Exodus…

At the end of the previous post, The Great Egress, the million or so Hebrew slaves were headed toward safety on the East side of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds?). Pharaoh’s stubbornness had required “acts of God,” natural catastrophes to which he finally succumbed. He succumbed to the reality that Yahweh was sovereign and he, in fact, was not. His arrogance and stubbornness had a direct effect on his people, his subjects, to the point that they urged the Hebrews to leave as quickly as possible, taking booty with them (Exodus 12:33). As we read world history, we see time and again “sovereign” kings confused as to who exactly is sovereign. And their subjects bear the brunt of their misguided autocracy.

This rescue from Egypt is known as The Exodus, the primary event of the Hebrew Scriptures’ redemptive history. It was how God fulfilled his promise to the patriarchs (Abraham et al.) of their role in the world and his restoration project. They would become a great nation and a blessing to the rest of the world. It’s also the root of the annual Passover festival, a celebration of God’s justice and mercy (hesed).

As the Hebrews reached safety, they broke into song, praising Yahweh for the rescue. Typical of many Psalms, the song recapped the events of the rescue, praised God for his salvation and redemption from the Egyptians, and acknowledged God’s sovereignty as a faithful God and king (see Exodus 15). A particularly powerful acknowledgment can be found in the middle of the song…

Who among the gods
    is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
    majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
    working wonders?

These are words of a kingdom people acknowledging the majesty of their (newfound?) king. These are words from a people who are grasping the significance that they are subjects of a King of kings. These are words of a people that God will involve in his restoration project. These are the words of a people who were beginning to understand the God who sent this message to them while they were still in captivity…

“I am the Lord [Yahweh], and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” (Exodus 6:6-7)

Their God, Yahweh, was with them.

How was he with them? God manifested himself as a cloud pillar during the day and a pillar of fire at night. It’s how God led them and comforted them with his presence. The pillars were visible expressions of an invisible God. We must not miss the significance that the great Jewish theologian turned Christian Apostle, Paul, used a similar reference in his letter to the Church of Colossae…

 Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15, JB Phillips)

God’s presence with the people was a big deal. In the beginning, when things were “on earth as in heaven,” God walked with his created humanity. When the humans disobeyed God and desired to be like Him, the relationship with God was broken. This is why we say we live in a broken world.

Through Moses and the pillars, Yahweh was leading his people home – home being Canaan, the land where they lived before the Joseph debacle. Canaan was the land promised to the original people called to be kingdom ambassadors – Abraham and his descendants…

“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”  (Genesis 17:7-8)

These million or so freed slaves were descendants of Abraham. The covenant applied to them, though likely most didn’t know of Yahweh or the covenant. Keep in mind that when Moses conversed with God through the burning bush, he didn’t know Him or his name, either. It would be fair to assume he was unfamiliar with the Abrahamic covenant as well.

See where this is going? These former slaves, dependents of the people God chose to be “blessed to be a blessing,” were likely unaware of their calling. A million or so people. As mentioned above, regarding the song they sang, they were probably just starting to get a glimpse of this God that rescued them. They had trusted Him thus far, it seems, but that doesn’t mean they knew him. Likely, they were simply trusting the God of Moses (which is pretty significant trust, by the way). They were just beginning to know and trust the creator God.

Yahweh was their God, and they were his people. But they had yet to learn what that actually looked like!