Exodus 3:20
So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Exodus 3:15-22 and 1 Peter 4:1-11
Thus far, God has revealed himself to Moses through the burning bush. During this intimate conversation, God has revealed His name for the first time to any man of what we should call Him. He has taught Moses how to approach Him with vulnerability and reverence by making Moses take off his sandals. Moses has responded accordingly and covered his face in fear of what might happen to him if he looks at God. Now God will tell Moses what He wants him to do.
This section of Exodus is essentially a summary of the rest of the book. So let’s take today to set the table for the theme of Exodus and get a high-level view of the parallels and symbology to Jesus we will see. God tells Moses that the events will unfold like this:
- Moses is to tell the elders of Israel that YHWH, the God of their fathers sent you and that God’s promise to them is being fulfilled now
- Take them to the king of Egypt and ask to leave for three days
- The king will say no
- God will strike the Egyptians with miracles
- The king will then let you go
- The Egyptians will give you silver, gold and clothes for your sons and daughters to take on your journey
I can’t help myself from stopping everywhere and writing down all the symbology. We will never get through this chapter if we don’t move on but we have to look at one event real quick before we continue. This conversation between God and Moses is really similar to another conversation God and Moses have later – much later! The gospel of Luke records this conversation.
“Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. ” (Luke 9:30-31)
Do you know the Greek word for departure used by Luke? Of course it’s exodos. Can you imagine Jesus and Moses reminiscing about the first exodus and how God’s promises way back then are about to be fulfilled? I can only imagine what they discussed. Anyway, this historical event that God is about to use Moses to accomplish is screaming at us that Jesus is coming and will do the same thing – free God’s people from slavery.
So you can probably see all the parallels to Jesus in our bullet list above. Jesus will come to the people and elders of Israel and tell them that God has sent him to fulfill His promise. He will perform signs and wonders. He will then take that three day journey after his sacrifice.
Let’s conclude today with a brief look at that last bullet point. God is going to plunder the Egyptians on the way out of town. Why would He do that? Well there’s a practical reason for one. God will have the Israelites build Him a tabernacle and a lot of this silver and gold will be needed for it. But there’s also a spiritual parallel we can make – probably more than one but let’s pick one for now.
In Exodus, Egypt represents all that is secular. But as we learned in our study of the word “holy,” secular things can be holy if God sets them apart for his purpose. And also as we learned yesterday, nothing good exists that isn’t connected to God. In order for anything to find its true value, it must be connected to God and used for His purpose. So in a sense, God is going to plunder the Egyptians as a symbol that He can take things that were meant for secular purposes or even evil and make them good.
We are called by God to do the same thing. The things in our life that we are currently using for our secular benefit are to be “plundered” and redirected towards God’s purposes so that “in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 4:11) We are to use our gifts and talents for God’s glory because our deeds are only truly good if they give glory to God. Jesus says in Matthew 5 to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Christ in the Old Testament 
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