Blueprints of Redemption Book of Exodus

The Genesis account continues

The book opens with ‘and’ Vav in Hebrew

The last 38 chapters in Genesis were largely focused on Abraham, Isaac and Joseph

And… these are the generations of the children of Israel And… they were fruitful and multiplied and filled the land

Reminiscent of Genesis

A stair-case like ( chiastic ) organization of the book

Building for Pharaoh God sees and helps The (Passover) lamb God comes down (at Sinai) ( the law and the pattern of the tabernacle given from the inside out) The (golden calf) anti-lamb God dwells with his people Building (the tabernacle) for God from the inside out (Starting with the ark then working the way to the courtyard)

And there arose a Pharaoh that know not Joseph

A war of hearts

Pharaoh’s heart is claimed God like and sinless and Pharaoh himself ‘the healer of Egypt’

• But Pharaoh’s heart was – was hardened – and sinned

• His daughter’s heart, however –Was made tender by God

To the crying baby Moses

God will harden Pharaoh’s heart, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, Pharaoh's heart had been hardened and Pharaohs hardened his heart

400 years of silence• And then a baby • A bit like ‘the seed of the

woman’ in Genesis in some measure – The two Egyptian midwives

protecting the Hebrew baby boys despite the Pharaoh’s decrees

– The mother of Moses prepares an ark

– The sister of Moses watches over it

– The daughter of Pharaoh has compassion on it

–Woman significantly appearing in the story

A God who burns in holiness, but doesn’t burn up. A self existent God who can say His name is I AM

I AM. I AM THAT I AM

God stretches Moses hope

• Some help – promising to send Aaron – giving signs of Moses rod to become a

snake – Moses hand becoming and being healed

from leprosy • Even ending by saying how when he’s done

that even the women will plunder the Egyptians of their treasures.

A flashback to Genesisand Abraham’s vision

Genesis 15 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions

Enter Moses: Moses’ life, being a mini-picture of Israel

Moses Israel • Saved through river - Saved through red sea • Trained in laws of Egypt - Trained in laws of God • Almost killed by Pharaoh - Almost killed by Pharaoh • God seen as burning bush - God seen as burning mountain • Escaped to Midian - Escaped to Midian

Exodus 4:22- 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 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.’”

And a son of God motif

The rod of Moses turns to a snake, Moses is told to grab the snake by the tail and he does

The gods of Egypt judged• In three sets of plagues • God is God over – The water – The land – The sky – Man

• Egypt plagued • Israel protected

Hymn to the Nile ca. 2100 BCE   Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt! Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is celebrated! Watering the orchards created by Re, to cause all the cattle to live, you give the earth to drink, inexhaustible one! Path that descends from the sky, loving the bread of Seb and the first-fruits of Nepera, You cause the workshops of Ptah to prosper!

From http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/hymn_to_the_nile.htm

God speaks from the water

7 days later plagues continue And another of the godz judged

The godz of Egypt judgedHeket Goddess of fertility Frogs from the overflow of the Nile Killing a frog is taboo But in this plague the frogs Will be stacked up and burned

In each cycle of plagues two are announced as to time and one not.

1st three plagues:: waters turned to blood Frogs, then lice The magicians said: “This is the finger of God.

Second set of three plaguesGod is the God of the land

The river gods judged Uatchit - The fly god of Egypt

Ptah and Mnevis }Egyptian gods associated Serapis and . Imhotep }Egyptian gods of healing

Sekhmet - Egyptian goddess of Epidemics .

God speaks from the land

The godz of Egypt judged

Isis, goddess of healing But when God sends a plague, Isis is of no help

Next 3 plagues: Flies Diseases in livestock Boils

Soot from the kiln (where bricks are made)

Soot from the kiln (where bricks are made)

Soot from the kiln (where bricks are made)

Soot from the kiln (where bricks are made)

Could it be? Jewish slaves in Egypt? The Brooklyn Papyrus suggests yes

• Slaves with names like Menachem, Issachar, Asher

• Who suffered terribly and didn’t like long • And were previously prosperous in an area

of Egypt with a ‘canal of Joseph’ named from antiquity

The goddess of healing is Not much help With the boils And Pharaoh's magicians Cannot stand before Pharaoh because of the boils

.

God warns Pharaoh

God could just wipe out the Egyptians but He was not in order that the fame

of his name and his works will be known

Heavy hail, lightning and thunder

Some Egyptians take notice

• Some Egyptians heeding warnings • Pharaoh’s advisers warning Pharaoh to

relent and let the Jews go • Some Egyptians will choose eventually to

join the Jews and turn to their God

The godz of Egypt judgedRa the ‘sun God’ God turned out the lights in Egypt God kept the lights on in Goshen

Next 3 plagues: Hail Locusts Darkness

9th plague Darkness A time for all Egypt to reflect on what happened

3 days of darkness

10th and last plague

• Man judged • The plague of the firstborn • A reminder given of a promise to bring

them to the land with wonders

10 Plagues and a hard heart

God said ‘I will harden Pharaohs heart

Pharaoh’s heart had been hardened Pharaoh’s heart was hardened Pharaoh hardened his heart

A defining moment in history• Exodus 12: – 1The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of

Egypt, 2“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.

The Passover points back to the Exodus but also forward

• It is the most spectacular deliverance in the Old Testament

• But points to deliverance by ‘The lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world’ as John the Baptist said (John’s birth announced on the day of atonement in the Holy of Holies)

• And the Passover lamb is to be completely eaten as Messiah is to be taken not in part but in whole by believers

In many (more) ways the Passover points forward continued…

• And points to the church ( ‘the church of the first born (ones), first born being plural… those redeemed in similar manner covered by the blood

• Hebrews 12:22  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn [plural] who are enrolled in heaven

And 3 days after traveling though the dessert…

• Freedom, thirst follows, water found but bitter

• The waters of Marah • Three days ago was dancing and

now there is not enough faith for ‘the next thing.’

• And God tells Moses to put a log in the water

And the tree that made the bitter water sweet

I am Jehovah Rapha - ‘the God who heals you’

Followed by refreshment12 springs with 70 palm trees at Elim

And 3 months latertraveling through desert…

The people admonished to consecrate themselves

Wash their clothes (using some of the precious water for the dessert journey)

Don’t come dirty! And Don’t come close!

And a promiseYou shall be a kingdom of priests

• Exodus 19 :4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

See and hear! But don’t come near ( And if a person or animal touches the mountain kill

them but do not touch them doing it )

And a promise for the futurespeaking someday not through a burning mountain but a person

• Duet 18: 16just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’

• 17And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken.

• 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

And a better washing to come

Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full

assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and

our bodies washed with pure water.

The promise of being a kingdom of priests deferred (until the church)

After the golden calf only Aaron’s son’s would be priests but someday the promise would still yet come in it’s fullness.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Freedom from slavery freedom to obey the law

• The law reflecting the character of God • Two tablets, two copies on for each

party in the agreement • Respect God, parents and others

Some prayer help in defeating the Amalikites

As Aaron and Hur hold up Moses hands

Jehovah Nissi - God our banner

Two craft workers are filled with the spirit in the start of Exodus 31

• the first mention of someone filled with the spirit in the Bible

• experts in metal work, fabrics and such • They were to ‘devise patterns’ of beauty

for the work of the tabernacle

And an ‘out of place’ ‘above all’ in the second half of Exodus 31

• lest you get lost in all the details up to now …

• lest you forget to be dependent on God…. • lest you forget the commandments • ‘above all’ remember the Sabbath • It is a bit out of place as to the flow of

thought but perhaps that’s a reminder to pay special attention (says Matt Chandler of the Village church)

But not all idols are so obvious

Some idols of the heart are more troublesome to see

And the intercession of Moses as if offering himself for the people

Exodus 32 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation. But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

The people grumbled ‘give us water!’

And God is put on trial

The people were save, fed, led and protected up till then…

…but couldn’t trust God for the next thing

God on trial before the elders, struck and gave living water

God on the rock

The people grumbled

Not every being able to conclude God is trustworthy for The next thing

( As if they’re getting in touch with ‘their inner Pharaoh’

There is sin lurking in the heart )

A warning about this from Psalm 95 part of the prelude to ‘the enthronement Psalms

95  Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3  For the Lord is a great God,    and a great King above all gods. 4  In his hand are the depths of the earth;  the heights of the mountains are his also. 5  The sea is his, for he made it,   and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7  For he is our God,  and we are the people of his pasture,   and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,   as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9  when your fathers put me to the test   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,   and they have not known my ways.” 11  Therefore I swore in my wrath,   “They shall not enter my rest.”

The bronze serpent

John 3:13-15 (ESV) 13 No one has ascended into heaven

except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Aspects of the law point to a redeemer

• The scapegoatActually two. One stays and is sacrificed; the other is sent away, out of the camp.

The scapegoat points forwardto a future redeemer

• A scapegoat sent away from the camp • Jesus is rejected • And his people often rejected and suffer

(outside the camp)

The scapegoat points forwardto a future redeemer

• Hebrews 13: 1 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

And the most chapters in Exodus devoted to:

The tabernacle

A tour of the tabernacle from the inside out

• We will start with the Holy of Holies and move out

• The most sacred thing in the Holy of Holies being the ark

• The pattern of the tabernacle was given at Mt Sinai already – And now the craftsmen are ‘filled with the

Holy Spirit’ and building it

The ark

• The ark is made with both woods and gold, the more common and the precious

• The also points to the two natures of the Messiah: Divine and unfallen human

The ark of the covenant

Gold overlaying woods, made with poles so that Levites could carry without touching, as was the other furniture

And the largest section of Exodusthe tabernacle

• In various ways point to the dwelling of God with us

• “The word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] with us” from John 1

• The tabernacle was made with precious metals and more common metals

• Royal colors and fabrics and more dull coverings

• This points to the royal divine aspects of the Messiah as well as his human but unfallen nature

The tablets with the 10 commandments Manna and Aaron’s rod that budded

Question

• How many cherubim are in the Holy of Holies?

Answer:

• 14 – 2 on the ark – 2 larger ones with wings touching on walls – 10 on curtains

Moving out of the Holy of Holies

• The Holy of Holies it covered by the veil and only the High Priest enters and only once a year

• Next place is the Holy Place • Table of show bread • Lampstand ( the Menorah) • Table for incense • Priests will minister there

The lampstand is over 100 lb of solid gold and only purpose is to give light

It adds to the garden of Eden feel

The tabernacle and the gardenTemple Items in the GardenMankind is in the Garden to “work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15); similar wording is used to describe the job of the priests in the tabernacle (“keep guard” Numbers 3:7–8).Later, after the fall guardian cherubim are placed at the entrance to keep mankind away from the Garden and from the Tree of Life

Further Callbacks to EdenThe narrative describing the construction of the tabernacle is in seven segments (Exodus 25:1; 30:11, 17, 34; 31:1, 12). The sixth segment—Exodus 31:1—describes the Spirit of God fills men to create and craft the objects for the tabernacle. And the seventh segment—Exodus 31:12—reminds the nation of keeping the sabbath. These two segments both correspond nicely with the sixth and seventh days of Creation in Genesis 1.

taken from http://liveagreaterstory.com/tabernacle-as-reflecting-the-garden-of-eden/

The ‘re-Edin-ization’ of the world

• Many Eden-like symbols in the tabernacle • The materials, the cherubim, the plant

like furniture such as the lamp stand • God’s presence is depicted as ‘Eden like’ • and in Ezekiel a trickle flowing out from

under the door of the temple will become an ever widening river going and growing towards the Dead Sea and making it alive again

Then the courtyard

• Brazen alter: Sacrifices on an alter of earth and stones

• Washings • White linen fence • A gate

The altar of earth and stone for sacrifice and laver for washing

The tabernacle •described by God

•parts built under the guidance of men filled with the Holy Spirit

•assembled and finished

•filled with God’s glory (so even Moses could not enter until God called him to enter)

The way to the ark was always hindered from fallen peopleby the veil until…

• And the veil to the holy of holies was torned top to bottom when Jesus died

Matt 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

The covenant in Egypt point forward

• To a time where ‘The Lord will be our righteousness’ – Jer 33 14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares

the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

The covenant in Egypt point forward

• Hearts will change

–Jeremiah 32:40 English Standard Version (ESV) 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

A second Exodus

• Where our sins will be thrown in the depths of the sea – Micah 7:19

– He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Exodus 40 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up

. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.