THE WAY OUT

"The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:9, 10 HCSB)

"Exodus" is a word that means "departure." That identifies what the second book of the Bible is about--the way out. It is a fascinating narrative of Hebrew history, but much more--it is a rich illustration of God's redemptive work.

The first chapter presents to us a CAPTIVITY.

"So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. They worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them." (Exodus 1:11-14 HCSB)

Jacob's family prospered in Egypt under the care of Joseph, who had risen to a place of prominence and power under Pharaoh. But, Joseph died and eventually so did the memory of him. So, there came a cruel king to reign over Egypt who felt the burgeoning population of Israelis to be a clear and present danger to him. He would take whatever means necessary to hold onto the reins of power. The Jews were ruthlessly enslaved. Despite this, God continued to multiply His chosen people. The edict then came from the tyrant that any male child born to the Hebrews was to be thrown into the Nile River---crocodile food.

They needed a way out.

So, do we.

Their physical condition mirrors our spiritual state. We are enslaved--not to the Egyptians, but to evil. We are born into this world as sinners, and do Satan's bidding. The sentence of death hangs over us--the second death in hell. We need a way out! But, we are helpless to save ourselves.

The second chapter provides to us a CHILD.

"Now a man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son; when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. Then his sister stood at a distance in order to see what would happen to him.

Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. Seeing the basket among the reeds, she sent her slave girl to get it. When she opened it, she saw the child-a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, 'This is one of the Hebrew boys.'

Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Should I go and call a woman from the Hebrews to nurse the boy for you?'

'Go,' Pharaoh's daughter told her. So the girl went and called the boy's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.' So the woman took the boy and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, 'Because,' she said, 'I drew him out of the water.' " (Exodus 2:1-10 HCSB)

Through a merging of heavenly intervention and human instrumentality, a child was born who would one day bring his people out. They needed a savior and God would send one. Moses was a miracle baby!

In a far greater way, God provided us with the Savior to bring us out of our bondage to iniquity. He intervened, by implanting in the womb of a virgin, One who would be our deliverer. Jesus--that would be His name--for He would save His people from their sins!

The third chapter proclaims to us a CALL.

"Then the Lord said, 'I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey-the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Israelites' cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.' " (Exodus 3:7-10 HCSB)

God not only provided a deliverer in Moses, he prepared the deliverer for his mission. Then, there came that day, when this chosen instrument was summoned to fulfill his life purpose. To this end, he was born. Moses had a sense that he carried a special assignment from God. As he matured, he grew in his understanding of the need for someone to lead the people out of Egypt. In God's time, he was summoned to the task.

Jesus knew that His Father had sent Him to be the Savior of the world. At the age of twelve, we hear Him saying to Joseph and Mary, "Didn't you know that I had to be in My Father's house?" (Luke 2:49b HCSB). But, the time had not come. As Moses submitted to his vocation as a shepherd, and through the discipline of daily duty was suited for his calling, so Jesus lived as a faithful Son, plying His trade in the carpenter's shop until He would be set forth as the Good Shepherd to lead His people out.

The fourth chapter portrays to us a CONFIRMATION.

"Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped." (Exodus 4:29-31 HCSB)

Moses could show up and make a claim that God had sent him--anybody could. The issue would be: is there evidence to back it up? God would confirm His call to Moses by miraculous signs and wonders.

There came a day, when a Man stood among others who were to be immersed by John the Baptist, in the Jordan River. He looked like the others, but wasn't like the others. They were sinners, but He was not. Yet, it was for that very crowd that He had come--to bring them out of sin. Rising out of the water, following His baptism, the Spirit descends upon Jesus, identifying Him as the Savior, the voice of the Father commending Him as the Son--He was now ready to fulfill His mission. He would do that which no man had ever done--walking on water, raising the dead, driving out demons, stopping storms with a command, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, loosing the tongue of the mute, strengthening crippled limbs, transforming water into wine and cleansing the leprous. He was unique--the only Begotten Son.

Moses prophesied that God would raise up, someday, One like him who would lead the flock of God (see Deuteronomy 18:15-18). Jesus was the fulfillment of that--like Moses, but far greater than Moses (read Hebrews 3:1-19).

Moses came to lead the people out. Jesus said, "I am the Way." Moses came to teach the truth. Jesus said, "I am...the Truth." Moses came to lead the people to new life. Jesus said, "I am...the Life" (John 14:6).

In this connection, it is interesting to read of how Moses, along with Elijah, appeared with Jesus on the mountain of Christ's transfiguration. Do you know what they were talking about? Christ's EXODUS! "They appeared in glory and were speaking of His death, which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Luke 9:31 HCSB) The Greek word rendered "death" is literally "exodus"!

The way out--Jesus--the one way, the only way--He is our blessed Redeemer!