MIRACLES AND DELIVERANCE LESSON 4 THE MIRACLE OF THE EXODUS LESSON TEXT Exodus 3:7-10 7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 6:1, 5-6 1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments. FOCUS VERSE Exodus 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments. FOCUS THOUGHT God is touched by the problems and difficulties of His people, and He will rescue them from oppression. INTRODUCTION The biblical account of the exodus from Egypt, which spans Exodus chapters 1 through 15, forms one of the central stories of the entire Old Testament. The narrative reveals the God of the Hebrews seeing the plight of the Israelite slaves, having compassion on them, and delivering them from their bondage. The Exodus account both looked backward to the roots of the establishment of Israel in the patriarchs Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob (who was renamed Israel in Genesis 32:28 and 35:10), and forward to the covenant the Lord would make with Israel at Mount Sinai. It also pointed forward in time as a type of New Testament deliverance or salvation, in which believers enter into a covenant relationship with God. (See I Corinthians 10:1-2.) The Exodus revealed the wonderful character of God compassion, love, and mercy. (See Deuteronomy 4:31; 5:10; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 103:8; 145:8.) Indeed, the Lord was not One who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). He was aware of the Israelites sufferings, heard their cries, and revealed His plan to rescue them. The Exodus also revealed God s incredible power over the Egyptian false gods. He was in truth the most high God (Genesis 14:18-22). In the showdown with the Egyptian deities, God repeatedly proved that He was capable of performing supernatural deeds. He revealed that He is the God of miracles, able to suspend or change the laws of nature, causing fearful judgments to fall upon the Egyptians and their land. Through the miracle of the Exodus, God raised up a deliverer, His prophet Moses (Acts 7:35), and endowed him with a miraculous ministry to lead Israel across the Red Sea and onward in their journey toward the Promised Land. The Israelites celebrated this victory wrought by God, and the Exodus deliverance remains a cause for celebration today as believers recall God s miraculous deeds. I. THE MIRACLE MAN At the beginning of the Book of Exodus, the descendants of Abraham were living outside the Promised Land of Canaan in the foreign country of Egypt. Through a series of unusual and trying circumstances, Joseph the first son of Jacob and Rachel rose to the position of governor or viceroy over the land of Egypt (Genesis 41:39-44). During a devastating famine, God providentially used Joseph to spare Abraham s offspring from extinction by bringing the people of Israel to Egypt and sustaining them there (Genesis 45:5-11). The stay in Egypt would prove to be a very long four hundred years, as God had prophesied in a dream to Abraham (Genesis 15:13). At first, the Israelites enjoyed favored status with the Egyptians (Exodus 1:7). However, a new king assumed the throne, which knew not Joseph (Exodus 1:8), signaling the beginning of troubles. In response to their remarkable growth in population, the king placed the people of Israel under hard bondage (Exodus 1:14). The Pharaoh forced them to work in slave labor camps on massive building projects, such as the construction of the cities of Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11). In an attempt to control their budding population and suppress any chances of an uprising, Pharaoh hatched a diabolical plan. Through infanticide carried out by the Hebrew midwives, he could eliminate all their male babies (Exodus 1:15-16). When the midwives foiled this plot, he enacted a second plan by a giving a general order that all Hebrew male babies be cast into the river (Exodus 1:22). By now, the circumstances of the Israelites were spiraling downward! A. Saved from the Water Exodus 2 narrates the account of a family from the tribe of Levi who responded to this horrifying edict with remarkable faith. The mother, Jochebed, gave birth to a male baby and hid him from the Egyptians (Exodus 2:1-2). When she could no longer conceal
him, she placed him in a small ark along the banks of the Nile. The baby s sister, Miriam, stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him (Exodus 2:4). In a bizarre yet providential twist of circumstances, the princess of Egypt, Pharaoh s daughter, discovered the child. At the princess s behest, Miriam summoned her mother to nurse the child. Ironically, Jochebed would receive government funding to nurse her own baby who had been ordered to be drowned! The child was adopted by Pharaoh s daughter and lived in the royal court. Because he had been taken out from the reeds along the Nile, Jochebed named him Moses (Hebrew, Mosheh), which, according to Strong s Exhaustive Concordance, means drawing out or rescued. When Moses was grown, he visited his oppressed relatives serving under Egyptian bondage (Exodus 2:11). Seeing them abused, he decided to take matters into his own hands: he murdered an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Then he tried to break up a fight between two Hebrews, for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not (Acts 7:25). When they rejected his efforts at being the referee, Moses recognized that the murder he had committed was now public knowledge. With a royal edict out for his arrest, he fled to the region of Midian where he lived as a fugitive until he was eighty years old (Acts 7:23, 30). During this time he stayed with Reuel (referred to as Jethro in Exodus 4:18), the priest of Midian, and married his daughter, Zipporah (Exodus 2:21). While Moses was living out the riches to rags saga of his career as a shepherd in the desert of Midian, things were not faring well for the Hebrews back in Egypt. Continually exploited by their Egyptian overlords, they sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage (Exodus 2:23). When God heard their groaning, He remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob (Exodus 2:24). Their predicament had not escaped God s notice, and He was determined to do something about it (Exodus 2:25). Thank God that when we face a dilemma, we can call upon God and He hears and responds. (See Psalm 4:1-3; 18:3-6; 50:15; 55:16-19; 86:6-7.) B. Called from the Wilderness God s response was to commission and send a man, the very Moses who had miserably failed on his own to enact the Hebrews deliverance and whom they had rejected when he tried to intervene in their conflicts. (See Exodus 2:11-15; Acts 7:35.) While leading bleating sheep along the backside of the desert, and after arriving at Mount Horeb, Moses witnessed an amazing sight a burning bush that was not burned up by the fire. A voice addressed Moses from the bush, commanding him to remove his sandals, for he stood on holy ground. The voice identified Himself as the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:6). God explained that He knew the Hebrews situation and was about to respond by equipping and sending Moses to Egypt to deliver them. (See Exodus 3:1-10.) In the ensuing dialogue, Moses revealed his unwillingness to participate in God s grand scheme. In essence, Moses protested, Not so fast! He supplied God with a list of objections as to why He had mistakenly picked the wrong man for the job! Moses implied that he was insignificant, that the people of Israel would not listen to him, and that he was disqualified for the position because he lacked eloquence. (See Exodus 3:11; 4:1, 10.)
Answering the first objection, God told Moses who He was and assured Moses that He would be with him. After the second objection, God used Moses to perform two miraculous signs: (1) turning a rod into a snake and then back into a rod and (2) having his hand turn leprous and then restored whole demonstrating that God s power would accompany him. After the third objection, God reminded Moses that He was the engineer behind the human voice and would be with him. After that reminder, Moses flatly refused to go along, insisting that God send someone else. God acquiesced by allowing Aaron, Moses brother, to serve as his spokesman. (See Exodus 4:2-16; 6:28-7:2.) Most all individuals who have experienced God s call have felt inadequate for the task. People have responded in different ways to the Lord s call. Some rejected it, some questioned it, and some willingly obeyed. The prophet Jonah fled in the opposite direction. Zacharias dubiously questioned the angel s proclamation about his soon-to-beconceived son. Mary compliantly replied to the amazing announcement of God s intentions for her to bear the Messiah. (See Luke 1:38.) And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word (Luke 1:38). Although we may not feel up to the task required by the call of God, we should respond to His call with willingness and faith, knowing that He will be with us and He will empower us (Luke 1:37). C. Sent to the Pharaoh After much persuasion, Moses reluctantly agreed to God s original intention to send him to Pharaoh to secure the release of the people of God (Exodus 3:10). Returning to his father-in-law, he practiced a version of the line on him ( Let me go Exodus 4:18) that he and Aaron later would use repeatedly with Pharaoh: Let my people go (Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20-21; 9:1, 13; 10:3-4). Granted permission by Jethro to return to visit his people, Moses brought his family with him, recruiting Aaron along the way (Exodus 4:18-28). The pair of brothers rehearsed the plan to the Hebrew leaders before demonstrating their God-given miraculous powers before the people. The reaction by the people of Israel was unanimously positive. They were convinced God had commissioned Moses and Aaron, and they were relieved that their crisis soon would be over. They graciously bowed their heads and worshipped (Exodus 4:31). Eager to see his people released, Moses the diplomat booked an interview at the Egyptian palace and made his appeal clear: Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness (Exodus 5:1). However, Pharaoh was not as enthusiastic as they had hoped. He was anything but thrilled with Moses and Aaron s petition. Pharaoh suspected that the seemingly audacious request to travel three days journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God (Exodus 5:3) was merely a diversionary tactic to get some time off, or worse, an effort to escape. Pharaoh dealt with the request by increasing the workload of the slaves. They were to complete the same amount of work in the same allotted time as before, but now they had to gather their own straw. It was an impossible task. When they were unable to fulfill their obligations, the Egyptians beat them with whips. When the Israelites realized they were in a worse situation than before, they blamed Moses and Aaron. It is easy to
blame others when we suffer difficulties in life. On the other hand, Moses and Aaron complained directly to God that the plan was not working. (See Exodus 5:6-14; 20-23.) II. THE MIRACLE MINISTRY This was the predicament God had been waiting for. Humanly speaking, it was an impossible situation. After Moses and Aaron s efforts to free the slaves had failed, God was about to show what He could do! A series of miraculous signs and judgments were about to begin that would challenge the very existence of the Egyptian gods and leave the Egyptians demoralized and their land devastated. By the time God was finished, Pharaoh would be so exasperated that he would boot the Hebrews out, literally begging them to leave. (See Exodus 6:1; 11:1; 12:31-33.) A. Miracle Signs In an attempt to demonstrate God s power and secure the release of the Hebrews, Moses and Aaron performed a supernatural exploit with Aaron s rod, which Pharaoh s wise men and sorcerers were able to duplicate up to a point (Exodus 7:8-12). Since Pharaoh was unimpressed and his heart hardened, the Lord instructed Moses to set in motion the first of ten hard-hitting plagues, or signs, against Egypt. The signs grew in intensity and in the level of their destruction, showing the futility of resisting God s will. The miraculous signs were as follows. The first sign entailed the turning of water into blood, which caused the fish to die and rendered the water undrinkable. During the second sign vast quantities of frogs invaded the land. The third sign featured pesky lice, whereas the fourth included swarms of flies. At the fifth sign, the Egyptians livestock was struck with an acute pestilence, whereas in the sixth sign people were struck with boils. The seventh sign brought severe hail that, among other things, destroyed the flax and barley crops. Locusts invaded Egypt during the eighth sign, destroying whatever remained from the hail. The ninth sign brought a frightening darkness throughout the land. Finally, the tenth sign involved the grievous death of the firstborn in each unprotected household. (See Exodus 8-11.) God designed these signs to challenge all the Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh himself, whom the Egyptians considered to be divine. Each sign was aimed at a particular aspect of Pharaoh s supposed sovereignty over nature and his kingdom. As John Sailhamer has observed in The Pentateuch as Narrative, the signs revealed an unmasking of Pharaoh s claims to deity and his claim to rule the universe. Pharaoh was, in effect, taking credit for something in which he had no part, and the signs that Moses performed demonstrated that unmasking to both the Egyptians and the Israelites. God s purpose was to show both the Hebrews and the Egyptians that He alone was the Lord (Exodus 6:6-8; 14:4). Through these signs, God clearly displayed His power and presence. Although Pharaoh claimed not to know the Lord, he was given several firsthand opportunities to witness the glory of the one true God. Pharaoh repeatedly proved, however, that he was not interested in this revelation, and consequently, his heart hardened after each plague. The account of the plagues demonstrated Pharaoh s stubbornness and his refusal to acknowledge and concede to the true God of the Hebrews. Rather, Pharaoh kept insisting on exalting himself (Exodus 9:14-17).
B. Miracle Judgments While the Exodus plagues demonstrated God s power to both the people of Israel and the Egyptians, they were also miraculous judgments aimed at the unrepentant Egyptians. The Lord had long before announced to Abraham that He intended to judge the nation that would enslave and afflict His people (Genesis 15:13-14). By the time of the fourth Exodus judgment, the people of Israel were not directly affected by the plagues, showing that God s judgment was reserved for the Egyptians. God separated Goshen, the territory where the Hebrews lived, from Egypt, and thus He exempted the Hebrews from experiencing the worst of the plagues (Exodus 8:22; 9:6, 26). The Bible reveals that God s people will experience some measure of tribulation in this life (John 16:33); however, those who live godly lives and remain saved will ultimately escape God s final judgment. For example, Noah was spared from perishing in the great Flood and Lot was rescued from the destruction of Sodom. (See Genesis 6:8; 19:12-17; Hebrews 11:7; I Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:5-7.) In the Book of Revelation, we see that just before the destruction of Babylon, John heard a voice from heaven that commanded God s people to avoid the city s approaching judgment: Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (Revelation 18:4). In the final judgment, God will separate His people from the ungodly, for the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished (II Peter 2:9). III. THE MIRACLE EXODUS In the aftermath of the tenth plague, in which death visited every house of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:30), the Egyptians essentially expelled the Hebrews from their land. Ironically, Pharaoh, who had obstinately refused their departure, now insisted that they leave (Exodus 12:31-32). After following the Lord s instructions for each family to celebrate the first Passover by killing an unblemished lamb, applying its blood to the doorposts of their homes, and eating its roasted flesh, the people of Israel headed out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13). They came out carrying great plunder, for at the Lord s command (Exodus 3:21-22; 11:2) they had borrowed precious articles from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35-36). According to The Nelson Study Bible, these items served as payment for their years of unpaid servitude and were later used as raw material in the construction of the Tabernacle and for making the priests garments (Exodus 25:1-9; 35:20-28). A. Baptized in the Cloud and the Sea God divinely directed and protected the fleeing Hebrews as they made their way from Egypt to the Red Sea. They certainly were not alone. By means of a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God s presence went before them as they journeyed toward the Promised Land. (See Exodus 13:17-18; 21-22.) Again, Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he reneged on his decision to release the Hebrews. In hot pursuit of the fugitives, Pharaoh and his army overtook them near the Red Sea. To protect His people, God moved the cloud between them and the pursuing army. The cloud served as a protective barrier, shielding the Hebrews from harm. (See Exodus 14:5-10; 19-20.)
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea (I Corinthians 10:1-2). What was about to happen next became a cause for great celebration among the Hebrew ranks. With the band of travelers trapped at the western shore of the Red Sea, at Moses command the waters parted and the Israelites crossed over on dry ground. As they walked across the sea, the water formed walls on either side of them. Like the protection they had experienced with the cloud cover, they now received a deliverance foreshadowing New Testament water baptism (I Corinthians 10:1-2). God had again performed a miracle! B. Saved from Egypt The persistent but doomed Egyptians were not ready to give up. Following the people of Israel across the parted Red Sea, God thwarted their plans by removing their chariot wheels and bringing the suspended waters back upon them (Exodus 14:23-27). The Egyptian army perished in the sea! As Moses had truly predicted, The Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever (Exodus 14:13). C. Saved from the Pharaoh With the destruction of Pharaoh s army, the immediate danger was over. However, an even greater reality was at hand. They were now free! No longer under bondage as slaves to Pharaoh and his overlords, they could continue on to Mount Sinai to meet with God and bring a sacrifice to Him. This had been their request to Pharaoh all along. (See Exodus 3:18; 5:3; 8:27.) God had judged Egypt and had miraculously brought His people out of terrible and oppressive circumstances. As the people of Israel surveyed the dead Egyptians along the shore of the Red Sea, they marveled at the great deliverance that God had wrought (Exodus 14:30). Awestruck by His power and protection, The people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses (Exodus 14:31). They broke out into worship, singing a song of deliverance to commemorate this momentous occasion (Exodus 15:1-19). God had miraculously rescued them from a life of bondage. What an even greater experience we enjoy today when we are delivered from slavery to sin through the power of God! When we repent of our sins, are baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Spirit of God with the initial evidence of speaking with other tongues, we experience a miraculous deliverance from our former life of sin. What a glorious exodus that is! CONCLUSION Reduced to slavery in a foreign nation, the pathetic cry of the Hebrews had not gone unnoticed. A loving, compassionate God delivered them by raising up a miracle man, Moses. God providentially rescued Moses from certain death as an infant, allowed him to be raised in the Egyptian palace, and later after Moses had spent many years in the wilderness called him to return to deliver his people. Equipped with a miraculous ministry, God sent Moses to Pharaoh to secure the release of the Israelite slaves. Obstinately refusing to comply with Moses request, Pharaoh saw his kingdom ruined around him by God s judgments. After the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians,
Pharaoh ordered the Hebrews to leave. He soon pursued them, however, to the Red Sea, where his army was destroyed. Even today, God notices our every cry for help (Hebrews 4:15). He knows our emotional and physical pain. He sees all our oppression. We can call on Him and He will hear and deliver us (Psalm 4:1). The greatest experience today is New Testament salvation in which we receive our own personal exodus from the bondage of sin. Through water and Spirit baptism, we experience new life in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:17). Thank God for our miracle of the exodus.