Exodus

The story of Exodus is referenced 133 times in the Old Testament.

Rescued

Out of => through => into

The end of Genesis

Abraham has
Isaac has
Jacob (Israel) has
12 sons
Joseph is the favorite son
He finds himself helping lead Egypt

Genesis 50:20 NIV
[20] You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.50.20.NIV

70 people in Egypt!

Exodus 1:6-7 NIV
[6] Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, [7] but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.1.6-7.NIV

The Israelites are growing, but then there is a new snake in town...

Exodus 1:8-13 NIV
[8] Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. [9] “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. [10] Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” [11] So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. [12] But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites [13] and worked them ruthlessly.
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.1.8-13.NIV

Pharaoh gives an instruction to throw every baby boy into the river.

The Israelites being in slavery is part of the original promise to Abraham. They will be in slavery for 400 years.

Exodus 3:7-10 NIV
[7] The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. [8] So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. [9] And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. [10] So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.3.7-10.NIV

Act 2: From plagues to passover

Exodus 9:1 NIV
[1] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.9.1.NIV

Moses unwillingly obeys God and confronts pharaoh.

God sends 12 plagues and gives pharaoh the chance to repent. On the 10th plague, the angel of death is sent and Passover is provided as a way to spare the first one son of a family.

Exodus 14:10-12 NIV
[10] As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. [11] They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? [12] Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.14.10-12.NIV

We are so similar to the Israelites. As soon as we see trouble, we are ready to drop God and return to our own ways.

God doesn't give us tools and practical tips, he goes before us, separates the water, and invites us to follow him.

On the other side of the water, the Israelites break out into song worship:

Exodus 15:1-2 NIV
[1] Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. [2] “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.15.1-2.NIV

God might be saving us a different way than showing up splitting the waters.

The Israelites are complaining by day 3.

Act 4: Marriage on a mountain

Exodus 19:3-8 NIV
[3] Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: [4] ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. [5] Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, [6] you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” [7] So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. [8] The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.19.3-8.NIV

In Exodus there are two liberations.

1. God liberating Israel from Egypt
2. God liberating Egypt from Israel. Meaning, the Israelites only knew how to live like Egyptians. He gives them a new way to live.

God saved Israel before their obedience and before giving them the law.

Exodus 32:1 NIV
[1] When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.32.1.NIV

Instead of waiting on God, we often turn to something we think will give us what we want.

The cross is our exodus story.

The Israelites find all sorts of golden calves instead of God, and we do the same. Politics, tech, etc.

Everything we do revolved around the cross. It forms around our understand of pain. It influences how we interact with others.

Our ultimate hope is that Jesus will make all things new. Create a new city.

Questions

Do you believe that God is a rescuer? Do you truly believe that God is a God who saves.

Is God saving you from something. Is God saving you through something? Using it to form you?