What a fascinating summary God has of the exodus experience!
He glosses over the whining and doubt, the resistance and fear while re-emphasizing why he delivered them from slavery and to what end he envisions the purpose of their new life.
To move forward in our understanding of the Bible, we need to go deeper in understanding the connection between the exodus story and the rest of the stories.
There are five big over-arching narratives in the Old Testament (the Hebrew Scriptures): Creation, Covenant, Exodus, Kingdom, Exile.
The story of God and Israel is always moving forward: in relationship with God, each other, and the world. It grows more complicated as more people join the story, and it grows more intriguing as we wonder how God is going to continue to move his plans forward in light of the real people he is choosing to work with.
There is so much to be said about the Exodus story and how it undergirds the Hebrew Scriptures (or First Testament) and the New Testament (or New Covenant). It reveals so much to us about the God of Israel: he is the initiator of deliverance, he calls men and women to serve, he works with real people, he influences without forcing his will, his work is rooted in justice/righteousness/goodness, he is faithful, loyal, patient, understanding - but he is also angered by blatant and repeated mistrust and rebellion. As we would be, and He should be.
Below is a brief overview of the exodus: an exit from and an entrance into a place, participation, and perspective.
PLACE: Exodus From Egypt; Entrance to Promised Land
In Exodus chapter one we read and discover the centrality of place to this story. It recounts the original place Jacob's family sojourned from years ago. They had come from Canaan and settled in Goshen to escape famine and be cared for by Joseph. But the years pass, the famine ends, and the people of Abraham stay in the place of abundance and safety. Eventually a new dynasty comes to Egypt and the place becomes dangerous for the Israelites, they become a threat to the new rulers. What was once a place of peace and prosperity becomes a place of slavemasters and empire construction projects.
By Exodus chapter nineteen Moses has led the children of Israel from a place of slavery to Mount Sinai, the place where God is waiting for them. Here he will instruct them and re-covenant with them as the descendants of Abraham, the nation promised to him long ago. This is preparation for entering the Promised Land, which is part of the covenant-promise. The Promised Land: a place of prosperity and flourishing, where they will be a light to the nations and kings of the earth will come to this place to see the glory of God.
PARTICIPATION: Exodus From Pharaoh-slavery; Entrance to YHWH-covenant
In chapter six of Exodus God explains to Moses why he is being sent back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from slavery. God initiated a covenant-relationship with Abraham many years ago. God intends to keep the promise he made to Abraham - not just about place and a people, but about a special kind of relationship. God would be there God, and they would be his people. God intended to bless all the world, and he wanted to do it through the people of Abraham. They would be like a kingdom of priests, mediating between the nations and God. As a holy nation set apart for this purpose, they would be an treasured instrument in the hand of God by which the nations of the world would be blessed and praise the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The covenant wasn't just what God could do for Israel, or what Israel ought to do for God, but about participation together for the blessing of the world.
It's a beautiful plan, and unique. The Ten Commandments (or 10 Words) in Exodus twenty are an example of what the covenant-laws were for Israel, defining a way of life that made them holy or different from the other nations. They were laws that also shaped them into a way of life where justice, mercy and humility would prevail amongst the people. These laws would direct them into a way of life that resulted in prosperity and flourishing for all, which would inspire the other nations to come and learn from them. The laws shaped the kind of participation required of Israel in order to produce the blessings that God had promised to Israel and through Israel to the world. What a stark contrast the YHWH-covenant with Israel is compared to the expectations and plans Pharaoh had for the house of Jacob.
PERSPECTIVE: Exodus From Godisnowhere; Entrance to Godisnowhere
At the burning bush, which you can read about in Exodus three, Moses is introduced to God. It's maybe more dramatic then when Noah or Abraham meet God, but it's probably just as startling and disturbing. And unforgettable. There Moses perspective is completely changed about himself, God, and reality. Moses is eighty years old, forty years a shepherd in the Sinai peninsula, having been an exile since he was age forty when he became a murder. Moses had no idea he was being prepared for anything. But his perspective is radically altered: the God of Israel had been non-existent to him - and now the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is here present and calling him to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.
It would be a similar radical introduction for the people of Abraham - when Moses announces that their God had sent him to rescue them, they doubted it. For them, Godisnowhere. But Moses was proclaiming: Godisnowhere! Even though they couldn't see him, touch him or smell him (in contrast to the Egyptian gods and goddesses they had become accustomed to) - here is wild and dangerous Moses returned after forty years to declare deliverance. It's actually what they had been praying or, crying out for, but with no idea on how it would occur. So even though Moses is announcing the good news that Godisnowhere, it still seems like Godisnowhere.
For those that eyes of faith, they begin to see God at work in the plagues (Exodus seven), but they never actually see him until they actually leave Egypt (Exodus thirteen) and God leads them as a pillar of cloud by day to shield them from the desert sun, and a pillar of fire by night to light their way. Israel's perspective changed - they were introduced to the God of Israel, the Creator of the heavens and the earth how keeps his covenant-promises. There was no other kind of deity like this in the world. Their perspective changed about the gods and the goddesses, about themselves, about their future, and about their purpose.
Most nations have a god by whom they seek to defeat enemies and expand borders and subjugate others into slavery so that they might enrich themselves at the expense of other peoples. But here is a God who wants to establish a nation where justice and shalom prevail, where hospitality marks their politics not just their homes. Their perspective changed on what kind of nation they were to be, what kind of people they were to be, what kind of world it was to be. And they learned that even when it seems dark and it looks like Godisnowhere, Godisnowhere just as surely as the sun will rise in the morning.
Questions from SermonSequel - Exodus 19:3-6
A helpful way to read the Scriptures is to approach it with curiosity. Presume that there is plenty that doesn't make sense. Seek to make connections, to understand by asking questions. During SermonSequel on Sunday I asked the congregation to text in questions they would have about the following text, a central one to understanding the Exodus story.
Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be more me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
What does it mean "on eagles wings"?
What does it mean "I brought you to myself?" Sarah
Why didn't he offer the covenant to everyone? - Nate
Why the Israelites? - Jason
Why would he favor one nation above the rest? Jeff
Why does God pick favorites? - Dave
The text says that we will be his treasure. Does that mean everyone or just those who obey him? - Adam
How are we not being Jews now see that we are his treasured possession outside of Jesus - anonymous
How do you know if you are fully obeying God? - Tomi and Marisa
How do you think Moses felt when God chose him to lead his people? - Gary
What did God do to Egypt? - anonymous
What is an Israelite? Sheri
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