“Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.’”
(Exodus 6:6)

Exodus begins where Genesis left off. Seventy descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living as aliens in Egypt under the protection of Pharaoh who favored Joseph (Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5). But soon after recounting the unprecedented growth of just a handful to a nation within a nation, Moses (Mark 7:10) explains the necessity of the Exodus with the foreboding words, “Then a new kind, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt” (Exodus 1:8). The account is selective according to Moses’ purpose to encourage the Israelites assembled on the Plains of Moab (Exodus 16:35) by celebrating God’ s great and gracious deliverance of His people from Egyptian slavery to the freedom of living in covenant relationship and intimacy with Him.

The events Moses records in Exodus cover a period of about 400 years from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness. The chapters naturally divide into two sections. The first section (1-18) documents the dreadful plight of Israel in Egypt and their dramatic deliverance from slavery. The second section (19-40) deals with God preparing His people to worship Him intimately.

Most of the book (chapters 3-40) focuses on only two of those 400 years—the year before and the year after the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus is obviously the central event of the second book of the Pentateuch. Exodus is the most cited book in the rest of the Old Testament, and only the books of Psalms and Isaiah are referred to more than Exodus in the New Testament.

The two-fold theme of Exodus is redemption and relationship:

Redemption means liberation because of a payment made. The Passover is the greatest picture of redemption in the Old Testament. The story of the birth of Israel illustrates the three basic ideas of biblical redemption. (1) People are redeemed from something—slavery in Egypt. (2) People are redeemed by something—the blood of the Passover lamb. (3) People are redeemed to something—freedom to serve God through the obedience that comes from continued trust.

Relationship with God carries the glorious opportunity to dwell with Him intimately. The God of Israel clearly states what this intimate relationship with Him involves. As they learn to trust and obey Him, He will dwell among them and they will be His people:

Exodus dramatically contrasts God’s gracious choice to bless Israel with deliverance, adoption, and His abiding presence with Israel’s consistent ingratitude and rebellion.

I. REDEMPTION FROM EGYPT: God fulfills His promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:12-16) by delivering His people from slavery (1-18; key verse, 6:6).

A. CALL OF MOSES: In response to His people’s need, God chooses Moses to lead His people and patiently prepares His servant for the task, teaching him the futility of self-confidence and the necessity for faith (1-4).

B. CHALLENGE OF MOSES: In response to Pharaoh’s refusal to “let my people go” God demonstrates His sovereignty through Moses and the ten plagues culminating in the Passover (5-12).

Messiah: A type of Christ—the Lord’s Passover (Exodus 12:11). This is a wonderful illustration of the redemption Christ accomplished at Calvary (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). New Testament writers see this

in the details—the offering without blemish (Exodus 12:5; 1 Peter 1:19), the lamb had to die (Exodus 12:6; John 12:24, 27), and the blood had to be applied (Exodus 12:7; Hebrews 9:22).

C. CROSSING TO SINAI: In response to the faith of the people at the Passover, God redeems Israel and miraculously guides them to safety through the Red Sea and protects and sustains them through their journeys (13-18).

Note: As Dr. Ron Allen noted, Exodus 14:30-31 shows that Israel was a saved/redeemed people before they received the Mosaic Covenant. The LXX translates the Hebrew with the Greek word for believe or trust, pisteo. So the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Messiah: A type of Christ—the Exodus. Paul relates Christ to the Red Sea crossing because baptism symbolizes death to the old and identification with the new (Romans 6:2-3; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2) and Christ as the spiritual Rock that sustained them (1 Corinthians 10:4).

II. RELATING TO GOD: The people make a covenant with God—if they learn to trust and obey Him He will dwell among them in the Promised Land (19-40; key verses 19:5-6).

1. REVEALING THE COVENANT: Detailed instructions on how to be God’s people, how to worship Him and walk with Him (19-31). The Mosaic Covenant: Unlike the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-21) which promised land, seed and blessing, the Mosaic Covenant offering the Exodus generation the opportunity to be God’s special treasure was conditional and fulfillment depended on the faithfulness of the people (Exodus 19:5).

2. RESPONDING TO THE COVENANT: The people learn to trust and obey—first through failure when they break the covenant and God disciplines them, then through success when they repent and God blesses them and dwells among them (32-40).

Messiah: A type of Christ—the Tabernacle (Exodus 24-27). The tabernacle clearly speaks of Christ and the way of redemption.

Exodus ends with the word “journeys” telling the reader that there is more to come from the pen of Moses.

II. Exodus is a book of redemption and freedom. The New Testament uses the Exodus to illustrate the Christian’s redemption from the slavery of sin to the freedom to serve Christ in love (Ephesians 1:7).

1. The Passover Principle: Trusting in the blood of the Lamb will liberate you from sin! John the Baptizer announced Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus Himself said this about His mission from the Father to liberate those who believed in Him, “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

   Have you been redeemed from the slavery of sin? That is, have you, as it were, placed the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost of your heart? If not, why not trust in Christ today as your “Passover Lamb” and He will give you eternal life.

2. The Covenant Principle: If the redeemed nation Israel would be true to the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19), God would dwell with them intimately. They would maximize their freedom by experiencing a worshipful life, if they would obey Him. In the same way, the Lord Jesus promises an intimate experience of a worshipful life to those who will trust Him enough to obey: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slave, because a slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father” (John 15:14-15).

   Are you experiencing the maximum potential of your freedom in Christ—friendship with the Son of God? If not, why not tell Him you want to walk with Him...starting right now?