Taught by Philip de Grey Warter at UCCF South West Team Days, May 2009
The Italian Job conundrum has been solved! It ends with a cliffhanger. The Royal Society of Chemistry ran a competition – what’s the most plausible idea to the cliffhanger ending? – and somebody came up with an answer. But arguably the cliffhanger ending was better – not just for the theatre but for its reality – the big plan was left hanging in the balance. All human ideas inevitably do.
The only perfect plan in history was given in Genesis. In Genesis 12 we read of God’s enormous promises to Abraham that drive the rest of Scripture: promises of people, place, and blessing. Yet when we begin Exodus, it’s a bit like the end of The Italian Job. The plan has worked so far, but then we drive round the corner and Pharaoh is standing in middle of road; the plan swerves and is left hanging in balance – or is it?
In these opening two chapters of Exodus we learn something about God’s fulfillment of his promises through this period in Israel’s history.
1. Partial fulfillment 1v1-7
The plan is way short of completion, but there has been a great deal of fulfillment already. See v1 the names of the sons of Israel listed. It wouldn’t have existed as a family if it wasn’t for God’s plan – Sarah was barren, her and Abraham were both past childbearing age; also Jacob’s family shouldn’t have survived the great famine. Hebrew version starts Exodus with “and” – ie following straight on from Genesis.
It’s great to see God’s plan at work! Both in Scripture, and in experience. Like seeing someone come to faith after praying for them and speaking to them about Jesus.
“It’s good to know that God is gracious, but it’s especially good when you can see it.”
Partial fulfillment has great encouragement, but yet it has its pitfalls – it can leave us putting faith in the wrong place. What happens when it gets tough? Our confidence must rest not in how obviously to me God is keeping his promises, but on the faithfulness of the promiser. Not the fact that he is, but that he says he will. Here in Exodus 1, we’ve not yet arrived – we’re only in Egypt. Christian fellowship is a foretaste of heaven, but we’re not there yet.
2. Painful fulfillment 1v8-22
Verse 8 is an ominous turning point, when we meet Pharaoh. There is very real and very painful opposition: general hardship in v11 (‘afflict’ = bring low, beat down); specific persecution in v13 – lives made bitter with hard service. Scripture sometimes skates over the bits we’d like to be interested in. Take the crucifixion - Mel Gibson makes a lot of the blood and guts of crucifixion but the gospel writers skate over it, simply stating, “There they crucified him.” Here we can imagine the many private griefs, but we’re not told about them. And there’s more: v16 attempted genocide, then ordered genocide; v22 the whole nation is involved.
Pharaoh here isn’t just a rival to God, but seems to have the upper hand. But has God been thwarted? To answer this, there are surprising clues in the passage: v10 the fear, v12 the blessing continues (note repetition of word); v17 God has his people placed – and named to be remembered for their heroic faith. Carefully and thoughtfully the narrator traces a hand behind the action.
“God’s hand is at work from beginning to end; he works out his own plan by his own schemes in his own way by his own timeplan – and though the days are dark, it will work out and all will be well.”
- Alex Motyer, BST Commentary
We also get warnings that this was going to happen, earlier in the story. Jacob was told about this (Gen 46: 1ff) – Egypt was not a mistake, but God had led them there, he’d be with them there, and he’d lead them out of there. That doesn’t make it easy when they’re there, but it does make it right. When things get tough it’s easy to ask, ‘is this really where God wants me to be? Maybe this is plan B and I’m outside of God’s will’. The bible never talks like that. You are here today because he wants you to be.
Not just Jacob – Abraham before him was also told about it (Gen 15:13ff).
And in the New Testament we are told how to understand this:
“Through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
– Rom 13:4.
Are these tough times too much to go through? Exodus is for us, that we’ll keep going, that we’ll have hope, that we’ll know the plan’s not in the balance. However dark the days, however sorrowful our paths, God is still in charge. He’s with us and working out our plan.
Days of darkness still come o’er me,
Sorrow’s paths I often tread;
But the Saviour still is with me;
By His hand I’m safely led.
- ‘I Will Sing The Wondrous Story’ by Francis H. Rowley
One of the problems of discouragement is that it gives us tunnel vision. When things get tough we focus only on the problem and the hardship. Nothing leads to discouragement more than false expectation; Exodus says God is committed to our good but not to our comfort.
But why this particular darkness – slavery and oppression? Why does God deliberately engineer things so that his people know exactly what it’s like to be under the power of a ruthless ruler who seeks to exploit and destroy them? He does it to show that He is above all a rescuer and a redeemer. From a New Testament perspective, we know the supreme slavery is to sin; we know that the cost of that rescue is the death of Jesus; we know the only ultimate alternatives in life are either to serve sin – which will exploit and destroy us – or to serve Jesus, whose service is perfect freedom (Romans 6: we are either a slave to sin or to Christ). Exodus is a gigantic visual aid of this (more in chapter 5).
3. Personal fulfillment (2:1ff)
God’s plan is fulfilled through the use of individuals. He involves people – the midwives, Moses’ mother and daughter, and Moses himself.
Chapter 2 has an odd beginning – lots of people mentioned, but nobody named until Moses, and even that at the very end. This is possibly because he’s just an example in point. Many little boys were born and surviving; the hero of Exodus is none of them, but God – although his plan does involve people who have a prior allegiance and take incredible risks. Ephesians 1:10 explains that God’s plan ultimately is Jesus; yet it includes us, in personal fulfillment one at a time as we align ourselves with his purposes. For the midwives, this meant guts. For Moses’ mother, it meant sacrifice. For Miriam, it meant taking the initiative with real boldness. For Pharaoh’s daughter, it meant compassion with a big heart. For us, taking part in God’s purposes may involve one or more of these: guts, sacrifice, boldness, compassion.
Verse 11 onwards sets up many of the later themes of the books., like an overture of an opera where you get snatches of the tunes to come:
- Moses was saved through water, next to the reeds; the people were saved through water, through the Reed Sea;
- Pharaoh’s daughter paid Moses’ mother to look after Moses; the Egyptians gave gifts to people as they left the land;
- The rescuer was not readily welcomed; later the people shun Moses and grumble.
But the main theme is clear. These are stories of people in need of rescue, and attempting to rescue others. Both these key themes come to a head in v23-25. How much more will God rescue his people! Pharaoh’s daughter hears the cries; how much more will God hear the people’s cries and come to help! Moses can see the trouble and have mercy; how much more will God, whose nature is to have mercy! The Priest of Midian takes compassion and offers shelter; how much more will God take compassion and offer shelter! God did hear their groaning and remember his covenant, and was concerned – and when these happen, we can expect to see some action.
