The Promise of Exodus and the Gospel

From Bad to Worse.

In Exodus 5-6, we’re seeing that God’s promise of deliverance led first to increase hardship and suffering for his people. Pharaoh’s response to the Lord’s demand is to make life harder for his Hebrew slaves. The people blame Moses and Aaron:

“The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Ex 5:21).

In turn, Moses looks to the Lord and questions everything:

“O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all” (5:22-23).

The complaint, in essence, is that for all these promises of deliverance things have only gotten worse.

A Better Promise.

It’s in response to these complaints and questions that the Lord God gives the great promise of Exodus. It’s not merely that they will be freed from slavery. Nor is it merely that they will have a new land. The great promise of Exodus is that they will know God and be known by him: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Ex 6:7). They will be God’s people, and he will be their God. This relationship is with the one, true, and living God is the great promise of the Exodus.

Many Blessings. One Goal.

For those who follow Jesus, we can recount an incredible number of blessings that we’ve experienced through faith in Christ. Many are intangible like peace, comfort, and joy. Even though we cannot touch them, they are no less real.

Yet, these benefits are not the goal of our redemption. The ultimate purpose of our faith is not to increase our satisfaction or to make us a better person. The primary goal of our faith is to know and enjoy God. As David prays in Psalm 27,

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Ps 27:1).

The one thing we need from the Lord is to be with him and to enjoy life with him. Certainly, there are innumerable blessings that spring from knowing God in Christ, but they all overflow from this one thing.

One Goal Realized through the Gospel.

“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (Ex 6:7). Through the life and work of our Lord Jesus, God extends this promise to all who turn to him in faith. “Now,” the Apostle Paul declares, “in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). Paul elaborates on the work of Christ for us,

“He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph 2:17-19).

The promise that God will be our God and that we will be his people has been extended to all who trust in Christ. By faith, we can be his people, and he will be our God.