Exodus from Egypt

Prologue: Exile before Exodus

The Bible story opens with a marvelous prospect: God creates the world in order to live with his people. As his image-bearers, people were to rule on his behalf over all the earth, cultivating the land’s resources and establishing a society of justice and righteousness. As made in his likeness, the meaning of their lives would be found in knowing and serving God, submitting to his commands and enjoying fellowship and communion with their Creator in the paradise of Eden.

Almost immediately, however, Adam rebelled, transgressing the command of God. As a result, Adam and Eve are exiled from the presence of God in the garden of Eden. Driving them out eastward, the Lord God sets cherubim (angelic, composite creatures known in the ancient Near Eastern world as fierce sentinels) and a flaming sword at the entryway to the garden, guarding the way to the Tree of Life. In one sense, the rest of the biblical story takes place in exile, outside of the Edenic presence of God. Human history is a history of exile. Anthropology, what it means to be human, now includes this primal expulsion as a soul-shaping reality—we are born as exiles, living outside of blessed fellowship with God. Genesis 1-11, in particular, narrates the increasing eastward exile of humanity: Adam and Eve are exiled “east of the garden of Eden” (Gen. 3:24), Cain is later exiled “further east of Eden” (4:16), Noah’s generation is destroyed in the cosmic waters of the flood (Gen. 6-9), and, finally, after humanity’s rebellious attempt to build a ziggurat reaching into the heavens, God confuses their language and scatters them across the face of the earth (Gen. 11:1-9). This judgment from the Tower of Babel renews the primal expulsion from God and forms a theology of nations: the nations are in exile from God, alienated from his face, and thus in a state of ever-growing darkness, a plight evident in cultures full of idolatry, sexual immorality, and violence.

For the sake of restoring the nations to a knowledge of God—to the blessings of fellowship with him—the Lord calls out Abram (later called “Abraham”), and much of the rest of the Bible story, from Genesis 12 onward, narrates how the Lord God began to fulfill his plan of redemption through the nation of Israel, a plan which culminates in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and a new heavens and earth (Rev. 21-22).

Overly simplified, the two major movements that recur in the Bible story are exile and exodus. Exile from God, which leads to death, and exodus to God, which leads to life. In Ezekiel 37, for example, Israel’s death and resurrection symbolize the nation’s exile and exodus (or “restoration”). Because the nations are in exile from God, lost under his curse, redemption or salvation comes in the form of an exodus, a return to God out of exile. Israel’s exodus out of Egypt (Exod. 1-15), therefore, becomes the paradigm for salvation in the Bible.

PART ONE: THE HISTORICAL EXODUS OUT OF EGYPT

The Exodus prefigured in Abraham’s life

In calling Abram out of Ur, God’s providence is exodus-shaped, in many ways foreshadowing Israel’s later exodus out of Egypt. Indeed, God will say, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans” (Gen. 15:7), just as later he will tell Israel, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exod. 20:2). Abram is called to depart his country and family, to journey forth to a land that God would show him (Gen. 12:1-3). Due to a famine in the land, Abram and his wife Sarai (later called “Sarah”) end up in Egypt. As with Israel’s later experience the Lord plagues Pharaoh before Abram and Sarai are released, with much plunder (12:10-20). Eventually, while Abram is in the midst of a deep sleep, the Lord shows him a vision of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt (Gen. 15:7-21), and in the last recorded episode of his spiritual odyssey, Abraham experiences a Passover-like deliverance of his son, Isaac, for whom the Lord provides a substitutionary lamb (22:7-8, 13-14).

The goal of the Exodus: knowing the Lord

Under God’s providential hand, Israel’s stay in Egypt took a turn for the worse when a Pharaoh arose who did not know the blessings experienced by Egypt under Joseph’s administration. Seeing the divine blessedness of the Israelites, their fruitfulness and ingenuity, as a threat, he subjected them to a bitter life of harsh slavery. In this way, Israel was made to face the reality of their exile in Egypt, and to long for redemption through an exodus out of Egypt. More than this, Israel’s exodus becomes a paradigm of redemption for the nations, as the nations languish in spiritual exile. The Lord would be known as the God of the exodus.

Exiled from God’s presence, the nations had plunged into the darkness of a truth-suppressing ignorance of him. Even Israel, without any divine revelation of Scripture, did not know God—Moses asked the Lord, “What do I tell the Israelites when they ask me for your name?” (Exod. 3:13). Redemption, then, a true exodus, must involve a restoration not only of God’s presence but of the knowledge of God, and this—the revelation of the Lord’s incomparability—is thus the main goal of the exodus. In Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh, after he declares the Lord’s demand to let his people go, Pharaoh responds with: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him? I do not know the Lord, so I will not let Israel go” (Exod. 5:1-2). Pharaoh’s words clearly set up the ensuing drama as a revelation of the Lord’s Name, his being and attributes. Through the exodus, the Lord will reveal himself as the Creator of the heavens and earth, and as the King above all gods.

Accordingly, the plagues, or “signs and wonders,” against Egypt are introduced by purpose statements that include the language of knowing the Lord. The first nine plagues are organized into three cycles of three plagues, with each cycle introduced by one such purpose statement. For cycle one, plagues 1-3, the Lord tells Pharaoh through Moses, “By this you will know that I myself am the Lord” (7:17); for cycle two, plagues 4-6, he says, “…in order for you to know that I myself am the Lord in the midst of the land” (8:22); and for cycle three, plagues 7-9), he states, “…with the purpose that you will know there is no one like me in all the earth” (9:14). God’s signs and wonders are not only for the Egyptians, but for Israel to know the Lord, and to recount his mighty acts to their children’s children (10:2). Similar purpose statements occur for the sea crossing miracle (14:4, 18), and are crowned, finally, with Israel’s own acknowledgment of the Lord’s incomparability, in the song they sing on the other side of the sea: “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, doing wonders?” (15:11). Ultimately, the exodus revelation of the Lord’s glory and majesty is to reach the nations, as demonstrated by Jethro (Exod. 18:10-12) and, later, even by Rahab, a harlot in Canaan (Josh. 2:10-11).

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb

Israel’s exodus out of Egypt was no mere political release—it was a redemption, a ransoming of Israel’s life out of death. In the Bible Egypt is often symbolized as a spiritual Sheol, the watery place of the dead. One always descends into Egypt, a place known for its graves (see Exod. 14:11), and Israel’s exodus even includes the nation’s emergence from the waters of death. Pharaoh is also likened to one of the ancient world’s mythological sea monsters, Rahab, dwelling in the waters of Egypt (for example, in Ezek. 29:3). But more than anything else, it is the Passover event that defines Israel’s exodus out of Egypt as a redemption. The Lord is not only the Creator of the heavens and earth, and the King above all gods; he is the Redeemer of his people.

For the last plague, God visited Egypt in judgment, slaying every firstborn, among both humans and animals. For Israel, however, he revealed a way of salvation. Israelites were to slay an unblemished lamb, without breaking its bones, and smatter its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes that would serve as a sign. The lamb’s flesh, roasted in fire, was to be eaten, with staff in hand, in readiness to depart from Egypt. God granted the lamb as a substitute for the firstborn of each house, and eating its flesh identified each member of the house with the firstborn son. In this way, every household displayed the national drama of the Lord’s redemption of Israel, his “firstborn son” (Exod. 4:22-23), from the Sheol of Egypt. Through the sacrifice of the lamb and eating of its holy flesh, Israelites were being prepared to be “a royal priesthood and holy nation” (Exod. 19:6). The Passover was a dramatic act that symbolized Israel’s redemption from death to life.

The broader goal of the exodus includes Israel’s entering into a fuller relationship with the Lord at Mount Sinai, receiving both the Decalogue and his Dwelling, the Tabernacle, that he might live among his people. As God’s treasured possession and covenantal partner, Israel would be God’s instrument to restore blessing among the nations.

PART TWO: THE PROPHESIED SECOND EXODUS

The Pattern of Sacred History

Israel’s historical exodus out of Egypt (Exod. 1-15), was only the opening stage of a threefold pattern of sacred history: (1) the redemption of Israel, (2) the consecration of Israel by covenant at Mount Sinai, and (3) the consummation of the inheritance in the land of Canaan.¹ This pattern finds its historical culmination with the building of the temple in Jerusalem under Solomon’s reign (1Kgs 8). Through Israel’s covenantal failure, however, whereby various Davidic kings—especially Manasseh—led God’s people into idolatry and apostasy, which included injustice, sexual immorality, and bloodshed, the nation would be exiled from the land. In spite of God’s longsuffering love and patience, sending a host of prophets, his “servants,” calling Israel to repentance generation after generation, Israel proved hard-hearted and stiff-necked, and eventually suffered devastation and exile. 

Yet the message of the prophets was not about judgment and exile alone; rather, God also promised that the pattern of sacred history would be renewed in a powerful, Spirit-wrought manner. In the last days, the age of the Messiah, there would be a new exodus of redemption out of exile, leading to a new covenant and consecration, and a new inheritance of the land that would prove lasting. The prophesied second exodus would be greater than the first, historical exodus out of Egypt in every way, including a complete atonement and definitive forgiveness of sins, and a much greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit, causing God’s people to internalize his Torah and to live faithfully to his glory (see, for example, Ezek. 36; Jer. 31; Joel 2). Indeed, this renewed Israel would fulfill her original vocation of being a light unto the Gentiles, spreading a saving knowledge of the Lord God among the nations. Integrating the message of the prophets, five elements of the prophesied new exodus stand out. In the second exodus (1) the Lord’s Name will be glorified; (2) a new David will accomplish the role of a new Moses; (3) an Elijah-like messenger will prepare the way of the Lord; (4) the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out upon all his people; and (5) the consummate return to the land will be a resurrection from the dead into a new heavens and earth.

Isaiah’s new exodus

Of all the prophetic books, Isaiah contains the most richly developed hope of a second exodus, especially in its central section, chapters 40-55.² Isaiah 40-48 largely focus on Israel’s failure to be the Lord’s servant among the nations, proving blind and deaf to his will. Within the next section, Isaiah 49-55, we encounter another Servant, an obedient one who embodies the nation of Israel, but who also accomplishes a mission to Israel. He will raise up the tribes of Jacob, restoring the remnant of Israel, and become a light for the nations—the Lord’s salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:1-6)!

Isaiah 53, the “suffering servant” song, is placed between the anticipation of Israel’s salvation (Isa. 49-52) and the divine invitation for people to participate in the Lord’s salvation (Isa. 54-55). The Messiah’s suffering as an atonement for the sins of his people and the world, as described in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, forms the redemption of the new exodus. This exodus context positions the Servant’s suffering within the theology of Passover, the beloved Son’s sacrifice. In the final section of Isaiah (chs. 56-66), the vindicated Servant gathers about him a renewed people, of Israel and the nations, who form obedient servants of the Servant—these will eventually inherit the land in a new heavens and earth (Isa. 65-66).

PART THREE: THE NEW EXODUS OF THE MESSIAH

The Gospel of John and the New Exodus

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is introduced by John the Baptizer in a twofold way that brings out the Messiah’s two great aims of redemption and new creation: Jesus is God’s Passover Lamb of the new exodus (1:29, 36), and he is the Son who will baptize God’s people with the Spirit of the new creation (John 1:30-34). Jesus’ role as the Lamb of God culminates with his crucifixion that occurs during the slaying of lambs for Passover. Only John’s Gospel also includes a detail, relevant for Jesus’ fulfillment of Passover: his bones were not broken during the crucifixion, in line with Passover regulations for the slain lamb (John 19:31-37; see Exod. 12:46; Ps 34:20). As his death forms the bloodshed of Passover, the Son’s resurrection from the grave forms the new exodus. The fulness of salvation, therefore, goes beyond spiritual regeneration, to the resurrection of the body. When the Son returns for the Day of Judgment, God’s people will be raised up and ushered into a new heavens and earth.

As the one who baptizes with the Spirit, the resurrected, exalted Messiah, unites his people to his own death and resurrection, and will one day raise up their bodies from the grave to inherit a new creation, described as a new and more glorious Eden (Rev. 21-22). Hints of this wondrous exodus into a new creation are found throughout John’s Gospel. From the cross, Jesus cries out, “It is finished” (John 19:30) that alludes to the completion of the first creation (Gen. 2:1), and then John tells us that after his death a “great Sabbath” followed (John 19:31). Spiritually and theologically, Jesus by his atonement has brought the old creation to its completion; his resurrection therefore occurs on both the “eighth day” and the “first day,” that is, the first new creation day, after the completion of the seven days of the old creation (John 20:1, 19, 26). More than this, his resurrection occurs in a setting that recalls the garden of Eden, signifying humanity’s return to paradise and restored fellowship with God. Mary, whom Jesus calls “Woman,” even mistakes him for a gardener in a scene that echoes Adam and the Woman in Eden (Jon 20:11-15). Like John’s Gospel, the Book of Revelation closes with an Edenic garden, a Tree of Life, and waters of life—and with the God who says, “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5-6; 22:1-5). Through the eternal Son who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), God’s people will finally inherit a new creation, with the God of all glory dwelling in their midst (Rev. 21:3).