Exodus. An Introduction Part 1 The Old Testament Various Passages

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1 Exodus An Introduction Part 1 The Old Testament Various Passages I n the councils of eternity past the divine decision was made. Even today angels, and mortals are prone to gasp in amazement as they ponder the implications of that mind-boggling plan. Here was the decision. In the fullness of time, the sinless Son of God would visit a cursed planet and shed His blood for its sinful inhabitants. Could anything more unexpected and undeserved be imagined? But many things must first precede and prepare for that glorious joy. To begin with, man and his universe would be created. Then, among the many, a particular nation would be selected to serve as a divine channel. Finally, all those events, places, and personalities playing a part in that glorious tale consummated at Bethlehem had to be carefully and accurately recorded. God s schedule called for 30 human authors to describe that sovereign story in some detail. Moses was the first and Malachi the final writer. However, God was in no hurry to complete His marvelous manuscript. A thousand years would transpire between the first and last Old Testament books. Then an additional four centuries passed before the beginning of the New Testament. But that is another story. 1 Christ is the theme of Scripture. Christ is the theme of the Old Testament. To understand Christ s ministry one must understand the Old Testament. To understand the Old Testament, one must recognize Christ in it. Viewing the Old Testament Christocentrically is not an interpretive (hermeneutical) option; for the Christian it is divine imperative. On five different occasions Jesus claimed to be the theme of the entire Old Testament: 2 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:27). He said to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me (John 5:37). Then I said, Here I am it is written about me in the scroll (Hebrews 10:7). 1 Willmington, Dr. H.L., Willmington s Survey of the Old Testament, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1987, p Geisler, Norman L., Christ:The Key to Interpreting the Bible, Moody Press, Chicago, IL., 1975, p. 31.

2 I. An Introduction Part 1 A. The Old Testament 1. Introduction 2. Why Study the Old Testament? 3. How Should We Study the Old Testament? Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. Exodus 1:8 Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. Acts 7: Introduction: Today we start a new series in our study of the Old Testament. This is to be a study in the book of Exodus. It will be necessary though, before we can look at the book, to spend some time on introductions so I hope you will bear with me. It has been about a year and a half since we started the study in the book of Genesis. Therefore, I would like to make some general comments on Old Testament study. After that we will first look at the Torah and then specifically Exodus. Finally it will be helpful to review the events that lead to the conditions in which the Children of Israel find themselves at the beginning of this book. This is quite a lot of introductory material and so I expect that it will take two weeks to cover it all. In three weeks we should start the review of the book. Please read the entire book over the next couple of weeks and then continue to read it throughout the study. During the verse by verse study of Exodus we will also give a number of special studies. These studies will include: Christ as seen in the Tabernacle, two sessions on Passover as a picture of Christ, and a twelve week series on The Decalogue. Next week we will review the individual chapter themes. While I am not prepared to list all of the themes we will be covering, the two main themes we will continually address are the issue of REDEMPTION and, the theme of all scripture, CHRIST. As already noted the first area we need to review is the Old Testament in general. This material is essentially the same as that from our Genesis study. It has been developed over a number of years and is taken from my Old Testament Survey as well as from Willmington s Guide to the Bible and Jensen s Survey of the Old Testament. 2. Why Study the Old Testament?: The first question that needs to be asked as we prepare to look at Exodus is: why a study of the Old Testament at all? Now it would seem obvious, after all it s part of God s word and therefore by definition should at least be looked at in passing, but why would anyone want to spend any time with it? Unfortunately, from the state ) 2 (

3 of the church in general one would come to the conclusion that while all believe in the study of Scripture they mean by this the New Testament, excluding Revelation, of course. After all, there is much more to be gained from a study of the New and so time can be better spent there for the New Testament tells of the life of Christ, the birth of the church and practical day to day living for the Christian, while the Old is only stories of the Jews. There are a number of reasons why we should study the totality of Scripture which means both the Old and the New: 1. God is the author of the entire work. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16 17). 2. God speaks to us out of the entire Bible and therefore all has something of importance to say to us. Paul noted this, speaking of Old Testament accounts, when he said: 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 (1 Corinthians 10:11). I don t know how those who are opposed to Old Testament events get around this one. 3. We are commanded to study Scripture. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8). Also we find similar comments in 2 Timothy 2:15 and Matthew 4:4. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 4. God uses the Bible to carry out His will. a. Sinners are saved through its words. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what ) 3 (

4 he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:13 17). b. Sanctification comes through God s word. How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you (Psalms 119:9, 11). 5. The Bible is incomplete without the Old Testament. It is complemented by the New, i.e. Messianic prophecies given in the Old are fulfilled in the New. Consider the following example. Prophecy: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days (Micah 5:2). Fulfillment: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1). 6. The Ministry of Christ would be an enigma without the Old Testament. The Old Testament provides the background necessary to understand many of the words of Jesus. For example: He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24). 7. The historical setting of Christianity is furnished by the Old Testament. The New is the record of the continuation of God s working with humanity, started in the Old. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4 5). 8. Key revelations of God are to be found in the Old Testament. It is God s sacred history, redemptive history. Therefore, the writers of the Old Testament have much to say about such crucial facts as: a. God is the sovereign Creator b. Man is a sinner in need of Salvation c. God is holy and He judges sin. d. God is love and He offers salvation to sinful men. e. A Saviour would be born to die for the sins of men. f. Man is saved by faith, not by works. ) 4 (

5 g. Israel was sovereignly chosen to be God s channel of the redemptive message to the world. h. All history will culminate at the throne of the sovereign Lord. 3 We will be looking at many of these themes as we go through the book of Exodus. The important point to remember when studying scripture, both Old and New is that the focus is Jesus the Messiah to the Jews, the Christ to the Gentiles. This is why all of scripture must be studied, not just selected portions. 9. Finally, while all of this seems to be fairly scholarly and in many cases theoretical, what comes as a surprise to many Christians is that the history of a people, some thousands of years ago is very applicable to our own lives as believers. We have certainly seen this as we have studied Genesis. As we look at God s word in addition to an understanding of the text itself the focus will also be what we can learn about Him and how to apply what we learn to lives and witness. There is a real tendency among evangelicals to take Bible study as a spectator sport. We go to church, Sunday School, we listen to Christian radio, mp3s, etc. Then we say how great the message was. But then what do we do with it? The emphasis here is going to be on application and I may also try to find a way to get some feed back as to how we are applying what we learn. I hope that I have made it clear as to what our emphasis will be. 3. How Should We Study the Old Testament?: The second section of this introduction deals with how one should approach the Old Testament. There are certain general principals that must be understood in the study of any Old Testament book. There is a tendency among some to see significant differences between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New. The statement is made that as peoples mature as cultures their view of God also matures. The God of the Old is a God of vengeance, of anger, of war, while the God of the New is a God of peace, love and acceptance, but as one studies ALL Scripture it is obvious that: 1. God always acts in conformity to His nature. The Old Testament revels who God is related to His nature. God is eternal Spirit, alive and personal. He is the first cause while uncaused Himself. He is Holy, righteous, just, loving, merciful, etc. It is absolutely vital to remember this principal especially when dealing with Old Testament History, which some times presents difficulties in understanding/accepting God s actions. 2. All history is in God s sovereign control. There are no accidents in history. God directs and/or permits the course of world and personal events. This should be a comfort for us as believers for we know that no matter how difficult things get the Lord is in control and we can depend on Him. 3. Israel is God s divinely called and favored nation. God called Abraham to be the father of the nation. Israel was not called because of her superiority, but because of God s grace and one of the very first things we ll see is the birth of the nation Israel. 3 Ibid., p. 17 ) 5 (

6 4. Redemption is the key subject of the Old Testament. This starts with the promise of a Messiah in Genesis 3 through the words of the prophet Malachi. Redemption through God s grace and mercy is offered to all men. 5. Revelation is progressive. In studying Exodus we must draw on later sections of Scripture for clarification. This means that prophecies that were given early in history are not complete and comprehensive. Prophecy given later in history gives more detail and clarity to that which has gone before. Because we have the full picture we tend to project that understanding back on prophecies that could not have been understood with clarity by their recipients. Conclusion: So we have addressed the questions of why and how to address the Old Testament. Next time I will introduce the book of Exodus and look at the themes. Finally, we will go back to Genesis to set the stage for the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt. Remember to keep reading the book. ) 6 (

7 Exodus An Introduction Part 1 The Old Testament Various Passages I. An Introduction Part 1 A. The Old Testament 1. Introduction 2. Why Study the Old Testament? 3. How Should We Study the Old Testament? 1. Introduction: (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:37; Hebrews 10:7; Exodus 1:8; Acts 7:18-19) 2. Why Study the Old Testament?: a. God is the of the work. (2 Timothy 3:16 17) b. God to us out of the Bible (1 Corinthians 10:11) c. We are to Scripture. (Joshua 1:8; 2 Timothy 2:15; Matthew 4:4)

8 d. God uses the to carry out. i. Sinners are (Romans 10:13 17) ii. Sanctification comes through God s word. (Psalms 119:9, 11) e. The Bible is without the. Prophecy: (Micah 5:2) Fulfillment: (Matthew 2:1) f. The Ministry of Christ would be an without the. (Matthew 15:24) g. The of Christianity is furnished by the. (Galatians 4:4 5) h. i. God is ii. iii. iv. Man is God is God is v. A Saviour vi. Man is vii. Israel was viii. All history will ) 2 (

9 i. 3. How Should We Study the Old Testament?: a. God always acts in conformity to His nature. b. All history is in God s sovereign control. c. Israel is God s divinely called and favored nation. d. Redemption is the key subject of the Old Testament. e. Revelation is progressive. ) 3 (