Exodus

LeRoy Eims

Exodus signifies "departure" because it tells the story of the departure of the children of God from Egypt. The book of Exodus should hold an important place in our lives because it lays further groundwork in the history of redemption that comes in the person and atoning death of the Messiah. Exodus begins a great new stage in the development of the Messianic nation; the importance of which cannot be over‑emphasized.

Egypt was settled by the descendants of Ham. Moses was the adopted son of the queen and in his preparation to be Israel's law‑giver was educated in all the wisdom and learning of that day. Egypt was surrounded, isolated and protected by the wild and awesome desert. The first great empire in history developed right there; and through its tombs and pyramids this ancient civilization has been remarkably preserved.

In this setting Moses grew to manhood. His mother so imbued in him traditions of his people while he was a child that all the allurements of the heathen palace never eradicated those early impressions. He had the finest education Egypt offered, but it did not turn his head nor cause him to lose his simple child‑like faith. What a mother and what a lesson to the importance and power of godly training in the early years.

In God's providence, he not only spent forty years in the palace, but also forty years in the wilderness. The loneliness and roughness of the wilderness developed sturdy qualities hardly possible in the soft life of the palace.

In the wilderness at the burning bush, God revealed Himself to Moses, as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He commissioned Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:7,10). After God had over come Moses' objections, Moses confronted Pharaoh with the demand; "Let my people go."

After ten serious plagues had struck the land, the request was granted. In the midst of the tenth plague, the destroying angel passed over the homes of Israel that were protected by the blood of the sacrifice. It is a picture of our own situation. Under the bondage of sin we are saved by the sacrifice of Christ and set free to serve the Lord.

The passage through the Red Sea and the destruction of the army of Pharaoh ushers them into their desert experience where they wandered for forty years. Shortly after this, Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. They were in two sections, written by the finger of God.

The first: duties to God, regarding God's being, worship, name and day. The second: duties to others, regarding parents, life, purity, honesty, truth, and covetousness.

The Book of Exodus is loaded with important spiritual truth.