The Exodus

This week we’ll continue to walk through the highlights of the Old Testament with the story of the Exodus.

The Exodus is, of course, the paradigmatic event of the Old Testament. The Creation story may be more significant for our doctrine of God, the Fall more descriptive of our situation, but the Exodus is when God shows himself, for the first time at scale, to be the deliverer of his people. 

The amount of theological reflection that emerges from the events and themes of the Exodus is innumerable: especially for the people of God before the arrival of Christ, it is what it means to be a part of God’s household. To follow the One True God is to follow the God who led your forefathers out of Egypt in dramatic and miraculous fashion. To follow this God was to share in this story. As a part of this people, you too passed out of slavery and through the waters of the Red Sea each year at Passover. 

It also formed the basis for hope after the exile of God’s people from the Promised Land. In the prophets (especially Isaiah), and after their return from captivity, the people know that what they need is a new Moses, and a new Exodus if they are to be fully restored to their vocation. 

And this is precisely what Jesus does and how he understands himself (“They spoke about his Exodus,” Luke 9:31).

Scripture to consider:

• Exodus 4-14

  
  

Question for your kids

• I wonder: why do you think Pharaoh was so resistant to letting the Israelites go?

• I wonder: would you have been nervous to leave Egypt? Why or why not? 

• I wonder: is there anything we do in church that sounds like what the Israelites did? (Hint: we “pass through the waters” of baptism!)

Peace,

Danny+