THE L.I.F.E. PLAN THE EXODUS BLOCK 2 THEME 3 - ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 4 (48 of 216)
BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 4 (48 OF 216): THE EXODUS LESSON AIM: The exodus unfolds in three acts. SCRIPTURE: (Exodus 12:11-13; 29-31; 51) And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. (Exodus 12:51) Genesis 12 is a turning point in the Bible. Up to Genesis 12, God has told his story with broad strokes of his pen. Beginning in Genesis 12 with the story of Abraham, God began to write his story with a finer point, zooming in on the details of how he would fulfill the promise he made back in Genesis 3:15. From Genesis 12 to Exodus 12, we move forward in time some 600 years. God has fulfilled some of his promise to Abraham in that his people have grown to be a large nation. It is through this nation that God would send his Messiah to the world. The problem at this point is that the chosen people of God found themselves enslaved in the land of Egypt. The exodus is the part of the story where God delivered them from their physical bondage. The story of God s deliverance of Israel unfolds in three acts. The first act has to do with the plagues that God brought upon Egypt. God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and told him that he had heard Israel s cry for help and that he was going to use Moses to deliver them from slavery. He said that Moses would have to go before the Egyptian king and demand that he release Israel from Egypt. He also added that the king would not do what he said, and consequently, God would bring about their miraculous deliverance. Things happened as God said they would. Moses went to the king with his demands. The king refused to heed his words. God sent 10 plagues upon Egypt to bring about Israel s deliverance. God had good reasons for sending the plagues upon Egypt. He sent them first to harden the Pharaoh s heart. On this stage of human history, God was showing the world that he is sovereign over men and nations and kings and armies. The plagues were also meant to humble the land of Egypt. They had been in the practice of worshipping false gods. The plagues were a judgement toward 10 false gods that they worshipped. God was showing that he is the only true and living God. God sent the plagues also to help Israel. Israel was a multiplied number of people but they were slaves. They were physically weak and had not the means of defending themselves or of exacting their own deliverance. God used the plagues to give Israel the help they needed to get free of their bondage. The second act of the exodus we can call the Passover. The Passover is the first of all of Israel s annual feasts and the most important one. It was to be celebrated in the first month of the religious year. It commemorates the exodus from Egyptian slavery. The first Passover was commanded to be observed in conjunction with the tenth plague upon Egypt. In the first month of the year, on the tenth day of the month, they were to take a male lamb in its first year and kill it in the evening. They were to put its blood upon the
door-posts of their homes and they were to roast the meat and eat it. They were to be dressed and ready to move out as they ate the meal. In the tenth plague, God took the life of the firstborn in every home in Egypt. As Egypt wept and wailed over this catastrophe, Israel s multiplied thousands walked out on foot from their physical slavery. The Passover was established, as we said, as a judgment against the false gods of Egypt. Israel was to observe the Passover against all the gods of Egypt. It was also given to them for the benefit of future generations. As they observed the Passover in the future and as their children asked them why they were doing this, they could tell them of how God had delivered them from their slavery in Egypt. It was to serve as a testimony of God s love and care for them and of his sovereignty over all the earth. The Passover was also a picture of what the Messiah would do for people from all the nations. He would come to deliver people from every tribe and tongue and nation from the spiritual slavery of sin. In this, it would also serve to remind Israel of their mission to take the good news about God s deliverance from sin to all the nations of the world. The final act of the exodus is seen in the actual passage from the land of bondage to the land of freedom and promise. After 430 years in Egypt, many of those years at hard labor, in one night, God brought Israel out of Egypt. Unfortunately, it would take another 40 years to get Egypt out of the hearts of Israel. The short distance from Egypt to Canaan could have been traveled in a journey of 11 days. It took Israel 40 years to make the journey. And, of those who left Egypt in the exodus, only two men actually reached the land of promise. Because of the fact that the people preferred the bondage of slavery to the freedom of trusting God, God would not allow them to go into the promised land. Their offspring went into the new land. The others were buried in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. With the exodus and the entry into the promised land, God established Israel as a theocratic nation. This means they were a people ruled by God. Once they entered the new land, they were to live according to the laws of God. They were to share the message of God with the other peoples of the world. Not long, however, after entering the land of promise, Israel began to disobey God and follow the gods of the people of the land. They left their mission unfulfilled. They forsook God and suffered the consequences of their sin. The bondage of Egypt may have never been fully erased from Israel s heart. It is impossible to calculate the far reaching and long lasting effects that this time of slavery had upon the people of God. They continually grew farther and farther away from God over the years until he had to disperse them from the land of promise. They eventually grew so far from God that they put to death the Messiah that God sent to deliver them from the even greater bondage in sin. Eventually, God took the privilege of sharing the gospel from them and gave it to the church. This is our mission today. The story of the exodus of Israel from Egypt has many spiritual lessons that we can apply to our lives today. God has delivered us from the slavery of sin. He has given us the mission of taking the news of salvation in Christ to all the peoples of the world. Like Israel, we too must choose to leave our slavery to sin and walk in the ways of the Lord as we tell others about his salvation. It s our turn. Let s not refuse to do the job.
LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 4 (48 OF 216): THE EXODUS I GOD SENDS 10 PLAGUES UPON EGYPT A. Moses demands Pharaoh let Israel go B. Pharaoh refuses C. God sends plagues upon Egypt 1. To harden Pharaoh s heart 2. To humble Egypt 3. To help Israel II THE PASSOVER A. The first feast of Israel s religious year B. Commemorates the exodus C. Judgement upon Egypt s false gods D. For Israel s future generations III THE PASSAGE FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM A. A short distance B. A long journey C. Only 2 men completed the journey SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. Israel s journey Deuteronomy 1:1-3 2. Israel temporarily lost their privilege to work with God in evangelizing the world Romans 9-11 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD God rules over kings, too 2. ANTHROPOLOGY The pain and cost of disobedience to God
LESSON GLOSSARY 1. Exodus The way out; to leave 2. Commemorates Makes remembrance 3. Conjunction at the same time 4. Catastrophe An event causing great suffering or damage QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. How many years passed from God s call upon Abraham until the exodus? ~600 yrs 2. How did God call Moses to the work of leading the Israelites out of Egypt? He spoke to him from a burning bush 3. How many plagues did God send upon Egypt? 10 4. What was the last plague? The death of the first-born of Egypt 5. What is the Passover? It is a time when Israel celebrates God s victory over Egypt and their freedom 6. Why did it take Israel 40 years to reach the Promised Land? They rebelled against God and He waited for them to die off before He led them in. 7. What slavery must we leave behind? The slavery of sin
BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 4 (48 OF 216): THE EXODUS QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. How many years passed from God s call upon Abraham until the exodus? 2. How did God call Moses to the work of leading the Israelites out of Egypt? 3. How many plagues did God send upon Egypt? 4. What was the last plague? 5. What is the Passover? 6. Why did it take Israel 40 years to reach the Promised Land? 7. What slavery must we leave behind?