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By this time, the Israelites have been redeemed from their slavery. They have seen the glory of God, hey have heard this expand

By this time, the Israelites have been redeemed from their slavery. They have seen the glory of God, hey have heard this voice. They are not a pagan people. Every morning they wake up, they pick up manna to eat. They can see the cloud and smoke in the mountain, and they couldn't be still and wait 40 days. We can shake our heads at them, but there's something desperately stubborn and wicked with our hearts – often, we worship our own ideas of God. While we won't make a golden calf, we make God according to the definition in our hearts. Idolatry is what we desire: things rather than a relationship with God; independence rather than submission to him. But this is also a story about mercy. If God really wanted to judge, he wouldn't have killed only 3,000. This is more about grace. Those who are for the LORD were given a chance. There are two lessons we can learn from this text... back

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Exodus 19 is one of the most momentous and menacing chapters in all the Bible. For the first time, God comes to meet with expand

Exodus 19 is one of the most momentous and menacing chapters in all the Bible. For the first time, God comes to meet with His people. By God’s power, the people of Israel have arrived at Mt. Sinai. Now He teaches them that He wants to come and dwell with them as His most precious possession. But meeting God is unspeakably dangerous and devastating. He does not fit our view of things – to do so we would have to do away with God’s glorious grace and burning holiness. In God’s rescue He remembers His covenant with Abraham. Now Israel is rescued and redeemed they must keep the covenant as His holy nation so that God’s blessing may be passed on to others. Holiness is a life and death issue. The Israelite’s encounter with God is frightening. God proves us with fear so that we may not sin. But our lives and our world are marked by sin, and because of sin, terror breaks forth as God approaches. God has not changed from the time that he walked in the garden of Eden. It’s the sin in us that separates us from God. We need a mediator far greater than Moses – Jesus Christ. back

Israel's distinction is their deliverance. Up to this point in Exodus, it was about God exerting deliverance. What was expand

Israel's distinction is their deliverance. Up to this point in Exodus, it was about God exerting deliverance. What was Israel expected to do with this deliverance? 1) share the deliverance with other people 2) share the deliverance among themselves. Exodus was a rehearsal for the main show, and the main show is actually Jesus providing deliverance. We the church have received deliverance from Christ. If we are to have any significance to the outside world at all, then God is calling us to rehearse that deliverance to the outside world. What is the strategy? back

This passage reminds us of the danger of forgetting who God is and His grace to us. It’s crucial that we know the expand

This passage reminds us of the danger of forgetting who God is and His grace to us. It’s crucial that we know the grace of God because we are prone to forget. We remember Jesus has died as the perfect sacrifice, and has risen to redeem us. This is the gospel, God transforming us by His power – if we forget it we lose our identity, our hope, and our life. In Exodus, the people of Israel are murmuring because their situation is humanly hopeless, and they begin to forget God. This passage includes three ways that help us remember the goodness of God: prayer, hearing and obeying God’s Word, and remembering the sabbath with rejoicing. back

This is a wonderful song of praise and victory. But whose victory was it, what does it really mean? Moses looks back at expand

This is a wonderful song of praise and victory. But whose victory was it, what does it really mean? Moses looks back at what God has done in triumphing over Egypt. But this was far more than a battle between nations, it was the right arm of God bringing victory. This was an act of salvation and judgement, a victory of the living God over the forces of darkness. It reminds us that we can do nothing to save ourselves, He has won salvation for us by the strength of His right hand, conquering death on the cross and rising again. God is faithful to his people and leads his people with steadfast love. back

In Exodus, God introduced new terms to the language of His people: salvation, redemption, deliverance, and rescue. The salvation expand

In Exodus, God introduced new terms to the language of His people: salvation, redemption, deliverance, and rescue. The salvation and liberation in Exodus point forward to the death and resurrection of Jesus. In His death and resurrection He fulfills the Exodus. How does Jesus’ death deliver us? The book of Exodus gives us two answers: salvation through substitution, and salvation by victory – salvation is a victory of God fighting against our enemies. The victory over the Egyptians shows that freedom from slavery does not happen easily. God is the source of love and peace, but He fights for us because we are so precious to Him, we are so deeply enslaved to sin and so unable to rescue ourselves, that unless He is willing to fight for us we are lost forever. How does he do it? He does it alone. back

The Lord’s passover: This is the great redemptive act of God in the Old Testament and points forward to the great expand

The Lord’s passover: This is the great redemptive act of God in the Old Testament and points forward to the great redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ. This act constituted the people of God more than any other. The passover portrays that the awefulness of divine judgement is fair and appropriate, and that there is only one means of escape for us on the final day of God’s judgement. Only the Lamb’s blood averts judgement, we need to personally trust in the provision of the Lamb of God to take away our sins. The Lamb Himself provides sustenance for the journey and leads us to heaven. Are you trusting in the blood of the Lamb? back

The plagues in Egypt depict a cosmic conflict. From the beginning of creation, the deepest and fundamental purpose of God expand

The plagues in Egypt depict a cosmic conflict. From the beginning of creation, the deepest and fundamental purpose of God is blessing, to draw us into friendship with himself. Exodus is about God saving, redeeming and delivering his people. But salvation (His fundamental purpose of bringing about His own glory by saving us) takes place through judgement. Everything that gets in the way of His purpose receives His judgement, and Pharaoh gets in the way. Pharaoh lives so that God can show His power and His name will be declared throughout the earth. The plagues show that this is a cosmic conflict between God and every power that enslaves us. The plagues show that God’s purpose is a missionary purpose, because in the process of saving Israel he may save Egypt – God holds back judgement (provides a time of grace) to give opportunity for repentance. The plagues are a rehearsal for the final day of judgement when all evil will be overturned and God will judge the world in righteousness. back

This passage reveals to us that God is the one who rules over every power on earth, that our present and future are in His expand

This passage reveals to us that God is the one who rules over every power on earth, that our present and future are in His hands, that we are led and governed in everything by His power. But the world’s opinion is that God doesn’t rule. His rule is hidden to those that don’t have faith in Him. Pharoah doesn’t heed the Lord, but God in Exodus displays His power so that it will be unmistakable that God is the ruler, God is the divine King. In this passage there are three ways God shows his rule: the lips of Moses, the heart of pharoah, and the hand of God. back

Exodus is an illustrated guide to the gospel in the Old Testament. It shows us that salvation is not an academic concept expand

Exodus is an illustrated guide to the gospel in the Old Testament. It shows us that salvation is not an academic concept. Like Israel, God takes those who are enslaved and rescues us so that we may worship Him, serve Him, and see Him face to face. But salvation (son-ship) is not just liberation from bondage, it is also adoption. God is not just the God of salvation, He is our heavenly Father. Through faith we become sons of God – God puts himself forward as the model for our families. God is also the father of failures: when difficulty arises some of us will fall away, our faith will be tested, because God can only teach us certain lessons when we are humbled by failure. God makes a promise – He wants to be our God and us to be His people. And worship is the realization of how deeply we are loved by Him. back