The series of plagues comes to its climax in the visit of the death angel, with claim on the firstborn. Moses gives the people of Israel specific instructions to protect their households. This is the night of the Passover, “the beginning of months” for Israel and “a day of remembrance” (Exodus 12:1-2, 14). It is their day of Exodus, of leaving Egypt after 430 years of residency, most of those years as slaves.
And with this event, the drama takes a new turn. The family of Jacob went into Egypt as nothing more than that, a large family; now they emerge as a nation. The Passover will later be a symbol for Christians of their new Passover in Jesus Christ, their Paschal Lamb; and the Exodus will be a fitting symbol of each soul’s deliverance from the bondage of sin.
Seeing Life Through Scripture
I remember a song from my childhood—one that apparently has not stood the test of time—that had the singer testifying to having once lived “in Egypt’s bondage” but now being set free and living in Canaan land. The tune was probably overly simple, but the scriptural image was valid. The New Testament writers would have approved of it. They saw Israel’s slavery as typifying a person’s bondage to sin, and the Exodus was therefore a picture of salvation.
Many a convert will respond to those figures of speech, particularly those persons who have been saved from the more dramatic sins—from drugs or other addictions or from some especially shattering experience. But the imagery is not so reminiscent for those who grow up in a relatively moral pattern, probably in Sunday school and church, and whose sins don’t seem so much like slavery. They may, in fact, be the kinds of sins we joke about.
But a moral theologian would remind us that sin is sin. As a former teacher of mine used to say, “A pinprick is the doorway of death.” What we need is not to be more notable sinners but to be spiritually sensitive enough to comprehend the real nature of sin and our capacity for evil.
The Sum of It All
“Then the LORD said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them’ ” (Exodus 3:7-8).
| EXODUS 13–15 | Week 5, Day 1 |
Since the Israelite firstborn were spared from the death angel, the people were to consecrate all their firstborn, both human and animal, to the Lord. This would be a reminder that the Lord had brought them “out of Egypt, from the house of slavery” (13:14). They were to be a covenant people, led by a safe route since they were not ready for war (13:17) and guided by the quiet, continuing miracle of cloud and fire.
But (like you and me) they were an obstinate lot. They rebelled as they faced the sea, contending that it would have been better to stay in Egypt than to die in the wilderness. How could they so quickly forget the power of the Lord from the Passover night? Most of us, if we reflect honestly upon our own journey, will understand. We so soon forget the pain of the slavery from which we have been saved and the glory and mercy of God in our deliverance.
But as they saw their pursuers destroyed, they joined Moses in singing a song of deliverance. Then Miriam, Moses’ sister, picked up the theme. Tambourine in hand, she led the women in dancing and singing: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously” (15:21). They were only three days down the road, however, when they not only forgot the songs they had sung with Moses and Miriam but complained bitterly against Moses at their shortage of water. God used the occasion to add a new dimension to their covenant (15:25b-26).
PRAYER: Give me a sanctified memory, I pray, so that when I am inclined to grumble against you, I will remember your mercy. Amen.
Record the pendulum swing of the actions of God, the troubles endured, and the negative and positive responses of the people.
| EXODUS 16–18 | Week 5, Day 2 |
God provided food (16:35), water (17:6), and victory in battle (17:13). The people provided the grumbling. Each day seemed to require a new miracle if the people were to carry on, and always they seemed ready to return to Egypt where they “ate [their] fill” (16:3) and had plenty to drink (17:3). When I was seventeen a man named Herman Pencovic told me, “The Jews remembered the leeks and garlic of Egypt after they had forgotten the taskmasters and the making of bricks without straw.” Most of us have just such a selective memory when we recall the good old days.
The visit by Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is a special kind of bright spot in the midst of Israel’s struggles. Wise as Moses may have been, he was using his time and energy poorly; leaders are often inclined that way because they see themselves as indispensable. Jethro gave Moses advice that was ingenious good sense: Share the burden. From a religious point of view, Jethro might have been seen as a pagan; he was not one of the people of Israel.
If Moses had been more narrow in his sympathies, he would have refused this counsel; after all, God had been speaking to him directly, so why should he listen to an outsider? But Moses was both wise enough and humble enough to learn even from an in-law! Here’s a lesson in common grace: God speaks to all his creation, to the degree we are willing to listen.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to be ready to learn, no matter what channel or instrument you use to teach me; in our Savior’s name. Amen.
Make a list of the varieties of ways, in these chapters, that God met Israel’s needs.
| EXODUS 19–20; PSALMS 31–32 | Week 5, Day 3 |
Out in the wilderness there is a mountain called Sinai. It is not the tallest mountain in the world, but it may well be the best known. Israel had been on the road long enough to know they needed the structure of law. Even the best and most careful drivers need a line to show which is their side of the road, and a sign to indicate who will stop at an intersection. Life together requires boundaries.
Although this law was to deal with the most practical issues, it was not ordinary; it was the gift of God. Moses made this clear by establishing restrictions of many kinds so the people would understand that Sinai was holy ground.
The Ten Commandments come from a basis of God’s right and our debt. So they begin, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (20:2). God has a right to our loyalty because of the deliverance we have received. The degree to which we are at peace with God’s commands is probably directly related to our sense of his salvation.
The first four commandments regard our direct responsibility to God; the last five our duties to our fellow human beings; the fifth, the command to honor our parents, is a kind of bridge between them. But the responsibility to God comes first; as a philosopher has said, if there is no God, then anything goes.
PRAYER: Help me, I pray, to know with the psalmist that your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path; in Christ our Lord. Amen.
In what order would you place each of the Ten Commandments if you were listing them by importance? Justify your order.
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EXODUS 21–23
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