Exodus-Introduction
This week I’m introducing a new series that we will be in for quite some time. Last spring and summer I completed an epic study on Exodus and it has probably been my favorite study of all time! I’m so excited to write about it some of what I’ve gleaned and share it with you. This post is to share some information about Exodus as a whole so the sections you read each week have more context.
In a broad sense, Exodus is God’s people leaving Egypt after 430 years of slavery. To best understand it, you have to look at the larger storyline of books surrounding it. Exodus is the 2nd book of the bible and included in the Pentateuch, five books of history that read like a series. Genesis, which comes before, is the story of individuals, where Exodus covers the story of a nation. The next three books, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, expand on Exodus by covering more covenant instructions, the journey toward the promised land, and the reaffirmed covenant before entering in. These five books cover history from creation to the death of Moses.
In Exodus, God develops a national identity for Israel and it shows how He uniquely makes them His people. It’s been called the gospel of the New Testament, because God saves His people in a mighty way. Though we learn the story of Israel’s exit from slavery and other key events found in their history, we also get a view of the majesty and power of God. A challenging feature of this book is that multiple genres are found within the book. Exodus is most often a historical narrative, but also contains sections of legal and architectural writing (that probably often get glazed over during those daily reading plans). In these sections, life application isn’t easy to glean. As you can probably guess, those tough sections produced the rich times of insight for me into the character and leadership of God. Though it is challenging, Exodus also has all the markings of a good story—a villain (Pharaoh), a hero (Moses), disasters (plagues), deliverance (Red Sea), a journey (into the wilderness), a mountaintop (the 10 commandments) and a grand finale (God’s presence filling the temple).
Content regarding the following themes are what you can expect in the book as you read along and in my blog posts as I share what I learned from Exodus:
-God delivers us from our bondage
-God is covenantal, He values relationship and establishes His people
-God makes Himself known in different ways and draw people to Himself
-God is holy and should be approached with reverence
-God is able to fulfill His promises despite opposition
I hope your hearts are filled with hope as you see Christ foreshadowed in Exodus. There are many metaphors that describe our contemporary faith-journey! Baptism, covenant, Passover, manna, the promised land…God blesses this nation in the midst of the godless nations around them as they live before God in the world. His presence shows up when they need reassurance-in the bush, in the column of fire, God dwelt in the midst of His people. The Israelites and in constant need of grace as they break the covenant and their mediator Moses needs to continually reconcile them to God. How much greater is the mediator Christ, who by once sacrifice for all, justifies us to God!
Above all, Exodus is an echo of our Christian life-we are called to God, beset with sin, and then delivered. We then begin a journey with God where He instills in us His ways, teaching us how to worship Him--though we often fall short. God through Christ restores the relationship and ultimately dwells with us in the Spirit.
Excited to have you along as we consider how this great book can grow us into the house He’s building!
-Rayna
For notifications of new posts, video devotionals, and scripture images follow me on Instagram @House_Youre_Building!
Comments