We Hold These Truths: Connecting Our Story To The Story Of Exodus In The Story Of Jesus
Song:
Christ the Lord is Risen Today (vs 2)
Call to worship:
Jude 5
Historical Reading:
Nicene Creed
Song:
In Christ Alone
Confession & Pardon
Song:
Doxology
Song:
Lord Have Mercy
Sermon:
Exodus 1.1-22 - Dr. Alex Loginow
We Hold These Truths: Connecting Our Story To The Story Of Exodus In The Story Of Jesus
Introduction
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
So begins the body of America’s founding document: the Declaration of Independence. For those of us who grew up in America, the legend of the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States are ingrained in our identity. Regardless of your schooling, it’s more than likely that you learned American history. Patriarchs like George Washington; Benjamin Franklin, and Paul Revere, sacred sites like Philadelphia and Boston, events like the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill are seared into our collective identity.
We are taught that this story is our story. We have our own national liturgy. We observe days like Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. We stand up, put our hand on our heart to sing the national anthem or pledge allegiance to the flag. We have monuments in our capitol that serve as a type of Ebenezer. If you’re an American, you are taught that, to some degree, this story is your story too.
In the same way the Exodus event is the founding of the nation of Israel. It is their declaration of independence from Egypt and the rest of the nations. This epic story is, in many ways, the cataclysmic event of the Old Testament. Not only does it recount the history of the founding of the nation Israel, but it is also the prototype of the salvation that will come to the nations in Jesus Christ. Because that’s true the Exodus is not merely the foundation of Israel’s story but it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the true Israel. Since Christians are in Christ, the story of Jesus then becomes our story. There is a sense in which the Exodus is our story too. As we move through the story of the Exodus we will see how Israel’s story is connected to our story through the story of Jesus Christ.
The Story of Israel
Episode 2 of season 4 of King of the Hill is called “Hilloween.” In the episode Hank Hill is in charge of the haunted house at his son Bobby’s school. The problem is that there is a new member at their church named Junie Harper who thinks that Halloween is devil worship and works to shut it down. In protest Hank and Bobby egg Junie’s house and she follows them home to confront them. Junie, who quotes and misquotes Scripture throughout the episode declares, “The complacency of fools will destroy them – Proverbs.” Hank retorts, “Get out of my house – Exodus!”
Hank is not wrong. The title Exodus comes from the Greek word ἐξόδου, which means, “to go out.” ἐξόδου is used in the LXX in Exodus 19.1: On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. The Hebrew title of the book is וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙, which translates to what we read in Exodus 1.1: These are the names.
I actually have qualms with the way that all of the English translations that I read translate Exodus 1.1. Our English teachers told us that we can’t begin a sentence with the word and but Moses isn’t concerned about proper English grammar. The first word of Exodus in Hebrew is “and.” It’s the Hebrew vav. So it actually reads, and these are the names. Moses is intentionally connecting Exodus to what precedes in Genesis.
The book of Exodus continues the story began in Genesis and assumes that we are familiar with Genesis. The book of Genesis ends with the account of the rise of Joseph, the great grandson of Abraham. His brothers sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. Through God’s providence Joseph rose to second in command only answering to Pharaoh.
At that time a famine plagued the ancient Near East, but God had prepared Joseph for it in a dream. Joseph led the people of Egypt to store up food so that they could eat during the famine and sell food to surrounding nations. Joseph’s brothers, the sons of Jacob and grandsons of Abraham, come to Joseph for food and through a series of events their relationship was restored. Abraham’s family then settles in Egypt as the book of Genesis comes to a close.
The Blessing of God
The book of Exodus picks up right where Genesis leaves off. Verses 1-7 of Exodus 1 reveal that Jacob’s family, seventy in total lived in Egypt. And the first thing we notice is that the promises of God are unfolding. In Genesis 1 God gave Adam the cultural mandate:
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen 1.28).
This command is recapitulated in the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9.1:
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”
The promise is further developed in YHWH’s covenant with Abraham. Abraham’s covenant is spelled out in Genesis 15 and 17 but we see God’s initiation with Abraham in Genesis 12.1-3:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
With each covenant we see the promises of God developed further and in Exodus 1 the flowers of fulfillment are beginning to bud. Look again at Exodus 1.7: But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. Notice here that the blessing of God is babies. God blesses Israel by giving them crying, nursing, needing-their-diapers-changed babies. The world tells us that babies are not a blessing. That’s what Pharaoh believed. He believes that these Hebrew babies are a curse. But God tells us that babies are a blessing. Abraham’s family has grown from Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, to seventy people at the end of Genesis, to a group the size of a nation at the beginning of Exodus.
The Oppression of Pharaoh
Exodus 1 also reminds us that God’s promises are being kept in a broken world. By this point there is a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. This Pharaoh is scared that if a foreign army ever invades Egypt and the Hebrews pull a Benedict Arnold, Egypt would be overthrown. So this Pharaoh enslaves the Hebrews to keep them under his control. Not only does Pharaoh enslave the Hebrews but he also orders the mass murder of their baby boys. The baby girls are permitted to live because they can be used but the boys must die so that they don’t take up arms against the Egyptians.
The ESV translates verse 16 correctly. Some translations say boys and girls but the ESV rightly translates it sons and daughters. These are not merely clumps of cells. They are not even merely boys and girls. These are sons and daughters. They are someone’s sons and daughters.
But God’s grace reigns even in the midst of oppression and death. Don’t you love the Hebrew midwives in this story? Like those who helped slaves escape in the Underground Railroad, or others who hid Jewish refugees from the Nazis, these Hebrew midwives defy their evil government by saving these baby boys. Notice also that Scripture gives us the names of these two Hebrew midwives: Shiphrah and Puah. The text never gives us Pharaoh’s name.
Pharaoh, who would’ve been viewed as a god in that culture remains nameless. We have no idea who this Pharaoh is. Historians guess, but no one knows for sure. But we know Shiphrah and Puah. These seemingly insignificant women caring for babies are remembered forever and we don’t know this Pharaoh’s name.
Eventually this anonymous Pharaoh notices that baby boys continue to be born and he interrogates the midwives. I love their response: “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” When each of our children was born, none of them were short labors. With one of them in particular we got to the hospital thinking we would go right into labor and delivery and they told Bethany she had to walk around for a little while. The Hebrew midwives say that the Hebrew women are not like that. The midwives tell Pharaoh, “They are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
Sometimes people will ask, “is it sinful that the midwives lied to Pharaoh?” The answer is no. The text tells us in verse 20 so God dealt well with the Hebrew midwives. The word “so” indicates result. As a result of the Hebrew midwives lying to Pharaoh, God dealt well with them. It glorified God that they protected these babies from the evil government. Scripture commands us to obey the government unless the government is compelling us to sin against God. If the government is compelling us to sin against God it is our responsibility as Christians to disobey the government. We are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of Christ and that is where our ultimate allegiance lies.
The Story of Jesus
And this applied to the enslaved Hebrews as well because they were looking forward to the Kingdom of Christ. As the book of Exodus opens the chief question is this: will YHWH keep his promises? He promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3.15). He promised that all of the families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s family (Gen 12.1-3). And now the family has grown but they are enslaved and Pharaoh is systematically trying to slaughter a generation of baby boys. Will God keep his promise?
The New Testament reveals to us that in Jesus Christ the answer is yes. Second Corinthians 1.20 tells us that all of the promises of God find their yes in [Jesus Christ]. Jesus Christ is the promised seed of the woman who crushed the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ is the true son of Abraham who brings blessing to all of the families of the earth (Matt 1.1; Gal 3.16).
Not only that but we read from Jude 5 in our call to worship that reveals to us that Jesus Christ himself led Israel out of slavery in Egypt. During his ministry Jesus identified himself with YHWH. He said before Abraham was, I AM (John 8.58). We will see that when YHWH reveals himself to Moses he refers to himself as I AM (Exod 3.14). Jesus is YHWH of old who led his people out of Egypt.
Everything that’s about to unfold in the story of the Exodus is preparing us for the great and final Exodus that Jesus has come to lead. In Luke 9 we read about the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain. Luke tells us that Jesus, Moses, and Elijah spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9.31). The word departure in Greek is the word ἔξοδον. It’s the same word from Exodus 19.1. It’s where we get the title Exodus. Christ was speaking with Moses and Elijah about the exodus he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Through his life, death, and resurrection Jesus Christ came to lead us out of the slavery of sin and death and into the promised land of eternal life. Moving foreword we will observe all of the different types and shadows that point us foreword to Christ. People like Moses and events like the Passover were providential types that were preparing the people of God for his only begotten son. If you’re not a Christian Scripture says that you’re enslaved to the world, the flesh, and the devil (Eph 2.1-3). But you can experience this spiritual exodus if you will repent and believe the good news of Jesus. If you will acknowledge that you have sinned against your holy creator and you will trust in the person and work of Christ on your behalf you will be redeemed. This is how the story of Israel connects to your story – through the story of Jesus.
Our Story
For those who do believe, for the church, the people of God, we understand that the story of God’s people in the Old Testament is our story too. Jesus is true Israel and so everyone who is found in him constitutes the new Israel. Galatians 6.16 calls the church the Israel of God. Peter calls the church a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2.9). This language is used of Israel in the book of Exodus and is applied to the church in the New Testament.
James opens his epistle writing to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. Some have argued that James is writing predominantly or exclusively to ethnic Jews. I don’t think that’s the case. He’s writing to the church and applying the language of Israel to us. The church is the people of God.
God Inspired the Exodus Account For Us
Because of this reality there are a few points of application for us from Exodus 1. The first is that this text was written for us. In 1st Corinthian 10 Paul is talking about the events of Exodus and in verse 11 he writes, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. As we begin our study through Exodus we must keep in mind that the divine author – the Holy Spirit – inspired Moses to write these events down, at least in part, to instruct the church of the Lord Jesus Christ for the last 2,000 years. That includes Christ Community Church in 2022. This text is ultimately pointing us to the true and final exodus led by Jesus. You can experience redemption from your sin. Repent and believe in Christ alone.
God Keeps His Promises
A second point of application is that God keeps his promises. He may not always keep his promises in the manner or timetable that we expect or want but he does keep his promises. And the truth is he is God and we are not. If we knew everything God does and we weren’t stained by sin, we would know that the way in which God keeps his promises is the best possible way. God made promises to Adam, Noah, and Abraham, and Exodus 1 reveals to us that God is keeping his promise.
This is the pillow that you can rest your head upon to sleep soundly every night. Jesus said I am with you always to the end of the age (Matt 28.20). God keeps his promises. Jesus said I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt 16.18). God keeps his promises.
Scripture says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10.13). God keeps his promises. Romans 8.11 says If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. God keeps his promises. Jesus said Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt 11.28-29). God keeps his promises.
God is the God of Life
One last point of application we see is that God is a God of life. God dealt well with the Hebrew midwives because they fought against the systematic abortion of these Hebrew baby boys. Pastor Kevin and I both very intentionally seek to protect the pulpit of Christ Community Church from becoming wrongfully political. Partisan politics have no place in Christ’s pulpit.
That being said issues of life like abortion are not merely political, they are ethical. It’s not just politics; it’s morality. God is the giver of life and he alone has the authority to take life. Regardless of whether you’re an elephant or a donkey or neither, you must be against murder. In Exodus 20 the 6th commandment tells us you shall not murder.
I will never stand in this pulpit and tell you who to vote for. Ever. But as one of your pastors I will encourage you from God’s Word, if you find yourself in a position that is antithetical to a culture of life, whether it’s abortion, or population control, or any other number of issues, if you find yourself standing against life, please reconsider. Death is the last enemy and Jesus has come to defeat death. He is the resurrection and the life (John 14.6).
Conclusion
Have you noticed that God is strangely absent from this pericope? He’s not completely absent. He’s mentioned a little. But the name of God is sparse in this chapter. Exodus 2.23-25 reveals what God is thinking during this time of suffering:
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew (Exod 2.23-25).
God heard the cries of the oppressed, God remembered, and God knew. Two miles south of here on Van Dyke at Planned Parenthood there are sons and daughters who will never be known by any name other than “medical waste.” But God knows. These truths may not be self-evident to everyone but I pray that you have ears to hear this morning.