: spirit of the Nile Osiris: Nile was bloodstream
Frogs	Ex. 8:1-15	Heqt: form of a frog, god of resurrection
Gnats	Ex. 8:16-19
Flies	Ex. 8:20-32
Plague on Cattle	Ex. 9:1-7	Hathor: mother-goddess; form of a cow Apis: bull of god Ptah; symbol of fertility Mnevis: sacred bull of Heliopolis
Boils	Ex. 9:8-12	Imhotep: god of medicine
Hail	Ex. 9:13-35	Nut: sky goddess Isis: goddess of life Seth: protector of crops
Locusts	Ex. 10:1-20	Isis: goddess of life Seth: protector of crops
Darkness	Ex. 10:21-29	Re, Aten, Atum, Horus: Different sun gods
Death of Firstborn	Ex. 11:1-12:36	Deity of Pharaoh: Osiris, giver of life

Another theme is Law. I think Law is a dirty word to us today. First there is the whole law vs. grace in Christianity. But there is also an anti-authoritarian view in our culture (for instance if I said "The Man" would not the first phrase that comes to your mind be "is holding me down"). But let's clear a little bit of that up with a Biblical view of the Law of Moses. If you want to see how the Jews felt about the Law read Psalm 119.

First God is a great Law-giver. He is the Creator over all and therefore has the authority to give us instructions. And the law is a good thing when used properly.

What does the Law consist of? It consisted of 1) commands. Commands reveal the perfect nature of God. They are like a mirror to his holiness (Ex. 22:21). They reflect his goodness (Ex. 22:26-27). Likewise Jesus in Matthew 5-7 gives us commands, they reveal his holiness and goodness. These are positive laws and commands. Law also consists of 2) penalties. These reveal God's hatred of sin. Because he is holy he cannot allow sin in his presence (Ex. 22:19-20). Deuteronomy 27:26 acts as a summation of this aspect of the Law.

What is the purpose of the Law of Moses? First law (in general) defines good and evil. It encourages good and discourages wrong. Likewise, the Law of Moses defines good and evil (in a more specific context) for the people of Israel. There are other uses, but this is all I am emphasizing right now.

What is the purpose for the Law to the Christian. I think we can learn a lot from the Law of Moses. We can learn about the nature of God. We can learn about the nature of his people (and we are his people now). There is a lot of good in it. However, neither the Law of Moses nor any law saves us. We can never be good enough to be right before God. If we break one law, we are then guilty as a law breaker. Being good enough is not an option. The only way we can be declared right before God is through his grace (Eph. 2:8-10). By grace through faith in Jesus. That is what clears our name.

Ole' Moses and the Law

God's presence also plays a big part in Exodus. His presence comes down at Sinai (Ex. 19:9). It accompanies the nation during the wilderness wandering times (Ex. 13:20-21). God's glory appears before Moses (Ex. 33:21-23). It rests on the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34). In the New Testament, his Presence comes to us through Jesus (John 1:14). It is the same glory, and we see it through his Son.

• Christology

There are no prophetic sayings about the coming Christ in Exodus, but there are many types.
In Passover, Jesus is picture as the Passover lamb, who is sacrificed for our safety (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7). Heck it is even during Passover that Jesus is crucified.
Jesus is also picture as the Manna that feeds us from Heaven (John 6:32-35).
He is our High Priest who stands before God for us (Hebrews 2:17).
He is our teacher, like Moses was the great teacher for Israel (Hebrews 3:1-6).
We are baptized into him, like Israel was baptized into Moses (1 Corinthians 10:1-6).


The book of Exodus has so many teachings for us today. Open it up, read it for yourself. See what God's word teaches. Next up Leviticus!