The story of the Jew's exodus from Egypt is an exciting one. What relevance does the story of the Exodus have for me in my daily life?
The story of the Jews' Exodus from Egypt is an exciting one. It has miracles and dramatic triumphs, but what does it mean to me today? What relevance does the story of the Exodus have for me in my daily life?
The story of the Exodus takes place about 1445 B.C. The Israelites are captives in Egypt and the time of Joseph, the Jew who became Prime Minister in Egypt are long forgotten. The Israelites are now slaves to Egypt and the ruling Pharaoh fears the strength of their numbers. They are now an estimated two million in number. Moses, who had been raised in Pharaoh's court, is now living as a shepherd in the desert.
As he is tending his flocks in the desert, Moses sees a burning bush that is not consumed by the flames. He goes to the bush and God speaks to him from it; "Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10) God instructs Moses on what to do when he arrives in Egypt and Moses agrees to go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites.
It took God some convincing to get Moses to agree to the task. Moses was not a good speaker and feared that he would not be able to present God's case to Pharaoh. Moses was focused on what he couldn't do and didn't take into account God's power to guide and help him. Most of us will at times reject plans God has for us because we feel we are inadequate for the task. In so doing, we are denying the power of God to control the outcome.
Moses set out with his family for Egypt. God told Moses' brother Aaron to meet Moses in the desert and travel into Egypt with him. God sent Aaron with Moses to act as Moses voice: "And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people." (Exodus 4:30) God can overcome any shortcomings we have; we only have to be obedient when He asks us to do His bidding.
In Egypt, Moses, through Aaron, tells Pharaoh to free the Israelites by command of the Lord. Pharaoh refuses, saying he doesn't know the Lord that Moses speaks of and tells the taskmasters to increase the labor burden on the Israelites. The Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron for their worsened conditions. Moses despaired and complained to God. God answers Moses and the Israelites: "Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:" (Exodus 6:6)
Pharaoh needed to be taught the power of God so that he would not pursue the Israelites and the Israelites need to learn the power of God so that they would follow Him. God was preparing the Israelites for their journey to the Promised Land by teaching them to rely on Him for protection and redemption. Those lessons are never easy ones and we sometimes will suffer more in the preparation for a change for the good than we suffered in the past. God was teaching His people to keep their eyes focused on Him, not on their circumstances. This would be an important lesson for them to learn before they could enter the Promised Land. It is only through trust in God that we are saved.
Moses went before Pharaoh again and demanded the release of his people. Pharaoh laughed and God, through Moses, turned all of the waters to blood. Another demand was made, another refusal, and another disaster followed. Plagues of frogs, gnats and flies, disease that killed their livestock, disease that caused the Egyptians boils, hailstones, locusts and days of pitch darkness befell Egypt. Pharaoh would promise to let the people go if only Moses would bring an end to the plagues but he didn't make good on the promises when the plagues were stopped.
Here, Pharaoh is like many of us before we surrendered to Christ. He was unwilling to turn his back on sin no matter what the cost. To do so would be to admit powerlessness next to the all-powerful God. Even when we have accepted Christ, some of us still have periods of stubborn rebellion and harden our hearts to the call of God. Like Pharaoh, we suffer the consequences of continued disobedience.
Again, Moses and Aaron beg Pharaoh to capitulate and free the Israelites. Again he refuses. God instructs Moses, "Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold." (Exodus 11:2) God opened the hearts of the Egyptians, and they gave their belongings to the Israelites. God was providing His people with wealth to take with them to the Promised Land. Then the Lord told Moses that He would take the first born of every Egyptian and the first born of all the Egyptians animals. If the Israelites obeyed God's instructions and sacrificed a lamb, prepared a special meal and marked their doorposts with the blood of the lamb, their firstborn would be spared; the angel of death would pass over their houses.
The Passover is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice that Jesus would make for us. The Israelites were held in bondage to Egypt, just as we were all held in bondage to sin. It was the blood of the lamb that spared them from death, just as the Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, spares us from the penalty of sin, which is death.
When the angel of death killed all the firstborn of Egypt, Pharaoh and the Egyptians begged the Israelites to leave. The Egyptians gave them all of their remaining wealth to speed them on their way. Moses led them into the wilderness and God showed them the way to go. "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:" (Exodus 13:21) When we leave the slavery of sin behind, the Lord show us the way to go, too.
By the time the Israelites reached the Red Sea, Pharaoh had changed his mind about setting them free. He sent his armies after them and trapped them by the sea. The Israelites railed against Moses, thinking their death was certain. Despite all the disasters the Lord had brought against Egypt on the behalf of His people, they still doubted His ability and willingness to save them. We all struggle with doubt and our faith fails even when God performs miracles in our lives. Yet, He is faithful to us and He was faithful to the Israelites.
"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." (Exodus 14:21-22) The Israelites passed safely through the Red Sea with the Egyptians on their trail. When all the Israelites passed through, the walls of water collapsed in and the Egyptians were drowned. God's people were free from Egypt.
Moses is a type or a metaphor of Christ in the story of the Exodus. God was showing His people His plan of salvation; have faith in His messenger and you will be saved. Jesus is the messenger God sent to us and our faith in Him is what saves us from death, just as Moses led God's people safely out of Egypt. From the beginning, God's plan for us has been the same; He desires a relationship with us and provides a way for us to be reconciled with Him. We are His people and He shows us the way. We only have to be faithful and follow.
(All Scripture is KJV)
