The book of Exodus is the powerful, dramatic, and true story of God working salvation. That is God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In the case of Exodus, salvation doesn’t come in some abstract truth or definition or ponderings of theologians, but salvation comes as a story with a plot and characters.
Of course, God is the main character. But God also uses humans in the process.
Moses is one such human. The beginning of Exodus introduced the infant Moses, who was born at a time when Pharaoh had commanded that all Hebrew boys be killed at birth. But Moses’ mother feared God and refused to comply. So, she set Moses in a basket and released him down the Nile, where he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who then raised Moses.
Eventually, Moses grew up and seeing the plight of his people, grew angry and murdered an Egyptian before fleeing to Midian, where we are re-introduced to Moses the shepherd. One day, while he’s watching the flocks, he sees a burning bush. And there, God tells Moses that He has heard the cries of His people. And God calls Moses to return to Egypt and set his people free.
The book of Exodus then jumps straight into the story of the exodus, which includes the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. And the result is that God’s people, the Hebrews, are set free from slavery and invited into a new life of freedom.
It’s the story that becomes the defining story of the nation of Israel. It’s a story they will tell and re-tell year after year as a reminder of what God did for them.
But you might be surprised to know that the story of the exodus only takes up about half of the book of Exodus. Around halfway through Exodus, there’s a shift. We move away from the narrative and find instead meticulous and sometimes tedious basic instruction and training in what it means to live in freedom.
At first glance, it seems like two disconnected parts. The action-packed narrative and the beginning of the Law. But I actually think the two parts are intricately connected.
In the middle, as God’s people find themselves at the base of Mount Sinai, God says to them, “Now therefore…you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples…you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.”
God gives the people an identity. To a people who have only ever known life in slavery, God gives a new identity as God’s own people. Rather than just a bunch of individuals, God calls together a new community. And the Law that follows is what will shape their life together. Their obedience to the Law is a response to who they are.
Interestingly, generations later, Peter will use the same words to call together the newly forming Church. He writes, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people…Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
And, just like the nation of Israel, that identity will shape the life of the Church.
Grace and peace,
Kimmy
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