Session 8: Exodus 20-40 (Law, Tabernacle, Stiff-necked)

If you desire an email of this session for ‘Thinking through the Bible’, send your request by email to carlsonpj@gmail.com. You may also request a full set of notes on the Pentateuch if you want to read more than this summary of the session presented on Sunday morning. Those who attend the sessions on Sunday mornings benefit the most by reading the Book of the Bible as if they were living at the time of the Book we are covering in the session.

REVIEW

“I AM”

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.

Suddenly my Lord was speaking, “My name is I AM.”

He paused, I waited. He continued.

“When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I Was.

When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I Will Be.

When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here.

“My name is I AM.”

Journey

No matter what the route from Egypt to Canaan, what is most important to the story is what is foretold in Genesis 15:14: “...your descendants shall come out with great possessions.” This gives reason to the promise in Exodus 13:18, 21: ‘God led the people… the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light...’ This is assured even further when God assured Israel through Moses in Exodus 23:20: “I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.”

Sharing:

·         God led Israel by visual things (cloud; pillar of fire – we’d complain it’s cloudy, and it’s too hot!); we don’t need these visual things because we can see the hand of God in life in the everyday things of life.

God led Israel into Amalekite territory, the descendants of Amalek, grandson of Esau. The first introduction we have of ‘Joshua’ is as a military leader, required to choose “some men” to “fight Amalek” (Exodus 17:9), and teach the nation that God gives the victory!

Calendar

The institution of the Passover began a New Year for Israel (Exodus 12:2): “This month shall be your beginning of months.” The Old Testament calendar has its roots in two things: the system of festivals and the agricultural cycle. The system of festivals, instituted by Moses, began with the “Passover,” which commemorated the Exodus for the nation of Israel from Egypt. Nearly all references to months are by number from this starting-point.

1.    Nisan (Abib) – Religious New Year	March/April	7.    Tishri (Ethanim) Civil New Year	Sept/Oct
2.    Iyyar (Ziv)	April/May	8.    Marchesvan (Bul)	Oct/Nov
3.    Sivan	May/June	9.    Kislev	Nov/Dec
4.    Tammuz	June/July	10.  Tebet	Dec/Jan
5.    Ab	July/Aug	11.  Shebat	Jan/Feb
6.    Elul	Aug/Sept	12.  Adar	Feb/March

Reminders

Yahweh insisted His people ‘remember’ – ‘keep in mind’; ‘do not forget’ – the way in which He freed them by celebrating the Passover in two more ways:

·         The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13:6): “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.” Why? Exodus 13:8: “You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.’” What’s more, Israel needed a reminder that “a strong hand has brought you out of Egypt” (v.9).

·         The Law of the Firstborn (Exodus 13:11-16): Firstborn of humans and cattle were sacred to Yahweh. Like the firstfruits of the harvest (Exodus 23:16; 34:22), the firstborn from the womb represented God’s claim to all. The Lord’s judgment on the firstborn in Egypt is the explanation for His claim on the firstborn in Israel, a claim made both as Creator and as Judge. The firstborn were spared only through the blood of the Passover lamb. Subsequent generations must also be redeemed, in ways they would later find out. Israel needed a reminder of the price they paid for their freedom from bondage in Egypt.

Was it the firstfruits of the harvest that Cain offered?

Sharing:

·         The issue with Cain’s offering seems to be his attitude.

·         Genesis 4:5 seems to indicate that Cain and his offering are not accepted by God. Verse 7 says that if Cain does well he will be accepted, but the question remains whether it was Cain’s attitude that God rejected him and his offering, or was it both his attitude and offering.

·         It is important to remember that Cain and Abel brought offerings, which were tributes to God, and not sacrifices for sin. It specifically states that Abel brought of the firstborn, whereas Cain simply brought an offering of the fruit of the ground.

·         It seems that it was not so much what was brought, but the attitude of their hearts.

·         Maybe Cain was unhappy with Abel before the offering, so he presented his offering with a wrong attitude.

·         It is interesting to look back in the story where we have already lived (in this case it is in Genesis) and see if there is further development of the story as we progress into other Books. This is why we considered the firstfruits of the harvest in Genesis while thinking about them in Exodus 23.

·         Is there any connection between Cain and Abel’s offerings and the shedding of blood for the coats of skin (Genesis 3:21) to clothe Adam and Eve? Blood had to be shed to provide this covering.

Why is it so difficult to remember what God has done for us?

Sharing:

·         We are sheep and just go about our business.

·         If God made us amenable to His word, it would be too easy - it doesn’t take living by faith.

·         We prefer to try and do things ourselves without recognizing God.

·         We depend upon ourselves.

·         Pride is our problem!

·         We take personal credit for what we accomplish, instead of attributing it to God.

·         We take things for granted, so need reminding what God has done.

·         Part of our walk with God is to keep remembering where we are with God.

·         We have so much information in our culture but that does not tell us how to live. We think we have answers just because we have a lot of information. God tells us how to use it. We easily use Scripture as information instead of seeing it as part of our relationship with God. It is more than just remembering; it involves relating.

·         Acquiring information is not enough; we are to do something with it. The blessing comes in the ‘doing’.

·         It was important for the Israelites to tell their sons because it needed to be passed on to us and all those in between.

COMMUNITY LIVING

Commands

We have already learned that community is complex and difficult. A community needs nurturing and guidance. The point of the exodus is not freedom from bondage so that Israel would be free to take care of themselves, but freedom to serve Yahweh. God instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:16: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me…” Pharaoh’s servants even got the message, so they said to their king in Exodus 10:7: “Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God.” Pharaoh even gave in four times, starting out by saying in Exodus 10:8: “Go, serve the Lord your God.” It didn’t take long for Israel to reveal that they hadn’t yet understood they were freed from bondage, not for God to serve them, but for them to serve God. With the Egyptian chariots behind them, and the shores of the Red sea in front of them, they fired Moses as their leader: “Let us alone.” Why? “…that we may serve the Egyptians” (Exodus 14:12). After their deliverance, Exodus 14:31 says: ‘Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.’

Sharing:

·         Do fear and respect go hand in hand? It depends upon the relationship.

·         Maybe it has to do with a fear of being hurt, or a fear because of respect.

·         We can rightfully be afraid of what God can do when we disobey.

·         There can be fear of being hurt, and fear of righteous anger, which is scarier!

·         There are different types of fear: fear of cruelty and fear of righteous punishment.

·         The commands of God are given, not for bondage, but rather to assure us how to live right.

Israel needed provision for God’s terms for service, and this came in the form of “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7), which included the ‘Ten Commandments’, and is followed by a list of regulations. It is the oldest record we have of Jewish law. It consists of ‘judgments’ (case-laws, statutes, straight-forward commands). It has distinctive features from the other ancient law-codes:

·         The whole code rests on the authority of God, not an earthly king.

·         There is no division between civil and religious law. In the Bible legal, moral, and religious laws are inseparable, showing God’s concern for life as a whole.

·         There is one law for all, whatever a person’s status. Regulations protecting the weak and helpless (slaves, orphans, widows, foreigners) are particularly noticeable.

·         A high view of human life is demonstrated by fixed, limited penalties – one crime means one punishment.

This summary of Exodus 20-23 fills in the details of the ‘Ten Commandments’:

·         General instructions about worship (20:22-26).

·         Civil laws (21:1-23:13): the right of slaves (21:1-11); manslaughter and injury to human life (21:12-32); injury, theft, and damage to property (21:33-22:15); social and religious obligations (22:16-31); justice and human rights (23:1-13).

·         Laws for the three main feasts: Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Harvest (23:14-19).

·         God’s undertakings for His obedient people (23:20-33).

God’s way is to use servants. The servant enters into what has already been decided by the Master. The servant doesn’t know the whole story, doesn’t know the end from the beginning. All the servant needs to know is the desires of his Master, even thought there is far more going on, both good and evil, than he has any knowledge about. A good servant is content to trust and obey and honor the sovereign Yahweh who is always present.

Giving of the Law

The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was accompanied by Yahweh’s presence in thunder, fire, earthquake, and lightning. Exodus 20:20 explains why: “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” The law was given, not to make Israel sinners, but to deal with their sins according to God’s requirements.

The first four commands concern Israel’s relationship to God, the remaining six concern their relationship to one another. The commandments show God’s concern for the whole of life. He sets out standards for governing:

·         Family relationships

·         Regard for human life

·         Sexual purity

·         Property

·         Speech

·         Thought

These Ten Commandments were also known as the ‘ten words’. They are also known as the ‘Decalogue’ – ‘the ten sayings’. In form, they follow the standard pattern of Near Eastern treaties. Refer to Exodus 20:2-17:

·         The title identifies the author of the covenant: “I am the Lord your God.”

·         The historical prologue describes the past relations of the two parties: I “brought you out of the house of bondage.”

·         Obligations imposed on the vassal (party involved): accompanied by ‘blessings’ – “You shall have no other gods before Me” (continues through verse 17); ‘cursings’ “visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children...”

Sharing:

·         Israel broke the treaty even while it was being written!

·         They were used to a visual god; now they were to have none of them.

·         These are commandments; not suggestions.

·         It’s easy to think it was boring to be an Israelite; instead of being a bunch of boring laws it’s God saying, “I want to be with you.” He would have had to destroy them if He hadn’t done it His way.

·         It’s easy to be hard on the Israelites, but they were just beginning on a journey of faith. We would probably do the same as we struggle on our own journey of faith.

While reading the story you will notice twelve forbidden things in the Law and twelve forbidden things punishable by death. All of them are intended to nurture and guide the nation, and keep them from sin. Remember the nation’s response in Exodus 24:7 (WEB) to these regulations: “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and be obedient.” Do we have good intentions when we read and think about God’s Word? The blood sprinkled on the people puts the covenant into effect, and it signifies cleansing from sin, which allows the people to enter the covenant relation, with death being the penalty for breaking it. Israel concluded with a meal as the heart of fellowship in the Near East: they ate and drank (Exodus 24:11).

Sharing:

• God’s laws are for our best interest and are not just a set of legalistic rules.
• We know exactly what to do so that we are never left wondering.
• Instead of laws to ruin life, God’s laws enable us to be together with God.
• Praying the ‘Ten Commandments’ gives us a new view on how they relate to us.

Someone suggested God continued with the commandments, and they read something like this:

The 11th through 20th Commandments

11. Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.

12. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.

13. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one has yet succeeded in accomplishing this.

14. Thou shalt handle only one problem at a time, and leave the others to the Lord until their turn comes up.

15. Thou shalt not take troubles to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.

16. Thou shalt not try to carry the problems of the world on your shoulders, for nobody (except for One) has a back that is broad enough.

17. Thou shalt be a good listener, for God often speaks to us through the mouths of others.

18. Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday; for good or ill, it is forever gone. Live in the now and rejoice in it.

19. Thou shalt firmly dismiss feelings of frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will interfere with positive action.

20. Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the smallest, for our biggest blessings are composed of many small ones.

“The Law was broken in the people’s hearts before it was broken by Moses’ hand” (Henrietta C. Mears).

The Tabernacle

The tabernacle served as a meeting place between God and men, and was thus known as the ‘tent of meeting’ (Exodus 35:21). This was no small task, for having God in close proximity was a very dangerous thing. When Moses pleaded with God to dwell in the midst of His people (Exodus 34:9), God warned him in Exodus 33:5 that this could prove fatal to such a sinful people: “Say to the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. I could come up into your midst in one moment and consume you.” The tabernacle solved the problem of having a holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful people.

The solution includes two provisions:

·         Portability: God had revealed Himself to His people from atop Mt. Sinai. When the people left Sinai for the promised land of Canaan, they would need some portable place for God’s presence to be manifested. Since the tabernacle was a tent, the problem of portability was solved.

·         Communion: The tent curtains, and especially the thick veil, served as a separator, a dividing barrier, between God and the people. Beyond this, the tabernacle was sanctified and set apart as a holy place. This spared the people from an outbreak from God which would have destroyed them. Also, the tabernacle was a place of sacrifice, so that the sins of the Israelites could be atoned for. While the solution was not permanent, it did facilitate communion between God and His people.

The excellence of the tabernacle, both in its materials and its workmanship, was a reflection of the holy God: “It shall be to you holy for the Lord” (Exodus 30:37). The pattern of the tabernacle came from God: “According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Exodus 25:9). Over and over in the account of how the tabernacle is to be made, this phrase appears: “And they shall make…” (e.g. Exodus 25:10).

The detailed description of the tabernacle sums up the truth that God intends His people to worship Him according to His will and not their own pleasures and traditions. Every so often God’s Story describes how Yahweh specifically chooses someone to fulfill His tasks. In Genesis 41:38 the Pharaoh of that time recognized Joseph, and said to his servants: “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” In preparation for the construction of the tabernacle, Exodus 31:1-2 says Yahweh filled “Bezalel… with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design” the tabernacle. All of the people would benefit from the tabernacle, and thus all were permitted to participate in its construction, either by their donations of materials, or of skilled labor, or both.

Those chosen as priests are reminded by their garments that they served the holy God. It says in Exodus 28:36 (WEB) that Aaron was required to wear a plate of pure gold with the engraving: ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ The priests were warned in the proper administration of their office “lest they die” (Exodus 30:21). God was serious about moving into the neighborhood to dwell with His people: “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God” (Exodus 29:45). His purpose was to live among them continuously, so he says that “when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:8). The tabernacle is not conceived of as a temporary measure for a limited time, but one in which the permanent priesthood of Aaron serves throughout all their generation.

Sharing:

·         The tabernacle was the solution to having a holy God dwell in the midst of sinful people.

·         The priests were made aware that they were to serve God according to His requirements ‘lest they die’. How seriously do we take worship?

How can we improve our ‘lifestyle worship’?

Sharing:

·         We seem to be very casual in our worship of God.

·         We should be working toward very little separation between how we are when we gather together for public worship and the rest of the week.

·         We should have relationships during the week to encourage each other. Hang out together during the week to be involved in each other’s lives.

·         We should pray for more hunger for a relationship with God so that we thirst for the Lord. We can then respond to that God-given hunger through worship. We need to enjoy our time with God.

·         Remember the day of your salvation.

·         How we act during our public worship time is a reflection of our life of worship.

·         We should not separate life from worship.

·         We should study the Bible to know God’s requirements for worship.

·         The problem of fitting in time for reading the Bible needs to be solved.

·         We need accountability with one another to keep us on track in our worship. When in relationship we are being watched!

·         When we gather for our public meetings we should consider the entire time together as worship as God is revealing more of Himself to us through His written Word.

·         It involves relationship. I remember after my mother’s death that I was concerned that she was watching me! I needed to remember that God was watching me!

A Stiff-Necked People

Moses received the pattern of the tabernacle during his forty days on Mt. Sinai. The actual building of the tabernacle was temporarily suspended because of Israel’s attempt to worship God through an image of an Egyptian god in the form of a golden calf. This was only six weeks after Israel made a solemn covenant-pledge with Yahweh. They struggled with a spiritual worship of God, so inclined their hearts towards the idolatry they were accustomed to in Egypt. Aaron showed his weakness in yielding to their demand so that when Moses asked him how the molded calf came about, he replied that he cast gold into the fire, “and out came this calf” (Exodus 32:24, NIV)!

What was the attraction to a golden calf?

Sharing:

·         People went back to what they knew – the strongest animal in Egypt was the greatest help to them. It’s like putting our trust in money as the strongest thing to us.

·         They sought familiar things to them to trust in. We continue in the same way when we make things and celebrities our ‘idols’.

·         Maybe the people wondered where Moses was. The story shows that they were afraid when God spoke, so maybe Moses was dead!

This creates a question many ask as God and Moses interact…

Does God Change His Mind?

The Lord said to Moses in Exodus 32:10 (NLT): “...leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Moses tried to pacify God in Exodus 32:11(NLT): “Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!” The Lord responded in Exodus 32:14 (NLT): ‘So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.’

This is not the first time in Scripture that we have an account of God apparently changing His mind. You may recall God’s tragic statement during the time of Noah in Genesis 6:7: ‘And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.’

The word ‘sorry’ in Genesis 6:6 and the word ‘relent’ in Exodus 32:14 are the same in the Hebrew. It sometimes speaks of God ‘repenting’. When applied to God, it is always in the context of when man changed. God is able to condition His response on how humans change, which He already knew would happen. When the Scriptures use words such as ‘repent’ in relation to God, as one Bible Dictionary (New Unger’s) says, it is ‘an accommodation of language to express the truth… that God acts, and His actions vary with reference to different ends’. It is the perfection of God that He changes not in character, will, purpose, or aim. God ‘changes His mind’ with regard to the punishment or blessing appropriate to the situation. He changes the revelation of His will. He first told Moses that He was going to destroy Israel (Exodus 32:10). Then He revealed that He was not going to destroy Israel due to the intercession of Moses (verse 14). This is also demonstrated when God told Abraham to offer his son Isaac. Genesis 22:2 and 12 says: “Take now your son… Isaac… and offer him there as a burnt offering… Do not lay your hand on the lad.” God’s revealed will first commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. Then as he lifted the knife, God revealed that he was not to kill his son, for God revealed His purpose.

In all of these incidents, there are faithful men of God! Noah (Genesis 6:8 – found grace in the eyes of the Lord); Abraham (Genesis 22:18 – “obeyed My voice”); Moses (Exodus 32:26 – on the Lord’s side). God responded with mercy! What attributes of God trouble us the most?

Sharing:

·         I thought God was harsher when I was 25! Now I’ve changed, so it is not God who has changed but my perspective of God.

·         People were not hearing God. He wasn’t changing His mind; they were just not listening to Him.

·         Think of God as merely ‘postponing’ His judgment because of His mercy.

·         The word ‘relent’ indicates a less harsh punishment, so God still carried out what He said He would.

·         God does not punish like we deserve, or we wouldn’t be here! There would only be a smoking crater left!

·         God is not omniscient if He changes His mind.

·         When I see God as ‘Father’ it is like going to Him for punishment or mercy.

·         God is not changing His mind but is testing us to see if we are truly sorry.

·         Some of God’s attributes are mercy, justice, ‘who listens’, powerful, Father (we can tell Him what we have done).

In preparation for our next session, read through Leviticus and think about God’s requirements for worship.

Session 7: Exodus 1-19 (Passover; Journey to Sinai)

If you desire a copy of our session for ‘Thinking through the Bible’ on Sunday mornings, send your request by email to carlsonpj@gmail.com. This blog includes all of what Paul presented, as well as what others shared during the session. If you are teaching this to others, you may want to read the full set of notes available to you in order to give your students more guidelines.

PASSOVER

Israel needed to continually remember God’s protection and provision for His people. He does this through a “Passover Lamb” (Exodus 12:21). The flat unleavened bread recalled the haste of their departure, and the bitter herbs reminded them of all their suffering in Egypt. But most important is the lamb, which is the clearest picture for Israel of the coming “Seed” (Genesis 3:15). This Seed would come through the line of Shem (Genesis 9:26), the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:15), the line of Isaac (Genesis 26:24), the line of Jacob (Genesis 28:14), and then the line of Judah (Genesis 49:10).

Exodus 12 describes the event of the Passover:

1. Take the lamb (v.3): It was not the spotlessness of the living lamb that delivered them, but the blood of the slain lamb.
2. Sprinkle the blood (v.7): It was not enough to slay the lamb. The blood must be applied.
3. Eat the lamb (v.8): After applying the shed blood, nourishment came.
4. With unleavened bread (v.8): Leaven (yeast) is often an example of sin, which is dealt with through the shedding of blood.
5. Bitter herbs (v.8): There is the true bitterness of sin before deliverance.
6. Roasted in fire (vs.9-10): There was feasting on the lamb after it passed through fire, with nothing to be left over. Deliverance is complete.
7. Its legs and its entrails (v.9): No bone was broken on the lamb. Deliverance is not through broken bones, but only through shed blood.
8. Eat it in haste (v.11): Provision for the journey was prepared in advance. Everything is ready once the blood is shed and applied.

Some shared: The Passover was an ‘attention-getter’ for Israel.

The ‘lamb’ is not a new concept for Israel. We are introduced to a lamb for sacrifice with Abraham and Abel in Genesis. The lamb is needed repeatedly. It is representative of the coming ‘Seed’, which is first mentioned in Genesis 3:15 to the serpent.

The reason why Israel was to offer a lamb is because God told them to; that is all they needed to know at that point. It was necessary to select the lamb on the tenth day and keep it until the fourteenth day in order to determine if it was without defect. I wonder if it could have become a ‘pet’ to the family. The instructions for the Passover are given as a matter of fact, which means that Israel was probably acquainted with the process for offering sacrifices to God. To slaughter the lamb and sprinkle its blood was not a neat and tidy process – it was a mess that needed to be cleaned up, and very likely a sorrowful time.

The story does not necessarily give us any indication that Israel understood all the implications of what was going on at the time of the Passover. The event would be told later to generation after generation.

Some wondered if any of the Egyptians participated in the Passover. Some clues in the story that could allow for God-fearing Egyptians to participate are: the reference to the ‘mixed multitude’ (Exodus 12:38) that accompanied Israel in the exodus; and also God’s instruction to Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:48: “And when a stranger [anyone who isn’t an Israelite, CEV] dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the Lord.”

The Egyptians were familiar with those in Israel who feared their God: “…the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them…” (Exodus 1:17). There is no indication in the story that Israel offered sacrifices in Egypt; rather it seems to suggest the opposite in Exodus 8:25-26: Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.” And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination [be detestable, NIV] of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.” Egyptians deified the animals customarily sacrificed by the Israelites.

JOURNEY TO SINAI

There are two maps that are of interest to the exodus from Egypt to the Canaan border:

Traditionally, scholars have shown the crossing of the Red Sea through the Gulf of Suez, and then Israel journeys into the Sinai Peninsula to Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb) at the base.

Recent archaeological discoveries have the crossing of the Red Sea at the base of the Gulf of Aqaba, with Mt. Sinai in the Land of Midian.

Whatever the path, Israel was to follow Yahweh, and they struggled to learn this in their journey of faith.

There are no less than 600,000 Israelite men of military age, plus women, children and some others known as a mixed multitude that leaves Egypt. But after 400 years in Egypt it may be easy to take a Hebrew out of Egypt, but it is not easy to take Egypt out of a Hebrew!

God preserved the nation from facing the Philistines by steering them clear of the coast, which would have been the shortest route, and instead took them through the desert. They needed more tests on their journey of faith.

Red Sea

Father: “What did you learn in Sunday School this morning?”

Son: “We learned about how Moses went behind enemy lines to rescue the Jews from the Egyptians. Moses ordered the engineers to build a pontoon bridge. Then, after the people crossed, he sent bombers back to blow up the bridge and the Egyptian tanks that were following them. And then...”

Father: “Hold on, son! Did your teacher really tell it like that?”

Son: “No, but if I told you what he said you would never believe it!”

Faith not tested is not faith, and this is shown by the way Israel reacted to being caught between sea and mountains with water before them and Pharaoh behind them. Their response: panic. As God drives back the waters so Israel can cross in safety, and as He sends the wall of water rushing down upon Pharaoh’s forces, the truth of the Lord’s words taught Israel a lesson: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14). Some suggested that this means: “Shut your mouth”; “Be calm”; “Be still”. It basically suggests, like us, that they did not appreciate what the Lord does for us.

Moses and Israel broke out in a song to the Lord for the victory over the enemy. It was a song recognizing the Lord of my salvation.

Dependence

God’s designed method of providing for the Israelites taught them obedience and daily dependence upon Him. They chose rather to complain, which was an invitation to God’s divine judgment. Moses reminded the people that even though he hears their complaints, the Lord also hears them and He cares for them personally: “Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:8).

Some shared: Complaining doesn’t accomplish anything; it is vain; it is contagious; it shows we don’t see things like God does. At times of complaining it is better to stop and see how God sees things. Rather than complain about cold weather, wear warm clothes! Complaining shows a lack of trust; our eyes are off the good things God is doing. There are times that instead of complaining we are simply to get on with living, as Exodus 14:15 shows: And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” Some translate this as: “get moving” (NLT); “move on” (NIV). Turning to the Lord and reminding Him of His promises is not necessarily complaining.

God’s mercy is specifically demonstrated when Moses instructed Aaron to say to Israel in Exodus 16:9: “Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.” Then the children of Israel looked toward the wilderness and saw the glory of the Lord that appeared in the cloud. And then the Lord spoke to Moses in Exodus 16:12: “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”

What was the reason for God’s daily provision to Israel? What was Israel’s response? It is described when they became thirsty in Exodus 17:3: …the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” How would it feel to be in the company of complaining people who forget the mercy and provision of the Lord?

Some shared: Even though they complained, God still used Israel; He doesn’t give up on them. God indulged the complaining, but He still required obedience.

Someone asked if facing a struggle and talking about it is necessarily complaining. It suggested that our attitude in hardships is crucial. It is one thing to fail seeing God’s hand while discussing our hardships, and acknowledging God in our struggles.

It had to be quite an undertaking to take two to three million people and livestock into the wilderness and care for them. Someone estimated that the daily requirement would take 75 semi-trucks for food and 1,200 tankers for water; and that doesn’t include provision for their livestock.

When Israel thirsted, they blamed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt.

God’s Story of His continual provision and the people continual testing their God, leads us into the second natural division of Exodus: chapters 20-40 show us God’s control in freedom.

Community

In preparation for how God guides Israel in their freedom, we need to think about Israel’s new community life. In Exodus 6:7 God told Moses to tell Israel: “I will take you as my people.” Bringing people into community takes quite some doing. If this community is left to itself, it will continue in the pattern already evident in the beginnings of the exodus from bondage: grumbling, chastised leaders, testing God, and longing for the ‘good ole’ days’ where at least they could taste their food! The problem is that when a community is left to itself, slavery becomes attractive because there is no need to think; just follow the rest, since chains can look like freedom!

Community is complex and difficult. Living in community as the people of God is basically messy. Look at Israel: the congregation consisted of many people of various moods, ideas, needs, experiences, desires and disappointments, blessings and losses. Exodus 6:7 goes on to show that the community of Israel needed to “know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens…” This congregation needed nurturing and guidance. It would need directions for the way to live and what to believe. What if you kill a person but didn’t mean to? What if you get in a fight with your slave and knock his or her tooth out? What if you borrow a donkey and it gets injured or dies? What’s the penalty for a man who seduces a virgin? How old must a newborn goat be before it can be offered as a sacrifice? What’s the recipe for how much flour you use in baking bread for the tabernacle? What is your responsibility regarding your relatives who have fallen on hard times? If a man is jealous of his wife, though he has no evidence of her unfaithfulness, what is he to do? In a judicial case if you can’t decide whether it is manslaughter or murder, what do you do? Read on to find out from God’s Story what the other issues of life are in a community that belongs to God.

Some shared: “I AM” shows how God meets every need. He meets every single need; He is everything. There is no need for dozens of gods, like all the gods of Egypt that God took on. Are we content to embrace God as long as we can keep our other ‘gods’? Don’t we do the same thing as Israel did when they connected with the gods of Egypt and the God of Israel?

There is a difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. God provided for the needs of Israel; they complained when their needs were not attended to.

Israel’s new-found freedom was not a freedom to do what they wanted but rather a freedom to worship and serve God. We easily give up freedom for ‘so-called’ security.

Israel did not have the control of supplying their needs in Egypt. They simply worked under bondage for their food. After the exodus they had to take personal responsibility in really trusting God. Like them, we want to see where the food is coming from.

God was not providing Israel with freedom to have a reckless faith, but to know what they needed to do to trust Him. As Israel, we are required to do things God’s way and not our way.

God’s rules were not given to place Israel under bondage, but to provide freedom to serve God. There would be no question about how to do that because God gave the rules that were necessary to serve Him without guesswork. We should not look at God’s ‘laws’ as burdensome.

God acts on His promises when He attends to our needs.

In preparation for our next session, read Exodus 20-40 and think about God’s Story as it relates to the requirements for living in a community belonging to God.

Session 6: Exodus 1-19 (Moses, Pharaoh, Plagues)

If you desire a full summary of our session for ‘Thinking through the Bible’ on Sunday mornings, send your request by email to carlsonpj@gmail.com. This blog is a summary of what Paul presented, as well as what others shared during the session. If you are teaching this to others, you may want to read the full set of notes available to you in order to give your students more guidelines.

One evening, my five-year-old daughter and I read a Bible story together. When we finished, I quizzed her about it. "What was Abraham's name before God changed it?"

I asked. She looked puzzled, and then offered, "Lincoln?"

INTRODUCTION

Reminder: ‘Read the Book!’ The meaning is in the Book, not in the information in or about the Book. In our Bible, ‘story’ is the primary verbal means for bringing God’s Word to us. Our preference is for information over story because it is impersonal. This allows us to take things into our own hands and take charge of how we will live our lives. But we don’t live our lives by information; we live in relationship, and the story we are reading shows us how we fit into God’s Story. Beware of becoming a ‘victim of the paralysis of analysis’ as you read the story. You can do your close examination in detail at another time. Enjoy ‘living’ in the Book we are reading.

The next ‘chapter’ in the story we are reading and thinking through is ‘Exodus’. If you are following the chronological chart, it shows Israel as a household nearing the end of 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Nearly 300 years have elapsed since the death of Joseph. Genesis 50:26 reads: So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

‘Exodus’ means ‘exit’ or ‘way out’. It has to do with ‘leaving’; a departure; it is used of a large group leaving a certain place. Without Genesis, the book of Exodus has no meaning. It begins with the word ‘Now’, which can also be translated as ‘And these’. ‘And these are the names’ means it is a continuation. ‘And’ is a conjunction; a ‘connecting’ word. God’s Story is just continuing. The story in Genesis gives attributes of God, such as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, merciful, forgiving… These are revealed in His acts. There are also some titles given to God: God told Abraham, “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1). God assured Abraham that He was his Sovereign, his King, as the source of his reward; Hagar called the Lord “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees” (Genesis 16:13); on Mount Moriah Abraham experiences the Lord’s deliverance, so names the place “The-Lord-Will-Provide” (Genesis 22:14), thus honoring his God as ‘Jehovah Jireh’, just as he earlier said to Isaac, “God will provide for Himself the lamb…” (Genesis 22:8). What are some of the acts of God in Genesis that to you describe God’s attributes?

Some shared: God ‘feels’: He felt sorrow at the flood; He is the ‘Provision’ for Abraham, Isaac and Noah. The reference to God as a ‘shield’ gives the thought of a ‘hedge’ of protection. When we think of ‘the-God-Who-Sees’ it makes us trust Him. He ‘set apart’ a chosen people. When Hagar encountered Yahweh all alone in the desert, she discovered that He was not just the God of Abraham. We learn through God’s encounters with Abraham that Yahweh will provide, and it’s never too late to believe that He will provide.

EXODUS 1-19

God’s Story related in Exodus easily falls into two main sections: God’s Road to Freedom (chs. 1-19); God’s Control in Freedom (chs. 20-40). In our Session 6, we covered Exodus chapters 1-11: Moses, Pharaoh, Plagues. We will complete the first main section of Exodus in our next session (Passover), and then continue into section two (chs. 20-40).

MOSES

In Egypt God’s people were hatched, and later enslaved. And God went to Egypt to fetch them out.  A new character enters the story: Moses, who is introduced as a newborn son hidden for three months. Discovered by an Egyptian princess in an ark of bulrushes floating among the reeds in the Nile River, she gives him a Semitic name that literally means ‘Drawn Out’.

Someone shared: It is interesting to think about the fact that with the princess caring for Moses, Pharaoh was the one who ended up paying for Israel’s deliverer!

Before he reached forty, Moses became a murderer when he came upon an Egyptian and an Israelite fighting. Moses’ effort to deliver an Israelite from oppression proves vain when he seeks to be a judge of Israel, as Exodus 2:14 points out: “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” Realizing that he had been seen killing the Egyptian, Moses fled to Midian, on the east of the Red Sea in what is now Saudi Arabia. It was a radical change of life: from a palace to a desert. Enslavement was easy; liberation was hard. He married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and looked after his flocks. He named his son ‘Gershom’, meaning ‘Stranger There’, for he had not forgotten his Egyptian home. The name of Moses’ son shows that Moses knew he didn’t belong in Midian.

And then God met Moses attending the flocks at Mount Horeb. God spoke to him out of a bush, burning but not burning up, and identified Himself: “I am the God of your father – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). God told Moses that he is to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites to Canaan. Moses protested, wanting to know how he would answer the people when they wanted to know the name of the God of their fathers who sent him. God answered: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). In our modern western world, a person’s name can be merely an identifying label; it does not reveal anything about the person. Biblical names have their background in the widespread tradition that the personal name gives significant information about the one who bears it. God said to Moses, “…you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you’… ‘Yahweh, 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…’” (Exodus 3:15, WEB). This reference to ‘name’ means God Himself as He has revealed Himself by word and deed. When God first answered Moses He said “I AM WHO I AM,” then shortened it to “I AM.” The name ‘Yahweh’ sounds like “I AM” in Hebrew, and God finally called Himself “Yahweh, the God of your fathers.” This name in all its forms proclaims His eternal, self-sustaining, self-determining, sovereign reality. The bush that was not consumed was God’s illustration of His own inexhaustible life. This was God’s way of telling His people that they should always think of Him as the living, reigning, powerful King that the burning bush showed Him to be. What would it be like to watch Moses as he experienced the presence of God through a burning bush? What was Moses’ reaction?

Some shared: Moses tries to prove that he’s not qualified. ‘Send someone else.’ ‘Here am I Lord, send Aaron!’ Moses may very well have feared the Egyptian leaders since someone might remember that he was accused as a murderer. This is the first time we see Moses encounter the true God. He’s just starting to ‘figure God out’. He’s getting to know who God is as Yahweh identifies Himself in the burning bush. He did not learn humility while in Egypt for forty years; so he thought he could convince God that he was not qualified. Maybe Moses feared the ‘attorney general’ of Egypt if he returned to the land where he murdered someone. Moses does not seem afraid when he meets God for the first time. When Moses objected, it is the first recorded time that God was angry. Moses was still controlled by fear when he thought of returning to Egypt; his faith was still being strengthened through tests. As with Moses, our tests are between ‘me and God’! In hardening Pharaoh’s heart, it could be that God was letting Moses know that it was going to be a very difficult task but He would still be with him. The “I AM” reminds us that it is not always easy to come to the point of obedience – we need to pass the ‘test’.

All of Moses’ objections were met by God’s sovereign plan:

·         “Who am I?” is met with “I will be with you.”

·         “What shall I say?” is met with “Go and gather the elders of Israel, and say… Yahweh… appeared to me, saying, ‘I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt… and I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt.’”

·         “Suppose they will not believe me?” is met with three signs showing God’s control over creation.

·         “I am slow of speech” is met with “I will be with your mouth.”

·         “Please send someone else” is met with “What about Aaron? I will help both of you to speak.”

In all of these, God is showing Moses that He has him covered!

PHARAOH

Israel didn’t seek God; God sought them. They didn’t understand their problem; God did. They couldn’t fix it; He could. And he started with a stubborn Pharaoh. Was it fair for God to tell Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21)? To be true to the development of the story, we cannot take our focus from what God is doing, to what we may think man deserves. God always gives fair warning before exercising His judgment. So far in the story, Pharaoh refused to accept the witness of God when he sought to destroy the Hebrew male infants. He had the witness of the Hebrew midwives who feared God (Exodus 1:21). Nowhere does the story try to justify God’s decision to harden Pharaoh’s heart; it simply states it. And it is simply for us to accept that God is merciful, longsuffering, forgiving, just, holy, and sovereign in relating to His creation. This is God’s Story, and this comes out very plainly in Exodus 9:15-17 at the seventh plague, where the Lord said to Pharaoh through Moses: “Now if I had… struck you… then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. As yet you exalt yourself…” There is nothing stopping the sovereign God from letting a man who hardened his heart against God become what he himself chose to be. In fact, at the end of the seventh plague, in Exodus 9:27 Pharaoh acknowledged: “I have sinned this time.” Moses saw through this false repentance and responded in verse 30: “I know that you will not yet fear the Lord God.” “Not yet” makes it sound to me that Moses knew Pharaoh had a fair chance! Why didn’t Moses object to God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? Does he know something about God that we miss when we question God’s rights? How accepting are we of God’s attributes that expose our unbelief? Have any of us been kept from a witness of those who fear God?

Some shared: When we remove our focus from God in the story, we get a ‘Pharaoh syndrome’ and blame God for what is going on in our lives. It’s easy to look at Pharaoh and say it’s not fair, but the Hebrews treated God unfairly. They didn’t deserve God’s salvation anymore than Pharaoh did. God allowed the start of Israel’s destruction, but He was also preparing Moses to deliver them. When is life fair? But we know that God is just. We need to see the whole story to take in the significance of Pharaoh’s hardened heart. Pharaoh was predictable, and God knew Pharaoh. God never exercised judgment without warning. The story is about God and how His power is demonstrated. The story never justified the hardened heart. God reveals something – Pharaoh’s hard heart – and then He proves it! It looks like Pharaoh almost enjoyed having his heart hardened. Pharaoh wanted signs and it only hardened his heart. God confirmed what was already in Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh blamed Moses and not God! He associates all the things that happened with Moses rather than God. When God gave signs and wonders, it hardened Pharaoh’s heart even more, whereas it made the Hebrew leaders believe Yahweh all the more.

We paused during our session to reflect upon the God who revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush that never burned up. We know that He has revealed Himself to us through His Word, and for this we are so grateful that we wanted to take time to celebrate the Lord’s Table together.

We will continue with God’s Story in Exodus in our next session, beginning with the significant encounter Israel had with Yahweh during the Passover.