Exodus 13-22 Recap | OT Ep 9

In this Episode, Austin and Ashley explore key themes from the biblical narrative, focusing on the miraculous events surrounding the Exodus and the establishment of God's Law. It highlights the importance of remembering God's deliverance, the challenges faced by the Israelites, and the lessons learned...or should have learned...through their journey. The discussion also addresses the implications of the Ten Commandments and the understanding of slavery in the biblical context.

Reading Plan - Old Testament in One Year
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tSmSv3JOd-gCJS6VSFMtu-iv14NZ45_M/view?usp=sharing

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro + Feast of Unleavened Bread and Consecration of the Firstborn
• 2:42 The Crossing at the Red Sea
• 7:37 The Song of Moses
• 9:10 Manna from Heaven
• 10:46 Water from the Rock - Spiritual Thirst
• 13:22 Leadership Lessons from Jethro
• 15:17 Preparing to Meet God
• 17:20 The Ten Commandments
• 20:50 Slavery in a Biblical Context

Transcript

Hey everyone,

My name is Austin. And my name is Ashley. Welcome to the Clean Slate Podcast. Where we're finding Jesus in the Old Testament.

Welcome back friends. Today in this episode we're going to be covering the recap for Exodus chapters 13 through 22. And we have a lot to cover today so we're just going to jump right into chapter 13.

Chapter 13 picks up right where chapter 12 left off. From the first 16 verses, God is explaining what needs to happen both with the Feast of Unleavened Bread and

what he expects with the consecration of the firstborn.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be kept as a reminder of how God, as the Bible says, by a strong hand, led the people of Israel out of slavery.

They were to use this annual week-long feast to both remember and to teach future generations about what God had done for them.

The part of this passage that often gives people trouble is the consecration of the firstborn.

So to consecrate means to make holy by giving to God. So the firstborn of sacrificial animals like sheep or cattle had to be sacrificed. However, firstborn donkeys or humans, for example, had to be redeemed. So a lamb was going to offered in their place.

Going back to the text, verse 17 says,

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. God said, lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.

God intimately knows us and knows what we need. Even if that means he has to do more to keep us on track. So God led the people toward the Red Sea.

important note, Moses kept the promise that Joseph demanded from back at the end of Genesis. Moses took up the bones of Joseph to be buried in the promised land, so to return them back to the land of Canaan.

At the end of this chapter, we get our first sight of God leading his people as a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud by day. You may remember back from episode two, this is called a theophany, the invisible God manifesting himself in something tangible. Remember, God went through the covenant ritual that Abraham had set up as a smoking pot and a flaming torch.

God promised then that Abraham's descendants would be slaves in another country for 400 years, but that God would bring them out of that slavery and lead them into the promised land. Just as God went through the covenant ritual, God leads his people through the wilderness.

We have now arrived friends to the Red Sea moment, chapter 14. This has got to be one of the most well-known Old Testament stories. So the Lord instructs Moses for the people to encamp by the sea, which they do. Then Pharaoh with his hard heart got to thinking about all that labor that he just lost. We saw, thinking back to the plagues, that there were various times where Pharaoh either hardened his own heart or the Lord hardened his heart. Either way, the Lord's will was accomplished.

But to what end? You might be asking, And he answers that in verse four. God says, so I will get glory over Pharaoh and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. I am Yahweh.

We see these words echo back to what God told Moses both before and during the plagues. So sure enough, Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he and his servants say, what is this we have done that we have let Israel go from serving us? So Pharaoh took off after the Israelites with his army and all the chariots of Egypt with him. As they gained on them, you can see in verse 10, the people of Israel saw the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly.

Now, you would think after all they have seen the Lord do up to this point, I mean, the plagues that didn't affect them, the Passover, the theophany Alston just talked about, all of that, you would think they responded, what a mighty God we serve. is he gonna protect us from this one? Yeah, but that's not what they did. I know. Would you care to read to us what they said in your best whiny Israelite voice?

Well, I don't speak ancient Hebrew and if I did I wouldn't know how to make it whiny. So I'll read what they said. is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us and bring us out of Egypt? They go on to say, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in wilderness.

Y'all, every time I read this, I think what a bunch of whiny drama queen complaining fools. Fool of a Took And then I think it's totally us. We are definitely Israel in this moment, complaining about temporary affliction or even just potential affliction. Moses, having many opportunities up to this point to develop into that good leader God has called him to be, he tells the people to fear not, stand firm.

and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord tells Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea and divide it so the people can go through on dry ground. The angel of God and pillar of cloud moved between Israel and Egypt so that it kept them apart and protected from Egypt's army all night.

So Moses does as the Lord's commanded. He stretched out his hand over the sea,

and the Lord drove the sea back and made the wind blow all night to where the ground was dry and the water was a wall on either side. Guys, this is absolutely insane. Okay, it is ridiculous enough that the ground at the bottom of the sea was completely dry, but water turned into walls. Like who has power like that? Yahweh, the creator God.

the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's who!

So the Egyptians follow after them. And in verse 24, it says that God threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptian said, let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Well, yeah, glad y'all are catching on. So again, God tells Moses to outstretch his hand over the sea and the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen.

and not one of them remained. So fun historical fact for you. Chariots were a very large tactical advantage in ancient Near Eastern warfare. So the victory at the Red Sea would be known powerfully in Egypt and throughout the surrounding nations.

that Yahweh, not Pharaoh, was due all the honor.

The last verse of chapter 14 says, Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and his servant Moses. So I want to ask a pondering question to you. Why didn't God just split the Red Sea himself? Why did he want Moses to reach up his staff and divide the waters? He didn't need Moses to do that.

He did it that way so the people would believe in Moses as the appointed leader whom God would reveal his word. If Israel was ever going to learn to fear the Lord, they had to follow Moses.

So chapter 15 is the Song of Moses, this song is a celebration and praise of the victory over Egypt and Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea.

There are other songs like this in Old Testament as well. Deborah and Barak's song, which we see in Judges 5, Hannah's song that she sings because of the birth of Samuel her son, and in the New Testament, Mary sings a song in response to the news she's given by the angel. The theme that all these songs have in common

is that they put to song elements of God's character and

immediately after this song, full of praise and high-level theology, folks start complaining because they didn't have any clean water at the place they just arrived at. Now, having no water to drink in a desert is a pretty big problem, but we just got done singing about how God opened up an ocean and drowned the enemy that was about to kill you. You'd hope we would be better, but more on that in a little bit.

So Moses cried out to the Lord and God again made a way for the Israelites and he made a way for Moses to turn the bitter water sweet. and then we see in verses 25 and 26.

There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule.

And there he tested them, saying, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments, and keep the statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord your healer.

As we enter into chapter 16, the people of Israel have left the sight of yet another miracle. And what do you think happens next?

They complain about something rather than praying about it.

that they would have died in Egypt and are going on about how they had meat pots and ate bread until they were full. But they were slaves. So I'm not exactly sure if that's true or if was some embellishment there.

But God, our patient Father, makes a way for them yet again as He is so faithful to do. God literally causes bread to rain down from heaven. The Lord gave some rules about this, and they were basically that the bread would rain down every day, but they were only to keep enough for one day because He would make it rain down again tomorrow. God would continue providing this bread, as it's called, manna, until the wandering days of Israel were over.

miraculous bread,

In the same book, John chapter 6, Jesus goes on to say,

as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. So whoever feeds on me, he will also live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the Father's ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

Jesus was explaining a spiritual truth by using something tangible that people knew about. He was and is the thing God sent down from heaven to sustain us,

But he is not just good enough for today. He's more than enough for eternity.

Entering into chapter 17, we have yet another water crisis. They're in the desert still and there's no water. God tells Moses to go to the rock at Horeb and strike the rock and water shall come out of it.

Moses goes and strikes the rock and water does indeed flow out of the rock and the people are rescued again. But as with so much in the Old Testament, the New Testament sheds a deeper light on it. in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4, the apostle Paul notes that Israel drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ.

even though the water from this physical rock satisfied Israel's thirst.

It was a bright neon sign that pointed to the only one who could satisfy their spiritual thirst, God himself. Jesus was passing through Samaria and had a conversation with a woman at Jacob's well

and whoever drinks of that water will never be thirsty again.

You know, another interesting lens on this in verse six, where it says, I will stand before you there on the rock and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it and people will drink. You almost get the image of Christ being struck as in the beating and crucifixion. In the gospel of John chapter 19, it talks about the soldier piercing his side and out came blood and water.

And I just think it again captures a physical event with greater spiritual implications.

Yeah, no, I think you're totally right. And as with all of these wonderful events in the Old Testament, Jesus is the greater than. So, He's greater than all of these things. They're like Him, but He's better than them. so at the end of chapter 17, Amalek, which is a in the area, comes to fight with Israel.

Moses tells Joshua to gather the men and Moses, Aaron and her went up on top of the hill and Moses raised the staff of God in his hand. We see in verse 11 that whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses' hands grew weary, and Aaron and Her held his hands up until the battle was overwhelmed Amalek with a sword. In that place, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-Nesi, which means the Lord is my banner.

also ends with, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. So, spoiler alert, like we said before, when you hear a name and it's mentioned a couple times, pay attention. This is not going be the last time we hear of Amalek.

So chapter 18 is a pretty happy chapter. during the whole ordeal with the Egyptians, Moses sent his wife, Zipporah, and their two boys back to Midian, and they were with Jethro, her father. Jethro sends word that he is on his way to him with his family. They arrive and everyone is so happy. Moses tells his father-in-law all of the things the Lord has done. And the next day, Jethro sees that Moses is doing too much.

Moses is essentially taking on every little thing himself and in the Ashley paraphrase Jethro is like why and Moses is like because all these things need to happen and Jethro is like that's not good Jethro tells him to make sure that the people know the word of the Lord Verse 20 says you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws

and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. tells him to raise up trustworthy, qualified leaders and place them in authority over the people in larger and smaller groups. Basically, he's saying, get a leadership team in place, Moses. Quit trying to do everything yourself. Those of us in leadership really need to hear this. This could apply truly to any leadership position, but I'm referring strictly to those of us in church leadership.

We must not try to hang onto every detail. We will eventually wear ourselves out. Build up a team of reliable, qualified sure they know the word and direction and vision for the ministry and let it go.

Let it go, let it go. Anyway, Jethro says in verse 23, if you do this, God will direct you. You will be able to endure and all these people will go to their place in peace.

So Moses listened and did exactly as Jethro had instructed him. And then Jethro went back home.

That brings us into chapter 19, where the people of Israel came into the wilderness Sinai and camped before the mountain.

Moses went up to God, and the Lord gives him the word to share with the house of Jacob. Now remember that in Genesis, God renames Jacob to Israel. So

the house of Jacob, and the people of Israel are interchangeable. So God tells Moses that the people should consecrate themselves for three days.

And like we've talked about earlier, consecrate just means to set apart for God or to declare something sacred.

So essentially he's saying set aside your normal aspects of daily life and prepare to meet with God.

God says, on the third day when they hear a trumpet blast, they can come up to the mountain. So Moses tells the people, wash your clothes, stay away from the mountain, and keep your hands to yourselves, Again, this is for the purpose of consecration, just setting apart the normal aspects of life to set oneself apart to meet with God. On the third day, thunder and lightning and a thick cloud were over all the mountain, and the trumpet sounded and all the people in the camp trembled.

Dern skippy they did

Right? Of course they did. God tells Moses to go bring Aaron up with him, but do not let the priests and the people come up to the Lord or they would perish. I want to juxtapose this with Hebrews 4.16. It says, Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We are able to draw near the throne of grace with confidence. Why? Because of our good works?

No, because God judged Jesus on our behalf. That does not mean God is not still the same judge and needs to be revered as such. The judge still holds all his authority. We just relate to him now as a father and not as a judge. Passover lamb, our eternal manna and living water give us that confidence.

So earlier when we got to chapter 14, Ashley mentioned that that chapter Red Sea event was one of the momentous moments in the Old Testament. we get to chapter 20, we have where the Lord gives Moses the Ten Commandments. And there has been no other document in the way the Ten Commandments has.

For those of you that aren't familiar, I'm going to paraphrase the commandments here. Some of them have a little more nuance to them. But the first commandment is, shall have no other gods before me. The second commandment is, you shall not make a carved image or an idol. The third commandment is, you shall not take the Lord's name in vain. The fourth commandment is, keep the Sabbath day and keep it holy. The fifth commandment is, honor your father and mother.

The sixth commandment is that you shall not murder. The seventh commandment is that you shall not commit adultery. The eighth commandment is that you shall not steal. The ninth commandment is that you shall not bear false witness. And the tenth commandment is that you shall not covet.

In the New Testament, in the book of Galatians chapter three, verse 24, Paul says, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. idea of guardian has to do with guiding or shaping us towards something. I heard many years ago that the law of God is like a mirror. It was never intended to save us, but what it does is help us to see ourselves for who we really are. And right here's the tension.

Our brains are hardwired to think. Give me the list. I've got the list. Now I'll get to work.

The problem with that is that we have all failed at minimum one of these commandments.

In the gospel of Matthew chapter five, Jesus actually takes all of these laws and carries them to the heart level. one place he says, if you've hated your brother, you have committed murder in your heart.

And another, he says, if you have looked at a woman who isn't your wife with lust, you've committed adultery in your heart. A little later in New Testament, in the book of James chapter two, verse 10, it says, for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. The law of God is important and relevant for today.

That weight you may be feeling right here as we talk about this is the same reason Paul called those who are trying to reach God through their good works as ones who are living under a curse. It isn't because the law is bad, friends. It's because we are.

But remember our theme, God would provide the way of salvation for us. This is why we need Jesus, the spotless lamb who came to live a life we couldn't live and die the death we deserve in order that He, like the Passover lamb, would provide a covering for us by His blood. This, is the gospel. Our hope always has been and is still in Christ our Savior and His finished Word for us on the cross.

You know, we heard it said this way one time and it totally stuck with us. We tend to think, law bad, gospel good. But that's not true. It's actually law good, you bad, gospel good news for you.

And I am so thankful that that's the case.

So to close out our recap today, we have chapters 21 and 22, and I want to summarize these two chapters by acknowledging their difficulty. Often when someone has a concern or frustration about the Bible or God, chapter 21 is something they'll point to as being unfair or immoral. And I want to say that slavery, especially the kind we have here in America, is certainly an evil. And if you'll read chapter 21 carefully, you'll find God agrees of that sentiment.

Chapter 21 is all about God putting a boundary on what was and wasn't allowed.

an slavery.

one is going to approach this text with fairness, you must start with two basic realities. One, slavery has always existed. It existed before this text was written and it existed after it was written. Two, this text puts limits on what slavery could be in such a way that makes it completely different than chattel slavery.

For the record, what is chattel slavery exactly?

chattel slavery is like what we had here in our country. It is a type of slavery that allows someone to be stolen or taken away from their land and then traded or sold again. And it was a lifetime slavery. There was no plan of exiting this, is just the polar opposite of

the rules God has put in place here in chapter 21.

God's covenant people, when abiding by his commandments, have always interacted with slavery different than the rest of the world.

The two chapters here cover a range of topics and we're gonna try to put together a podcast episode to address these things with a little more nuance if we're able to do so.

So what we really see here in these two chapters is God's kindness in putting boundaries these things where the rest of the world didn't have those rules.

So in the meantime, guys, if you are struggling or have any concerns you'd like answered, please email us at podcast.cleanslate.gmail.com and we'll get you some resources that will carry you into greater depth. With that, we have to let you guys go. May His grace abound to you and to me as we study to find Jesus in the Old Testament.