This is a recording of my message on Exodus for our Old Testament Survey series to the ABF Junior High Group.
Below is my outline for those who would like to follow along.
INTRO:
Toy story
Woody escapes first
Then goes back and rescues Buzz
It’s this elaborate plan but Buzz doesn’t come.
So Woody goes back and takes down Pharoah - I mean sid.
But then once they have escaped they have a mission
They have to get to the moving truck
First rescue then mission
HUB:
RESCUE / COMMISSION
Rescue comes first and then law. Not vice versa.
Review: Last week we began this survey of the Hebrew scriptures. We started in the book of Beginnings: Genesis.
Creation: We encountered a good and powerful God who created all of the universe and humanity to partner with him in continuing to create and rule.
Corruption: But the humans rejected the offer and failed to partner with him.
Redemption: But God didn’t give up so he focused on one family and he’s gonna let his blessing explode out from them. And at the end of Genesis that family has come down to Egypt during a famine.
Tonight we continue the story in the book of? Exodus.
SPOKE: Rescue / Commission Moses (Exo 1-4)
Explanation/Exhortation/Exaltation:
Exodus 1:1-14
Verse 7 - fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, filled. What do these words remind you of? Echoing what? Genesis 1:28
Come let us - echoes the tower of babel.
Shrewdly - echoes snake
Exodus 1:22-2:10
Can you think of another baby boy born where the king wants to kill the baby boys??
Who’s gonna rescue this baby boy? God does. Clearly these women have a key role but God is orchestrating and giving favor behind the scenes. We often think God only works in obvious miraculous ways. And man he does in exodus but an implication of his partnership with humanity is when we see something and say “God why don’t you do something” he is saying back, “I am doing something, I put you here. What are you gonna do about it?”
God rescues Moses. He does it again in the following verses because Moses goes and pisses off pharoah. And now with this rescued man what is God gonna do.
Exodus 2:23-3:10
Moses’s identity.
In God identifying himself, he identifies Moses
Illustration: This makes me think of the moment in star wars when Luke says to Darthvader - you killed my father. Luke thinks he is an orphan. But vader responds
He rescued him first and then he is going to send him to Pharoah
God always rescues first and then commissions.
He did not come to moses as a kid or as an adult when he was running from Pharoah and say “if you do this” then i will rescue you. He rescues out of pure grace and then partners with a mission. And the mission isn’t this terrible thing it is still for their good.
So God rescues Moses from Pharoah through the waters of reeds, with Miriam taking her stand and then brings him to a mountain where he appears to him personally in a flame and smoke and commissions him with 10 speeches (plagues).
And what happens next is so cool and totally classic for how the biblical authors write and develop a theme for us to notice. They are gonna replay and mirror all of those moments with the whole people of Israel now.
Let’s see what happens next.
QUESTIONS?
SPOKE: Rescue / Commission Israel (Exo 5-40)
Explanation/Exhortation/Exaltation:
Exodus 5:1-2
In escalating plagues Pharoah’s harden’s heart 5 times and then God accelerates the process
Passover
Exodus 12:12-13 - Jesus
So after the 10th plague Pharaoh finally let’s them go. They plunder the Egyptians
They leave in the night, get to the Reed Sea (not Red), flame of fire/pillar of cloud
14-15 They are led through the sea - remember who else was saved by God through the water from Pharoah??
Miriam takes her stand again this time to sing a song
16-19 Then they are led to Mt Sinai where they meet God who descends on the mountain in fire and smoke
Then there is another 10 verbal decrees (we call theme 10 commandments but they are never called that in scripture - the 10 words)
But again notice where these 10 words show up. It is not back in egypt to the enslaved Israelites that God appears and says “here are my rules, obey them for a set amount of time and then I will set you free. He rescues first and then gives clarity on what relationship looks like for their good.
My mom rescued me from drowning when I was a kid. And sometime after that i started getting chores at home. It would have been ridiculous for me to say “mom you just saved me to do chores”. Rather chores are just my participation in our families functioning.
Exodus 18:10-11
Mose’s father in law Jethro confirms this structure of the book
Exodus 19:4-6
Just like when God identified himself to Moses and in doing so identified Moses
Here God is identifying himself and in relation the Israelites
It is at this point in the book of exodus that many people tune out
They think the exciting stuff is over and the laws are boring
But the apostle peter disagrees
1 Peter 2:9-10 someone read it for us?
Peter quotes these exact phrases about the church? That’s us.
He’s cluing us in that these chapters are for us to. They are wisdom for us
QUESTIONS?
SPOKE: Covenant Commission (BibleProject)
Ok so now that we have overveiwed the whole thing we are gonna watch the video to wrap things up. They are gonna propose a different breakdown of the outline so pay attention to what it emphasizes.
Watch: Book of Exodus Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 2)
Conclusion:
First God rescues moses and then he commissions him and shows him what’s wrong and invites him to participate in making it right
Then with this new partner, he goes and rescues all of israel and shows them what’s wrong with their hearts and relationship to him and invites them into a new way of living.
Rescue and commission
That’s God’s gameplan and guess what Jesus does this with us
He came and died, rose and ascended to save us and then commissions his followers to go and bring the kingdom for the good of the world.
We will get more into that when we get to the new testament but talk about that in small groups
Lets pray!
Small group Questions:
High and Low of the Week?
What stuck out from the message? (Respond to, Affirm, and Develop Observations)
What stuck out to you from the video? (Respond to, Affirm, and Develop Observations)
Based on our overview of Genesis last week & convo in 1 John sunday what are the things we need rescue from?
What is the mission Jesus calls his followers to? (Matt 28, Acts 2:42, John 15)
What do you think points to Jesus in Exodus?
Prayer Requests?
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