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ROUTE 66

3. Destination: Exodus 1-18

Tonight is the third leg of our road trip through the 66 books of the Bible.

We wrapped up our two-part study of Genesis looking at one of the most

stellar characters in all of Scripture, Joseph, the son of Jacob. We learned

that Joseph is the link between Genesis and Exodus.

Tonight our destination is the book of Exodus and we hope to cover the

first 18 chapters of the Exodus. Exodus is the 2nd

volume of the 5 volumes

penned by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Collectively the first five books of the Bible are called the “Pentateuch.”

Though Exodus it is a CONTINUATION of Genesis, there is a different

EMPHASIS

The Emphasis was on Creation – Beginnings. The creation of the

heavens and the earth, the creation of man, the creation of a nation

through a man named Abraham — through whom the promised Savior of

the world would come.

The Emphasis is on Redemption. The book was first called Exodus when

the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek language (That

translation of the Old Testament Scriptures is given the name “Septuagint”

— because it was translated into Greek by 70 scholars). The title of the

book, EXODUS, literally means Outgoing.

Exodus is the story of God redeeming His people from bondage and death

in Egypt under Pharaoh, to the Promised Land (it’s called the “promised

land” because it was the land promised to Abraham).

Exodus is massive in regard to our understanding the nation of Israel.

Let’s lay out the major concepts in the book of Exodus.

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In the Scriptures, Egypt is a TYPE or a PICTURE of "the world” — i.e, the

collection of men and women organizing themselves without God and

against God. Pharaoh is the a type or a picture of the person the Bible calls

“the god (little “g”) of this world. The Bondage, hard labor and death in

Egypt under Pharaoh are a TYPE or PICTURE of the bondage, hard labor

and death under the power of Sin and Satan.

In Exodus — in a very real moment in history — the Israelites are set free

from their Bondage to Pharaoh by the power of God, which culminated in

the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb.

THUS Exodus is a picture of our redemption from the power and penalty

of sin by the power of God and the blood of JESUS.

1Peter 1:18-19 18

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways

inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver

or gold, 19

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without

blemish or spot.

Again — In this great book an entire race of people are suddenly and

permanently delivered from the shackles of slavery in Egypt. Suddenly,

literally overnight, they go from slavery to freedom, never to go back to

Egypt as a nation. What a great type or picture of the work of salvation and

how sudden it is! It has been well said that, “The salvation of a soul is the

miracle of a moment.” One moment you are lost and the next you’re found.

One moment you are a child of wrath and the next you are a child of God.

One moment you are a slave to sin and Satan and the next you are the

Lord's free man

What a great type or picture of the work of salvation and how permanent it

is. Israel is delivered by the strong arm of God NEVER again to return to

their former place of slavery, and that pictures the surety of our salvation -

IT IS FINISHED!!

1Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a

living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to

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an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in

heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith

for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We not only see the Israelites delivered FROM something - they are also

delivered TO something. They were delivered FROM Egypt for the purpose

of living in the land of promise!

Here we have another great type or picture of the work of salvation. God

not only saved us FROM sin and it’s penalty, He saved us to something –

life in Christ

Romans 6:23 23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God bringing us out of one kingdom into another.

Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and

transferred us (KJV = translated us) to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We are delivered from the kingdom ruled by the god of this world, a

kingdom characterized by of death and darkness. We are deliver into the

Kingdom of His beloved Son — a Kingdom characterized by life and light

under the government of Jesus! In that Kingdom we experience the Holy

Spirit working through the Word of God conforming us to the King of the

Kingdom.

The title - The Outgoing - accurately describes the main subject of the

book. But there are 2 other subjects that flow directly from the outgoing: 1.

The Law, 2 The Tabernacle

In light of this, we can see the Book of Exodus divided into 3 sections

1.) The Exodus (Outgoing) 1-18

2.) The Law....................... 19-24

3.) The Tabernacle............ 25-40

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Within this three-fold division of the Exodus we are given some very Hi-

Definition pictures.

1.) A clear picture of God

The Exodus We see the POWER of God

The Law We see the HOLINESS of God

The Tabernacle We see the WISDOM of God

2.) A clear picture of Israel — and thus a TYPE of our relationship with

God

The Exodus Israel brought OUT of bondage

The Law Israel brought UNDER the govt. of God

The Tabernacle Israel bought INTO a life of worship and fellowship

w/God

It has been 350 years since Genesis ended — 350 years after the death of

Joseph. That is plenty long enough for any nation to forget its roots, its

history. That’s happened (not happening — but happened) in our nation.

Today our country is systematically re-writing history; writing God out of our

national history. The same thing can happen with individuals; it can happen

with local churches and it can happen to movements within church history.

Exodus 1

verse 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt

with Jacob, each with his household:

The first word in Exodus is the Hebrew word and — "and these are the

names." And moves a story forward. So at the very front of the book we

see that Exodus is not a new story — it’s the continuation of an old story.

It's the continuation of the work of God through the descendants of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). In fact, the Hebrew title for the this

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second book of the Pentateuch is not Exodus. The title in Hebrew simply

means: these are the names.

So God has begun a work: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and the 12

sons (or tribes) of Israel. The infant nation of Israel is in Egypt because one

of Israel’s sons, Joseph, was placed by God in Egypt to prevent the

descendants of Abraham from perishing during a famine.

Within Egypt there has been a population explosion of a minority group.

7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they

multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled

with them.

They came into Egypt as 70 people, the family of Jacob. By the time of the

outgoing (400 years later) those 70 souls become two million. So we see

one of the purposes of God in bringing Jacob's family into Egypt: Egypt It

served as an INCUBATOR

verses 8-11 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not

know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of

Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10

Come, let us deal

shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they

join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11

Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy

burdens.

The Egyptians were in dread of the Children of Israel. Pharaoh issued a

decree that if any Hebrews gave birth to a boy, the child was to be killed it.

The Bible tells us that the Hebrew midwives feared God and refused to do

that.

20So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and

grew very strong. 21

And because the midwives feared God, he gave

them families. 22

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son

that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall

let every daughter live.”

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TWO BIG THINGS HERE — 1.

This is the maniacal and diabolical influence

of Satan prophesied of in Genesis 3 — there will be enmity between the

seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The god of this world was

at work through pagan Egyptian culture in an attempt to perpetrate

genocide to eliminate the blood line of the Messiah. 2.

Pharaoh was

declaring a war on the worship of the God of Israel. Those who worshipped

the God of Abraham were commanded to throw their male children in to the

Nile that was worshipped as god.

After centuries of slavery, they cry out to God for deliverance. In Exodus 2

God said that He heard, He saw, and He knew about their sufferings. THAT

is the God we worship! The God who sees our affliction, hears our cries,

and knows our plight!

God raises up a guy named Moses — the Great Deliverer. We're going to

learn about him in the next several weeks because he is the guy who wrote

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

In the margin of Exodus 2 write Acts 7 and Hebrews 11. In Acts 7 the first

Christian to die because of his faith in Jesus gives to us some of the

history of Moses, and Hebrews 11:23-27 tells us about of the faith of Moses

and his parents.

Exodus 2

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite

woman.

We find out in Exodus 6 that their names are Amram and Jochebed.

2The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he

was a fine child, she hid him three months.

As we see the world getting more and more spiritually and morally dark

people wonder, “Should we have children?” This couple speaks to that

dilema! Amram and Jochebed had a child in a radically bleak and dark

time — and that child was used by God to lead a nation out of bondage

and death.

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So the man God would use to lead the descendants of Abraham out of

bondage and death and into the land of promise has been born. God not

only saves this little guys life — he miraculously places Moses in the

palace of Pharaoh where he is raised as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

but was nursed by his own mother. Amazing! This is the way our God

works! At the front of all this Pharaoh said, “Come, let us deal shrewdly with

them.” But he ends up paying Moses’ mother to nurse him and then raises

the deliverer of the Israelites in his own house.

EXODUS 2-4 — highlight the upbringing of Moses in the land of

Egypt.

The man who was going to be used by God to lead the nation of Israel out

of Egypt was going to get the greatest education and training while growing

up in the house of Pharaoh.

He grew up in an academic setting in which they made a pretty good

estimation of the distance from the earth to the sun (93 million miles).

There was a famous University called the Temple of the Sun, sort of like

the modern day Harvard University. Egypt was also known for its

architecture, especially the great Pyramids. At least 80 pyramids were built

by the Egyptians. They say that it took 100,000 slaves and 30 years to

build the Great Pyramid in Giza (482 feet tall).

Again — Pharaoh was giving the greatest education in the world to the

man who would lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

On top of that, Moses lives in the palace of Pharaoh as the adopted

grandson of Pharaoh, which would make Moses — and this is important —

the next in line to be Pharaoh.

I say all of that to shed light on Hebrews 11:24-26

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of

Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of

God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the

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reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was

looking to the reward.

One day (Exodus 2:11), the prince of Egypt saw an Egyptian beating a

Hebrew man. Moses looked one way, he looked the other way,

(unfortunately he didn’t look up), and he killed the Egyptian. The New

Testament tells us that Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize

that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn’t. (Acts 7:25). The next

day he saw two Hebrews fighting each other. Moses said, "Brothers, why

are you fighting?" And one of them said, "What - are you going to kill us like

you did the Egyptian yesterday?" Moses knew that Pharaoh would find out

that he was in reality a Hebrew who killed an Egyptian. So he flees; he runs

away and he goes way out in the middle of nowhere.

That is the first third of the biography of Moses. His life divides into three 40

year sections. He spent his first 40 years becoming a somebody. He spent

his second 40 years becoming a nobody. He spent his last 40 years

serving everybody

He spent the middle 40 years in Midian — where he would tend sheep on

the backside of the desert (KLV). That 40 years was a MANDATORY

course.

DON'T MISS THIS — That middle period in the life of Moses is a crucial

bit of road on Route 66. It’s a place every believer needs frequent and

apply in those times when you feel like you are in the backside of the

desert. The middle 40 years in the life of Moses speak powerfully to the

unexpected turns in life — the ones that leave us seemingly in the middle

of nowhere.

Moses had taken a lot of electives in the universities in Egypt. He learned

about military and science and culture. But he would spend the next 40

years becoming a nobody — a nobody for SOMEBODY! God was

determined to build a man. God knew that as a man Moses would need to

be broken for the task that was before him — a task he had no idea was

before him until what appeared to be another day on the backside of the

desert..

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But those who would serve God face the school of God. The courses are

MANDATORY. You don't choose them — you find yourself in the middle of

them. And in that school is where you learn to be alone with God. The

backside of the desert serves God's purposes in shaping us and preparing

us for his use

IN EXODUS 3 — God reveals Himself to Moses.

verse 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire

out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was

burning, yet it was not consumed.

The word bush in Hebrew = a thorny bush. Amazingly, the God of glory

revealed Himself to Moses in a twisted, thorny bush.

This is a huge insight into the character of God and the ways of God. God

chooses to reveal His holiness and glory in a simple bush thatis essentially

the icon of the fall and the curse!

I know that I am like a thorny bush. I don't have it together. I'm not a

glorious cedar... a mighty oak. God has chosen to reveal His POWER, His

GLORY, His WORD through thorny bushes because it brings ALL of the

glory to God. When God uses YOU and ME, thorny twisted little bushes

that we are, each of us bearing the mark of the fall, people have to say, “It’s

the Lord!"

In the life of Moses — in this burning bush — we learn that it pleases God

to use human instruments! When God raised Lazarus from the dead,

Lazarus came out of the tomb encumbered by his grave clothes. Jesus

commanded His disciples to unwind the burial cloth — "I have brought him

back to life, but I want YOU to unwind him " Jesus is the One who brings

us to life. But then He looks at us and says, "I want you to unwind each

other from the grave clothes of the world — I brought LIFE and I want to

use you to bring LIBERATION." "I want to use YOU, and I will get the glory

from it."

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As God speaks to Moses from the burning bush, He sets forth His plan and

calls Moses to be a part of it.

Exodus 3:10 KJV Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto

Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel

out of Egypt.

Come now — NOW was the time. There is an APPOINTED end to the

bondage of the Israelites.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I will send you .... that you may bring forth my people — God's method is

to use human vessels.

Again — we need to know this exit on Route 66. The life of Moses is set

before us to learn God's ways. In much of modern church culture there is a

great preoccupation methodology. But that is not the concern of God. God

is interested in men and women. God works through people, not

programs. He is interested in men, not methodology.

At one point Moses asks, Who am I that you should send me. God

essentially replies by saying — Who you are is not the issue. The issue is

Who I AM. The issue is that I will be with you.

THAT is so radical in light of the Great Commission. Jesus said Go into all

the earth. I don't know about you, but I feel a lot like Moses in the face of

such a mission. But in the next verse Jesus said: I am with you. That is

ALWAYS the issue. God is saying - It does NOT matter who YOU are

What matters is who I am — and I will be with you

verses 13-14 13

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of

Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’

and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14

God

said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people

of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

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There is profound theology here! Moses may have thought, "I am what?"

His name means that He is the becoming One.

HERE’S THE DEAL — God becomes to us everything that we desperately

need. He becomes our righteousness. He becomes our peace. He

becomes our healer. He becomes our salvation (That’s what the very name

of Jesus means.)

This name of God is also crucial to the identity of Jesus. When he was

being examined by the Pharisees Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am”

and they took up stones to kill Him because they knew that Jesus was

claiming to be God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. When

Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemene they asked, Are

you Jesus of Nazareth? He answered, Ego Eimi..... I AM..... And they fell

backward.

SO MUCH in this chapter! For times sake we move on!

Exodus 3 marks the end of the second 40 years spent in the desert and

begins the last 40 years.

IN EXODUS 4 — We are given a great insight into the work of God

and the heart of unbelieving man. As Moses was returning to Egypt God

lets Moses know that Pharaoh was going to fight against God.

Verses 21 “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before

Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will

harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

In Pharaoh’s response to God we have an incredible illustration and

explanation of Romans 8:7

KJV Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject

to the law of God, neither indeed can be

Unbelieving man is at war with God. In the Book of Exodus there are 14

references to Pharaoh's heart being hardened. Seven times we’re told that

God hardened his heart. Seven times were’ told that Pharaoh hardened his

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heart. Pharaoh hardened his own heart in response to the Revelation of

God’s power that proved the gods of Egypt to be false. He hardened his

heart to the Word of God.

Having said that — it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. It was

God’s power, God’s character, God’s Word that hardened Pharaoh’s heart;

in the same way that God’s power — God’s character and God’s Word

softens another heart.

You can put clay and wax in the sun. The same influence of the sun will

harden the one and melt the other. We see this on display in the Gospels.

The words and miracles of Christ won the hearts of many. But these SAME

words and miracles HARDENED the hearts of the Pharisees. They

responded by wanting to kill Jesus rather than follow Jesus.

In Pharaoh we learn that if a man wants to harden his heart against God,

God will ratify that hardness of heart

HERE’S THE DEAL — We need to know our way around the book of

Exodus because it is filled with insights into the heart of man — into the

world that is organizing itself without God and against God.

IN EXODUS 5-11 — We see the showdown

Seven times in these chapters, God says to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”

(See 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3.) The command, and God’s insistence,

informs us about Israel’s condition and God’s desires for Israel! Israel was

in bondage, but God wanted them to be free so they might serve Him. All of

that is a powerful picture of fallen man: Enslavement to the world, the flesh

and the devil (Eph. 2:1–3). God desires to set us free from the power of sin

and Satan and from the penalty of sin so that we can have a

RELATIONSHIP with Him. The Gospel in Exodus!

Exodus 5

verses 1-2 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh,

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they

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may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2But Pharaoh said, “Who is

the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

In the ancient Egyptian Civilization Pharaoh was looked upon as deity.

Pharaoh considered himself to be a god, and he didn’t like the idea of

having any competition from this God of the Hebrews.

This, by the way, is a very ACCURATE PICTURE of fallen man throughout

the centuries. Fallen man has set himself up as God and the very thought

of surrendering the control of his life is inconceivable. Everything BEGINS

and ENDS with man. The collection of men and women organizing

themselves without God and against God has no respect for God or for

God’s Word.

2 …. I do not know the Lord,

It is only the person who truly KNOWS the Lord who sees a reason to

OBEY the Lord. In light of the price that God paid to forgive them they

believe that it is only reasonable to WORSHIP and OBEY Him.

2 …. I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

This is so relevant to us as we try to understand the world around us —

and understand our own hearts.

The Israelites were being used by Pharaoh to establish monuments and

build cities for his own glory. If he obeyed God he would lose his labor

supply and thus his PET PROJECTS would come to a close

Paraphrase: I don't know the Lord, neither will I let them go lest my pet

project be derailed

People choose to ignore God, disobey God today for the same reasons as

Pharaoh. They DON'T want their pet projects derailed. They DON'T want to

answer to any one else for the direction of their lives. So, like Pharaoh they

say I don't know the Lord and neither will I Let my pet project go

These chapters in Exodus are crucial — because they answer Pharaoh’s

question of “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?

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The True and Living God will show Pharaoh who He really is. He will do it

by way of 10 plagues.

WHO is the Lord? He is the CREATOR of life - He can create life out of

the dust

WHO is the Lord? He is the God who can separate between those who

are His people and those who are NOT His people

He is the God who is FAITHFUL to His own

Darkness covers the Egyptians.... But the Israelites have light

Flies are everywhere in the houses of Egypt..... But not in the homes of

His people

Over and over again He proves that He is the God who can distinguish

between those who serve Him and those who don't.

From Exodus 7 through Exodus 10 there were 9 Plagues.

1. Water turned to blood, 7:14–25

2. Plague of Frogs, 8:1–15

3. Plague of Lice, 8:16–19

4. Plague of Flies, 8:20–24

5. Plague on cattle, 9:1–7

6. Plague of Boils on the people, 9:8–12

7. Plague of Hail, fire, 9:13–35

8. Plague of Locusts, 10:1–20

9. Plague of darkness, 10:21–23

Most people think about these plagues pretty much in terms of how many

and how radical they are; especially the generation who grew up thinking

that Moses was really Charlton Heston. They think of the plagues merely

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in terms of God’s judgment on Egypt for enslaving the descendants of

Abraham; or merely as God strong arming Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

Above all — these plagues were tailor made judgments designed to attack

the false belief system and false gods of Egypt.

Exodus 12:12 ….on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am

the Lord.

The Nile River was worshiped as a god since it was their source of life

(Deut. 11:10–12), and when Moses turned it into blood, God showed His

power over the river. The goddess Heqt was pictured as a frog, the

Egyptian symbol of resurrection. The plague of frogs certainly turned the

people against Heqt! The lice and flies brought defilement to the people—a

terrible blow, for Egyptians could not worship their gods unless they were

spotlessly clean. The murrain attacked the cattle which were sacred to the

Egyptians; Hathor was the “cow-goddess” and Apis was the sacred bull.

The gods and goddesses that controlled health and safety were attacked in

the plagues of boils, hail, and locusts. The plague of darkness was the

most serious, since Egypt worshiped the sun god, Ra, the chief of the

gods. When the sun was blotted out for three days, it meant that Jehovah

had conquered Ra. The final plague (the death of the firstborn) conquered

Meskhemit the goddess of birth, and Hathor, her companion, both of whom

were supposed to watch over the firstborn. All of these plagues made it

clear that the God of Abraham was the true God!

Pharaoh asked, WHO is Jehovah? Upon the plague of hail Moses said to

Pharaoh (Exodus 9:29 Paraphrase) That you might know that the earth is

Jehovah's He will make it hail in the most unlikely place - That you might

know that the earth is Jehovah's He will stop the hail.

In the midst of these plagues Pharaoh wanted relief from the plagues but

he didn't want to release the Jews, so he presented Moses with a number

of compromises.

His first proposition (8:25): Worship God but don't leave Egypt. The picture

— Okay, be a Christian but don't turn your back on the world system that is

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organizing itself without God and against God. Second proposition (8:28): If

you must go, don't go far. The picture — If you must worship Jesus, don't

be a fanatic about Him. Third proposition (10:7-11): Only let the men go

worship. The picture — If you must worship Jesus don't involve your family.

Don't force your Jesus on your kids. Don't worry about the salvation of your

kids. Don't teach them about worship. Don't teach them how to THINK

about God and relate to God. A lot of parents have left their kids in Egypt!

The fourth proposition (10:24-26): Go worship but leave your possessions in

Egypt. The picture — Don't worship the Lord with your possessions. Give

everything to God but your money. This is one of our adversary’s most

clever compromises. The point is to get you to serve two masters — the

point is for our treasures to remain “in Egypt” because where our treasure

is is where our heart will be.

IN EXODUS 11-12 — we are introduced to the 10th plague: Death of

the firstborn and we see the PASSOVER and the OUTGOING

QUESTION — Have you ever wondered, Why 10 plagues? Why didn’t 9

get the job done? Here’s the answer: Exposing false gods for what they is

important — but that alone cannot save. Salvation is only possible through

the death of Jesus, the lamb of God.

PASSOVER AND THE OUTGOING

Exodus 12:1 1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

2“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the

first month of the year for you.

Something so POWERFUL, so WONDERFUL, was going to happen that

they would measure time by it - set their calendars by it!

HERE’S THE PICTURE — Something so POWERFUL, and so

WONDERFUL happens when the blood of Jesus is applied to your life -

(deliverance from the power and penalty of sin) - that it brings about a

NEW BEGINNING.

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2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become

new.

I’m 62 years old — but life BEGAN for me on Dec. 31, 1973.

Exodus 12 is so huge. The term BORN AGAIN takes on wonderful and

fresh light for us in Exodus 12. We should be so thankful for that because

we need a NEW BEGINNING.

Exodus 12:3-5 3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day

of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’

houses, a lamb for a household. 4And if the household is too small for

a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the

number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make

your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a

year old. 6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month,

when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their

lambs at twilight.

“The New is in the Old Contained.” This is ALL about Jesus.

1 Corinthians 5:7 For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Rev. 13.8 speaks of Jesus as THE Lamb slain from the foundation of

the world.

John the Baptist would say “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes

away the sin of the world! John 1.29

7“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two

doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it….. 11

….It is

the Lord’s Passover. 12

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that

night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man

and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am

the Lord.

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Verse 22 tells us that they were to slay the lamb in the basin, the little ditch

at the threshold of the door. They were to put the blood on the two door

posts, the uprights. And then on the lentil, over the door. And in so doing

you have a beautiful picture of 2 crosses with THE LAMB SLAIN in the

center.

What an awesome PICTURE of Golgotha — where Jesus, the Lamb of

God, was crucified between two criminals.

13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And

when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall

you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

THE BLOOD — Nothing else would save!

They weren’t saved because they were related to Abraham — they were

only saved because the blood of an innocent lamb was shed. If you were

Jewish, and you put blood on the doorposts, but you stayed outside of the

house, you'd die. There would be no “token” believers — you had to literally

be all in concerning God’s way of salvation.

2 Timothy 2.19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having

this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,”

The Gospel tells us that when we believe with our hearts on the Lord Jesus

that the Lord sees the Blood of Jesus applied to our lives. NOT our failures

- NOT our good works (or lack of them) ALL that He sees is THE BLOOD!

We’re going to put our foot down on the accelerator so we can arrive at our

destination for tonight.

THE REMAINDER OF EXODUS 12 and ALL OF

EXODUS 13 — give us the account of the outgoing!

God has judged the gods of Egypt. He has delivered the Israelites from

bondage and death in Egypt by way of the shed blood of a spotless lamb.

Leaving Egypt they began the long awaited journey toward the Promised

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Land. It is an eleven day journey. They won't arrive until 40 years later.

Why was that? The Lord got the Israelites out of Egypt in ONE DAY — But

it was going to take Him 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites

So they are about to head off to the Red Sea, then Mara and Elim, then to

the Wilderness of Sin and to Rephadim and to Sinai. And in each of their

encampments there is a lesson to learn!

That’s what lies before us in our next road trip. But we have to see

something at the close of Exodus 13 that is so awesome about God!

Exodus 13:21-22 21

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of

cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to

give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22

The pillar

of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from

before the people.

God wanted them to know that He didn't get them out of Egypt an abandon

them. He wanted them to know that He was going to be present with them

step by step into the land of promise. He would lead them. He would cover

them. He would be a light for them. Psalm 105 tells us that He spread a

cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

Whatever HARSHNESS they experienced was UNDER the governing

hand of God. They experience only the amount of heat that God

PERMITTED. They NEVER experienced the full brunt of the heat of the

wilderness.

God never left them without light and heat at night It is estimated that a

camp of 2.5 - 3.0 million people would be about 700 sq. miles of land. So

imagine how BIG this pillar of fire must have been to enable them to march

in the middle of a desert night! That is a lot of light!

All of that tells us the heart of God for you and me. He not only saved us

from bondage — He saved us to relationship with Him. As we live between

the already and the not yet He is ALWAYS with us! Whatever

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HARSHNESS we experienced is under the governing hand of God. We will

only and always experience the heat of trial and adversity that God permits.

We don’t have the cloud by day and fire by night. But He has given to us

HIS WORD and He has given to us HIS SPIRIT. We are NEVER alone

when we are in the wilderness. We have a guide. We are not without

comfort and covering. However difficult our circumstances are He has NO

DESIRE that we be disheartened!

IN EXODUS 14 — We have the crossing of the Red Sea.

1Then the Lord said to Moses,

2“Tell the people of Israel to turn back

and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in

front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.

Pharaoh is going to have a change of mind and will come in pursuit of the

Israelites (Josephus - 50,000 horsemen / 200,000 footmen). Pharaoh is

going to find them trapped in a box canyon. God could have simply said —

The Israelites were in a box canyon. But He was very careful to give us the

exact location of the Israelites.

God wants us to know that He knew exactly where they were camped. He

wants us to know that He knows where we are camped. He knows how to

contact us — reach us and rescue us.

By the way — He also knew that the Egyptians were going to think that

Israelites were TRAPPED. But we discover that it was the Egyptians were

the ones who were going to be trapped. They don’t know that — and

neither do the Israelites.

WHY is this section of road so important for us to know?

10When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes,

and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared

greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

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WE are made of the same stuff they were. Lord. Where’s Your love? I got

saved last week! I trusted in the Blood of the Lamb! I was so excited and

now my whole life is falling apart! I don’t understand!

They turned on Moses — Did they run out of graves in Egypt so you had to

bring us here to die? Like you and me — their real complaint wasn’t with

Moses. It is with God. It wasn’t as if Moses didn't read the map or his GPS

broke. GOD was leading them! Unlike you and me — They hadn’t read

EXODUS 14. They hadn’t seen the movies.

The response of Moses is huge —

13And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the

salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the

Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14

The Lord

will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY HUGE — Moses had NO CLUE as to HOW this

deliverance would be accomplished. But he understood how valuable the

Israelites were to God on the basis of how great a redemption God

accomplished for them

He didn’t get lost in what he didn’t know — He resorted to what he did

know.

God parts the Red Sea.

22And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry

ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on

their left. 23

The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the

midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his

horsemen. 24

And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and

of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian

forces into a panic…… 28

The waters returned and covered the

chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had

followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.

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BIG STUFF FOR US here in Exodus! The place in which they were

TRAPPED was the very place where they would learn just how much God

VALUES His children. The place where they were trapped teaches us that

things aren't always as they seem. The Israelites said, "We've had it!"

Moses said: "NO! They've had it" The Israelites said: "We're trapped!"

Moses said: "NO! They're trapped" The armies of Pharaoh looked like the

SURE victors, but it was the Israelites who lived and the Egyptians who

perished.

We see GOD'S PLACE in the life of His children. He will go BEFORE us.

He will make a way through the Red Sea. He will go BEHIND us. He will

protect us from the enemy. He will PRESERVE us. In the heat of the most

fiery trial He will shield us. In the midst of our darkest and coldest trials He

will light our way, and He will warm us

On the other side of the Red Sea there was no shortage of grumbling.

IN EXODUS 15 — they came to a place named Marah because the

water there was bitter. The people were thirsty. They found water. But they

were disappointed when they found it undrinkable. Their response was

much like ours when we are faced with bitter, disappointing situations.

NLT — 24

Then the people complained and turned against Moses.

“What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25

So Moses cried out

to the LORD for help

Here’s a familiar patter — the people grumbled against Moses — Moses

would cry out to the Lord! Great example for us to follow (parents, those

serving the Lord).

KJV — 25

….and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had

cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet:

I love this — here is God’s remedy for bitterness! Perhaps you've been

wronged by a brother or sister. That bitterness can be SWEETENED when

you put God’s tree into that bitter situation — bring the cross into that

relationship; remembering that Jesus loves that person as much as He

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loves you. On the cross Jesus cried: Father forgive them, for they know not

what they do. Jesus is just as committed to that individual as He is to you

and me. As you begin to see Jesus as having DIED for that brother or

sister because of His tremendous LOVE for that person, you will find that

your bitterness begins to dissipate

In Exodus 15:27 they arrive at a place called Elim, an oasis. Great picture

of how love in your heart for a person who wronged you is like an oasis.

Some never get to Elim because they are stuck at Mara — stuck in

bitterness!

IN EXODUS 16 — they reach the Wilderness of Sin and God gives

them heavenly food for the journey. They would find it on the ground every

morning. God told them that they could only gather enough for that day.

That manna is a picture of Jesus — our daily bread.

IN EXODUS 17 — they arrive at Rephidim. Once again they were

desperate for water. Their response was pretty much the same as their

response at Mara. God had proved that He was able to provide water and

food for them, so why were they quarreling with Moses? Because their

hearts were still in Egypt! Again — one day to get them out of Egypt, but 40

years to get Egypt out of them.

Exodus 17:6 you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it,

and the people will drink.”

The rock is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ who was struck for us on the

cross (1 Cor. 10:4).

IN EXODUS 18 — they are attacked by the Amalekites. In the book of

Deuteronomy we’re told that they attacked them when they were

exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling

behind.

There’s a huge lesson for us here. Israel’s great victory over Amalek

involved three elements: Joshua and his army would trust God and fight,

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Moses and his associates would trust God and intercede, and God would

do the rest.