Yet, it remains true that we all find ourselves trapped and even enslaved by sin, by temptations, by this vice or by that vice. There are all things, even sinful things, that we find ourselves doing - we wish we could stop but we find out that we're slaves.
The people of Israel found themselves as slaves literally as slaves! They father, Joseph, had literally been a savior for Egypt, but now they were slaves and in need of a Savior. Read chapter 1 of Exodus to discover how bad the conditions of their slavery had become.
God rescued them. He sent Moses. He sent plagues. He showed his power. He parted the waters of the Red Sea. Pause to ponder God's rescue and God's salvation. Keep reading from Exodus 2 - 18 and just list the ways that God rescued his people (even though and especially when they didn't deserve it).
Pay close attention because the way God rescued his people becomes a shadow of the way God rescued us. The parallels to the salvation God worked for us through Jesus pile up in front of us.
"Out of Egypt I called my son" - he was talking about his people, Israel; he was talking about his Son, our Lord Jesus whom he called out of Egypt after the threat of Herod was over.
"Sacrifice a year, old, blemish free lamb and paint it's blood over the door so that the angel of death will passover" - he was talking about the way his people would be spared from the final plague, the death of the first born; he was talking about his Son, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" so that the angel of death passes over us too!
The Israelites were free from slavery. We're free from sin, from death, from hell. Read John 8:31-32 and celebrate, yes, give thanks for the freedom we have in Christ.
Read Romans 8:1-4 and ponder the freedom from sin that we have, even though it still wants to enslave it every day. How does this freedom from sin set us free to really live?
Especially for Sunday School teachers: What will you emphasize as you cover chapter 4 of "The Story," 18 chapters from the beginning of Exodus? Let me suggest a few ways to focus so the kids can see God's deliverance - 1) Show them the slavery and then show them how God used Moses to set them free, how God used a person to be his instrument to free them; 2) Show them the slavery and then show them how God used the 10 plagues to show the Israelites and Egypt that he was the only God whom they should serve. It can be a lesson that focuses on the first commandment. Google this and do some research - each plague was aimed at one of Egypt's so-called gods. 3) Show them the destruction and power of slaver, but then highlight God's power. See if they can identify God's power in this whole account.
This is an awesome section of God's Word that deserves our careful attention. God bless our meditation on it.
