Hope Alliance Bethlehem

Right on the heels of their miraculous crossing of the sea, the Israelites are grumbling.  Why? They don't trust God because they don't know God. Yet God responds in grace, teaching them the posture of dependence. He is leading them to full life. Ultimately, full life is found in Jesus, the bread of heaven who brings life to the world.

As Pharoah's army approached the people have an identity crisis. But God fights in their silence and reminds them who they truly are. and the follow him into the Red Sea - a place of simultaneous judgment and salvation.  The ultimate place of deliverance and judgment is the cross of Christ where God makes an unexpected way to new creation and new identity. And our only response is worship.

The final plague that God brings on Egypt is stunning. The death of the firstborn throughout the land. A better understanding of Sin, family, and judgment can help us situate this plague contextually. And God provides another option for all who listen - a substitutionary sacrificial meal could mark the family instead. This would be the very meal that Jesus redefined around himself, embodying God's ultimate Passover.
* Our apologies, the very beginning of the talk was cut off.

The story of the plagues God brings on Egypt is well known. But why do they come? Exodus gives us two reasons. First the reality of the hardness of heart. Second, so that the power of God might be on display. Temporary chaos brings creation order out of the ongoing chaos of the world. The people of god belong to him, not to Pharaoh.

The difference between God and Pharaoh is deep and consequential. To put it simply, it is the difference between work and worship.  Which one is our identity? Pharaoh and all the proverbial pharaohs since enslave us, while God offers a freedom that restores us to our original created identity.

Moses has lots of reasons why he shouldn't embrace God's call. But his real issue was that his focus was on himself and the task, not on God and his call. This would not be accomplished by the power of Moses, but by the power of God. And even in his frustration, God shows his persistent graciousness toward Moses (and us) as he wrestles with the call. 

In the famous story of the burning bush, we see a God willing to come down from his mountain in order to initiative a dramatic rescue of his people.  If we look a little closer, we also see the imagery of God working to reverse the curses of the Fall. This would lead to the great Exodus and allow the people to once again dwell with God. Of course, this ultimately points to a far greater exodus, initiated when God came to earth in the person of Jesus. Like Moses, God is calling us to be agents of this exodus.

In the midst of pain and oppression, God begins his rescue with a new kind of ark. This vessel not only preserves Moses, but allows the patient goodness of God to be injected into the very court of Pharaoh and we see the plans of Pharaoh undone. This though is only a microcosm of what is to come. By the middle of the chapter, Moses chooses into his Hebrew identity and by the end of the chapter the people are ready for God's rescue.

In Exodus 1, we find the people of God enslaved and in trouble.  But the author wants us as readers to know that despite their troubling circumstances, God cannot be stopped from fulfilling His promise to multiply and grow them.  And, He will not be stopped from liberating them to worship Him in their own land.

Joseph was not just the earthly father of Jesus. He was an incredible example of humility. His care for Mary, obedience to God, and embrace of Jesus show us what love looks like. Jesus, though, is the ultimate embodiment of humility and love in his journey to the cross for our protection. And he is the rightful king that neither Joseph, nor any of us, could ever be.