How do the first two chapters of Exodus play their part in moving the story of God’s redemption plan along? We have already seen connections in the detail from an observation of something good, through to another ark and of course the part that wells make in Biblical hook ups. Finally, ?I hope you spotted the contrast between God as the King who remembers his covenant and Pharoah, the King who forgets.
However, I would suggest that we can also see how things connect together by looking at some big, Biblical Theology themes too. Graham Goldsworthy identifies three big themes about God’s Kingdom that appear through the Bible.
- “God’s people
- In God’s place
- Under God’s rule”[1]
Chris Wright represents this paradigm using the following diagram.[2]
God
His People The Land
Here in Exodus 1-2, we meet God’s people, the Israelites, or Hebrews, living in Egypt where they have been for 400 years. During that time, they have grown in number reflecting God’s blessing in Genesis 1:26-28 and his promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 of multiplication. They have grown in number and spread out. However, they are not in the land, they are not in the place that God has for them. They are in exile. This also means that instead of subduing the earth, they are the ones who are subdued. It also means that instead of being in a place of life and blessing like the Garden of Eden, they are in a place of slavery, death and curse.
The story focuses in on one family and one person, Moses. He is God’s chosen person In fact, he is from the line of Levi identifying a priestly role for him. Moses will be the one to represent God to the people and the people to God in order to bring them into the place of God’s presence and blessing. He will give them God’s Law so that they will live under Yahweh’s rule. Through Moses, they will experience God’s provision and protection. So, as the representative of God’s people, Moses finds himself provided for and protected through God’s providence. He is in the place that God has for him, safe in an ark, although that ark is itself not a permanent home, there is a now and not yet to Moses’ experience. Moses then finds himself in exile, in the desert, estranged from his people, in no man’s land.
Applying Exodus 1-2
The obvious and central theme in these first few chapters is the one of salvation. We see how God delivers Moses and then the people of Israel. This is first of all crucial as these events in history were essential to make it possible for Jesus to come. Secondly, they act as types or foreshadows pointing to the way in which Jesus would save us.
I believe that as well as emphasising this main, Gospel application, there are other applications we can pick up along the way. For example, Moses’ deliverance in an ark like basket through waters of death creates an opportunity to talk about baptism. We can also see how God is at work through his providential care. We trust in the God who remembers. This must also serve too to warn us against becoming forgetful of what God has done.
I think it is right too to pick up on some ethical side points. The people of Israel find themselves in aa foreign and hostile land. The cruelty of their treatment sadly reminds us of the experience of many today who find themselves displaces as immigtants and asylum seekers. Too often, they find that they are dehumanised and demonised. Exodus 1-2 has things to say about how we treat one another. There can be no place for either tolerance or a blind eye to modern day slavery or to racism in the Church.
The motif of exile is a frequent one in the New Testament. God’s people today live as exiles, in the World but not of them world, just as Jesus came down from his home in heaven. Exodus 1-2 reminds us that God is with us, even when living in this world is hard and even oppressive.
[1] Goldsworthy, “Gospel and Kingdom” 54.
[2] Adapted from Wright, Christopher JH, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God (IVP, Nottingham: 2004), 19.
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