WHEN WE READ THE BOOK OF EXODUS

                We find it to be a continuation of the history of the nation of Israel in the land of Goshen in Egypt. The Content of Exodus is as follows: 1) The growth of Israel into a nation (1:1-22); 2) Deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage (23:1-18:27); 3) The adoption of Israel as God’s special people and the giving of the law (19:1-24:18); and, 4) The building of the tabernacle and its furniture (25:1-40:38). In this book are many lessons to be learned. (Rom. 15:4).

                1. God is a great provider. When the children of Israel were hurting under their bondage to Pharaoh God heard their prayers and set about a plan of deliverance. (Exodus 3:7-20). He gave them a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day to guide them after he had delivered them from bondage (Exodus 13:21). He provided manna and quails in the wilderness (Exodus 16). He provided water out of a rock at Rephidim (Exodus 17:6). He provided help when the Amalekites attacked them at Rephidim (Exodus 17:8-16).

                2. God is “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He is eternal, all powerful, all knowing, and all sufficient. It is beyond us to understand the greatness of God. He also said, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6, 7). In the 10 commandments given on Mount Sinai he made it known that He is the LORD GOD. He desires man to respect and serve Him. He has done so much for us that it would show very unthankful hearts not to worship and serve Him.

                3. God expects man to obey his commands and he will punish those who do not.  When Moses appeared before Pharaoh and gave him God’s command to let Israel go into the wilderness to serve the Lord, Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD; neither will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2). Then God sent 10 terrible plagues upon the Egyptians. The tenth one was the killing of the first born of the animals and the children of the people of Egypt. This caused Pharaoh to tell the people to leave the land. We are told to “behold the goodness and severity of God” (Romans 11:22).

                4. In Exodus we can see a beautiful picture of our salvation from the bondage of sin. I Corinthians 10:1-12 shows that they were examples to us. Israel’s bondage was typical of our bondage to sin. They were helpless to throw it off without the help of God (Exodus 2:23-25). We are helpless without the help of Christ to have our sins forgiven (Romans 3:23; 7:24). The longer they stayed in bondage the worse it became (Exodus 5:6-9). The longer we stay in sin the worse its bondage becomes to us (John 8:34; Romans 6:16, 23). God raised up Moses to be their deliverer (Exodus 3:7-10). Moses was a type of Christ our deliverer (Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Acts 3:32; Galatians 4:4). “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14, 15). The Passover and the paschal lamb typified Christ’s sacrifice for our sins (Exodus 12; I Corinthians 5:7). They were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea which was typical of our baptism into Christ (I Corinthians 10:1-4; Galatians 3:27). After crossing the sea they were freed from bondage. After we are buried in baptism we are freed from our sins (Romans 6:4-6). They rejoiced after crossing the sea. We rejoice after baptism (Exodus 15; Acts 8:39). They were in the wilderness for 40 years. Christians are strangers and pilgrims in this world (I Peter 2:11).

                5. God expects his people to abide by a decent standard of conduct. First God wants man to put Him first in their lives and love him with all their being. The first four of the ten commandments are directed toward God. Then he expects man to treat his fellowmen right also. The last sic of the commandments tell us to honor our parents, to not kill, to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not bear false witness and to not covet. A person carrying these out will love his neighbor as himself.

                6. They had to follow God’s pattern in building the tabernacle.  God said, “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” (Exodus 25:40). God wants all things done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40). He told Moses just how to build the tabernacle and to make each item that went into it. Also the priestly garments and just how the worship was to be carried on was also given to Moses. God also has a pattern for us in the New Testament as to how he wants his church to be and the local congregations to be organized. Each church is to be autonomous and Elders are to be appointed in every local church (Acts 14:23; Philippians 1:1). The church as a whole recognizes the headship of Christ (Ephesians 1:22, 23).  All things are to be done in the name of Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17). Worship is to be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Lord put the Lord’s Supper in the worship (Matthew 26:29). The early church gathered on the first day of the week to observe it (Acts 20:7). He also told people to sing in worship (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19). We must follow the pattern in all things to please God.

                7. In Exodus we see how hearts are hardened.  We are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:13; 7:14; 7:22). In Exodus 8:15 it is said that Pharaoh hardened his heart. How did the hardening take place? God gave him a command he did not want to obey in telling him to let Israel go in the wilderness to worship God.  He did not want to release his slaves. So he hardened his heart and refused to let them go. God’s commands are looked on the same way today. Some just can’t see why the Lord wanted people to be baptized (Acts 2:38) or to gather on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7). Some just can’t see God’s marriage laws (Matthew 19:4-9). We need to be careful that we do not harden our hearts as Israel did in the wilderness (Hebrews 3:8).  “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12, 13).

To keep from being hardened we need to realize how good God is to us and how beautiful heaven is. Then we will want to do all his commands.   C. D.

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