To Read: Exodus 10

“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘This is what Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’” (Ex.10:3)

The Exodus is the story of salvation from sin displayed on the stage of world history. Pharaoh personifies the power of sin that must be broken if sinners are to be delivered. The Israelites are those chosen for salvation by the grace of God. Moses is a type of Christ. The command to Pharaoh to let the people go is the gospel message. The ‘good news’ is not a challenge to the slaves to free themselves from Pharaoh’s iron grip. Self-salvation is good works religion. The gospel is a command to Pharaoh to let the slaves go and a promise of God that he will act to insure that Pharaoh obeys.  

Sin is irrational. The gospel hardens the sinful heart. God’s command progressively hardens Pharaoh’s heart.  The king would rather see his kingdom destroyed than humble himself before the mighty hand of God. The Egyptian officials saw the truth to which the king willfully shut his eyes. “Pharaoh’s officials said to him, ‘How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” (Ex. 10:7)  

It is no less irrational to reject Jesus Christ. Although Moses was only a prophet, he was only a man. Unlike Christ, Moses could not change the heart. The law of Moses could only expose sin for what it is, thereby revealing the need of a savior. Christ confronted his adversaries saying, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (Jn. 8:33,34) Salvation is a gift of God that we receive by trusting ourselves to Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was sent to straighten out the world regarding who Jesus Christ really is. He was sent to untangle all the false teaching about Jesus. John the Baptist said, “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (Jn. 3:36) When you believe, then you are saved. 

To Read: Exodus 11

“So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’” (Ex. 11:4-7)

What could have happened to you but didn’t? When the expected doesn’t happen, we are expected to learn a lesson. Most of our worst fears never materialize. Often we imagine that our fears were unwarranted after all. God is good. He sends rain on the just and the unjust. Unbelievers usually do not consider the Lord to be the reason that they were passed over by that which they dreaded. This must not be so among those that trust the God of grace. Believers are to interpret all of life as passing through the hand of Jesus Christ. Those that fear the Lord are to see all of life as coming from his gracious hand. This is wisdom. After all, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” () The epitome of wisdom is to attribute all good to God. Jesus affirmed the fact that good is the work of a good God. “A certain ruler asked him (Jesus), ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered, ‘No one is good but God.’ (Lk. 18:19) It is important that the people God know for certain that he is to be praised for the good they experience. It was because God is good that the angel of death spared Israel when he inflicted the final plague on Egypt. The Lord protected Israel. He made a distinction between Egypt and his people. This he did by muzzling the dogs and preventing them from what they must do by nature, namely bark. Apart from the Lord, what can go wrong will go wrong. In his goodness, God overrules nature.

To Read: Exodus 12

 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals – and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Ex. 12:12,13) 

The seeds, sown on the night the Lord passed over the houses in Egypt displaying blood, bore fruit in the coming of Jesus Christ. According to verse 36, “All the Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.  And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” The Exodus began the night God passed over the blood bought houses. On one occasion, Jesus took Peter, John and James up onto a mountain to pray. Suddenly Christ was alive with light. The disciples were stunned. Christ was shown to be the source of light, and “his clothes become bright as a flash of lightning. In the vision, Moses and Elijah also appeared in glorious splendor. They conversed with Christ about his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” (see Lk. 9:29-31) Behind the English word departure in Luke 9:31 is the Greek word Exodus. The Exodus from Egypt was an earthly affair. Those who left the land of the Nile settled in the land graced by the Jordan. Both places belonged to this world. By the cross, Jesus made his exodus from this world. Over the period of forty days, the first man of the new creation settled his affairs here on earth and ascended to heaven while the disciples watched. He did what he did on behalf of all those who would believe his promise to take them with him. Regarding his exodus, he said to those who believe in his name, “I am going there to prepare a place for you…” (Jn. 14:2) Paul alerts us to the fact that the Exodus from Egypt was to show us what the exodus of Jesus meant when he wrote, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:7,8) The blood of lambs, applied to the houses of Egypt, saved those inside. The blood of the “Lamb of God” when applied to a human heart by faith, saves that believer from the judgment of God.
 

To Read: Exodus 13

“On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.” “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’” (Ex. 13:8,14) 

For quite some time, some in our country have dedicated themselves to the task of rewriting American history. Apparently that effort has reached into high places. The first lady of the United States announced that she was not proud of the country until her husband became a candidate for president. Many suffering in other lands see us very differently than the first lady. For them, America means the American dream. We are an imperfect people. National sins are real and for them we ought to repent. Our sin does not arise from doing what the founders came to these shores to do. Instead, our sin is in departing from the vision of those who left material wellbeing behind to make this a land of liberty.  

The Soviet Union walled their people in. For me, the building of the Berlin Wall was personal. When president Kennedy extended the term of military service by a year, I was in the army. The Pentagon feared that the wall might be the first step in world war three.  Our policy makers soon realized that the Communist world was hemorrhaging its population. The reason people flee from tyranny and fly to freedom needs to be taught to our young.  

To Top

E-mail to: mfowler@byfieldparish.org

 Copyright � 1998-2008 Byfield Parish Church,