Why It Matters
Session Five: From Slavery to Freedom
A. Introduction
Genesis 50 ends with the death of Joseph. The nation of Israel was in Egypt. Before Joseph died,
he reminded his brothers that it was God’s purpose to restore them to the land he had
promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 50:24). The Book of Exodus describes God’s
work in rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt and taking them to the border of the
Promised Land.
B. Moses
Read:
1) Exodus 3:1-10 – God’s call to Moses to lead the people out of Egypt
2) Exodus 12:12-14 – God’s Passover
3) Exodus 20:1-17 – God’s commandments
These passages begin with God calling Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They
continue with God giving his people commandments to guide them as free people when they
eventually enter the Promised Land. The theme of the exodus out of slavery in Egypt is often
used in the New Testament as a picture of God’s redemption of believers today out of slavery
to sin and judgment.
1. We learn that God’s purpose for his people didn’t change. Even though there was a
“detour” of 400 years while the Israelites lived in Egypt, God’s purpose was to give them a
specific land, the Promised Land, where they could influence the rest of the world.
WHY IT MATTERS:
God works out his purpose in his time. Just as God was working behind the scenes in Joseph’s
life to eventually save the people of Israel during the famine, so God was working even during
the 400 years of slavery in Egypt. We can trust that God is working toward his purposes in our
lives even when we don’t see it immediately.
To think about: Do you get impatient with God? What would make it easier for you to wait on
God’s timing?
2. We learn that God responds compassionately to the suffering of his people. He hears their
cries and responds to help them. God said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who
are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. I
have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of
that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:7-8, WEB).
WHY IT MATTERS:
Throughout the psalms, we find the psalmists expressing the feeling that God had forgotten
them. In Psalm 42:9, the psalmist said, “I will ask God, my rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me?’”
(WEB) In Psalm 77:9, the psalmist asked, “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger,
withheld his compassion?” (WEB) The same feeling is behind the cry in Psalm 22:1: “My God,
my God, why have your forsaken me?” (WEB) When God does not act to bring relief according
to our timetable, we may feel as if God has forgotten us. The Israelites in slavery in Egypt
probably felt the same way.
The truth is that God does not forget his people. God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to make
this very clear: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on
the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15, WEB)
When we are going through difficulties, we can cling to the promise that God will not forget us.
Question: Write a paragraph explaining how you would respond to someone who felt that God
had forgotten them.
3. We learn that when God sent the plagues, he was doing battle with the so-called gods of
Egypt (Exodus 12:12). God’s purpose was more than just to convince Pharaoh to set the
Israelites free. God’s purpose was to demonstrate his superiority over any so-called gods.
WHY IT MATTERS:
The Biblical message is that we are involved in a cosmic spiritual battle. The apostle Paul stated
that “our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, WEB). It is important for us to have
reminders that God is greater than any of these powers. As the apostle John reminded his
readers, “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He was speaking
of the Holy Spirit within every believer.
4. We learn that God acted to save his people. When the angel of death “passed over” the
homes of the Israelites who put the blood of a lamb on their door posts, it was a picture of
God’s salvation of his people. This became known as Passover.
WHY IT MATTERS:
The Jewish people were instructed to observe a Passover ceremony every year to
commemorate God’s redeeming them from slavery in Egypt. When Jesus celebrated the last
Passover meal with his disciples, he transformed it. He made it a celebration of his death
because his death would pay the price for our salvation. We now refer to that as communion or
the Lord’s Supper. It reminds us that a death was necessary (Jesus’ death, not that of a lamb) in
order for God to graciously “pass over” us, to spare us the judgment we deserve. In the New
Testament, the apostle Paul identified Jesus as our Passover lamb. He said, “Indeed Christ, our
Passover, has been sacrificed in our place” (1 Corinthians 5:7, WEB). God acted in the death of
Jesus to make our salvation possible.
5. We learn that God gave the Law to instruct his people. Throughout the first five books of
the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), it is recorded that God gave
his people numerous laws to govern them. This set of laws, including the Ten Commandments,
became known as the Law. Moses considered it a blessing for Israel to have laws showing them
how God wanted them to live. He asked, “What great nation is there, that has statutes and
ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:8). God
was giving them laws that would guide his people to live in such a way that they would reflect
his character.
WHY IT MATTERS:
The Law was not intended to be a means for God’s people to become righteous or in right
standing with God. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul asserted, “We maintain therefore
that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28, WEB). In Romans
4, Paul made it clear that this was true in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. In
Galatians, he even exclaimed, “If righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for
nothing!” (Galatians 2:21, WEB). Keeping God’s law cannot save us, but the law can make us
aware of our need for salvation.
The Law did one thing: it made people aware of their sin when they broke the Law. That
prepared them for the need for salvation through Jesus’ death on the Cross. In Galatians 3, the
apostle Paul referred to the Law as a “tutor” to bring us to Christ.
Question: Write a paragraph telling what you believe the role of the Law is for Christians today.
6. We learn that God gave directions for the Tabernacle as reminder that it was his purpose
to live among his people. God gave elaborate instructions for the construction of a portable
tabernacle that would accompany the people as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised
Land. He said, “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all
that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so
you shall make it” (Exodus 25:8-9).
WHY IT MATTERS:
This is one of the ongoing themes throughout the whole Bible. God is not a distant God. He is a
God who lives with his people. This was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, who, literally, “tabernacle”
among us (John 1:14)
Rick Mavis © 2017 Guard Your Heart LLC
Opportunities to Respond
1. You may email your responses to the questions to one of the pastors at
[email protected]. You may email your own questions as well.
2. You may participate in group discussion in Rooted on Wednesday evenings, 6:308:00 pm, in the Conference Room. Rooted will use these lessons as the basis for
the study each week. Pastor Rick will be doing the teaching in Rooted most
Wednesdays.
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