Lesson 4
The Exodus—The Plan of Redemption
I.
The Exodus—The Plan of Redemption
Nearly
four centuries had passed since the children of Israel came to Egypt in the
days of Joseph. "And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased
abundantly, and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty and the land was filled
with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not
Joseph" (Exodus 1:7-8). The new king, set harsh taskmasters over the
Israelites and set them at hard labor in the fields and in constructing cities
and walls. This lesson is rich in typology, for through the deliverance of Israel
from bondage, there is a type of God's plan of redemption for fallen man. See I
Corinthians 10:1-11, for authority for using the flight from Egypt for example
or ensamples.
A.
Forty Years in Egypt
1. The
Birth of Moses
Pharoah
became fearful that the Hebrews would rise up and overthrow the Egyptians, so he commanded the midwives to kill every
newborn male Hebrew at the time of birth. "But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of
Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive" (Exodus 1:17). Then Pharoah commanded all his people to
destroy the baby boys by throwing them into a river (Exodus 1:22). After Moses was born, he was hid three
months by his parents, Jochebed and Amram. When they could no longer hide him
in their home, his mother made an ark of bulrushes and waterproofed it with
slime and pitch. She hid him each day in the reeds along the river. His sister,
Miriam, watched baby Moses from the shore.
One day
while on her way to wash herself at the river, Pharoah's daughter chanced to
find the ark there among the reeds. She had the ark brought to her and when she
opened it, Moses wept and Pharoah's daughter had compassion on the small baby.
She determined to take the child and bring him up in the palace. Miriam offered
to contact a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for the daughter of Pharoah.
"And Pharoah's daughter said unto her. Take this child away, and nurse it
for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and
nursed it" (Exodus 2:9). The woman (Jochebed) took the child and nursed it
and received wages for nursing her own baby. "And the child grew, and she
brought him (Moses) unto Pharoah's daughter, and he became her son"
(Exodus 2:10). (Jochebed nursed him in her own home.) The same river that could
have been the means of destruction of Moses became his salvation, just as Jesus
can become a Saviour instead of a judge, by following His plan of salvation.
At the
crisis of the Civil War, a New York State farmer was drafted for the army. His
wife had died and left him the sole support of a family of little children. He
was wondering what he could do, when a young man of the neighborhood who had
none depending upon him came to his house and offered to go in his place. For
the sake of his children the farmer accepted the offer. The generous friend
marched off to war. In the first engagement he was shot and killed. The news
filtered back to the New York farm. The man took his horses from the field and
drove to the scene of battle. There he sought until he found the body of his
friend. He carried him back to his home and laid him tenderly in a grave in the
village churchyard. From the hills he hewed a stone and cut upon it these
words, "He died for me."
2.
Moses' Choice
When Moses
was grown, he went out one day among his brethren and saw an Egyptian beating a
Hebrew. He killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he saw two
Hebrews fighting and attempted to separate them. One of them said, "Who
made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou
killedst the Egyptian?" (Exodus 2:14). Because Moses had gotten ahead of
God's will, his efforts to lead were rejected by the people. He was unprepared
at this stage for the task which he would later perform. (See also Hebrews
11:23-29).
B. Forty
Years in Midian—Moses
Moses
realized that his deed was known and fearing revenge by the Pharoah, he fled to
the land of Midian. There he met and married Zipporah, a daughter of the
Midianite priest Jethro.
1.
Moses' Call
One day as
Moses was tending sheep, he beheld a bush burning. Upon closer examination, he
was amazed when he saw it was not consumed with the fire. God called to him out
of the midst of the bush giving him his call for his life's work. God told
Moses that He had heard the cries of the people and that He would use him to
deliver them from bondage and lead them to the promised land.
2. God
Proves Himself to Moses
Moses
expressed doubts that he could do the job, and so God had him to cast down the
rod he held in his hand. When he did so, the rod changed into a serpent. God
had him pick it up by the tail and it turned back into the rod. God told Moses
to put his hand into his bosom. Moses obeyed and when he took his hand out it
was white with leprosy. Then Moses was told to thrust his hand back into his
garment. When he removed his hand, this time it was healed. Thus he was shown
that God could make him victorious over all things that would confront him.
Likewise God's people today can totally trust in the Lord, knowing that He will
triumph over the devil, the world and the flesh.
C.
Moses the Deliver
1.
Moses Before Pharoah—Ten Plagues
Moses,
obeyed the Lord, returned to Egypt, went to Pharoah and told him that God had
said, "Let my people go." Pharoah desired to keep the Hebrews in
bondage and rebelled against God's will. Disaster came to Egypt in the form of
ten plagues. Notice that the things the Egyptians worshipped: frogs, cattle,
sun, the Nile river and nature were used to demonstrate God's great power.
After each of the first nine plagues, Pharoah would agree to let the children
of Israel go, but in each instance, he would later have a change of heart. This
set the stage for the most dreadul plague yet to come.
2.
Passover—Deliverance by the Blood
The Lord
told Moses to speak to the congregation, and tell them to take a male lamb of
the first year without blemish for each household. They were instructed to kill
the lamb, and to strike its blood on the two side posts and the upper door post
of the houses. They were then to roast the lamb and eat it that night, along
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat it in haste with shoes
on their feet, loins girded and staff in their hand, because it was time to
leave Egypt.
At midnight the Lord passed
through the land of Egypt and killed the firstborn of every household which did
not have the blood upon the doorpost of the Hebrew's home, He passed by that
house and the inhabitants inside were safe. Salvation in this age is dependent upon the blood of the Lamb,
Jesus Christ, "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (I
Corinthians 5:7). The blood of Jesus must be applied through obedience to the
gospel. If the Lord did not find blood applied to the doorpost, instant death resulted. The blood
of the innocent lamb is symbolic of the blood of the "Lamb of God"
that delivers from spiritual bondage.
3.
Deliverance Through the Red Sea
Pharoah at
last agreed to let the Hebrews go. The Lord led them out of Egypt with a pillar
of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day (Exodus 13:21). After the people
had left Egypt, Pharoah changed his mind again and sent his army after the
Israelites. God led the Israelites to the Red Sea. When the people saw
Pharoah's chariots closing in on them, they cried out against Moses. Moses told
the people, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord
which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye
shall see them again no more for ever" (Exodus 14:13). Moses lifted his
rod 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 (Exodus 14:21).
The people miraculously crossed over upon dry ground with the waters as a great
wall on either side. In every situation the Lord will always make a way of
escape for His people. (See I Corinthians 10:13.) The Egyptians were in
pursuit, but as soon as the Israelites got across, the Lord had Moses to
stretch out his hand over the sea. The
waters fell on the Egyptians and they were all drowned. "And Israel saw
the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore" (Exodus 14:30). Salvation is the
whole process by which Christ rescues mankind from sin, brings him back home,
and makes him a child of God.
See it in a picture: A house is burning.
There is a violin in it, a Stradivarius. A music lover, knowing that the
valuable violin is in the burning house, rushes in at great risk and saves it.
That is salvation. The violin, however, was damaged by the heat. The music
lover then takes the damaged violin to an expert craftsman. He repairs it, for
he knows its value. Now the violin is saved from the fire, and its damages are
repaired. A great violinist takes it, tunes it, and it speaks to us. That is
salvation! The complete salvation of the violin is its rescue, its repairs, and
its ability to function as its creator designed it to do. Jesus Christ rescues from sin and death;
He restores the soul, and He puts a new song into the heart. In typology, Egypt
represents bondage, or sin. The Red Sea is a type of baptism for ". . .all
our fathers. . .were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (I
Corinthians 10:1-12). A future lesson shows how that entering the promised land
is a type of receiving God's promise. There were battles to be fought, giants
to face and walls to bring down. Thus we see again God's plan of salvation:
repentance (leaving Egypt), baptism (crossing the Red Sea) and then moving into
the promise of God.