Bible In A Year: Exodus

The book of Exodus reveals God’s covenant faithfulness as He delivers Israel from slavery and forms them into His people. Despite Israel’s constant grumbling, God remains faithful to His promises, providing redemption through a mediator. This foundational gospel narrative shows how salvation is shaped by God’s grace, not human obedience.

Transcript

Welcome And Mission

Phil Porter 0:00

You're listening to Teach Me the Bible podcast. Our mission is to help the people of God understand the Word of God. Join us each Monday and Thursday for new episode releases. Listen to our full library of content at teachme the Bible.com or by downloading the Teach Me the Bible app from any app store. You're listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. Well, hey everybody, welcome to Teach Me the Bible Podcast. My name is Phil Porter. I'm alongside Dr. David Kleinler. And Teaching the Bible's mission is helping the people of God understand the Word of God. And so we're happy to have you here today. We've actually gotten through the book of Genesis. We're going to be jumping into Exodus today. But before we do that, we have more resources than what you're listening to right now. And you can view that on teachmetheBible.com at any time you want, or you can download our app from the app store, and that makes it even more efficient, even more uh easier. Um I don't know if that's that's the right way to say it, even more easy, I guess. Even more easier. Yeah, easier, yeah. To uh view all of the content that we're putting out. And uh again, the the motto, the uh the the saying is absolutely true. And David, I thought it was so good when you created it, helping the people of God understand the word of God. And that's what we're gonna do today in Exodus.

Dr. David Klingler 1:27

Yeah, yeah. This so so we we've we've gone through Genesis. Now we certainly haven't given a thorough treatment, and in the future we'll come back. But one of the things that uh that uh I've realized uh is that um if we just understand kind of the generally where it's going, you know, we understand the the the major movements of the story, then you can go back and and fill in the details. And so that were that's what we're trying to do. We're not we're not gonna be exhaustive, uh certainly we can't um in uh one week treating uh Exodus in one week.

Phil Porter 2:00

Yes.

Egypt’s Politics And Israel’s Enslavement

Moses’ Birth And Identity

Flight To Midian And Burning Bush

The Name Of God And Calling

Plagues And The Passover

Dr. David Klingler 2:00

Um but uh but the book of Exodus is is central uh to uh uh to the to the story, to the old testament, really to the Bible. In fact, the first five books are are are central. Now, one of the things that we should we should point out and uh is that the book of Exodus is not a new story, right? It's a continuation of the same story, even grammatically, right? So so when you're looking at the Hebrew text, uh it begins with what we what we call a disjunctive clause. It's just a fancy way of saying the narrator uh isn't starting a new story. He's saying, okay, now you know now now these are the names of the sons of Israel who who came out of uh out of Egypt. Uh and so the the the book of Genesis sets up Exodus, the book of Exodus sets up Leviticus, and so forth and so on. And so it's kind of like watching a movie. Each scene moves the story along. Well, each book uh through the through the Torah or through Pentateuch through the first five is moving the story along. In fact, the story goes from Genesis, Exodus, Viticus, numbers, uh, uh, Deuteronomy to then Joshua, Judges, and through Ruth to Samuel, first and second Samuel, first and second Kings, and and so so your story is going from Genesis really to 2 Kings, and uh and then all the other books in the Old Testament are relating to those books in different ways, but but that's your mainline story, right? So uh so one of the reasons why we don't understand the Bible is because uh you know, someone hands you the Bible, you're a new believer, and they tell you start in the book of John. Well, who starts in the middle of any book, right? You start at the at the beginning. And so Genesis is the beginning. The the problem with starting in the beginning is you've got to read a lot of the story before it gets to where you are and where I am in the story, and and so people get impatient and then they uh get to the book of Exodus and and then Leviticus uh in particular. You know, the end of Exodus is where people quit reading. Um right? So you say, Well, I'm gonna read through the Bible. You read Genesis, you're going, okay, not pretty good. Uh Exodus, you're going, yeah, oh yeah, I watched this movie. I saw Yule Brenner and Ten Commandments, you know. Yeah. Yeah. This I I I remember this. This is making sense, right? At least the uh the first part of it. Uh, and then you start to get to uh the instruction to build a tabernacle, and and then you find yourself starting to flip forward in the pages. Is it is this ever going to end? And you go over to Leviticus, and it seems like it's gonna keep going, and you just go, yeah, I'm out, right? I'm going back to you know, Romans or Ephesians or you know, something like that. Or skip over. Yeah, something like that. But but these are central, right? So uh remember Moses is writing these first five books really all together. Uh so they need to be understood in somewhat of a unit. So uh and they're being written to Israel, Old Testament Israel, the the people that are about to take the land, so that they will know who they are, why they are, I mean, why they exist as a nation. Um, why do we need an Israel? Well, we need an Israel because we you know, because we need uh a Messiah, a Messiah, Christ. Why do we need a Christ? Well, because of the fall. Fall, what's the fall? Well, back what in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, right? So you really have to go back to the beginning to tell the story, you know. Uh creation. Uh now the Lord doesn't tell us everything about creation. He only tells uh Israel. Moses is telling Israel the things they need to know so that uh they know who they are, why they are, and where they're going, why they're going there, and what they're gonna do when they get there, right? And so uh so the book of Genesis is kind of setting the stage so that we can get to the Exodus. Now, the book of Exodus is uh, you know, the the old uh people in our audience, we uh we remember um uh you know the uh the the rest of the story, right? You remember you'd listen to the radio, is this uh uh and um the old radio announcer, he'd begin this story and then uh and then uh you kind of introduce it, go to a break, come back, you say, now for the rest of the story. Well, well, this is what's going on, and uh this is the the the rest of the story. Now back in in Genesis chapter 15, the Lord has appeared to to Abram uh and um tells Abram, repeats the promise to him, I'll make you a great nation, your your descendants will inherit the land. How will I know this is going to be the case? How will I know this to be uh true? How I how will I know that I may possess the land? And and so uh the the Lord causes a sleep to fall over him, and uh, and and you know, the the the you know the smoke and the flame, the smoke and the and the fire appear, and uh and and now the smoke and the fire is about to appear again in the story, 400 years later, right? Moses uh records that that the Lord told Abram that know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land not theirs, and they'll be enslaved there for 400 years. Well, so what's going on in Exodus chapter one, you know, there's a lot of time that that that kind of passes in between really the end of the book of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus. It's the it's the 40 years, right? And and so uh, you know, it's really summed up in one verse. Now the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly uh and became exceedingly mighty so that the land was full filled with them. Right. Um we're just waiting for Israel to become a multitude. Now, to be made into a nation, you have to have a few things, right? Uh to be a nation, you have to have land, you have to have a government, and you've got to have people, right? Seventy people is not enough to make a nation. That's a that's a small nation. Far from right. Now, uh back in the book of Genesis, they were promised the land. The land was promised to Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham. It was promised to Isaac and Jacob. But then they go down to Egypt. Jacob goes down to Egypt, and the the families in Egypt where uh they stay for several hundred years, uh, and then they become enslaved. Uh there was a Pharaoh that arose uh in Egypt that that uh did not know Joseph. Well, you know, that's verse eight in chapter one of Exodus. Well, what does that mean? Well, uh the the Bible, again, it just states that. We we know from from you know Egyptian history, you know, what that uh what that verse is doing there. But uh but basically uh you know time had passed and and things had changed, and now uh you know kind of the regard and the uh the view towards these Jewish people or the these Israelites has has changed. Uh and uh um and so there's things going in the culture. Uh the the there's a bunch of Semitic peoples that have kind of rushed into the the the northern kingdom. Uh this is probably a little more than we need to know, but but that's okay. It's always good to get a little bit of background. So so when you think of Egypt, you know, in Israel, we're gonna have a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. Now, uh, you know, as the story goes ahead, the kingdom's gonna become divided. And so maybe if you've been around the Bible for a while, you'll you'll hear about Israel and Judah or the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. Well, in Egypt, we kind of had the same thing: uh that there were times in Egypt where the kingdom of Egypt was united in the north and the south. You also hear this referred to as the upper and lower kingdom. Um when we think upper kingdom, we think north because we're look we're used to looking at a map, right? Um but but actually rivers flow down the hill, right? So upper means up the hill, and lower means down the hill. So lower is upper and upper is lower, right? Does that make sense? The the the upper kingdom is actually in the south, the Nile River and uh in Egypt flows to the north. Uh but what had happened is these foreign folks, these Semitic peoples, had all rushed into the northern kingdom and and basically had overtaken it. Uh, and uh and so years had passed. Uh and now a king arises in the south, he's gonna reunite the kingdom, and he's gonna run all these you know Semitic rulers, uh these these people from the you know from the places where uh where Joseph and all his family came from, run them out of the land, uh, and this is what's happening here. It says, Come let us deal with them wisely, lest in the event of war they join themselves with those who hate us and fight against us and depart from the land. And so, so the foreign rulers are being driven out. Uh they enslaved the uh the Israelites so that they don't leave with them or join them and come back and uh and fight. So, anyway, so uh the 400 years has passed. Um now it's getting pretty rough on the Israelites, they're being enslaved, and so now it's time to fulfill what the Lord has promised to Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham a couple chapters later, back in chapter 15 of Genesis. And so this is all that's happening in the book of Exodus, right? So, so now we have a multitude of people, we have enough to have a nation. Uh, and so now the Lord's gonna raise up a deliverer, Moses, and he's going to come and he's going to lead Israel out of the land. They're going to go uh to uh uh to get the government, they're gonna go to Mount Sinai, where they're gonna get the government, uh, and then they're gonna go take the land. That this should have been a quick trip, right? Uh it should have they should have left the land, go uh get the you know, get the kind of the constitution, right? The the uh the covenant, the commands, the the government documents, and and then go take the land. How long should that take? I don't know, a few months, right? Well, the problem is these people are rebellious, right? And so we're gonna run into all kinds of problems uh as we go. Uh Moses wants to take these people to the promised land, they want to go back to Egypt. They liked it better back under Egyptian rule. They liked it b uh uh back uh better when you know they were under they set the satanic rule, under, you know, the uh the rule of Satan, and they don't want to go to the promised land. And and so we're gonna uh we're gonna run into this uh pretty quickly. So so many of us, if we've been around the Bible, you've you've uh you you know this this story. So so Moses uh uh is uh born uh in chapter uh chapter uh chapter one. You you got Israel being enslaved and and uh Pharaoh uh killing all of the male sons. You're gonna it's it sounds very much like what was going on during Jesus and Herod's day. In fact, it's intentionally so that uh that uh that Satan's plan has always been you know deceive the woman, kill the kid, and and here, you know, he's killing all the male, uh, the male children, Pharaoh operating on behalf of the serpent, killing all the male, male sons. And uh and in the midst of this story, a man is born. And uh and uh so uh now a man from uh this is in chapter two. Now a man from the house of Levi married a daughter from the house of Levi, and she had a son. Now, not the smartest guy, but if a Levite marries a Levite and has a child, he's a Levite. See how that works? So, in other words, this isn't from the tribe of Judah. Uh the story has set you up. You're looking for one from the tribe of Judah, and immediately uh the the narrator Moses, who's telling of his own birth here, he says, um uh a Levite marries a Levite and has a Levite, and as the reader, you're going, well, tell me why I care. Right? Well, well, actually the reader already knows who Moses is, uh, because they're Israel, but but at least he's telling the story. He said, and uh, and um she conceived and brought forth a son, and she saw that he was beautiful. It's the same language there, and she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, uh she got him uh and uh she put him in a it's translated a wicker basket. Uh this is a really interesting word. Uh it's actually the word for ark, like Noah's Ark. She puts him in an ark, and you're supposed to attach these. These things she covered it uh with uh tar and pitch, and she put the child into it. And it just so happens that the the daughter of Pharaoh comes along and finds the kid, and and so this Moses, um Moshe, Moses, he's going to be raised in Pharaoh's house. Uh and and uh and so she named him Moses because he was drawn out of the water. That's you know kind of a play on the Hebrew word Moses, but but uh you'll um during this time in this this dynasty, you get a whole bunch of pharaohs named with this same M-O-S-E, right? Tutmos. Ah, Moses, tutmos. But there's a lot of M-O-S-E in these names. And uh and and Moses, we uh was raised in Pharaoh's house, and there's a whole lot of interesting things going on going on there. I mean, there's a lot here, but uh, but that's uh but but that's okay. So so uh it came about uh when uh Moses had grown up. So so we're just you know we're the storyteller is only telling you the things that are relevant, right? He wants to tell you so that you see what the storyteller wants you to see. And this is different than movies, right? Um in a movie, uh, let's say that you're the director or something and and you're trying to set this scene up. Well, there's there's there's a backdrop, right? There's I don't know, there's trees, and I don't know, who knows what maybe it's in a uh in some field and there's trees and maybe some bird fly. Well, are those things nope, not relevant. Well, they make their way onto the screen, and so the uh the audience sees those things, but they're not important, right? Um so the w when you're recording uh a video or something like that, you don't have uh complete control over exactly what you want the audience to see. Does that make sense? But when you're telling a story, you know, there may have been a tree in the background, but it wasn't mentioned. So so the reader doesn't know it. So so you're only getting what the author wants the reader to see, right? And so we're only picking the important things, and so say, well, what's the important? It's all important. That that's why it's here, right? And so every single piece of this is important. And uh, and in some ways we're being selective because I'm gonna be skipping through stuff, but yeah, but uh encourage you to go back and and read through this and read to understand it as if it's a story. Because what's going on here in chapter 2, verse 11, said that Moses had grown up and and he went out uh um, you know, he he went out to his brethren and looked at their hard labor and saw the Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Well, on the surface of it, you know, there's you're kind of saying, okay, well it's uh well the the the backdrop, the the backstory is that Moses is going to be this one who's going to deliver Israel. Um Pharaoh was trying to kill all the male sons. Moses is raised in Satan's house, in Pharaoh's house, uh, and there's enmity between these two sides, and Moses sees it. And then the question is, well, which side is he going to side with? And and so uh he uh you have an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, and so he looked this way and that and uh saw that there was no one around. So he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand, and it went about the next day that now two Hebrews are fighting. And this is really interesting. Now you got, you know, so there's not only enmity and strife between the enemy, you know, enemy's team and God's team, but now there's there's strife even among uh among Israel. And and um so he asked, Why are you striking your your your friend, your your neighbor, your companion? And he said, Yeah, who made you a uh uh prince or a Tsar or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me too? Uh and Moses was afraid, for uh he said, Surely this thing is uh has uh you know become public. And when Pharaoh heard this, he tried to kill Moses. Now, again, there's a whole backstory here, what's going on, why this would be. But remember, Moses was raised in the house, and and so this, you know, Moses is a threat to Pharaoh. Uh, he's a threat to Pharaoh's, you know, reign, right? Rule. And Moses, uh, because he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter, has a at least some claim uh to the throne of Egypt. Pharaoh's, you know, Pharaoh's gonna kill him. And so so again, there's a lot more here in this backstory. And so Moses flees into the wilderness, uh uh, and uh there he has a um uh has a son, and he names his son Gershhem, because he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. Now, um you know, here's something that we need to pay attention to. That uh, and this goes back to what I was saying before is that this story is a unified story. It's flowing right along, okay? Uh, and so uh we uh we tend to read this stuff, say, I don't know who that is, doesn't matter, doesn't matter. You know, you ignore names, you ignore places, you can't Can't sound them out. So you go, ah, you know, Moses, I know this Gersham, who cares, right? Well, um the Gersham is going to show back up later in the story in chapter uh chapter 18 of Judges. The sons of Dan set up for themselves a grave and image, and Jonathan, the son of Gersham, the son of Moses. Right. So uh the the narrator is gonna make a point um over here in Judges chapter uh chapter 18 about how bad it's gotten. And this is a grandson, this is a direct descendant of Moses that's leading this rebellion in Israel, and you're supposed to go, oh no, not that, right? Uh and so um uh I I know I've you know I've been doing this for a long time, and I know how I used to read the Bible, and I know how people who come to seminary, how most people read the Bible, they're just reading it for a theology verse or for an application verse, but they're really not reading it like it's a story that they want to understand, right? When when you're watching, when when I'm watching uh Tombstone, I'm locked in, man. Come on, man. I know what every single character is going to say. Uh I mean, down to the deepest. Yeah, yep, yep, yep. But but here you are. I don't care, don't care. Skip that name, skip that name. Just give me something I can work with here, right? Don't do that. Slow down and read it. Now, you you you may not understand exactly what's going on in that scene, but but that's what happens in movies, right? You're you're you're watching a movie, and you know, especially in the beginning of the movie, or or this happens all throughout the movie. Things will happen and you're going, well, what was that all about? Well, keep watching, right? These aren't self-contained, all explained scenes, right? So when when you have a scene, um what's going to happen in this scene is moving the story along, right? So so we're we're watching the story being fulfilled from what uh what the Lord promised to Abram 400 years previously or hundreds of years previously. Uh and and so you you watch the plot move. You also uh you know this scene will make sense of previous scenes. You're going, oh, that's what that meant. Oh, I see it, right? Uh and the scene will introduce things that are coming. Just like it, just like in a movie, right? So when we read the Bible, somehow we we we don't read it like we read anything else, but if you'll read it like a story, and you'll assume that you need to know this because the narrator's telling it to you, right? Especially in written literature, uh, because everything is specific. And so you're gonna see this again. So pay attention to these names and places and people, right? Because they're gonna come up again and again and again. For example, chapter three, um, you know, so in the end of chapter two, the Lord, you know, the so God heard the groanings, uh, the groanings of Israel, and and God remembered his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It's it's remember what was cut? Okay, and so God saw the sons of Israel, he took notice of them, and so Moses was pastoring in the flock. So, so in light of the fact that that the Lord has remembered his promises to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, now the scene cuts back to Moses, and he's over there uh pastoring the flock with uh uh with Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, uh Midian, and the Lord appeared to him at Horov. Now, Horov. You're going, well, I don't know, whatever. Some place, right? You you just blow right past that, the mountain of God. Well, this is gonna show back up. Uh and uh when we get over here uh to later in the story, this is uh this you know the the Horov is gonna show up again. They're they're gonna um uh run into all kinds of problems um later in the story at this same place. This is in chapter 17 where we're uh um uh where Moses is going to strike the rock. Well, this is the place. Behold, uh I uh will stand before you there at the rock of Horov, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it. So uh this is an important spot that Moses is is standing. Uh he sees the uh the the burning bush. You you you know, if you've been around the Bible for a while, you've heard this story. And the Lord says, uh, you know, uh he says, Moses, Moses, here I am, and don't come near, remove your sandals, for you're standing on holy ground. Okay. Uh I am the Lord your God, uh, the father of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord tells him, uh, I'm gonna use you, you're gonna go, you're gonna deliver these people, and we're gonna start to fulfill these promises that I made back to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and you're gonna go uh take over the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, all the Its, okay? And I will certainly be with you, and this will be a sign that I've given you. So, so the Lord uh you know is saying, Look, uh, you know, I'm I'm the one, I'm going to be with you, I'm the father, uh I'm the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God said to Moses, um, you know, who should I say, you know, sent me? What if they say, you know, who who is this God? What's his name? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am, uh, is uh he who sent you to me. Now, um there's uh this interesting thing that's going on here in in Hebrew, which uh the the the um best I can tell. Um the the the root word the the verb here I am, right? Um the Moses says, Who do I say sent me? The Lord says, Tell him I am, sent you. Okay. And then he goes, tell him Echwe sent you, tell him I am, sent you. Then he goes and he says, He is sent me. Right? Yahweh sent me. You know, so so it's uh tell him I am, and then he goes and says, He is, sent me, right? But he is the one who causes to be sent me. So uh now when Jesus in the New Testament says, Um, you know, you know, this is uh, for example, in John chapter 18, um, here come the the Roman cohort to arrest Jesus, and whom do you seek? And he says, uh they say Jesus the Nazarene, and he says, I am. Here it is, right? You know, and so all of this is is are things that you're going to to need to see understand later in the story. Um and so the Lord uh calls Moses, summons Moses, uh, and uh and you know Moses returns and and through the plagues, you know, you you've heard the you know the ten plagues, the he leads Israel out. And really, that's what uh what consumes uh up till chapter you know the 14, 15. The Lord leads Israel out, um you know, and and so they're delivered, uh, and and the army of Pharaoh is destroyed in the sea. And so they just, I mean, you know, chapter uh chapter 15, you get this great celebration, this great song about how the Lord has delivered us, and this is wonderful, and and they're all uh dancing and singing, this is great, and um and uh and then Moses led Israel, this is in chapter 15, verse 22, from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness. And it isn't like three seconds that that the people start grumbling against Moses. All right. Uh, and uh and and so this is gonna be what what we see every single scene, it seems, you know. Uh so the the Moses addresses this, and then the next scene of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses. Uh, and the sons of Israel said to them, Would that we have died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, uh, when we sat by pots of meat and we ate bread to our full uh to our fill, and and you brought us out here in the wilderness to kill us, the whole assembly with hunger. And the Lord said to Moses, uh, Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven, and your people will go out and gather a portion every day. And uh and uh you know, later on, I love this. Later on they're gonna complain, and they're gonna say, Well, you know, you know, this bread's fine, you know, this man uh this manna is but but we want meat. See, we we we we we had meat back in Egypt. We want meat. The Lord says, All right, I'm gonna send these uh these birds, and and I'm gonna send them in such a mo they're gonna be there gonna be so many of them, they're be coming out your nose. You want birds, you want meat, you're getting meat. Yeah. You just get this constant complaining uh all the way through here. Um this is uh you know, it's gonna be referred to back in the New Testament. They're they're gonna put the Lord to the test. They're gonna Nassau the Lord, uh, which is to test him, and uh, and and so the place is called Masa, the place of testing, and Meribah, uh, from uh the the RB in Meribah, the Reev, the they they quarrel with the Lord and they put him to the test, and so it's gonna be this this is gonna just be standard fare for how Israel is going to operate.

Phil Porter 29:34

Uh this is this is post-deliverance.

Dr. David Klingler 29:37

Yes, yes, yes. I mean they're complaining the whole time out in the wilderness.

Phil Porter 29:42

So I think for some of our listeners, I know you for for people who know the Bible, um, if you go before that, how they got to you out of the um uh underneath Egyptian rule. So there were, I just want to make sure that even for a new listener they understand what the story is. So Moses goes in to Pharaoh and says, Let my people go.

Dr. David Klingler 30:06

Let them go. Yeah, let my people go. And Pharaoh won't. And so he puts a plague on him, and they won't. Let puts a plague on him, they won't.

Phil Porter 30:12

And the plague was for the entire nation, right?

Red Sea Deliverance And Song

Dr. David Klingler 30:14

Yeah, absolutely. And it was repeated over and over and over and over. And uh and and you know, this is a funny little backstory that that's going on here. I I just love when I when we're teaching the book of Exodus, and we're of course we're covering it so quickly here, but yes, uh, but uh story that old Dr. Bayless used to tell one of my old professors. He said, you know, that that Moses goes there and, for example, he turns all the water in the in the kingdom to blood, right? And uh and there's one little stone water pot over here that Pharaoh's got kind of on the side. And uh, and and every time that Moses does something, the Pharaoh says, Well, that's not a big deal. We can do that too, right? We we can we we can do the same thing. Um and so so uh Dr. Dr. Bato says, so you know, so so Pharaoh's got this one little bucket of water here, right? That he can drink. Because all the rest of the of the of the water in all of the kingdom is turned to blood. And and so the the the the pharaoh's magicians say, Oh, that's not a big deal. Watch this, we can do that too. And they turn to his last little bot, you know, and they go, poof, see there, we can do that too. And this isn't, of course, in the in the story of a Bayless. Bayless would say, you know, and and Pharaoh turns to his magicians and says, Now explain to me how you're helping me. See, they can't undo any of the plagues. They they they can make them worse, but they can't they can't undo them. And and so it gets more intense and more intense. And of course, the last plague uh is the plague uh on the you know on the the oldest son. That uh and this is the Passover. I guess we probably shouldn't uh skip the Passover. I mean, this is this is huge. This is uh but this deliverance, this deliverance of of Egypt is is the thing that Israel is always looking back to. That uh the the Passover lamb, the deliverance from the Passover Lamb. So this last plague, uh Moses pronounces judgment on everyone in Egypt who does not put the blood of the Passover lamb over their doorpost. Uh they're going their oldest son is going to die. Oldest animal, you know, all of it, firstborn. And uh, and so um Israel's commanded to go into their houses and they they participate in the Passover meal and they put the blood on their doorpost, and uh, and uh uh and um the the angel of death comes, passes over all of their houses, but Pharaoh loses his oldest son. Uh and it is through that judgment, that last plague, that Pharaoh lets Israel go, and off they go, but then he says, you know what, I've changed my mind. I'm gonna pursue him and I'm gonna kill him. Uh they come to the edge of the sea, uh, and uh Israel thinks they're hemmed in, uh, but the Lord delivers them through the sea, he parts the Red Sea, Israel goes through the Red Sea, uh, and uh as they get to the other side, uh the the armies of Pharaoh, uh the Egyptian armies are are pursuing Moses, and and then the Lord just crushes them in the waves. And that that's the song of chapter 15, the celebration of this great deliverance. And and it's so wonderful they get to the other side, and it's not 10 minutes, and they're complaining over it. Now we're at where we were at, they're just complaining. They're complaining, you know. We had it better back in in Egypt. We, you know, and so it's just this this constant uh complaining.

Phil Porter 33:42

And then you you had where I didn't mean to cut you off, but you were at a part where they were wanting meat, and so now he provides a whole huge load of birds.

Grumbling, Manna, And Water From The Rock

Sinai: Covenant And Vocation

Ten Commandments And Law Framework

Golden Calf And Moses’ Mediation

Dr. David Klingler 33:57

Yeah, yeah. Well, well, even back before that. So what happens at and this is important, see what happens at uh in chapter 17 uh when they put the Lord to the test, uh they they want uh they want uh water, give us water that we may drink, and uh and the people thirsted for water, but they grumbled against Moses, and again, this is in 173. Uh why have you brought us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? And so Moses cried out to the Lord, uh, What shall I do with this people? A little more, and they'll stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, Pass before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take into your hand the staff which you uh struck the Nile. You know, this is he struck the Nile, and it uh uh and uh and go, and behold, I will stand before you there at uh on the rock of Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it. Now, boy, there's a whole lot of story imagery going on here, right? Uh the living water, the water that was coming out of the wells back with with Isaac, and uh, and and by the end of you know, uh um Jacob lays his head on the rock, and he has this vision of this uh coming kingdom and king. And so by the end of the story of Genesis, you're looking for the rock, the shepherd of Israel, the rock, out of which will come, uh out of whom will come living water. Uh, when we get to John chapter four, and Jesus is interacting with the Samaritan woman, uh, she's she knows this story, um uh the rock uh flowing from living water, and and they're standing there at the well, uh, you know, the same well that was back in the book of Genesis, and and our fathers drank water from this well, and Jesus says, if you knew who was standing here, you'd ask me for a drink. I wouldn't be asking you for a drink, you'd be asking me for a drink. And she says, Um, you know, um they say Messiah's coming, you know. I mean, she just cuts right to the chase. Um and uh water will flow from his buckets, right? Uh I mean she knows Numbers 24 that that this one will come forth in water, living water, eternal life will flow, and and the one who drinks from this water will never thirst again. And uh and so it's not just water, it's living water. Well, all of this imagery is being built in the story. That's what story does. Um and so it's it's being established in Genesis, it's being developed in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and uh, and you're you're tracking this rock and this rock that's following. And so when Paul's talking about the rock in Corinthians, well, this shouldn't be a shock to anybody because you've read the story, this story that's been flowing the whole way. The problem is we don't read the Bible that way, and we don't keep the story going. And and so what I'm trying to do, you know, it's every detail, I'm telling you, every detail matters, every scene of the story matters, and then I'm trying to summarize the movie for you and give you the high parts, and you say, Well, what about that? Oh, yeah, that was important too. Let me go back and find that. But but uh so so the Lord brings them out, they're complaining the whole time. So you have this contrast between the the Lord, the Lord's deliverance, the Lord's you know, covenant with them, the Lord's uh, you know, uh trying to explain through Moses who they are, where they're going, why they're going there, right? And uh, and uh so so uh they are to be uh this is in chapter 19. Uh you know, um this is the third month. So, so third month after they've gone out of Egypt, um Moses goes up, uh the God called him up to the mountain and said, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, tell the sons of Israel, you you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself, that eagle's wings. That um David refers to that, right? Well, yeah, uh Isaiah, you know, those who wait upon the Lord will mount up on wings like eagles, they will walk and not go away around. Um Jesus uh talks about this. The the the the the word here could you know it's translated eagle's wings, it's a it's a bird of prey. Um he tracked this kind of the word usage back. And when Jesus says, How I wanted you to gather you as a uh a hen gathers or chicks, uh well, for those of us in America, we think hen and chicks, we think chickens. Yeah, chickens, yeah. Yeah, but it's it it's probably referring back to this, you know, this eagle that uh uh on eagle's wings. He he bore you on eagle's wings and he brought you out to himself. Now then, if indeed you will in uh obey my voice and keep my commands, then you will be a pi people of my own possession among all the peoples of all the earth that is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. All right, and so the Lord is setting Israel apart. He's going to reveal himself to Israel, and Israel is going to be a kingdom of priests to the nations, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. And these are the words which you were to speak to the sons of Israel. And so the Lord is going to set them apart, covenant with them, make a a deal, a covenant with them, and uh, and um Israel is going to agree to the to the covenant. Um I used to go back and forth driving to Dallas and when I was in school and I'd listen to this. Uh, this was back when we had Bible on CD, right? There was no uh there were no podcasts, there were no, you know, listen to it on your phone, none of that, right? It was uh, you know, your phone made phone calls. Um now your phone does everything except make phone calls, you know. And no one wants to call. Yeah, that's right. But but I remember on this on this disc set that I was listening to, uh, there's places throughout this story where where the people say to Moses, everything the Lord has commanded, we will do, right? But it was kind of a dramatized disc set. And um uh and so there were these voices of the crowd, and and they were this real high whiny voice, right? It was just hilarious. Everything the Lord commanded, we will do, you know, and and I just I just roared like they were so irritating. Well, um it, you know, and so on the one hand, you're they're saying, anyway, everything the Lord commanded, we will do, and then the next scene, they're not doing it, right? They're rebelling, grumbling, fighting, you know, you know, uh they're fighting against Moses and all this stuff. Well, uh fast forward a little bit, Moses goes off the scene and Joshua takes his place. And and I'm still listening to this uh this disc set. And and the and the crowd says, yeah, just as we followed Moses, so we shall follow you. And I'm thinking, man, truer words were never spoken. Yeah, look out. They ain't gonna follow you either. They're gonna be just as worthless as they were with Moses. But but that's the contrast. See, the the Lord's trying to take these people to the promised land to represent him to be a blessing to the nations, and they're fighting the whole time, complaining about you know, little bitty stuff, you know, and can't, you know, you know, we we want to, you know, drink and eat, but we want to go back to Egypt, we had a better temporal stuff uh rather than head towards you know the internal plan. And there's a whole lot of stuff that we could say about that. But anyway, so so uh the Lord gives uh Moses these commands, and and so from chapter chapter 20, uh you know, you have these commands. In chapter 20, it's the Ten Commandments, right? And we and we've uh talked about that. We're actually doing a study in uh uh in Deuteronomy, and and uh, you know, and so these ten commands, they're they're kind of broken up into two parts. You've got these, you know, how Israel was to relate to the Lord, um, uh and then how Israel was to relate to one another. And and the reason why they were to relate to one another the way they were is because the Lord, that's how the Lord relates to them, right? So you'll get these uh statements like, you know, do this, for I am the Lord, right? You do this because that's what I do. Okay, and so so you get the the ten commands, how uh Israel is to relate to the Lord, and then how Israel is to relate to each other. And uh this goes all the way through uh for for quite an extended uh period of time, uh, you get a whole bunch of detailed explanation about uh a bunch of various different uh uh manners in which they're to operate to relate to the Lord. And um uh and so um Moses is up there on the mountain. So this takes a while, you know, that this this eats up a bunch of chapters and and takes a while. Uh and Moses was quote delayed in coming down the mountain, right? Uh and so um, so you know, uh when uh he when the Lord had finished speaking with Moses, um uh he put him on Mount Sinai and he gave Moses the two tablets that he had written with his stone finger, and and the people saw that Moses was delayed for a while. This is in chapter 32. Um and uh and so the people assembled uh and they said, uh come, let us make a God um uh for for ourselves, because this Moses guy who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what's happened to him. And so Aaron said to them, Tear off your gold rings and uh which which are in your ears uh and uh and give them to me. And so uh he made a graven uh image, a molten image, and he said, This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And when uh now when Aaron uh saw this, uh so they they they made this graven image when Aaron saw this, uh he built an altar before it, and uh he proclaimed, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. So the next day they rose early, they offered burnt offerings and brought down, uh brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down at once for your people, uh, your people, did you catch that? Uh they're not my people, they're your people, Moses. These people your people, uh, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves, and they've quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them, and they've made for themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, saying, This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people, no kidding, right? Now, let me alone, then my anger may burn against them, and I destroy them, and I will make a great nation out of you. And uh and of course, you know, Moses' job is to to be mediator. He's he's functioning in between uh the Lord and Israel. In fact, if we go back a few chapters, uh, when Moses goes up to the mountain and uh and the Lord says, All right, you keep these people back, you don't let them on my mountain, and and and I'm gonna you know show them, I'm gonna display to them. And the people say, Man, we don't want any part of that, right? We don't want to hear Moses. Whatever you say, you go up, you listen, you come down, you tell us, that's what we'll do. Whatever you say, we'll do. And uh, you know, and so so this is kind of how this thing's working. Um, and uh uh and so Moses was job was to, you know, to kind of run interference, to be the mediator. You know, basically, you know, the the the Lord's being the Lord and Israel's being Israel, a stiff-necked rebellious people, and the Lord saying, Moses, get out of the way, I'm gonna kill them all. And Moses is standing away and saying, Lord, don't do it. Keep your promises. You the promises you made to Abraham and Isaac. And that was Moses' job. He was to intercede, he was to to intervene. And uh, and uh and and actually when Moses stops doing that, this is when it becomes a problem for Moses. But so he's he reminds the Lord, he says, Remember, Abraham and I, remember the promises you made to to our forefathers to Abraham and to Isaac and uh and to Israel, to servants uh to whom uh you swear by yourself, saying, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven and the land uh and and all this land which I have spoken to you, uh your descendants will get it. And so, and so the Lord says, the Lord changed his mind. That Moses did it, you know, Moses convinced him, he you know, changed his mind, and and um uh and so uh so the story continues, and I I like what uh what Aaron says, you know, uh when uh when when Moses questions Aaron, you know, about uh what happened, you know, Aaron says, you know, I just we gathered the gold and threw it into the fire, and poof, out came a kind of out came a molten calf. I mean, what was I supposed to do? It's like you know, he's pleading it or it just like he had nothing to do with it, you know. And um uh Moses said to Aaron, this is in verse 21, what did this people do to you that you've bought brought this great sin against them? And Aaron said, Don't let uh the anger of uh my Lord burn. You know that this people is prone to evil, and they said to me, Make a God for us who will uh who will go before us for this Moses who brought us out of land. We don't know what happened to him. And and so I said to them, Uh, whoever has any gold, tear it off. And uh and uh they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and poof, out came a calf. It's just it's so ridiculous, right? And so Moses saw that the people were out of control and that Aaron had uh had let them get out of control uh to become a derision to uh among the enemies, and so uh, and so Moses stood at the gate of the camp. He said, Whoever's for the Lord, come to me, and all the sons of Levi gathered to him. And this is where the Levites kind of joined themselves uh with Moses, right? And uh uh and so this is where the the Levites kind of become a more central player and figure, and this is where they're gonna uh they're gonna be uh be a kingdom, you know, that they're gonna be the priestly tribe. Um and so and so then uh chapter end of chapter 32, the Lord says, All right, Moses, here's the deal. Um you know, Moses says, Look, forgive him, Lord. Forgive him. He says, here's what what what's gonna happen. Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of the book. Right? Uh go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, my angel will go before you. Um, you know, I I'm not going. I will not go up in your midst because you're an obstinate people. My angel will lead you in. Okay. Now, uh back in chapter three, it was the angel of the Lord that appeared to Moses at the burning of the bush, and now it's the angel of the Lord that's going to uh to lead uh to lead Israel in. And uh and it's this angel of the Lord that's going to appear to Joshua uh in chapter five of Joshua. Uh and uh then it's the angel of the Lord that's going to um be speaking in Judges chapter chapter one, judges chapter two, and so uh and so it's this angel of the Lord's. In other words, Moses says, you know, the Lord says to Moses, I'm not leading him in. Well, Moses says, Look, Lord, you you have to. If you don't go, I don't go. Well, what we're gonna find out is Moses ain't going either, right? And so so the angel's gonna lead him in. Uh my presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest in the land. Uh, the angel will lead them in, uh, and so off they go. And that uh really brings us to the um the the heading towards the end of the book of Exodus. Now, uh at the end of the book of Exodus, now we get this instruction. Okay, now so Moses was instructing Israel, uh, was receiving the instruction from the Lord on how Israel was to operate, and uh he comes down the hill, and and this whole thing was interrupted by this scene. And then it goes back to now, here's how you build a tabernacle, here's how you uh you know um build the Ark of the Covenant, here's how the lampstands were. Uh and so there being an instruction is being given on the on the tabernacle and how they're to uh to erect the tabernacle, how to build a tabernacle. And that's what finishes the book of Exodus. And so usually this is where we we kind of stop reading, right? This starts to in our uh mind get boring. Well, as the reader, you you need to know this part of the story. In fact, uh the next book that we're gonna talk about is the book of Leviticus, and uh and we'll make the point uh next time uh that the book of Leviticus is almost entirely a direct quote from the word of the Lord. And that that's the book that we tend to read the least, right? Uh and so so we're in a really important section. Uh, this is the instruction to Israel on how they were to live, uh how they were to operate, and everything that comes after these books is to be evaluated by how are they doing in relation to the law. Uh and so the book of Exodus is the the book of God's beginning to fulfill his promises to Abram, Abraham, to make Israel a great nation, right? The promises are repeated to Isaac, to Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to Israel. Uh they have uh twelve sons. Jacob has twelve sons, those twelve sons grow into twelve tribes, and now Moses has uh hundreds of years later has risen and he's delivered the people. And so remember, we're in the nation-making section. I will make you a great nation and I will bless you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. And so they got the people, and now they've got the government. Now they're gonna go uh to uh to the land, right? Uh ex uh Exodus, the end of Exodus, Leviticus, the book of Leviticus is the getting of the government, how they're to relate to the Lord, and the book of Numbers, they're going to the land. And uh and we're gonna pick it up on the uh here next time and see how this story continues to play out.

Phil Porter 52:24

Now, uh I was just flipping through here. They were given the law twice, correct?

Dr. David Klingler 52:30

Or how did that come, or is that not a part of well the there's so the the the this discussion of the law, um when uh um we talk about the the law, um the law, the laws, the the it's used the the word the phrase the law is used in in different ways. The the law is uh the the word for law in Hebrew is Torah, right? Well, these are the five books of Torah, the the law of Moses. And and so the law is contained in these five books. So it's not just the uh the covenant, right? The covenant is given, but the law uh is uh is the the all of this is the is the establishing of the law. Moses tells the story uh because what the patriarchs do by faith is going to be codified into the law. What what Abraham did by faith, what Kai, what Isaac did and Jacob did by faith, these are the things that you, Israel, are to continue to do by faith uh until the promised one of blessing comes. And some of it is an eternal covenant, right? That they're to do these things forever. Uh and so the law uh is the uh um the the first five books. Um uh you'll you'll see it uh also as the law is in parallel, we call it in parallel, it it's it's used synonymously or or in uh it's called ep exegetic. It's it's the law, uh the commandment, right? The commandment is singular, made up of um statutes and judgments, plural, right? Uh and uh and so you know the law is the law of Moses made up of many instructions, you know, and so some have counted six hundred and thirteen, do this, don't do this, but but really it's it's a whole lot more than that, yeah. Um because that that list is not uh exhaustive by any by any means. Uh but but Israel's being given the the law, the first five books, so that they know how to live in the land.

Angel Of The Lord Leads Israel

Phil Porter 54:42

Yeah, thank you for clarifying. Uh you know, just as a student, you know, just listening and following along, um, I just always want to, even for myself, I've heard things that are just you know, out of left field or something I picked up when I was a child, but I don't really know the context. And so these questions to me are are uh very important because I'm trying to, as you said, understand the story, not pick it apart and then try to, you know, figure it out. It's just following it along. And as you as a listener uh as well, as you're listening to this, you can go on our website and if you have questions, just like I have questions, uh you can go on there and ask David. Sure. Yeah, each each time we go through an episode or whatever, that goes directly to his inbox and and um he'll respond to that. So as you're growing as a student, you know, remind myself, as I'm growing as a student, it's okay to ask questions. Questions are needed because although David knows it all, I mean he's he's right here. He's literally teaching her how he's teaching us uh the Bible. Uh we I want to get to the point where I'm teaching my son and my daughter and my family and the people that come, you know, from my family line, the Bible. Yep. And um, so uh and I want it to be a conviction as well. You know, I want to know the story in order uh for me to really understand how great God is. And so um thank you for that today. Absolutely, absolutely. Uh it was it was it was new for me because I've never read the book of Exodus. Yeah. And uh I really appreciate you breaking it down. And next time we'll pick up in the book of Leviticus. Remember, as David has said, uh, you may not have read this book, but it is very important. And um uh if you have the time, go back and read Exodus, track through it, and so that you can better understand the story. Thank you, David, for today. Absolutely. For more resources, visit teachmethebible.com or download our app from any app store. You can partner with Teach Me the Bible in helping the people of God understand the Word of God by subscribing and sharing with others. Thank you for listening to Teach Me the Bible Podcast.