God Says to Egypt, 'Let My People Go, That They May Serve Me’
Introduction and Summary
Ancient Israel was enslaved and in bondage to Egypt for 400 years. Afterward, Israel came out of those centuries of slavery by a miraculous deliverance by God Almighty (Genesis 15:13-14). This is known widely in world history as Israel’s “Exodus” from bondage and slavery in Egypt. In this marvelous biblical account of God’s deliverance of His ancient people there are truths that are relevant to us today, big time! Come and see.
The Old Testament Scriptures have much to teach us today
The great histories and teachings of the Scriptures of the Old Testament were not just for people living in those ancient days. They are also, as the apostle Paul wrote, “written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us.” We today find application in our lives of the great truths of the inspired Old Testament — including some profound truths contained in Israel’s Exodus from bondage in Egypt. The New Testament was written with deep inspiration by both the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures of the Old Testament. The early Church applied to their lives many principles for godly living that they found in the Old Covenant Scriptures. So should the Church today.
Think of this: Every Scripture Jesus quoted in the four Gospels came from the Old Testament. The New Testament had not even been written yet when Jesus was on earth. For that same reason, every Bible Scripture the writers of the New Testament quoted were from the Old Testament. We, like they, can learn much from the earliest Bible writings — including the fascinating account of Israel's exodus from Egyptian slavery.
Israel’s bondage in Egypt was a prophetic foreshadowing of our need for deliverance from captivity (bondage to sin)
After 400 years of Israel’s slavery in Egypt, God sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand on the Lord’s behalf: “Let my people go, that they may serve Me.” For four centuries Egypt had been for Israel “the house of bondage.” The purpose of God in releasing them from bondage was “that they may serve Me.” From slavery to freedom, from serving Pharaoh to serving God. That’s the heart of God for His people. To their bondages God says, “Let my people go!” Release them!
The 10th plague of Egypt symbolizes our deliverance from sin’s captivity by the blood of Jesus
There’s a lot to digest here. Let’s examine the highlights as they apply to us. Egypt and the Egyptians and their evil “house of bondage” over God’s people symbolize the the slavery, the bondage to sin and evil, that all of us are in prior to finding “Christ our Passover.” In that very first Passover in Egypt, the enslaved Israelites were to sacrifice a male lamb “without defect” (12:5). Then they were to take his blood and smear it on the sides and tops of their houses' doorframes. That night God would punish wicked Egypt by killing all the firstborn sons in the land. However, if the Israelites had applied the blood of the sacrificed lamb to their doorframes, the destruction would “pass over” them and they would be protected from the judgment of God.
The symbolism is quite clear. At the cross of Calvary Jesus Christ became “Christ our Passover Lamb,” as the inspired apostle Paul wrote. He bore all our sins, our bondages, our captivities on Himself. For those who have faith in His blood shed at the cross for us, we experience God’s miraculous deliverance from damnation and find that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, NKJV). Thank you, Lord.
Finally defeated by God, Pharaoh lets the Israelites depart from Egypt
Let’s look a bit more at ancient Israel’s story. Beginning at Exodus 12:31 (read if interested in the details), we see a defeated Pharaoh saying to Moses and the Israelites, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested” (12:31). So the entire nation of the Israelites — estimated to be between two and three million in number — began their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan.
But early in their departure, two sudden dangers loomed up. First, they discovered that Pharaoh had changed his mind, and he and the Egyptian army were chasing Israel to return them to captivity. And secondly, with Pharaoh in pursuit, Israel faced the impassable Red Sea before them (Exodus 14). God told Moses to stretch forth his staff over the sea, and the waters were divided, and Israel passed through on dry ground, with a wall of water on both sides (Ex. 14:21-22).
Then in vss. 23-28 we see the Egyptian army following into the parted walls of water, intending to recapture escaping Israel. But God closed the Red Sea’s water and drowned the Egyptian army!
The drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea symbolizes water baptism
If you have come to the Savior Jesus Christ, you have by repentance and faith (Acts 20:21) been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). Then, following that Bible imagery, in water baptism you are “buried with” Jesus. And then, just as Jesus rose from the grave to life again, we rise from the baptismal grave to “live a new life” (Rom. 6:4). The context is vss. 1-2 – “Shall we go on sinning?… By no means!”
Putting this altogether — seeing in Israel’s exodus from Egypt a prophetic foretaste of the Christian believer’s experience — here’s the order. (1) For Israel in Egyptian bondage, the blood of a sacrificed lamb delivered them from Egyptian captivity. For us, the blood of Jesus Christ, “our Passover Lamb,” delivers us from slavery to sin and from the eternal damnation our sins deserve. And (2) the Egyptian army tried to recapture the freed Israelites. When Israel miraculously walked dry shod through the Red Sea, the Egyptian army tried to follow. But God Almighty closed the waters over them and drowned them. For the believer, this is fulfilled in water baptism. Having been born again as a child of God by the blood of the sacrificed Lamb, Jesus Christ, the new believer buries the old man of sin in a watery, symbolic grave. Then he/she rises from that baptismal grave to walk in newness of life, having left behind the old man of sin (Romans 6:4-6).
In repenting and being baptized in water, there are multiple benefits: “Repent…and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins.” In Jesus we can find forgiveness of our sins, plus a “release from” them. He will help you rise to victory over your old sin nature. Your new walk as a born-again Christian can be pleasing daily to God your Father.
Why are we delivered from the bondage of ‘Egypt’ (that is, from captivity to our sins)? God says, “that they may serve [Him]” in holiness, delivered from sin and committed to living in victory over sin
Israel was delivered from Egyptian captivity and came through the Red Sea, leaving behind ‘Egypt’ and the Egyptian soldiers that were drowned in the watery grave of the Red Sea. Similarly, on this side of Christ’s redeeming cross, everyone can some to Him in faith in His blood for deliverance from captivity to sin. Then the believer “buries” that old man in water baptism and rises to walk a new, God-serving life.
As Hebrews 9:14 says, we are cleansed by the blood of the Passover Lamb Jesus and are called and enabled “to serve the living God.” We join Jesus the Savior by faith at His cross. Then we are buried with Him in baptism, leaving our sinful ‘old man’ behind in that watery grave. And from those baptismal waters we — like Jesus from his grave — rise to walk a new life, with a daily vision to serve God and increasingly, by His grace, “to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Pastor Jim, I want this. What shall I do?
- • First and foremost, you must come to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the One John the Baptist called “the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He is “Christ our Passover,” sacrificed for us and our sins. As the Savior Himself said in John 3:7 - “You must be born again.”
• Having now received Jesus personally as your Lord and Savior, be properly and biblically water baptized, burying your old self and beginning to walk in a new life, empowered by the Lord to walk in victory over sin.
• Read and fill your heart with God’s Word — “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11, ESV).
• Spiritually speaking, put to death your old sinful nature when it tries to rise up and defeat you. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24, ESV). Look to the Lord for help in this.
• In sum, walk very close to the Lord and you’ll have a life of victory in Jesus — “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, KJV).
• Walk with God daily and be blessed. Study His Word the Bible. Pray to Him. Try praying the Lord’s Prayer — the “Our Father” — slowly and thoughtfully, with your heart open to God. Worship the Lord both in the church service and by yourself. Live your life, with God’s help and grace, so that “God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11, KJV).
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You might enjoy our related sermon: Jesus Saves Us FROM Our Sins in Two Important Senses
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