Through the Bible - Exodus

1 Corinthians chapter 10 states in verse 11 that Paul writes, "Now all these things happened unto them, unto the children of Israel, as examples. And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age or the ends of the world are come." We believe we are living in the last days. As we go through the scriptures together, a book a week, we will see some of the reasons why I believe we are in the last days.

Tonight, we will focus on the book of Exodus, which Paul even references in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He emphasizes that these things were specifically written for our admonition. They serve as examples for you and me, allowing us to learn more about who God is and how great He is as we explore the scriptures.

Last week, we looked at Genesis, which shows us man's inadequacy. Man is inadequate without God. The book of Genesis begins with God: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." God goes on to create man, but the very last verse of the last chapter of Genesis ends with man in a coffin in Egypt. Creation begins with God, but it concludes in Genesis with man in a coffin in Egypt. This illustrates man's spiritual condition—dead in sin in the world.

Whereas the book of Genesis focuses on man and his inability without God, the book of Exodus is primarily about God. The central focus of Exodus is God—His power, His grandeur, and how awesome He is. It highlights His ability to redeem man. Although man is dead in sin and in a coffin in Egypt, God comes to redeem him.

Thus, the central theme of the book of Exodus is redemption: God's power to redeem lost and dead man. That is exactly where we find man.

That's exactly where we find Israel, the nation of Israel: dead, a coffin in Egypt. As we come to the historical setting of this book, Exodus is the story of the children of Israel leaving Egypt. That's what Exodus means; it signifies the departure of a great number of people. We will see that this is indeed a great number of people.

When we left the children of Israel in the land of Egypt, they numbered only 70. In Exodus chapter 1, we find a restatement of that in the first six verses. These verses establish for us that Israel, this group of people, the children of Israel, remember Jacob in the book of Genesis. God renamed him in Genesis chapter 32 to Israel. When we left this family, the family of Israel, they were down in Egypt, and only 70 people were listed. These were 70 different individuals who went down into Egypt with them.

However, when you step into chapter 1 of Exodus, verse 7, you find that some 400 years have passed. Between Exodus 1:6 and Exodus 1:7, there is a time gap of over 400 years. The people of Israel, the family of Israel, are no longer just 70 people. Now, there are 640,000 men over the age of 20. This number does not count the women and children. The estimations suggest that the nation of Israel, by this time, had grown significantly. Remember, they had large families; they did not just have one or two kids, as many Americans might think. The children of Israel had large families.

So, with 640,000 men over the age of 20, there are roughly 2 to 3 million people who have grown to be this nation of Israel in the land of Egypt. It is important to understand that when we talk about the historical setting of the book of Exodus, this was a strange and somewhat strenuous situation for the nation of Egypt. In the midst of Egypt was a group of people numbering around 2 to 3 million who spoke a different language, had a different culture, a different form of religion, and a different way of life. They were shepherds who lived in the Nile River Delta.

If you look on a map of Egypt, you can see how the Nile River drains into the Mediterranean Sea and branches off into that huge delta, which is lush farmland. In the Old Testament, this area was called the land of Goshen.

The children of Israel settled in Egypt when Israel and his family went down there because they were shepherds. It was perfect land for them to take their cattle, sheep, and goats. However, the Egyptians hated shepherds; they were considered an abomination to the Egyptians. The entire nation of Israel, numbering nearly two to three million people, were shepherds in a land that was not their own. The people of Egypt began to get concerned about this situation.

As you read through Exodus chapter 1, you find that the Pharaoh in power at that time became worried when he observed the rapid multiplication of this group of people. They did not worship the same God, did not speak the same language, and did not share the same culture. The Pharaoh feared that if a warring nation came against Egypt, the children of Israel might rise up against him.

In fact, we read in Exodus chapter 1 that there arose a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. In the book of Genesis, we learn that Joseph was a key character in Egypt; he saved the nation from destruction due to a famine that was about to strike. Remember that story? Pharaoh had a dream about seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph, one of the children of Israel, interpreted this dream for him. As a result, Pharaoh appointed Joseph as second in command over all the land of Egypt, where he stored up food and prepared for the coming famine. He saved the land of Egypt.

However, 400 years later, after Joseph, his brothers, and their entire generation had died, a new Pharaoh arose who did not know who Joseph was and did not care. He looked at the large group of people in the northern part of his country and thought, "This doesn't really fit. This doesn't really work." It was almost like having 11 or 12 million illegal immigrants in a nation. Here he had two to three million people he considered illegal immigrants in his nation, and he was concerned about it.

Being a smart and intelligent man in a worldly sense, he decided to take action regarding the children of Israel. In the first chapter of Exodus, we find that he instructed the midwives of Israel, the women who would be delivering the children, to kill any male child born to the women of Israel. However, these women feared the Lord and refused to carry out his orders. Praise God.

They feared God and would not do what Pharaoh told them to do. As a result, Pharaoh issued a decree, not just to the children of Israel. Notice this in verse 22 of Exodus chapter 1. Pharaoh charged all his people, saying that he needed to find a way to deal with the Hebrew people who were growing in his land. His idea was to command everyone in his land to kill their male children and cast them into the Nile River.

There is no doubt that he framed this as a very religious act. The Nile River was considered one of the gods of Egypt, in fact, one of the greatest gods, as it supplied them with their livelihood. He probably presented it as, "Hey, cast your children into the Nile River, and you are worshiping our God by doing so." However, the children of Israel would not comply.

Pharaoh then began to impose severe taskmasters over them, and they became slaves in Egypt. He tried to harshly persecute them, but the more he did, the stronger the children of Israel grew. This presents an interesting spiritual principle for us: when persecution comes and hard times arise, it causes us to become stronger. Just like steel going into the fire becomes tempered and stronger as it endures the heat, the children of Israel, when they were afflicted, multiplied and grew. Exodus chapter 1, verse 12 states, "But the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew."

I want to consider, for just a moment, the historical context of this book. By examining the scriptures, we can determine the approximate time when these events took place. In 1 Kings chapter 6, we find that it is right at the time when King Solomon, the son of David, is preparing to build the temple. In 1 Kings chapter 6, verse 1, it tells us that this occurred 480 years after the children of Israel exited Egypt.

Solomon began to build the temple, known as Solomon's Temple. You can look at secular historical documents and find that the time Solomon became king was right around 960 B.C., specifically between 970 and 960 B.C. This tells us that four years after he became king, he started to build the temple. So, 970 B.C. is kind of the time when he became king, which would put us around 966 B.C. when he started to build the temple, approximately.

If you add 480 years to that, it takes us back into the 1440s, around 1440 B.C. Remember, they are counting in the opposite direction. Somewhere around 1445 or 1440 B.C., the children of Israel exited Egypt. How old was Moses when the children of Israel left Egypt? The story tells us he was 80 years old. If you add 80 years to that, it puts us right around 1520 or 1525 B.C. I hope I'm not losing you because this is important. In 1520 or 1525 B.C., Moses was born.

If you look at secular history and find out who was Pharaoh at that time, it's quite interesting. Right in the midst of all these events, back in Exodus chapter 1, Pharaoh gives a decree that every male child is to be cast into the Nile. At that time, the children of Israel were crying out to God, asking Him to come and help them. God hears from heaven and begins to act. You know how God often starts to work? He begins with a baby.

He gives this child, born under the sentence of death, a chance at life. Remember that Pharaoh commanded that every male child be cast into the Nile River. There, a child of the Hebrews is born. His mother just couldn't bring herself to do it. Who would cast their own child into the Nile River? So, she hid him for three months, as it tells us in Exodus chapter 2. She tried to keep him hidden, but eventually, she could no longer do so. In a moment of partial obedience to Pharaoh's command, she made a box.

She made an ark and made it waterproof. She sealed it so it was like a little boat. She put this little child, who hadn't been named yet, in this ark and placed it among the reeds of the Nile River. Essentially, she followed the king's command; she did what he said and put her child in the river.

As the Lord would have it, after she did this, the daughter of the Pharaoh was walking along the riverbanks. It says that she went to bathe there, accompanied by her entourage. She saw this ark, this box, among the reeds, and she sent one of her maidens to retrieve it. They brought it to the daughter of Pharaoh, and when she opened it, what did she see? She saw this little child. He was a very good-looking child, as the scripture tells us. Immediately, when she opened that box and looked at the child, he began to cry. What do you think happened to her heart? It just melted, and she took this child as her own.

As God would have it, He has a great sense of humor. There was this little child in the box, and his older sister was watching the whole thing happen. When the Pharaoh's daughter picked the child up, his older sister approached her and said, "Listen, I know a woman among the Hebrews who can nurse this child for you." So, Moses' biological mother was paid by the Pharaoh to take care of the child that was born. Ultimately, when the child had grown, the Pharaoh's daughter took him and named him Moses.

Now, I want to show you something. Do you know who the Pharaoh was at that time, around 1520s BC? It was Thutmose I. Kind of interesting, huh? That's quite close to Moses, isn't it? If you look at secular history and consider who the Pharaoh was during that time, you will find that this was the 18th dynasty in Egypt. In fact, it's one of the most well-known dynasties in Egypt. If you have studied anything about Egypt, you probably learned about this dynasty because you might remember a king by the name of King Tut, or Tutankhamun. He was one of the descendants of Thutmose in the 18th dynasty. It just so happens that the Pharaoh at that time, when Moses was born, was part of this significant lineage.

And had this daughter who named the child Moses; his name was Tut Moses. He had two daughters and no sons, which is interesting when you consider what his decree was. Remember, he told all the people to cast their firstborn sons into the Nile River. We don't know for sure, but maybe he did the same thing. One of his daughters grew to be one of the Pharaohs in Egypt, and her name was Hatshepsut. Maybe you've heard that name before. There is a possibility that she was the one who drew this child, Moses, up from the river.

The historian of the Jews, Josephus, tells us that Moses grew in stature to the point where he was in line to be Pharaoh. Isn't it amazing how God works? God really does have a sense of humor. Think about this: the children of Israel are under oppression. They are in Egypt as slaves, being told that they must kill their children. All these horrible things are happening to them, and they cry out to God for help. Their spiritual condition was one of total despair and absolute hopelessness. They didn't really know what to do. They were crying out to God, probably thinking that God was not listening to them. It had been 400 years, and all this suffering was happening. They were slaves.

Yet God gives this child, born of the Hebrew people, who is now raised in Egypt in the Pharaoh's house. The scripture tells us in Acts chapter 7 that he was raised in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians. This man was trained in all the ways of Egypt. In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Moses was a great military leader. While in Egypt, he was used by the house of Pharaoh to win wars. God works in miraculous and awesome ways. It's mind-blowing when you consider what history has to say in line with the Bible.

Some people are sometimes concerned about looking into archaeological history in relation to the Bible because they fear it might prove that the Bible is wrong. However, every time we look at archaeology, it proves once again that the Bible is true. It is not a coincidence that the woman who named Moses had a father named Tut Moses. This is a very interesting thing that the Lord does, and He truly has a sense of humor in the way that He operates.

We can look at the historical setting and understand it because the Bible makes it clear when these things took place. The emotional setting of these people at their soul level is also important. Emotionally, they are drained.

They were slaves in Egypt, crying out for a deliverer. As we follow the children of Israel through the Bible, we will see that they are constantly seeking someone to come and deliver them. This mindset reflects the heart of a lost, dead man. When a man is in the coffin in Egypt, his heart cries out for some sort of deliverance.

People look for deliverance in different places. Some believe that gaining power will free them, while others think that pleasure will deliver them from the struggles of this world. They may turn to substance abuse or seek fulfillment in relationships, searching for anything that might provide an escape from the status quo and the horrible things that happen in life. Thus, man is constantly crying out for a deliverer.

While Israel was in Egypt, they were indeed crying out for a deliverer. God raised up a man who would be placed in the household of Pharaoh, to the point where he was even in line to become Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt. Yet, he was not Egyptian; his heritage was among the Hebrew people.

When he was about 40 years old, as described in Exodus chapter 2, he began to behold his people, the children of Israel. He witnessed their suffering under taskmasters who were beating them. One day, he saw a Hebrew man being beaten by an Egyptian soldier. In a moment of anger, Moses intervened and killed the Egyptian soldier. This act reveals something about Moses: he was tough, no slouch. He had been trained in all the wisdom and knowledge of the Egyptians and was likely very strong. After killing the soldier, he buried him in the sand, which was probably not the smartest decision.

Eventually, this act was discovered, and Pharaoh decided that he would have to kill Moses. Historical studies suggest that the Pharaoh on the throne at that time may have feared that Moses would attempt to take the throne by force, which could explain why he drove Moses from Egypt. After all, if Moses was in line to be Pharaoh, it posed a significant threat.

If Moses is in the household of Pharaoh, he can kind of kill whoever he wants, and it doesn't really matter. If he kills an Egyptian soldier, then what's the Pharaoh going to say about it? There's a good possibility that the Pharaoh wanted Moses gone because he was concerned that Moses would try to take power from him.

So, Moses, in the book of Exodus, chapter 2, flees from Egypt and goes out into the deserts of Midian. There, he ends up joining himself to a man who was a priest of Midian, Jethro, who had a daughter named Zipporah. Moses takes her as his wife, and there he is for the next 40 years of his life. What is he doing? He's a shepherd.

Now, I want you to consider for a moment that this guy was raised as a Pharaoh in the Pharaoh's lifestyle in the house of Egypt. What was the mindset of the Egyptians regarding shepherds? They looked down upon all shepherds and considered them an abomination. Moses was raised as an Egyptian, and yet God takes him out of the house of Pharaoh after he had grown in stature to be this great man in Egypt. He was a war hero in Egypt, and God sends him out into the backside of the desert, where he becomes a shepherd for the next 40 years.

God is preparing him for something. God is doing a work and getting him ready for something. All the while, through these 40 years and even beyond—I'm sorry, 80 years, even before the time that Moses was born—the children of Israel are calling out to God, "God, save us! God, send us a deliverer!" Here is their deliverer out in the backside of the deserts of Midian, and he's a shepherd. He's not ready to go back to Egypt; he's not looking forward to this. But God hears the cry of His people. He hears what's going on down there in Egypt.

So, what does God do? God reveals Himself, and that's one of the key things we find in the book of Exodus: the revelation of God's character. In the book of Genesis, we received the revelation of God's will. He called many different people in the book of Genesis to follow Him and go in different directions and to different places. But as we come to the book of Exodus, we find the revelation of God's character. He reveals Himself to Moses in a rather peculiar way.

You may remember the story. In fact, did any of you take the assignment and read the book of Exodus this last week? Now, what are you going to do when you're in heaven and you meet Moses? What will you say when he asks you, "Did you read my book?" I encourage you guys.

I have been reading through the book of Exodus this last week, and I just finished it a little while before the service started. Here’s the thing: in Exodus chapter 3, God appears to Moses in a peculiar way. What does He do? He reveals Himself to Moses in a burning bush—a bush that was burning but was not consumed.

When Moses sees this, the King James Version says, "Moses said unto himself, I will now turn aside to see this strange sight." When he saw it, he was thinking, "What in the world is going on?" He went to check it out, wanting to see this with his own eyes up close. As he approached, a voice came from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, take the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground."

God reveals Himself and His character to Moses. Moses asks Him, "Who are You? You're sending me to Egypt. Who am I going to tell them sent me?" God responds, "Tell them I am." This literally means that God is the eternal one, the ever-existing one. He is always the I Am. There was never a time when God was not; He is always I Am.

God reveals His heart to Moses, showing that He is a loving God who sees His children. He calls Israel His children in Egypt and wants to deliver them. He says to Moses, "I'm going to use you to deliver my people, the children of Israel. I'm going to send you down to Pharaoh."

The first thing Moses says when God tells him this is not, "Right on, Lord, I'm ready to go." Instead, he says, "Oh, Lord, I can't do that. I'm insufficient of myself." To put it in modern language, he says, "Listen, I don't have any strength. I can't do that." You know what? God didn't disagree with him. God simply said, "Yeah, that's true. You can't do it on your own."

Then God tells him, "I'm going to be with you. I will be with your tongue when you go down there." But Moses responds again, "Oh, Lord, I can't do it." Essentially, Moses is saying, "No, Lord, You can't do that." God replies, "Who made your tongue?" He emphasizes that He can do whatever He wants to do.

God gives Moses some signs. He tells him to cast down his rod, and it turns into a snake. Moses takes up the snake by the tail, and then he sticks his hand inside his cloak. When he pulls it out, his hand appears as though he has leprosy. He puts it back in again, and when he brings it out, God shows him that He is able to make clean.

So, God reveals Himself in His nature and character to Moses and says, "I want you to go and bring a word to Pharaoh." Moses knew exactly what was at stake.

Pharaoh was the ruler during the time when Moses went down into Egypt to bring the children of Israel out. Moses grew up with the Pharaoh on the throne, so he knew exactly who he was. However, the Pharaoh who sought Moses' life had died. Remember, when Moses was 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian soldier, and there was a Pharaoh who sought his life. God told Moses, "Listen, the Pharaoh who sought your life is gone. He's dead. I want you to go and tell the next Pharaoh it's time to let my people go."

After some initial resistance, Moses went down into Egypt to fulfill the Lord's command. The book of Exodus divides into three categories: the first section is Israel in Egypt, which we have been examining and will continue to explore. The second section is Israel in the wilderness, where we can learn some marvelous truths. The third section is Israel at Mount Sinai. So, we have Israel in Egypt, Israel in the wilderness, and Israel at Mount Sinai.

God was going to do great things in Egypt. He sent Moses down into Egypt in Exodus chapter 4. First, Moses went to his own people and said, "God sent me to deliver you." Initially, they did not believe him, but after he showed them the signs that God had given him, they accepted his message. Then, Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Pharaoh, God has sent me here to tell you, let my people go."

Pharaoh knew who Moses was. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that when Moses told Pharaoh what God had spoken to him, Pharaoh laughed. He dismissed Moses, thinking, "You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going to let these people go. They are the workforce of Egypt." The Hebrew people were the ones building the great temples, obelisks, and all the significant structures in Egypt at that time. They were the slaves, the working class, making the bricks.

God intended to bring His people out of Egypt, but Pharaoh was not going to let that happen easily. In fact, Scripture tells us that God warned Moses, "When you go down to Egypt, Pharaoh's not going to listen to you." How would you feel if God called you to a task and said, "Listen, you're not going to be successful in your task—not immediately, but ultimately you will be"? At first, Pharaoh was not going to listen.

What you have to say is important. In fact, God says to Moses, "I am going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that he won't listen to you." You might wonder, why would God say, "I’m going to harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will not listen to you?" The answer is found in Exodus chapter 10.

I want to point this out quickly because it is crucial to understand why God does the things that He does. In Exodus chapter 10, verse 1, the Lord said unto Moses, "Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants that I might show these signs before him." Notice what God says: He has hardened Pharaoh's heart because He wants to show the signs before him. Additionally, this is so that you may tell in the ears of your son and of your son's son what things I have wrought in Egypt and my signs which I have done among them, that you might know that I am the Lord.

The first reason that God allowed Pharaoh's heart to be hardened, preventing him from letting the children of Israel go, was so that the children of Israel would know that God is powerful. They would know that God is God. God wanted to show His signs before Pharaoh, the children of Israel, and all of Egypt, so they would understand that He is the one true God.

The second reason is found in Exodus chapter 14. In Exodus chapter 14, verse 17, after the children of Israel are fleeing Egypt, God says to Moses, "Behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they are going to follow you down into the Red Sea." Here’s the reason: "I will get honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his army and upon all his chariots and upon his horsemen."

Why is God going to do this? The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. God says He is going to do this so that the world will know that He is God. God does His work so that the world would know that He is God and that the children of Israel would see that He is able to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

So, God went down into Egypt with Moses with a mighty hand, as the Scripture says. God went into Egypt.

With a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, God showed ten plagues to the children of Israel. He gave these ten plagues to demonstrate His power. When you begin to look at these ten plagues, you find that every single one dealt with a god of Egypt. Egypt was a polytheistic culture; they believed in many different gods and bowed down to just about everything imaginable. They worshipped these things.

The first and foremost, the greatest symbol of their power and strength, was the Nile River. The first plague dealt with the Nile River, where God turned the Nile River into blood. The next thing that God did was bring upon the people of Egypt the frogs, as described in chapter 8. The second plague was that of the frogs. It is hard to believe, but they bowed down to frogs and worshipped them as a god.

The third plague that God brought upon them was lice. The text states that all the dust on the ground turned into lice. I don't remember ever having lice, but some of you have had kids that have had lice. I recall Mark telling us a story about when their kids had lice; it doesn't sound like a pretty thing at all. But could you imagine if all the dust on the ground outside turned into lice?

An interesting aspect of these plagues is that when Moses cast down his staff and it became a snake, the magicians of Egypt also cast down their staffs, and they became snakes as well. When Moses turned the water into blood, the magicians duplicated that miracle too. Similarly, when Moses brought frogs upon the land of Egypt, the magicians did the same thing.

However, the interesting thing is that while they could duplicate the miracles and the plagues, they couldn't fix them, which is a very intriguing point to consider. When it came to the lice, when the ground turned into lice, they couldn't replicate that. They tried, but they couldn't do it. They said to Pharaoh, "Indeed, this is the finger of God." Why? Because something that wasn't there transformed into something else. God brought something from nothing because He is the Creator God; He can do whatever He wants. The magicians could not duplicate it.

The third plague was that of the lice, and the next plague, the fourth one, was that of the flies. The word "flies" can also be translated...

As beetles were worshipped in Egypt, you may remember that they bowed down to the scarab beetle. God brings another plague to show that their gods are nothing. He is exalting Himself through these plagues over all the false gods of Egypt.

God brought upon the people in Egypt not just the beetles, but also a disease that affected their livestock. One of the key gods of Egypt was the bull, which is interesting considering that the children of Israel built for themselves a golden calf, an Egyptian deity, in Exodus chapter 32. They bowed down to their livestock, and God brought a disease upon these animals, causing them to die.

Next, God inflicted boils upon the people. Following that, He sent hail from the heavens. When it fell, it not only came down like ice but also started fires wherever it landed, burning up all their crops. The eighth plague was the locusts, which came up from the east into the land of Egypt. Everything that the hail did not destroy, the locusts consumed.

Interestingly, God set a difference, a separation, between the children of Israel and the people of Egypt. When the flies came upon the Egyptians, it was as if there was an invisible wall between the children of Israel and the Egyptians. They did not have the flies, the frogs, or any problem with the blood from the Nile River. The children of Israel were protected in the midst of these plagues that God brought upon the people of Egypt.

One by one, God destroyed all their false gods, demonstrating that He is more powerful than these things. The ninth plague that He brought upon the people of Egypt was darkness. In chapter 10 of Exodus, the children of Israel had light, but the Egyptians experienced a thick, oppressive darkness for three days.

The tenth and final plague, which ultimately released Pharaoh's grasp, was the death of the firstborn. This is where the Passover was instituted. In Exodus chapter 10, God declares that He will bring one last plague upon Pharaoh and his hard heart. Every firstborn son in Egypt, as well as all the livestock, would be put to death.

When the destroyer came upon the area there in Egypt, we don't know this for sure, but there is historical possibility. There are different legends and so forth that suggest when this destroying angel came upon the land of Egypt, the Passover happened on the 14th day of that month, which was a Saturday. The day before that was Friday the 13th. There is a legend, a possibility, that the whole idea of Friday the 13th came about because of the death of the firstborn in Egypt on that day when the destroying angel came in. Every single one of the firstborn males of that land was taken; they were killed. Even Pharaoh's firstborn was killed.

When this happened, immediately afterward, it says that Pharaoh did not just say, "All right, you guys can leave." Instead, it states that they drove the children of Israel out of Egypt, as Moses had said they would. They began to leave, as described in Exodus chapter 10 and Exodus chapter 11. God institutes the Passover while the children of Israel were still in Egypt. Each family was to take a lamb of the first year, without spot or blemish, and sacrifice this lamb for their family. They were to take the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorposts and the lentils of their house. They were to smear this blood over the doorposts, and when God would pass through, the scripture says that God came among His people. When He would see the blood, He would not allow the destroyer, this Apollyon, this Abaddon, to go in and destroy the firstborn in those households.

The blood was a covering. I don't know if you see the similarity there for us in our redemption from the world, but we have been redeemed by the blood of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus. When His blood is shed upon our hearts, it covers our sin. It atones for our sins so that the destroying angel cannot kill us or put us to death. That is where the whole idea of the Passover came from, as described in the book of Exodus. The children of Israel left Egypt on that night with a mighty hand, as the scripture says. They left Egypt with a high hand.

However, right after that, God hardened Pharaoh's heart once again, and he said, "I’m going to chase them." He intended to go after the children of Israel. Now, the children of Israel had gone out of Egypt, but they had not quite made it completely out of the land. They came to the Red Sea. In fact, God, in His providence and perfect nature, had a plan for them.

He leads them down to the Red Sea into a place where Pharaoh said, "The desert has closed them in." They went right down through this valley. There was a hill on either side of them, Piahiroth and Migdal. Those were the two names of the mountains. In front of them was the Red Sea. When the children of Israel camped there, word came to Pharaoh that they had boxed themselves in. Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he gathered all his chariots and his army together to pursue the children of Israel, closing them in.

In Exodus chapter 14, the children of Israel find themselves in a really tight spot. They have mountains on either side of them, a big Red Sea in front of them, and the Egyptian army behind them. They are completely closed in. Why did God do that? The works of God are for the purpose of showing His strength and power, His power to redeem His people. He was going to show His own people, the children of Israel, His strength and power, and He was also going to show Pharaoh and the armies of Pharaoh His strength and power.

So what did God do? He tells the children of Israel in Exodus chapter 14, verse 15, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." Moses responds, "All right, we're going to go forward." They look and see the big sea in front of them and wonder what they are going to do. God instructs them to stretch out their staff, and the waters parted, allowing the children of Israel to cross over on dry ground.

However, God tells Moses again in Exodus chapter 14 that He will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh will follow them into the Red Sea. Every time I have read that, a question has gone through my mind. If God can harden the heart of Pharaoh so that he will do that, why didn't God just say, "Pharaoh, go home"? It seems almost like, "Come on, Lord, you can cause him to follow us. Why don't you just say, 'It's over, man, go home'?"

But God hardens his heart because He says, "I will have honor over Pharaoh." One of the supreme deities in all of Egypt was Pharaoh, and God was going to use Pharaoh as an illustration. He was going to show him and all his people that God is greater than Pharaoh, greater than all the gods of the world. In the Bible, Egypt is a type and a picture of the world for us, and God shows Himself as greater than all the gods of the world and all the things of this world. Thus, Pharaoh and his armies pursued Israel as they were down there.

Crossing over on dry ground, the children of Israel walked over on dry ground. It says of Pharaoh that God reached down and troubled Egypt and their armies. The wheels started to fall off their chariots, and they began to get stuck. They realized this and cried out, "Surely God is against us." So, they started to turn around. When the children of Israel came up on the other side out of Egypt, God told Moses to close the waters of the Red Sea, and the waters came down upon Pharaoh and his army.

The next morning, when the children of Israel woke up, they saw the bodies of the Egyptian soldiers lying on the beach. All the army of Egypt had been destroyed by the mighty hand and the outstretched arm of God—something that no man could ever do. Only God could accomplish the things that took place there as He brought His people out of the land of Egypt.

The book of Exodus is the story of redemption. It shows us that there is absolutely nothing that you and I can do in our own strength and power to get ourselves out of the world, to escape the death and slavery of this world. There is no way we can free ourselves; God must do it for us. The power of God to redeem man is essential. Genesis tells us that man is completely inadequate in and of himself, but God comes to redeem. Man is left dead in Egypt, but God comes to bring redemption, to bring man out of slavery, to bring him out of death, and to bring him into new life.

The picture of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea is so important in our lives. When we begin to trust in Christ, it parallels the children of Israel trusting in the sacrifice of the lamb. They took the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorpost of their house. God promised, "When I pass through, I will pass over you if I see this blood." It was completely an act of faith. They had to trust in God's word that this blood would cover their household.

But were they still in Egypt? Yes, they were still there. The Lord passed over them; they weren't destroyed, but they were still in Egypt. They remained in Egypt right up until the point where they stepped out of the Red Sea and into the wilderness. Remember our three-part dissection of the book: the children of Israel in Egypt, the children of Israel...

In the wilderness, the children of Israel were at Mount Sinai. They were not out of Egypt until they crossed the Red Sea. Paul tells us how this Red Sea experience relates to our lives in 1 Corinthians 10. He says the Red Sea was like baptism for the children of Israel. They went down into the water and came up on the other side, similar to how we go down into the water of baptism and are brought up out of the waters.

How is this a picture of baptism? When you are baptized with Christ, you are identifying with His death, burial, and resurrection. Romans chapter 6 tells us that you are confessing that you are dead to the old life. You are leaving it behind, just like the children of Israel left Egypt behind. When you are baptized, when you go down into the water, you are identifying with His death and declaring that you are dead to the old life. You are dead to Egypt and no longer a part of the world. Now, you are completely given to God.

When the children of Israel took that step of faith down into the Red Sea and crossed over on dry ground, they were leaving their old life behind completely. When we are baptized with Christ, we confess to this world and to God Himself that we are leaving our old life behind. We have trusted in His blood for our salvation, but we are leaving the old world behind. We will no longer hold on to those old things, that old sin of Egypt. We are leaving it behind.

Do we have the remembrance of Egypt? Yes, we do. We will see that with the children of Israel more as we go through Exodus and even more so in the book of Numbers. They still remembered Egypt, and it caused a lot of problems for them, but they were no longer in Egypt. You and I, as we have been baptized with Christ, are no longer of this world. We have been consecrated and set apart for God.

But where were the children of Israel after they came up out of the Red Sea? They were in the wilderness. There are many lessons to be learned from the children of Israel in the wilderness. Turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 15. As you are turning there, I want to mention that it wasn't until the children of Israel came through the Red Sea that they began to sing praise. When you have left the things of the world, that is when you will begin to praise God. Exodus chapter 15 is almost entirely filled with their praise to God.

Another thing to consider is that God does not dwell in the midst of or among His people.

Until they were out of Egypt, God could not have them build the tabernacle. He wants us to leave the things of this world so that He can inhabit our lives as He dwelt in the midst of the children of Israel.

Notice this: in Exodus chapter 15, when the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, it says in verse 23 that they came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter. The first thing that Israel experienced after they came out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea was a journey of three days without finding any water. After three days of searching, they saw an oasis on the horizon and went to it, but the waters were bitter. There was something wrong with those waters.

As you read that story in the end of Exodus chapter 15, God shows Moses a tree. When he cast the tree into the waters, the waters became sweet, and the children of Israel could drink them. How does that fit with our lives as well? Listen, you will experience bitterness in your life as a Christian. You are going to go through bitter, difficult times. But what do we need to do when we encounter those bitter, difficult times? We need to bring the tree—the cross—into that situation. The tree is a picture of the cross of Christ. We must bring the cross of Christ into those bitter circumstances and let me tell you, it will change the bitterness to sweetness. Why? Because there at the cross is the remembrance of the new life and the resurrection, and this is not all there is.

The waters became sweet for the children of Israel as they were in Marah. Still, they were in the wilderness. In Exodus chapter 15, verse 27, as they traveled away from Marah, they came to a place called Elam. There were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped by the waters. The children of Israel left Marah and traveled a little further to Elam. When they arrived at Elam, they found trees planted by water. Psalm 1 tells us about the righteous man: he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, who brings forth fruit in his season. Exodus chapter 15, verse 27, speaks of that righteous life that brings forth fruit and provides water.

They encamped in that place of water for a period of time. In fact, they were there for a pretty good period of time. We read in Exodus chapter 16 that the children of Israel are still in the wilderness. They are wandering in the wilderness at this point in time, just like you and I. We have not yet come to the promised land.

As the children of Israel wander in the wilderness, they left Elam, and all the congregation came to the wilderness of Sin. Have you ever been there as you've wandered in the wilderness? There, they didn't have any food, and they began to complain. In Egypt, they said, "We had food. We had bread. We had meat." Now, they were out in the wilderness with nothing to eat. Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord responded. He told the children of Israel that in the evening, they would see the glory of the Lord and have flesh to eat. God provided quail that came into the camp, and they all had quail to eat that night.

The next morning, they woke up to find something on the ground surrounding their tents. These little wafers were everywhere, and they went outside and asked Moses, "What is this?" They called it manna, which means "What is it?" Moses explained that this was bread from heaven. God had given them bread from heaven.

As you wander in this world, God gives us His bread. Remember, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is a picture for us of the Word of God. I truly believe this because God instructed the children of Israel to gather the manna every day in the morning. It says that he who gathered much had none left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. However much they took, it was the perfect amount. They couldn't save it for the next day because if they kept it overnight, it would breed worms and stink. They had to gather every single day in the morning.

They needed to do this in the morning because if they didn't, the sun would come up, and the manna would melt away. In the Scriptures, the sun is often used as a symbol of trials and difficulties. We need to gather and glean the Word of God every morning because trials are coming. We must take the time to be ready for those trials when the heat comes, when the sun rises.

Exodus chapter 16 speaks to us of gathering the Word of God. In Exodus chapter 17, it starts with the children of Israel camping in the wilderness at a place called Rephidim.

But notice what it says at the end of Exodus chapter 17, verse 1. They pitched their tents in Rephidim, and there was no water to drink. Who camps in the desert in a place where there's no water? Water, oftentimes in the Scriptures, especially living water, is a picture of the Holy Spirit. As we wander in this wilderness of life, we must rely upon the Holy Spirit. We can't camp for any period of time in any place without the Spirit, His power, and His living water.

The children of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord gave them water. He told Moses to take his staff and strike the rock of Horeb. This rock would split in two, and the waters would come forth. That's what he did, and water came out for the children of Israel. But immediately, in Exodus chapter 17, verse 8, it says, "Then Amalek came and fought against Israel." Amalek, in Scripture, is a type of the flesh. We will learn more about this as we go through Numbers and also 1 Samuel. Amalek serves as a type and a picture of the flesh in the Bible for us.

The interesting thing we find about this battle is that we will continually have a battle against Amalek. Notice what it says in verse 16 of Exodus chapter 17: "The Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." Who fought with Amalek in Exodus chapter 17? It was Joshua. Joshua is the very same name as Jesus in the Greek. Who fights for us against the flesh? Jesus does.

Where was Moses in the midst of this? It says that he was on the mountaintop, and as he had his hands lifted up, which is a picture of prayer and praise, Amalek was defeated. However, his hands got tired all day long. He was holding his hands up, and every time his hands would fall, Amalek would prevail. When his hands were up, Israel would prevail. His two friends, Aaron, his brother, and Hur, one of his friends, came and held Moses' hands up all day long so that they could beat back Amalek.

The flesh is defeated by Jesus as we seek Him in prayer and praise, and we need the fellowship of other brothers and sisters around us to do so. Fellowship is important in the battle against the flesh. Right after that, Exodus chapter 19 brings us to the last section of the book of Exodus, the section about Israel at Sinai—Israel at the mountain of God. God brings His children.

God brings His people to the mountain and gives them two things there. What are those two things? The first thing He gave to them, as recorded in Exodus chapter 20, was the law. God gave the children of Israel the law at Mount Sinai. But He also gave them the tabernacle. The law and the tabernacle are inseparable in Scripture; they go hand in hand.

God brings His people, the children of Israel, to the mountaintop. They are surrounding the mountain at the bottom. In Exodus chapter 19, God tells Moses to go and tell the children of Israel to clean themselves up and sanctify themselves because tomorrow He is going to meet with them. He essentially says, "I want you to put on your Sunday best because I'm coming to meet with you tomorrow."

The next day, when they woke up, it was as if there was a fire on the mountaintop. The whole mountain was consumed in this glorious fire, and the smoke went up to heaven. God's presence was there, and they heard thunderings and saw lightning shooting forth from the mountaintop. The sound of a trumpet kept blasting; the voice of God was like a trumpet. We see this in other places in Scripture. God told Moses that when he hears the trumpet blast loud and long, he is to come up to the mountain.

God called Moses up to the mountaintop, but before he did, Moses told the children of Israel that God was going to give them His law. He would reveal His character to them through His law because what is seen in the law is God's holy, righteous, and unchangeable character. When you look at the law, you see God's holiness, His righteousness, and His immutability. That's a big word for unchangeability.

The amazing thing about the law, as Paul tells us in Romans chapter 7, verse 12, is that the law is holy, just, and good. Jesus tells us that the law will not pass away; it has not passed away. God has a purpose for His law. He gave His law to the children of Israel, and they said three times in Scripture, here in Exodus chapter 19 and again in Exodus chapter 25, "Everything that God has said we will do and be obedient." That was a big profession, but it wasn't very long before they broke their own word. In fact, only 40 days went by before they failed to keep their promise.

We will be obedient, which is the ambition of every one of our hearts. We would love to be able to do what God has called us to do. From Exodus chapter 20 through Exodus chapter 24, God gives His law. The laws are listed one after another, but the Ten Commandments are given in Exodus chapter 20. God reveals His nature and character, showing how great and glorious He is through His law.

He also gives the children of Israel a command to build a tabernacle because God brought His people out of Egypt so that He could dwell in their midst. God wanted to commune and fellowship with His people. That which man destroyed and distorted back in Genesis chapter 3 is significant. Remember, in Genesis, Adam walked with God in the cool of the day, but Adam sinned, and God could no longer have that fellowship. God could no longer have that communion with Adam because of his sin.

So, God brings His people to Himself out of death in Egypt and makes a way for them to dwell with Him, that He could tabernacle in their midst. First, He gives them the law, and secondly, He gives them the tabernacle. When you read about the tabernacle in Exodus, it begins with the Holy of Holies. God starts by telling His people how they are to construct the Holy of Holies, that small compartment, that small room of the tabernacle where God's presence would dwell.

There, on top of the mercy seat, which was the tabletop of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, with the outstretched wings of the cherubim over it, God's presence would dwell. When God begins His tabernacle to tell His people about this place where He is going to dwell with them, He doesn't start with the outer courts. He doesn't start with all the things that everybody would see. He starts with the inward heart; He starts with the Holy of Holies.

It's the same thing God does in my life and in your life when He comes to us. He begins with the heart. When we come to Him, He doesn't say, "First, you've got to clean up the outward tabernacle and the outer courts and get it all nice before I can come dwell with you." No, God ordains and establishes the Holy of Holies first. He deals with our heart first, just as He prophesied and promised to Jeremiah and Ezekiel that He would give us a new heart, that which nobody else sees—the Holy of Holies. Only one man on one day a year...

Could see the Holy of Holies. No one is going to see your heart before God; it is that Holy of Holies. God always starts with the inward part. He always starts with the heart, as He did with the tabernacle.

God gave the law and the tabernacle, telling them how they were to build it. He showed them exactly what it was going to be like and gave all the plans to Moses about how the tabernacle, the temple, was to be built. Moses was to impart that vision to the skilled workmen mentioned in Exodus, Aholiab and Bezalel. These two men were given the Spirit of wisdom to work with their hands and to build things. Moses was to give them the vision for the tabernacle.

God had His people build this tabernacle, and when you get to the end of Exodus, specifically Exodus chapter 40, remember that Genesis ended with man dead in a coffin in Egypt. Exodus chapter 40 ends with God coming down and filling His tabernacle.

I want you to turn to Exodus chapter 40 and look at this because it is so important. God provided chapter after chapter to the children of Israel on how to build the tabernacle. From chapter 25 through chapter 40, there is instruction on how to build it, along with the actual building of it and the receiving of the offering to construct it.

When we come to Exodus chapter 40, verse 17, we read that this is two years after the children of Israel left Egypt. They have been at Mount Sinai for some ten months, and they have been out of Egypt for two years, putting all this together before Mount Sinai. Now, in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, Moses sets up the temple.

Notice that it says seven times in Exodus chapter 40 that Moses did what the Lord commanded. Look at Exodus chapter 40, verse 19, at the end of it: "And Moses did as the Lord commanded him." A couple of verses later, at the end of verse 21, it states, "He did as the Lord commanded Moses." Then down in verse 23, it says, "He did as the Lord commanded Moses." Again, in verse 25, it mentions, "As the Lord commanded Moses." And then in verse 27...

As the Lord commanded Moses, we see in verse 29 the same instruction reiterated. Again, in verse 32, it states that Moses did as the Lord commanded him. In verse 33, he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and he set up the hanging of the court gate. So, Moses finished the work.

Then notice what happened: a cloud covered the tent of congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. However, if the cloud was not taken up, they did not journey until the day that it was taken up. The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was upon it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

When Moses did what the Lord had commanded him, the glory of the Lord descended and fell upon the tabernacle. Remember when I said that the law will not pass away? Do we have a physical tabernacle or temple today? No, we do not. But the law and the tabernacle, the law and the temple, are inseparable; you cannot separate them in Scripture. This tabernacle was the place where man in the Old Testament met with God. The sacrifices of the tabernacle were the way that man approached God. He was not saved by those sacrifices.

How was Israel saved out of Egypt? By the power and glory of God, right? By His mighty hand and outstretched arm, that is how He brought them out of Egypt. How does God bring us out of the world? By His power, by His mighty and outstretched arm. He has given us His law just as He gave the children of Israel His law. His law has not passed away, but we do not have a physical tabernacle because 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and chapter 6 tell us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit? When we follow the Lord as Moses did here in Exodus, when we do what the Lord has told us to do, what happens to this temple? It is filled with the aroma, with the glory, with the presence of God. Why? Because God desires to not only redeem us out of Egypt.

God wants to dwell with us. He wants to tabernacle among men. That was the whole purpose of why He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt: so that He could restore relationship and fellowship with them once again. God has brought us out of the world so that He could restore fellowship and relationship with us once again.

We're not saved by the keeping of the law. Remember, the children of Israel were saved out of Egypt before they received the law. They were given the law and the tabernacle so that God could dwell in the midst of His people. Next week, we're going to get into the book of Leviticus, and the whole theme of the book of Leviticus is holiness.

Before we get into that, I want you to take special note of how something is made holy, and it's found in Exodus chapter 3. In Exodus chapter 3, remember Moses saw the burning bush, and God called him to Himself. We read in Exodus chapter 3, verse 5, that God said, "Do not draw near to this place. Put the shoes off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." What made that dirt holy? The presence of God made that dirt holy.

What made the children of Israel a holy people unto the Lord? It was that God dwelt in the midst of His people. What makes you today a holy person? Is it the keeping of the law? No, it's God dwelling in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's what makes me holy. That's what makes you holy.

However, they could not have that temple, that tabernacle, until they constructed it. It was given into their hands to construct the temple. The interesting thing about the tabernacle is that as you study and look at each of the different things that were inside of it—the altar of sacrifice, the incense altar, the table of showbread, the lamp, the laver where the priests washed themselves, and the Holy of Holies—all those things point to our relationship with God.

That bronze laver, that bronze bowl, a huge thing filled with water, is a picture of the Word of God for you and me. It is also interesting that the light there in the temple, as the scripture says, is not your word like a lamp unto my feet.

Of showbread, God tells His people, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of My mouth." The sacrifices—there's only one sacrifice that we New Testament believers are called upon to give. In Hebrews chapter 13, it says the sacrifice of praise to God.

The altar of incense represents our prayers, which rise like incense to God. But what was it that made the temple, the tabernacle holy? It was the presence of God in the Holy of Holies.

Yes, God has called us to offer praise. He has called us to be in His Word and to offer up prayers to Him. But what makes you holy, what makes me holy, is the same thing that made the children of Israel holy: His presence. God is the one who redeemed man, and that is what Exodus tells us all about—the redemption plan of a God who loves His people, revealing the character and nature of God.