Exodus, Numbers - From Egypt to The Jordan
Introduction: The Importance of Backstory
If you are a guest here with us this evening, welcome to the Well. My name is Brad, and I get the privilege of hanging out with you tonight. As we often mention, the purpose of our church for many years has been to help people connect to God and to each other in every neighborhood. One of the ways we stay committed to that is through the handling of the Word of God. We believe this Bible is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training. Usually, we just pick a book and work our way through it.
We are launching a new series for the New Year in the book of Joshua. But in typical Well fashion, last week we had you opening to Genesis, and this week we are in Exodus. If you were with us last week, we acknowledged that if you’ve ever been to a movie with someone who already knew the backstory, the movie meant something different to them. It might have been funnier, or they might have gotten more out of it, while you—lacking that context—didn’t quite know what you were experiencing. We felt that if we just turned to Joshua chapter one and started there, some people might lack the necessary context. We want the backstory.
Last week in Genesis, we saw the attributes of our God. We saw that the God of the Bible is, by His very nature, terrifying, yet His character is good. As C.S. Lewis famously put it, our God is definitely not safe, but He is good. We saw that He is faithful and keeps His promises. By His grace, He chose a people, starting with a man named Abram (later Abraham), then Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. He built a people to be His special chosen ones—called Hebrews, then Jews, and then the people of Israel. At the end of Genesis, they end up in Egypt. That is where we left them, but that is not where they stay.
From Guests to Slaves
As we enter the book of Exodus, the people of God are in Egypt. Joseph, who was the man on the inside helping them, has died. A new king arises over Egypt who does not know Joseph.
Exodus 1:8 (NASB)
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
As you can imagine, the situation changes quickly. The seventy guests who initially went to Egypt under Joseph’s protection are now under a king who has no connection to their history. Things go from “guest” to “slave” very, very fast. The people of God will be in Egypt for 430 years. At some point, they had to have been wondering, “Has God forgotten about us?”
Things go from bad to worse. The king of Egypt becomes nervous that these people are growing into large families and might someday overtake him. He gives the green light for infanticide, ordering that all male boys born to the Hebrews be killed.
Exodus 1:15-16 (NASB)
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; and he said, ‘When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see [them] upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.’
However, the midwives feared God and did not do as the king commanded; they let the boys live. Because of this, Pharaoh expands the circle. He commands every citizen that if they see a Hebrew boy born, they are to throw him into the Nile River.
Exodus 1:22 (NASB)
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.’
The Reluctant Deliverer
In the second chapter of Exodus, a family gives birth to a son. I don’t know how, but the mother keeps the baby quiet for three months. If you’ve ever had an infant, you know how impossible that sounds! They pulled it off because they knew if the neighbors heard him, he’d be thrown into the Nile. Eventually, they can do no more, so they place the boy in a basket and send him into the Nile, hoping he will be protected.
By God’s grace, he is picked up by a woman in Pharaoh’s own household. She draws him out of the water, and his name is Moses, which means “to draw out.” Moses becomes a very interesting deliverer: born a Hebrew but raised in the household of Pharaoh. He has access to the very seat of authority.
Years later, Moses sees a struggle between an Egyptian overlord and one of his Hebrew kin. He doesn’t like the way his people are being treated, so he kills the Egyptian and buries him in the sand.
Exodus 2:11-12 (NASB)
Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one [around], he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
One thing you’ll see about the people of God—and it’s true today, too—is that when our flesh takes over, it usually doesn’t end well. Our flesh comes out as anger and violence. Very rarely have you said something in anger and thought, “Wow, that was really honoring to the Lord and helpful to my marriage.” This situation is no different. Pharaoh hears about the murder and wants Moses’s life, so Moses has to flee.
Exodus 2:15 (NASB)
When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
The Burning Bush: A Proximal God
Moses has to learn to trust God, not his flesh. Years later, he has an experience that marks not only his life but the life of the entire nation. The angel of the Lord appears to him in a blazing fire in the midst of a bush. Moses looks and sees that while the bush is on fire, it is not being consumed.
Exodus 3:2 (NASB)
The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
This wasn’t a case of someone throwing a cigarette out their car window on Highway 41; this was something entirely different. Moses is compelled to turn aside and see this marvelous sight. From the midst of the bush, God calls his name: “Moses, Moses!” Moses responds, “Here I am.”
Exodus 3:3-4 (NASB)
So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.’ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’
God tells him to remove his sandals because the place where he is standing is holy ground. Then He identifies Himself: “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” This experience connects Moses back to his real heritage. Moses hides his face because he is afraid to look at God. When we see God for who He is, He is terrifying. But notice what God says next.
Exodus 3:6-7 (NASB)
He said also, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, ’I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.
For 430 years, these people had been wondering about the promises given to Abraham. God promised a land and a family tree, yet here they were, still in Egypt. But God says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… I have given heed to their cry… I am aware of their suffering.”
Do you see the proximal nature of our God? He saw, He heard, He was aware, and He was moving to deliver. It wasn’t that God lacked the information 429 years ago; He knew exactly where they were. He says He has come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses asks a great question: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” The answer is essentially, “Nobody, Moses. It’s not about you.” God says, “I will be with you.”
Exodus 3:11-12 (NASB)
But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’ And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.’
That’s the thing about walking with the Lord. When you trust in Jesus Christ, you are crucified with Christ; it is no longer you who lives, but Christ in you. He is the strength, the power, and the courage. When Moses asks what name he should give the Israelites, God responds with one of the most significant names in history: “I AM WHO I AM.”
Exodus 3:14 (NASB)
God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ’Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’
In the New Testament, Jesus makes seven “I AM” statements, claiming a direct connection back to the God of the burning bush. He even told the religious leaders, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
The Plagues and the Exodus
Moses approaches Pharaoh and says, “Let my people go.” Pharaoh says no. What follows in chapters seven through twelve is some of the most catastrophic text in your Bible: the plagues. God begins to systematically decimate the Egyptian deities. Every plague was a direct affront to a god they worshiped—the Nile, the sun, even Pharaoh himself. God destroys their religious system, their economy, and a massive portion of their population.
This encounter is used throughout the Old Testament to explain how terrifyingly powerful God is. If someone asked, “What do you mean God is powerful?” the Israelites would say, “Let’s talk about Egypt.”
The final plague is the Death Angel. Every firstborn in the city would die unless the blood of an innocent animal was placed on the doorposts and the lintel of the house. It’s interesting—that’s essentially the shape of a cross. Without the shed blood of something innocent in your place, death comes. If the blood was there, the angel passed over. This is the origin of Passover and the foundation of the communion we enjoy today.
Pharaoh finally lets them go, but then pride sets in. He rallies his troops and chases them. The Hebrews—men, women, and children who are not soldiers but manual laborers—are trapped. They have the Red Sea in front of them, mountains on the sides, and chariots behind them. They are in deep trouble. But God tells Moses to lift his staff, and the waters split. They pass through on dry ground. When the Egyptian army tries to follow, the waters collapse and destroy them all.
Exodus 15:1-3 (NASB)
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, ’I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. ’The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. ’The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name.
Law, Tabernacle, and Holiness
After the Red Sea, they head toward the Promised Land, but first, they stop at Mount Sinai. In Exodus 20, God answers the question: “What is the character of my God?” Remember, they have no Bible yet. God gives the Ten Commandments as the beginning of His revelation. He is saying, “If you are going to live in relationship with me, this is who I am. Since you are my image-bearers, this is how I want you to live.”
The people then ask if their God has a temple like the Egyptian gods. The answer is no. Instead, God gives them the Tabernacle—a tent structure. It was the idea that He didn’t need a stone building; He was with them. Where they moved, He moved. When He stopped, they stopped.
But the law of God was never meant to save. How are you doing with lying, stealing, coveting, or anger? If you’ve failed even once, you’ve broken the law. What do you do with that? That is why we have the book of Leviticus. Most people stop their Bible reading plans at Leviticus, but it’s a beautiful book about the holiness of God. It provides a system of sacrifices because God knows we will blow it. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.
We don’t bring goats to church today because the Lamb of God, Jesus, died in our place. He didn’t just cover sin; He dealt with the root and removed it.
Numbers: Discipline in the Wasteland
The journey from the Nile Delta to the Promised Land should have taken less than two weeks. It wasn’t a long journey, though it was through the Yeshimon—the Hebrew word for “wasteland.” There are no trees, no water, and no shade. It’s worse than Barstow.
If you were to write a title next to the book of Numbers in your Bible, write “Chastening” or “Discipline.” It was relatively easy for God to get the people out of Egypt; the heavy lifting was getting Egypt out of the people. They still had the idolatry and the sins of Egypt in their hearts.
In Numbers 13, they reach the southern border of the land and send in twelve spies.
Numbers 13:1-2 (NASB)
Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, ‘Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.’
The spies return after forty days. They show the fruit—grapes, figs, and pomegranates—but ten of them are terrified. They report that the people are strong, the cities are fortified, and there are giants (the descendants of Anak) in the land.
Numbers 13:27-28 (NASB)
Thus they told him, and said, ’We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ’Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified [and] very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
Caleb tries to quiet the people. He says, “We should by all means go in… we will surely overcome it.” He remembers that just two weeks ago, God destroyed Egypt. He’s thinking, “Why are you worried about a guy who can dunk? Did you forget the Red Sea?” But the other spies spread a bad report, saying the land devours its inhabitants and that they felt like grasshoppers compared to the giants.
Numbers 13:32-33 (NASB)
So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ’The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of [great] size. ‘There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’
Because the older generation grumbled and failed to trust God, He declares that they will all die in the wilderness. They are condemned to forty years of wandering until that generation passes away. Only those under twenty years old, along with Joshua and Caleb, will enter the land.
The Reputation of God
Think about the geography. There were major trade routes passing through that desert. Traders from India and Damascus would go to Egypt and find it destroyed. They’d ask, “What happened?” and hear, “The God of the Hebrews destroyed us.” Then, as they traveled north, they’d see a massive cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night in the middle of a wasteland where no one can survive.
They’d realize these people had been out there for forty years. They weren’t lost; they were being sustained. When these traders reached cities like Jericho, they brought the news: “The people who destroyed Egypt are at your doorstep, and their God is providing for them miraculously.”
Deuteronomy 29:5 (NASB)
’I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.
God provided food, water, and even made sure their clothes and sandals didn’t wear out. By the time they reached the Jordan, the surrounding nations were terrified.
Passing the Baton: From Moses to Joshua
Before they can enter the land, there has to be a leadership change. Unfortunately, during the wandering, Moses lost his cool. He acted in anger and didn’t treat God as holy before the people. Because of this, Moses would not enter the land.
At the end of Deuteronomy, God graciously takes Moses to the top of Mount Nebo. He lets him see the Promised Land, but Moses dies there in an unmarked grave. The baton of leadership is handed over to Joshua—the man who had been a faithful spy forty years earlier. That is where we leave them: on the banks of the Jordan, ready to take the land.
Application: Walking in the Wasteland
As we close, what does this mean for us?
First, understand that the Lord’s methods are purposeful. The Lord disciplines those He loves. If you have a relationship with God, don’t be surprised when He disciplines you. Parents, you know this—letting a kid do whatever they want isn’t love; it’s raising a brat. Because God loves us, He works to expose the “Egypt” in us. Walking with God doesn’t always feel good; sometimes it hurts because He is peeling back the layers of our flesh.
Second, consider the Lord’s timing. God is patient. Romans 2 tells us that His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. I am so thankful God didn’t respond with instant consequences every time I sinned in college! His timing may seem slow, but He never misses and He never forgets. Turn to Him in repentance before the consequences come.
Finally, remember that God is with us. Relationship with God isn’t something you just access on a Sunday and then leave behind. In the wilderness, the people had daily manna, daily water, and daily shade. They had to participate with God every single day to survive.
This world is a wasteland. If you try to do life without God, there is no joy, no survival, and no true human flourishing. Flourishing is found only with Him. What would it look like for us, day by day, to present ourselves to God and learn to just be with Him in the journey?
Now we have the backstory. When we start Joshua next week and see him leading the people into the land, it will mean so much more. Let’s pray.
Philippians 2:13 (NASB)
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.
God, I’m thankful for a Bible that is inspired by You and profitable for all things. Thank You that You are a faithful God who calls us to obedience. We have sixty-six books of Your Word; help us respond to it in love. Thank You that Your ways are not our ways, that You discipline those You love, and that You are with us in the journey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.