The Lord s Prayer Viewed Through the Exodus Introduction: The informing theology of the exodus is extremely helpful in unpacking the elements of the Lord's prayer. Theme: There are strong exodus motifs throughout the Lord s prayer. Tonight we will take extremely quick glimpses into the exodus motif of the Lord s Prayer. I hope it will be helpful for further meditation as you pray the Lord s prayer. I. The Lord s prayer builds on the fatherly relationship that the nation of Israel enjoyed to God as evidenced in the exodus. Matthew 6:9 (KJV 1900) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Exodus 4:22 (ESV) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, Exodus 4:23 (ESV) and I say to you, Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son. A. God made Israel his own child. Isaiah 64:8 (ESV) But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 63:16 (ESV) For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. B. God as a Father, delivered his child Israel out of Egypt. Hosea 11:1 (ESV) When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 1
1. Note the singular words. Hosea 11:1 (ESV) When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2. Hear the people of God are viewed as a unit. C. God has called us individually out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:13 (KJV 1900) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: D. The Father led His sons on a right path. Jeremiah 31:9 (ESV) With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the Father relationship is both to individual Israelites and corporate Israel. 1. Individually. Jeremiah 31:9 (ESV) With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 2. Corporately. Jeremiah 31:9 (ESV) With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 2
E. So too the words our Father have both an individual and corporate application. 1. He is our Father as individual children of God. 2. He is our Father as the whole church is concerned. II. The exodus motif of honoring God s name is seen in the exodus. Matthew 6:9 (KJV 1900) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. A. God s name was to be honored through the deliverance of His people. Exodus 3:15 (ESV) God also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel, The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Exodus 6:1 (ESV) But the LORD said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land. Exodus 6:2 (ESV) God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the LORD. Exodus 6:3 (ESV) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. B. God s name was not to be invoked in vain. Exodus 20:1 (ESV) And God spoke all these words, saying, Exodus 20:2 (ESV) I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Exodus 20:3 (ESV) You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:4 (ESV) You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 3
Exodus 20:5 (ESV) You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, Exodus 20:6 (ESV) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:7 (ESV) You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. III. Accomplishing the will of God is a part of the exodus motif. Matthew 6:10 (KJV 1900) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. A. Here is depicted the true worship of God. B. The tabernacle was a pattern of the heavenly tabernacle. Exodus 25:9 (ESV) Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. Exodus 25:40 (ESV) And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. Hebrews 8:4 (ESV) Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. Hebrews 8:5 (ESV) They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. C. That pattern was not merely the tabernacle itself but also the sacrifices and laws. Hebrews 9:19 (ESV) For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of 4
calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, Hebrews 9:20 (ESV) saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. Hebrews 9:21 (ESV) And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Hebrews 9:22 (ESV) Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:23 (ESV) Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. Hebrews 9:24 (ESV) For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Hebrews 9:25 (ESV) Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, D. Thus as we pray for God s will to be done we are praying that all of God s word be followed and fulfilled. IV. The daily bread motif is found in the exodus. Matthew 6:11 (KJV 1900) Give us this day our daily bread. Exodus 16:4 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. All of the interactions that took place between the Israelites and God when it cam to the mana should be food for thought as we pray for God to meet our needs. V. The leading us not into temptation motif is found in exodus. 5
Matthew 6:13 (KJV 1900) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen Exodus 13:17 (ESV) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." Application: VI. The deliverance from evil is an exodus motif. Matthew 6:13 (KJV 1900) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen Exodus 14:9 (ESV) The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Exodus 14:10 (ESV) When 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. Exodus 14:11 (ESV) They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Exodus 14:12 (ESV) Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. Exodus 14:13 (ESV) And 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. Exodus 14:27 (KJV 1900) And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 6
Exodus 14:28 (KJV 1900) And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. Exodus 14:29 (KJV 1900) But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Exodus 14:30 (KJV 1900) Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. Exodus 14:31 (KJV 1900) And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. VII. The glorious recognition of God s reign is an exodus motif. Matthew 6:13 (KJV 1900) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Exodus 15:1 (ESV) Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Exodus 15:2 (ESV) The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:3 (ESV) The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. Exodus 15:4 (ESV) Pharaoh s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. Exodus 15:5 (ESV) The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. Exodus 15:6 (ESV) Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. Exodus 15:7 (ESV) In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. Exodus 15:8 (ESV) At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. Exodus 15:9 (ESV) The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them. 7
Exodus 15:10 (ESV) You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Exodus 15:11 (ESV) Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Exodus 15:12 (ESV) You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. Exodus 15:13 (ESV) You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. Exodus 15:14 (ESV) The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Exodus 15:15 (ESV) Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Exodus 15:16 (ESV) Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. Exodus 15:17 (ESV) You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. Exodus 15:18 (ESV) The LORD will reign forever and ever. VIII. Conclusion: 8