Musings on Exodus by Papa Fred (August 16, 2011)
When you think of Exodus, the subject of the burning bush, or the plagues, or the Red Sea is often the focus. As we begin our study, I would like to challenge each of you to search beyond the obvious and look at this awesome book as a bridge to New Testament theology and the very foundational tenets of our Christian doctrine. A little background work and look at the story of Joseph as the context of Exodus is necessary because that is how the book of Genesis ends. Exodus, however, begins by reminding us of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob.
I would like to provoke you to go even further back to Genesis 15 and take a look at Joseph’s great grandfather Abraham to position our context. You all know the story, God promises Abram an heir and in Genesis 15:5-6, God takes him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “so shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Before I continue the story, look at what God has done. He has justified Abram by faith some 2000 years before the Cross. The Apostle Paul wrote of this declaration in Romans 4:3 some 1500 years before Luther resurrected the doctrine of Justification by Faith during the Protestant Reformation. So Genesis 15:6 is a theological bridge that states Abraham was justified by faith, just like we are. God took his own righteousness and credited it to Abraham as if it were actually his. This God did because Abraham believed in him.
Furthermore, Galatians 3:8-9 states that, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. That’s us boys and girls. God is preaching the gospel some 3500 years before the cross and including us Gentiles in the blessing of Abraham. Wow, that is the good news.
God also reveals himself as a Covenant keeping Sovereign Providence in the words of Genesis 15:12-14. “As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” The story of Exodus is not some random act of history, but the Sovereign act of a Covenant keeping God who ordained all the events of the story for our good and his glory. It is not just a narrative of the Hebrew people, but a picture of redemption and how the great “I AM” intervened in history to save his people.
In a similar manner, Jesus Christ stepped into history in the cosmic invasion of the Incarnation to save his people. Galatians 3:13-14 reminds us, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree-so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” So, as we begin this whirlwind journey through Exodus, look back to the great “I AM” as the cause agent and look ahead to the Cross as the God-Man Jesus ultimately redeems us as the Son of Man and personification of the great “I AM.”
