by Boyan Mak Mihaylov

To know God according to Jesus is to have eternal life. Knowing God is not only the original purpose of Christian life, but it must be our ultimate goal for which we strive to live while we are still in our bodies. This must be my ultimate goal. Being saved means not only to avoid the penalty of hell, but to know God closely and to be changed according to His image (2 Cor. 3:18). Just knowing the redemptive work of God done by Jesus through His death and resurrection, believing in Him and confessing this truth in our lives by word and deed can one have eternal life.

The Apostle Paul says that the Old Testament revelation is given to us to serve us as an example. An example to know how the ancient Israelites knew God and how they have failed in their knowledge of God (1 Cor. 10 and 10:11 in particular). The story of the Israelites is tragic and majestic. Tragic because on the background of the great works of God they didn't stay faithful to God's covenant with them. Magnificent, because the people of Israel received the greatest revelation of God before the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ.

Two Different Nations

The Exodus presents two different groups of people from two different nations. Israel, more than 400 years were slaves to the Egyptians. The Egyptians themselves serve as an Old Testament image of the infidel world. They were believers, but not in the true God Yahweh rather in the pagan deities and their images. Their king pharaoh was the high priest and mediator between the gods and nation¹. Israel on the other hand was the nation that had the knowledge of the Almighty God who created the whole earth. This knowledge was transmitted through the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. They knew God as interacting with selected individual personalities with whom he entered into covenant relationships ever since Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28-31; 9:1-18; ch. 17). But through the Exodus God revealed himself as a Redeemer, Deliverer and the holy God who kept His covenant with his chosen people.

But the Exodus is not meaningful only for the Israelites, nor the knowledge of God is a trademark for selected people today. God has entered into a new covenant with those who dared to accept His Son. These are you and me. Our lives need a new spiritual direction and understanding. God is the Creator, he has redeemed us through the sacrifice of Jesus, but He is also the Holy God who punishes his sons and daughters to make them straighten their ways (Hebrews 12:7-11). The highest knowledge of God in my life then is the one for the holiness of God when I am following my Lord Jesus Christ through the inner work of the Holy Spirit (Exodus 19:6; Romans 6:22).

Actually there are two practical ways to know a person. You can become his ally or his enemy. Since the beginning we see the hardened heart of Pharaoh, and just before crossing the sea we see the insensitive heart of the Egyptians themselves (Exodus 14:17; I Samuel 6:6). Their hearts predestined God's attitude towards them.

The Spiritual Knowledge of the Egyptians

A common practice of the pharaohs was to let their workers sacrifice to their gods. But pharaoh paid no attention to Moses and Aaron. His stubborn attitude towards Israel and the Egyptian slave-owner policy deserved God's punishment. God chose plagues. He could destroy the Egyptian army from scratch. But God did not do it because He wanted to teach the Egyptians. Plagues were directed against the authority of all the gods of Egypt².

In Egypt there are natural phenomena that explain the plagues, but their size is such that only a supernatural power can explain them³. Of course the Egyptians explained every natural phenomena by their gods and not by nature. The gods are believed to rule over certain geographical areas (Exodus 7:11, 22). The plagues had to break their faith in idols and to give reverence to the only true God Yahweh who created heaven and earth. Besides the pedagogical aspect, plagues have to do also with spiritual warfare. It is the struggle between the Spirit of God and demonic forces, acting through the Egyptian magicians (Exodus 7:11, 22). They begin to understand that some supernatural force or god opposes them. Therefore, they say: "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19). They understood the spiritual battle between the God of Israel and their gods which they think they manipulate by their magic (Exodus 7:11,22; 8:7,18).

Interpreted through the eyes of today the Exodus is a warning to the modern pagan or occultist that the forces with which he "plays" have already been defeated by the true God.

The Spiritual Knowledge of the Israelites

Israel until the Exodus knew God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. By the Exodus God revealed himself to the nation of Israel (Exodus 6:6-8). Until this event God revealed himself only to individuals. To save the people from slavery it was necessary God to choose Moses, whose birth and growth was also the work of God's providence (Exodus 2:1 - 10).

The conversation between God and Moses at the burning bush is one of the most important in the Old Testament. It reveals the fundamental principles of partnership with the only true God Yahweh. From the mere beginning of this conversation we see God's holiness. Moses is commanded to take off his shoes. God tells Moses that he was elected to lead the people out of Egypt. But Moses saw himself as too weak, unworthy and unable to speak. In the end he practically refused and God commanded Aaaron to become His speaker. In this conversation are clearly visible some of the attributes of God. God is faithful, because He doesn't "forget" His covenant. He listened and responded when Israel cried out to him. God explained his plan and was not angry with human weaknesses but worked to overcome them. Every issue of Moses, God answered. When Moses received the answer to every question God's anger flared up against him not because God could not restrain his anger, but because Moses had no reason to depart from the call of God (Exodus 3:1 – 4:17).

Yahweh Revealed trough the Plagues

Through the plagues God revealed Himself to the Israelites as One who is above all other gods. They clearly see the difference that God makes between them and the Egyptians. Israel is called „the son of Yahweh“ (Exodus 4:22). Therefore they began to understand God not only as the Creator of everything, but as a close and personal God who protected them. For the Israelites it was hard to believe in God and his promises because the power of Egypt and the Pharaoh was great (Exodus 6:9). To some extent slavery created in them a wrong image of the future freedom. For over 400 years they have learned to be dependent on their human master. Therefore they needed signs to remind them that Yahweh is not just the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but their God which sees them as his people (Exodus 5:7).

The last plague (the death of the firstborn) is the greatest miracle to Israel, because the plague shows that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). By the lamb being a victim and the angel of death passing the house of the Hebrews God clearly indicates that people are sinful and need a replacement sacrifice to cover their sins. Passover shows God's mercy and grace to the Hebrews - an attitude that they did not deserve and could not earn by works. The faith that God would pass them with the death of their firstborn when he punished the Egyptian ones was very important. In general the entire Exodus demanded from Israel to have confidence and trust in God Yahweh and in his chosen servants. But that confidence and trust was not complete. It was tainted by serious doubts. When Israel saw the bodies of the Egyptian soldiers by the sea behind them, then they gained confidence in God's deliverance. But that confidence was short because their desert murmur arouse the wrath of God and the old idol worship prevailed. God showed Himself very full of mercy and really long waiting. In Exodus we see a God that is active, personal, powerful, omnipotent. He is angry with sin, but at the same time He is ready to forgive when He sees a real change of heart in the believer. God punishes, but He is also full of mercy. He judges but also shows mercy when judging ( Acts 7: 20 – 45)⁴

The Exodus by itself was not sufficient to build up the faith of Israel. The giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Horeb) and the building of the tabernacle (or the portable temple) was also necessary to enable the Israelites to begin to understand who God is and to be diligent in their their faith. Yet at the time of the judges after the death of Joshua Israel's faith was in full decline. Only centuries later was the next great revelation of God given. God himself came in human form as Jesus Christ, God's Messiah. Unfortunately, this revelation was not accepted by the majority of the people of Israel. It is easy to cast a stone on Israel. We, the modern Christians, you and me, are not secured against doubt and unbelief, unfaithfulness to God. Our responsibility to our covenant with Christ is far greater, because in Christ God has been fully revealed (Hebrews 4).

Some Conclusive Thoughts

Why did we start to think about the Exodus? We saw how the proud Egyptian occultists referred to Yahweh, how God's spiritually weak people needed signs and wonders to get to know their God, how Moses fleeing from Pharaoh nevertheless decided to partner with God. We all started to reflect on it because God is the greatest personality, "I am the one who I am", "which is to be", "the Beginning and the End", "Alpha and Omega" (Revelation 22:13). He is God in three persons. He not only created the earth, but He keeps it in existence and in in whose hands is our breath (Acts 17:28; Hebrews 1:3).

God is a very serious person! He is holy and without sin. Rigorous and fair. But He is also merciful, graceful, understanding and close, saving and healing. To be his son or daughter is a great thing to be because he will always be near you but not hesitate to punish when it seems to Him necessary. We need this kind of kid's trust and faith in Him, which will help us to know Him as he is. Eternal life begins here and now from your heart and continues to the new creation which will one day come through God's creative power.