Slaves in Egypt (Exodus): This is the beginning of our series on the book of Exodus, called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the Christian life. Is God faithful to save? Recorded on Sep 22, 2024, on Exodus 1:1-22 by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

Well, today, we get to start a brand new sermon series on the book of Exodus in the OT called Journey to Freedom, which will run through March. But I’ve been working for months to prepare for this series, and I can’t wait to share this story with you. Exodus is an ancient story, something like 3,400 years old, and, as we’ll see, it’s a wild story. But really, Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah (i.e., the Promised Land). Along the way are heroes and villains, cosmic battles between good and evil, folly and sin, and incredible grace, mercy, and love. It’s a story expertly told. But one of the things I want you to see throughout this whole series is that Exodus is a wonderful picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and are led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. This is our Exodus; this is our journey to freedom. Do you think there might be some valuable lessons we might learn about our journey from this first Exodus? Absolutely. But today, as we start this series, we’ll see what life had become for the Israelite people suffering in Egypt. And we’ll see a clear need for God to act/intervene/send a savior. The question is: Would the Lord be faithful to keep the promises he made? Is God faithful to save? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 1:1.

Exodus 1:1-7 (NIV), “1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. 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.” Exodus is the second book in the Bible and is the second of a five-part series known by two terms: the Pentateuch, which means five books in Greek, and the Torah, which means the Law in Hebrew. These five books, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, were written by Moses, the mighty prophet and leader of the Israelites during the time of the Exodus. Now, to say that these writings have been influential is a ridiculous understatement. No one, after Jesus Christ himself, has had a more significant impact on human history than Moses and his five books. Over half the world’s population considers his writing to be Holy Scripture. Exodus begins by picking up where the book of Genesis left off. Genesis begins with a collection of stories of creation. The creation of the heavens and the earth,