If you turn in your Bibles to Exodus, chapter 14, verses 21 through 31. Exodus, chapter 14, verses 21 through 31, and give you a little bit of context as to why I preached on this. In Cyprus, I'm doing a series on important passages from the Old Testament in the New Testament. So we did creation, the first five verses of the Bible, then we did the fall, connecting it with the power of Babel as well, and then we did the call of Abraham, we did God's revelation to Moses, I am who I am, and then we've done the Passover, and now we have come and we're to the Exodus. So, this is where we are now, the actual Exodus, not just the book of Exodus, the actual Exodus, the events that gave it its name. So, we'll be reading verses 21-31 of chapter 14. Exodus 14, 21-31, this is the word of the Lord. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen. Now it came to pass in the morning, in the morning watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he troubled the army of the Egyptians. And he took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from the face of Israel. The Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. And the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians on their chariots and on their horsemen. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And so the Lord saved Israel that day, out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. And thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. That's the reading of God's word, and we pray that he would bless it to our hearts. Amen. You guys know all my stories, but in Cyprus, I can reuse them. I'm not sure if I actually told this one before, though. I think I may have mentioned it, but you don't know the details, so I'm going to start with it. You know I went to Kazakhstan for three months, and I get some of my stories from there. But I had a 26-hour layover in Germany, in Frankfurt. And when you're away from home for three months in a place that you have no idea, I mean, I liked it there, but it was just so different than what I was used to. I was living with a family I didn't know. And I was counting down weeks from about nine, eight weeks to go. I was counting them down when I can go home. Although, I don't want you to get the wrong impression. I really liked it, but I wanted to go home. And I had staring at me this 26-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. And it's amazing. It was just like a, I was just, at first I didn't even realize I had this layover. I looked at my tickets and I thought, oh, it says I get there at eight and I leave at 10, two hours, not a big deal, really easy. And then I didn't notice, but the date was one day later. So I was 26 hours in Frankfurt and I was just dreading it from the time I had heard of it. And I went. to Frankfurt and I was there and I had of all things I had lasagna at the Frankfurt airport. I remember and I was talking to people there and it was just like a nightmare. It wasn't so bad except it was 26 hours in the airport. That's bad. But it wasn't as though the Frankfurt airport was was to be singled out as a bad one. But if you've spent time in the airport, you know what I'm talking about. It feels like prison. It feels like you're confined and you just want to get home. And I remember going across the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I had to go to Chicago before I had to go to Pittsburgh, another complication. And I lost my boarding pass in Chicago. And I had to get everything all sorted out. And I barely made the airplane flight, but I made it. Going back to Pittsburgh. Flew from Chicago to Pittsburgh. That couple hours seemed like five, six, seven hours, but I finally made it. I got there in Pittsburgh, I went through customs, I got my bag, I saw my parents, and I kissed the ground. I was home. I was free. I didn't have that confinement on me anymore. It was a great feeling. I felt almost as if I were a new person. I think there's this type of story. This is probably as close as I got to being in bondage and then being free. I have no paradigm for real slavery or that. But imagine how great it would feel to have that feeling of being entrapped, being enslaved, having these terrible Events go on and finally you get to a place that's your home you get to a place where you're free And you just kiss the ground and you say I am free I feel like a new person and this idea of being enslaved and going through a difficult and arduous journey and then finally being free has been a very common narrative throughout human history and I think there's one in American history that goes something like that, being religiously oppressed, crossing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, coming finally to the new promised land, or that was the rhetoric anyway, and now you're free, now you're a new person. It's a very powerful narrative, used many times, and it originates here in Exodus. The original Exodus, the original freedom from slavery, and overthrew the waters onto the other side as a new person and free. So this morning we're going to talk about the Exodus. We're going to see what it means that the Israelites were freed from the bondage of Pharaoh. We're not going to do it simply within this account, this Exodus passage. We're also going to look forward to how the New Testament understand the exodus and so therefore how we should understand the exodus and how it is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ who brings the greater exodus, who is the greater Moses and the greater Passover lamb. In doing so, I'm breaking down the sermon into four parts. First is, I'm going to recap a little, of course it's not a recap here, but it's a little context, understanding where we are. I'm not going to take too much time on that, but just so we get a context of where we are in the story and where we are within the scriptures. Secondly, we're going to look at the Exodus itself, and we're going to understand what's really going on there. I'm going to pursue it at somewhat of a slightly different angle than maybe you're used to. I'm going to talk about how the Exodus shows that Israel is something of a new Adam, of a new person, as they go through the Red Sea to new life on the other side. Thirdly, I'm going to talk about the exile, the exile and the need for a new exodus, because as we know, the exodus ultimately ended up in exile. Israel got their new land. They were free, but they went back into bondage some, what was it, 700, 800, 900 years later. And finally, I'm going to talk about Christ and the new exodus and how the exodus applies to our lives as we serve Christ. Okay, first a recap, then the Exodus itself, then the exile, and then Christ. Okay, the recap. I just want to give us a little bit of context here because it's kind of difficult just to jump into a passage without a context. And the reason why the Israelites were in Egypt in the first place was because Joseph, who was a son of Jacob, you remember Joseph the son of Jacob was enslaved in Israel. Because of the misdealings of his brothers, actually the wickedness of his brothers, he ended up in Egypt. And importantly, all of Israel follows him at the time of the famine. They go down to Egypt. And this is important, I think, in a way that we don't really understand or that we don't really often pick up on. Because God had promised to Abraham the land where he was when God promised. And that was the land of Canaan, the land of what we now call Israel. Now we see the people of God sojourning, going to a different place. Not as slaves at first, but they're moving away from the place where God had promised. And God had said this to Abraham, not now, it will be several generations. In fact, I think God said 400 years until you will receive this land because the sins of the people there had not yet filled up. So, the people of God, the Israelites, Jacob and his children, moved to Egypt, and eventually they become slaves. We're not exactly sure how, but we know that a pharaoh that didn't know Joseph, or didn't remember the Israelites, enslaved the Israelites when they became a threat. And so you know that story. Importantly, though, again, we need to remember that God had promised to Abraham that through him, all nations of the earth would be blessed through him and through his seed, through his children. So the people of Israel were called by God. They were his special possession. They were his people, not against the world, not to be put it over against the world, but for the world, ultimately, to bless the world, and to be the means through which God reverses the curse which he placed upon the earth in Genesis chapter 3. Okay? So that is the purpose of the calling and the election of Israel. It's not to be against the world, but ultimately to be for the world, to bless the world. And of course, when the people of Israel find themselves in slavery, that's a problem, not only for them, but also for the world, because Israel is the way through which the world would be blessed. So God, with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, calls Moses, and Moses delivers these plagues upon the people of Egypt. And finally, after the last plague, the slaying of the firstborn, and the salvation of Israel through the Passover, Pharaoh says, enough! Go ahead go and as he go and as Israel goes they are cheers of joy and they go through and now they're at the Red Sea, but Pharaoh again changes his mind. His heart is hardened and the people of Egypt come to attack the people of Israel at the Red Sea and this is where the story picks up. So we go on to the second part the Exodus what happens here. So Moses, God tells Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea and the waters are divided and there is dry land and the Israelites go through. What I want us to get here is to look at this perhaps from a different angle to see the connections between this and the original creation account. There are several connections which I think put them together indisputably. First, and this goes back a little ways, but one of the plagues which God had inflicted on the people of Israel were the plague of darkness. And the plague of darkness, of course, was to show that God was more powerful than the Egyptian sun God, who was the greatest of their gods. And by bringing darkness over the land, he's showing that he is sovereign, even over Egypt, even over their most powerful God. But it also reminds us of the original creation account, where when God created the earth, there was darkness over the deep. There was a sense of chaotic darkness. Remember God creates the world out of nothing, but it's not ordered. The earth was what formless and void and there was darkness there. So he creates the world out of nothing and there's darkness there. That's one connection. Secondly, we see here in verse 21 of the waters dividing. Okay. In verse 21, It's right there, and the waters were divided. And this is something that also happened in Genesis chapter 1 as God creates the world. In verses 6 and 7 of Genesis chapter 1, we see the waters dividing and receding. And again, that's symbolizing God ordering the chaos, because waters represented a sort of chaos there, formlessness. void, and God is ordering that by the waters dividing. Thirdly, and this is something you cannot see in the text as it is, but something you need to see in Hebrew. In verse 21, we see the word dry land being used. That is the normal word, the normal Hebrew word for dirt or dust that's used many times, I think 50 or 60 times throughout the Old Testament. But in verse 22, we see a word that's translated as dry ground, okay? And that word is only used a few times in scripture, I think 10. And all of them have to do with either the creation or the exodus. Either the creation or the exodus. In verses 9 and 10 of Genesis chapter 1, it says that God has removed the waters and has made the dry ground. Okay, it's not the normal word for just dirt or dust. It's a special word that symbolizes God's ordering and His way of doing things. It's only, again, only with creation and with the Exodus. It's also used once or twice in the book of Jonah, which is interesting, but that's it. It's used in those contexts. Again, it reminds us of the creation account. And thirdly, or fourthly, we see here that the Bible itself in later parts of the scripture connects the creation and the exodus. We read earlier in Isaiah 51 talking about God being the one who dried up the sea in verse 10 of Isaiah 51. In verse 13 it talks about God being the one who stretched out the heavens and who laid the foundations of the earth. There is a connection between what God has done in the past, the creation, and what God is doing in the exodus. It's almost as if He's renewing creation, or at least his particular creation, his people. So Israel goes through the Red Sea and they come out onto dry ground and onto dry land as if they are a new person, as if they are a new creation. And again, we see this pattern in Scripture, not just here, but also before this. Think of Noah. Noah also went through the waters the floods came upon him and he and his family were saved in the ark and when the waters receded we see Noah receiving once again the Dominion mandate the mandate to go be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth It's as if he is a new Adam and then again Of course, the world falls back into sin after Noah. God calls Abraham, and now Israel, the children of Abraham, are the new Adam, coming over the Red Sea, through the waters, onto dry ground, and they are a new creation. Now, as a new Adam, Israel also has many things that the old Adam had. First of all, they are called the Son of God, Exodus 4.22. God tells Moses, the ghosts say to the Pharaoh, Israel is my firstborn son. Let go of my firstborn son. Of course, we know that Adam is also called the firstborn, the son of God. We know that from Luke's genealogy, but also just from reading the creation account, the account of creation, we see that God is treating Adam as his own son. Another connection is the law. They both receive a law from God. The law that God gave to Adam was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And of course, the dominion mandate, which I referred to earlier, is to subdue the earth and to be fruitful and multiply. God gives Israel the law as well, and we see that, as we read, in Exodus chapter 20. Thirdly, both have a land. The Garden of Eden was a special place for God and his presence to be. And God and his creation there had communion, they had fellowship, and all was right in the Garden of Eden. It was a special land. And then there is the land of Cain, where God too would put his name, where God's presence would also be. And he came down later in the book of Exodus in the tabernacle in chapter 40. But also, we read Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings about how God came and descended into the temple and his presence was there and the priest could not do work in the temple because God's presence, his glory, his special presence was there in the temple. So like Adam, They had the special presence and the land the special land. So there are all these connections between Adam and Israel It's as if Adam is the new or Israel is a new Adam They are starting it over and they are called to get it right and to be the blessing to the world to reverse the curse that the first Adam brought on to humanity. This is their calling, this is their task, it's their vocation, and God saves them, brings them out of Egypt for this purpose, to be a blessing to the nations, to rule over the nations, and later we see that's through the son of David, the king, and ultimately to bring God's blessing to all. This is where they are, this is why the exodus occurs, and this is where the story is going. OK, that I think from that angle, the exodus can be pursued from different angles, too. But I think that angle is helpful for us as we seek to understand the scriptures and what they are teaching, especially as we get into New Testament ways of thinking. OK, that's the exodus. OK. Thirdly, it's the exile and the need for a new exodus. It becomes quite clear, and we're going to talk about this this afternoon a little bit, it becomes quite clear that Israel is going to follow the way of their forefather Adam. Right after God brings them out, right after with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, they go through the waters and onto the other side. No sooner have they reached there that they begin disobeying God. When God calls Moses to the mountain to give him the law. What do they do? They make a golden calf out of the gold that they have and they worship the other gods. They turned away from God almost as soon as he brought them out, even after witnessing these great mighty powers and after witnessing God's wonders and what he had done to the most powerful man in the world. What did they do? They disobeyed. And like their forefather, Adam, they received God's law, but did not obey it. And God sent his prophets to the people of Israel over and over and over again, his servants, the prophets, to call them back to repentance, to tell them to follow the law of the Lord and therefore be a light to the nations and therefore bring about God's universal reign over all. But as we read, especially in the book of Kings. We see the king's sinning over and over and over again, even to the point that some of them sacrificed their own children to the pagan gods as an abomination to the Lord, their God. And so Israel, it becomes clear, follows the way of their forefather, Adam. And so God gives them the same sentence. As God exiled Adam east of Eden and put the cherubim in front so that they may never enter God's presence again, at least on their own. So God exiles the people of Israel. He sends them away. He sends them to a foreign power. He essentially says to them, you want to live like the pagans Go live with the pagans. And he sends them away. And there's a very sad verse at the end of Second Kings, Second Kings 24, the last verse of that chapter, it says, in the end, God thrust them from his presence. He removed them from his glorious and gracious presence. And Ezekiel tells us that the glory of God is removed from the temple. Now, that passage, of course, is a passage of hope and blessing because it's going to Babylon to be with the people. But the fact remains, God leaves his land in Canaan, and it is destroyed. The temple is leveled to the ground, and Israel, Jerusalem, is razed. So Israel goes into exile. And in a sense, they're very much like they were 900 years before, when they were in slavery. But there is a difference. And I want you to get this difference. It wasn't 100% clear that the reason for Israel's enslavement in Egypt was their own sin. We get a hint of that with the Passover because they were saved through the, you know, basically the substitutionary sacrifice of the Passover. But with this exile, it is 100% clear that the enemy of Israel is not so much the Babylonians, not so much the Assyrians or any of the other empires, but their own sin. And the faithful among Israel recognize this. And so they pray from exile, they pray to God, and instead of praying, God, deliver us, they pray, God, deliver us because we have sinned, and be merciful to us, even though we don't deserve it. A great example of this comes from Daniel, chapter 9. Daniel was in exile, and he prays out to God, and the whole prayer is moving. I encourage you to read it, Daniel, chapter 9. But I'm just going to read five verses from it here, verses 15 through 19, to give you an idea of how the Israelites, the faithful Israelites, saw themselves in exile. Daniel 9, 15 through 19. And now, O Lord, our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt. Notice how he's connecting it back with the Exodus. With a mighty hand and made yourself a name as it is to this day. We have sinned. We have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I pray, let your anger and your fury be turned away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain, because of Because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now, therefore, our God, hear the prayer of your servants and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake, cause your face to shine on your sanctuary, the temple, which is desolate. Oh my God, incline your ear and hear, open your eyes and see our desolations in the city which is called by your name. For we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of your great mercies. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, listen and act. Do not delay for your own sake, my God, for your city and your people are called by your name. And besides from being a very moving prayer in itself, the content of it makes it very clear to us why the faithful in Israel knew why the exile happened. It was not because of a wicked oppressor from the outside, at least not in the main. It was because wickedness from the inside, from the heart of the people of Israel. That is what caused the exile, and Daniel knew it. And he knew that the only way it would end is not because Israel would somehow get their act together and follow the law, but because of God's mercy and His righteousness that this would happen. And so we pray to God, Lord, forgive, Lord, hear, Lord, listen, and Lord, act, because we have sinned against you. Do not do it because we are righteous, but because we are called by your name. Your name is connected to us, and because of your covenant, be faithful to it, because you made promises to us. And so, in a sense, Israel is back in enslavement when they go to exile. But there's a difference, and the difference is they know the reason why this time. It's because of their own sin. And I think this is where it becomes applicable to us before even we move into the New Testament. We see so clearly here that the real enemy of humanity is not so much the wicked powers that are around us. Yes, they're enemies, and yes, they are pawns of Satan, but the real enemy is sin and death itself. These are the real enemies of humanity. These are the ones that caused Israel to go into exile. It was their own sin, their own breaking of God's law. This is what caused their desolation and their enslavement. And yes, while the king of Babylon was not exactly an example of morality, he was certainly a pawn of Satan. The real issue was their own sin. And that was the issue that needed to be dealt with. It wasn't the emperor in Babylon that needed to be dealt with first and foremost. It was the problem of sin and therefore the problem of death. We need to remember that now before we move into the New Testament. We need to remember that. So many times we think that the real enemy of Christians is Barack Obama. And let me tell you, he's giving us a lot of reasons to think that, honestly, but it's not true. He might be a pawn, I don't know where he is or anything, but the real problem is sin and death. That is the real issue. And that is the thing from which we need to be freed in the end. And so what is the solution? Throughout the ages, after Daniel, many followed him in his prayers. We read in the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 9, a very similar type of prayer that we see in Daniel chapter 9 and Ezra chapter 9 as well. It's very convenient, the three 9s. These penitential prayers are called prayers of penitence, praying to God for mercy. We see that After Daniel people are carrying on the way he prayed as almost a model for how to pray righteously But also we see in the time between the Testaments a sort of new way of understanding this Almost a way of saying that look we're back Israel returns from exile, but the promises obviously aren't fulfilled so let's pray to God to send a righteous one and if we keep the law good enough and Maybe he'll send that righteous one to deliver us from our still pagan oppressors. So when we get to the time of Jesus, there are different ways of understanding these prayers. There are some like Daniel who are just praying for God's mercy and who realize and understand the real issues are sin and death. And there are some who think they're doing okay as far as following the law, and what they need is someone to throw off the oppressor, at this point it's Rome, and therefore vindicate and exalt Israel as a people. And this is where we are as we get to the New Testament. The people of Israel still feel as though they're in exile, even though they're in their own land, because they're being oppressed, God's glory never returned to the temple, and they're praying for a Messiah, one to deliver them. And many prayed that this would be a political or military leader. But when God sent his Messiah wasn't a political or military leader. Yes, he had a lot to say about politics, but he wasn't a politician first and foremost. It was our Lord Jesus Christ. It was the second person of the Trinity becoming flesh. and hearing the prayers of the faithful in Israel to deal with Israel's biggest problem and the world's biggest problem. And that was sin and its cousin, death. And so God sends Jesus Christ as the new Moses to lead his people through bondage, through the waters and onto the other side of being a new person. In doing this, Jesus is not only the new Moses, but he's also, in a sense, the new Passover lamb. He's the one who sacrificed himself, who went to the cross and died for his people, being the ultimate sacrifice, in order that the problem of sin and death would be dealt with. And he dies for his people and is raised for his people, granted new life. And he promises this new life to those who trust in him. Let us now read from what we read earlier in our responsive reading. In Romans 8, 1 through 4, we see this new exodus and how it works. Paul says, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Now listen to this. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. That is the language of the exodus, has made me free. There has been a new exodus. In the beginning of chapter six, Paul talks about the waters of baptism and how being buried with Christ in baptism and being raised with him is New life. And so we have it here as well through the waters and on to the other side. We are released from condemnation and we are released from bondage through Christ and through his spirit. This is how it works. Christ died for our sin. He defeated sin and therefore defeated sin's greatest weapon, the penalty for sin, that is death. And so God granted him new life. And he has promised that those who believe in him will die and rise in him and receive new life so that they might not walk according to the ways of the flesh, but according to the ways of the spirit. And so we have it. That through Jesus's sacrifice and through his resurrection, believers go through a new exodus, not from the pagan oppressors around us, Not from the rulers who oppress us, they're still there, but from the true oppressor that is our own sin. And there are two ways in which this happens. First, it's the penalty of sin is dealt with. The penalty of sin, of course, is death. In the old covenant, there were provisions for the penalty of sin. There are animal sacrifices, but they never really took care of the problem in full. The author to the Hebrew says the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin ultimately. They were pointing forward to Christ, who would truly take away the greatest problems of humans, sin and death. Christ, through the New Exodus, takes care of the penalty of sin, that is death. But just as importantly, Christ also takes care of the power of sin. The Bible says not only have we sinned against God and therefore liable to its penalty, We also are enslaved to the power of sin. We were born with a heart bent towards sin, and we are enslaved by this. We are willing slaves to our sin. And we see this again in Romans chapter 6 and again in Romans chapter 8. Those who are controlled by the mind of the flesh walk according to the flesh and cannot please God because they cannot submit to the law of God. And it's this power that is broken when we trust and believe in Christ. Not only the penalty being forgiven of our sins, but also the power of our sins. Christ has truly set us free. This is what true freedom is. He has set us free from the power and the penalty of our greatest enemies, sin and death. And therefore we have hope. hope to walk in God's ways for this life as he works in us through his spirit, but also hope that death would be defeated ultimately through the resurrection of the dead, that we would be, as Christ is, resurrected from the dead, never to die again. In closing, I want to talk about how our view of freedom is different from many of us around us. many of those around us. I think in our world, freedom is seen as a freedom from restraint, freedom from doing, basically freedom to do what we want to do, to have choice, to be able to do things that we have chosen to do and not having people telling us what to do. Now there's a lot to be said for that. I'm not in favor of dictators telling people what to do in every circumstance and ruling with an iron fist and that's tyranny and that's not good. But that's not what the Bible means by freedom. What the Bible means by freedom is not freedom to do what we want to do or to choose what we want. but freedom to do what we were created to do, that is serve God. There's the paradox. Freedom means service, but serving God who created us and who loves us. This is what true freedom is. And this is the freedom that God has called us to in the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only has he called us, he has equipped us for this by giving the spirit. So as we think about the exodus and as we think about how we have gone through with Christ with the new exodus, remember this. We are free not to do whatever we want, but to serve God and in doing so do what we were created to do to be the image, the glory and the honor of God, our father. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the freedom that we have in Christ and we thank you that this means that we can do through the power of your spirit that which you have created us to do. And so we pray, Father, that as we seek to live according to your ways. By the power of your spirit that you would work in us, that the good work you started in us would be working until the day of completion, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. the day of resurrection, and we thank you for the hope and the promise of being freed ultimately from our greatest enemies, sin and death. And this, we pray in Jesus.