Exodus – The Way Out of Bondage

“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them.” ~Exodus 15:11-12 (NRSV).

A postcard-size analysis of Exodus is a difficult task, but one worthy of embarking upon. Let us gather the vast expanse of forty chapters and rediscover the eternal message: the way out of bondage. Our study will explore seven broad situations.

1. The Initial Oppression, The Burning Bush, and Bricks without Straw

The first five chapters paint a moving picture of great change. After centuries under Pharaoh’s oppression the Israelites seek their salvation and a saviour. Moses at the burning bush is our first glimpse of the Divine plan of Israel’s deliverance out of bondage. But God’s chosen nation wasn’t rescued yet; even more immediate suffering was to be endured first.

Our experiences of bondage have been, and perhaps are, bolstered by the revelation of God’s plan to release us. Oftentimes, however, we must still endure some pain and heightened challenge before we find our way out.

2. God’s Promised Deliverance and the Outworking of Plagues

Pressure for change mounts when we know the Lord is behind us. Moses received that assurance. The hardest part for Moses and Aaron was to obey the Lord by defying Pharaoh.

It’s easy to overlook the significance of courage on the part of these two. Not only were they outnumbered and out-powered by the ruling Egyptians, the first resistance by Pharaoh ignites the Israelites’ own wrath against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:21). The plagues, themselves, are the heaviest testament of the power of God to release the grip of evil.

Similarly, our bondage will resist when it’s threatened. Old habits can seem impossible to break. We need the poise of courage to not back off.

3. The Passover and the Exodus

Note now the symbolism of the initiating event of the Exodus. The Passover had become for the Israelites the coming of a new thing. They would see the faithfulness of the Lord in the provision of protection, even in the midst of the final, most significant plague (Exodus 12:29-32).

The procession of the Exodus is about as majestic as we could imagine. When we talk about ‘biblical proportions’ we speak most particularly about the Exodus.

As we follow the leading of God to provide the way out of bondage we hold out in faith that a significant symbol will come and the event of release will, in fact, occur.

4. The Ten Commandments

The coming of the Law: every established democracy needs a structure to base their society around. The Ten Commandments provide macro law. They provided the re-established nation of Israel with the ‘must comply’ framework with which to base the rest of the Law.

Once our Exodus has taken place, we too need such a construct in order for the release out of bondage to stick. These commandments are life for us because release, at least initially, relies for its success upon some simple rules.

5. The Structuring of the Jewish Faith

As with any typical legislature, a tiered approach to both mini and micro reform—supporting the macro law—is essential for the base law to work. We tend to denigrate the 613 Mosaic laws that were created immediately after the Exodus—yet, this Law was abundantly necessary for Israel as it reformed its national identity. Let’s not forget these laws were inspired of God.

As we pull away from our bondages, and the past that has held us back, we need to be equally fervent in our approach. Perhaps we don’t need myriad rules, but what we do need is attention to the new identity. This is the new ‘us’ and there’s to be no going back.

6. Meeting the Lord

There is a poignant instant in chapter 33 where Moses and the Lord share an intimate moment.

Inevitably, there comes a time when—long after the moment of our Exodus from bondage—we reacquaint with the Lord our God for a definitive purpose. This is intended to strengthen us further. We may ask for confirmation, and even for one of those intimate signs.

7. Commissioning the Vestibules

Upon any building project there are design, construction and commissioning phases. As the Israelites were constructing their system of governance, which came with essential elements—the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the Table for the Bread of the Presence, and the Lampstand—construction was paramount to their burgeoning identity.

We must also, in the establishment of our new lives in and through God, find those things that must be designed, built and commissioned, to formalise the new arrangement.

Such constructions are never usually material things; they are deeply spiritual.

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Bondage is a tremulous affair. We’ve all tasted it—to many manner of a manifestation. The Lord releases us from this bondage so that we might worship him. That is the message of Exodus. We are released from hell so we can enter heaven.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.