In preparation for the next women’s Bible study I began reading through the book of Exodus. I just have to say...and yes, I know I say this about every passage of Scripture I am currently studying but...I think Exodus is going to be my favorite! If Genesis was the book of beginnings...the beginning of God revealing Himself...the beginnings of creation...the beginnings of humankind...the beginnings of the people of God...the beginnings of the gospel...Exodus takes those seeds of beginnings and grows them into beautiful plants! What Moses introduced as the seeds of a nation of people that were called out to be God’s people in Genesis, we see them actually developed into that nation of people in Exodus. In Genesis we saw the promise of God to be the God of this people and to give them a land as their inheritance. In Exodus we see God as faithful to His promise as He moves on their behalf to bring them to this promised land. In Genesis we were introduced to the hint of a coming Savior...of a coming Redeemer who would somehow set right all that went wrong in Genesis 3. In Exodus...this hint of what is to come is developed and we are introduced in great detail to the idea of redemption as God redeems a people out of slavery through the blood of a perfect lamb painted on the door frames of their homes.
In Genesis we are introduced to God for the first time. We learn that He is the sovereign and supreme and powerful Creator of all things who stands outside of time and creation as One who eternally existed and One who is self sustaining...not dependent on creation. And then we learn that this all-powerful, all-knowing, all-sufficient God is also a personal God, the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, as we “see” Him stoop down, pick up dirt and form the man, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. We then “see” the Lord God present the man with a gift...the glorious gift of a woman, crafted and formed by this personal God to perfectly complement the man in every way. We watch Him present her to her husband with delight on His face...because this good God delights to give good gifts to His children. We “watch” as He instructs the man on what responsibilities are and we “watch” as the man and the woman spend time in intimate conversation with this personal God daily in the cool of the day. But then, as we turn the page of this beautiful story about God and His perfect creation, we “watch” in horror as this intimate relationship between the creation and their Creator is severed. And the intimacy that the man and woman were made to enjoy with their Creator was broken and for the first time they tasted death. But, thankfully, the story didn’t end there. Our anticipation builds when this good God introduces the seed to the promised Messiah that would come and redeem and restore a people to call His own.
In Exodus we begin to grow in our understanding of who this God that we have been introduced to is. We learn that He is the great I AM. We learn that He is faithful to His promises as we watch the seeds of promise burst forth into plants. We learn that what He says He will do. We learn that unless His Presence goes with us we are hopelessly lost. And we learn what it means to worship the great I AM.
Sometimes we are intimated by the Old Testament books and we tend to avoid reading and studying them. They can seem somewhat dry and boring with the long lists of unpronounceable names and endless laws, and yet the New Testament (2 Timothy 3:16) tells us that “ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” And all Scripture means the Old Testament! I challenge you not to shy away from the study of the Old Testament. It is full of rich goodness because it comes from God Himself. it is about God Himself. And it is as applicable today as it was thousands of years ago! As 21st Century Christians we have such an unbelievable privilege to study the Old Testament through the lens of Christ. Jesus lets us know that these Scriptures (meaning the Old Testament) are about Him. The more we understand the Old Testament Scriptures the better we understand the New Testament! Isn’t it amazing how the Old and New Testaments are inextricably woven together each enhancing the other?!
So here comes my shameless plug for the coming Women’s Bible Study! We’ve spent a number of sessions in the New Testament, so it is time for us to take another adventure back into the Old Testament and spend some time studying the Scripture that Jesus studied to deepen our knowledge of God, His gospel, and what it means to be His people. Registration will be available on August 1...so more information will be coming about how to register in the coming weeks...but begin planning today to join us for our fall session and begin inviting your friends to join you.
Like the woman at the well who after meeting Jesus ran back to her town and invited everyone to “come and see this Man...could He be the Christ?”~ I, too, invite you to come and see this God/Man...Come and see Jesus in the book of Exodus!
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