When we are in the eternity of God I sincerely hope we’re privy to a larger than life replaying of biblical history. I want to see it all! I want to see Creation, Samson catching foxes, David slaying Goliath, and Elijah calling down fire from Heaven. I want to see the night sky breaking wide open with a multitude of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest.” I want to see the lame leap, the dumb speak, and the demons cast out. And I want to see our Lord walk right out of that grave.
Also, the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery.
This key account detailed in the second book of the Old Testament is foundational to the rest of redemptive history. It tells us how God delivered a people out of bondage and called them to be His own. How He bound Himself to them in covenant love and redeemed them from a life of physical and spiritual slavery. But even more, it prefigures how Christ would make us his own; how through his blood he would redeem a people for his own possession; how he would make dead men alive and free.
In the re-play scenario I mentioned a moment ago, I would love to witness the unfathomable events of nature- the frogs, the darkness, and the waters pushed back by the strong east wind. But before the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, there was a promise. So maybe even more than the wild miracles of nature, I would love to hear those glorious words the first time they were pronounced: “I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:6b-7a).
As beautiful as this promise was, the Israelites failed to grasp it. They failed to see that the greatest act of all was not to be the plagues or the parting of the Red Sea, but God making them His treasured possession. Verse 9 says, “But they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirits and harsh slavery.” Imagine! The God of the universe declared His desire to make them His own, promising deliverance from their oppressor- and rather than tears of happiness and shouts of joy, they felt discouraged and angry.
Yet, in the Exodus account we clearly see the love of God set upon His people. Even their hard hearts and broken spirits would not deter our faithful God from doing what He said He would do! He had declared Israel to be His firstborn son and promised the death of the Egyptians’ first born if His son (Israel) was not released from slavery (Exodus 4:22-23). As the plagues unfolded, God made good on this promise. The 10th and final plague was the death of the firstborn of Egypt.
To demonstrate the distinction between Egypt and Israel, God instructed the Israelites to cover their door frames with the blood of a sacrificial lamb. All homes covered with blood were spared this great loss. The angel of death passed over them and they were unharmed. The remainder of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) gives the detailed account of how Yahweh fulfilled His word by bringing the Israelites from slavery into the Promised Land. There, He dwelt with them as their God, having redeemed them from the hand of Pharaoh.
As I said earlier, this true and historic event foreshadowed the fullness of the gospel. In order to bring the Israel of God to completion, God delivered those He set His love upon from the bondage of sin once and for all. This He did through the life, death, and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. His blood was the ransom needed to redeem us from the curse of sin; the only thing that could save us from the wrath of God; and the only means by which His Spirit lives within us.
Think of it: the same God who brought the Israelites to Himself with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment is the same God who has made us His own. In Christ, we are a chosen race, a holy nation, and a people for His own possession (1 Peter 2:9). We are blood-bought people, fully delivered and fully redeemed.
And so, just as the Apostles preached to repent and believe the gospel, I entreat you to do the same! Don’t let your hearts be hardened or discouraged. Rather, see the love of God demonstrated in Christ! Trust in his all sufficient death and resurrection so that you may be a child of God, wholly loved, living forever in His marvelous light.
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