25-0525p - The Exodus Way, Scott Reynolds
Bible Reader: Scott Reynolds

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The Exodus Way

Transcript (0:04 - 18:46)

Scripture Reading

Bible Reader: Scott Reynolds
Exodus 15:1-18

(0:04) In introducing the passage for this evening’s reading, I recently became aware of a recurring (0:11) pattern that runs throughout the Bible, which we will talk about this evening. (0:17) The pattern is readily seen in the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, (0:24) their wilderness wandering, and finally their entrance into the Promised Land. (0:30) The scripture I chose is lengthy. The passage is the Song of Moses, which was sung after the (0:38) Israelites passed through the Red Sea and saw Pharaoh’s pursuing army perish when God closed (0:46) the water back over them. It’s found in Exodus chapter 15, verses 1 through 18.

(0:55) Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

(1:03) I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has (1:10) thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. (1:19) This is my God, and I will praise him, my Father’s God, and I will exalt him. (1:28) The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the (1:38) sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them, and they went down (1:46) into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, O Lord, (1:57) shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow your adversaries. (2:05) You send out your fury. It consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils, (2:12) the waters piled up. The floods stood up in a heap. The deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. (2:20) The enemy said, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall have its (2:29) fill of them. I draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. You blew with your wind. The sea (2:38) covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? (2:48) Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out (2:57) your right hand. The earth swallowed them.

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom (3:06) you have redeemed. You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. The peoples have (3:14) heard. They tremble. Pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of (3:21) Edom dismayed. Trembling seizes the leaders of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. (3:33) Terror and dread fall upon them because of the greatness of your arm. They are still as a stone. (3:43) Till your people, O Lord, pass by. Till the people pass by by whom you have purchased. You will bring (3:52) them in and plant them on your own mountain. The place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode. (4:02) The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord will reign forever and ever. (4:12)

Transcript

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

(4:17) I’m going to present tonight a sermon titled The Exodus Way, A Journey from Slavery to New Life. (4:28) So good evening, everybody. It’s a joy to be here with you tonight.

On our recent vacation, (4:36) Jean and I visited my aunt and cousin in Maryville, Tennessee, and attended the Maryville (4:42) Church of Christ, a vibrant congregation of over 300 members. There we met a dear friend of my (4:50) aunt’s, a passionate believer who shared lively discussions about faith with us, (4:54) and I introduced him to The Truth Project, and he pointed me to an incredible resource (5:01) called The Bible Project on YouTube. Their animated summaries of the Bible’s books are engaging, (5:10) clear, and perfect for all ages.

Search Bible Project and explore their content. (5:16) You won’t be disappointed. One of their videos, The Exodus Way, struck me deeply.

(5:24) They describe a biblical pattern, a motif, they called it, or a recurring theme that weaves through (5:32) Scripture like a golden thread. After exploring this with Grok, XAI’s insightful tool, Grok tells (5:41) me, I’m excited to share this motif with you tonight. When we hear Exodus, we think of Moses, (5:50) the Red Sea, or Israel’s escape from Egypt, but the Exodus is more than a single event.

(5:58) It’s a pattern, a way that God moves his people from slavery to freedom, from death to life. (6:09) The Bible Project calls this The Exodus Way. It’s not just Israel’s history, it’s our story too.

(6:18) This pattern has three stages, the way out of oppression, the way through the wilderness of (6:26) testing, and the way into new life. We see it in Abraham’s journey, in Israel’s deliverance, (6:34) in Jesus' life and mission, and even in our own walk with God. So let’s explore The Exodus Way, (6:43) or how The Exodus Way shapes our faith and calls us to live as God’s redeemed people.

(6:50) Point number one, the way out. God delivers us from slavery. The Exodus begins with God hearing (7:01) the cries of his people.

In Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25, Israel groans under Egyptian (7:10) slavery and God says, I have seen their affliction and I have come down to deliver them. (7:16) God raises Moses, a reluctant leader, to confront Pharaoh. Through plagues and Passover, (7:24) God breaks the chains of oppression, leading Israel out through the Red Sea.

This is the way out, (7:32) God’s mighty act of rescue. This pattern echoes across scripture. Long before Moses, (7:41) God called Abraham out of Ur’s idolatry to a promised land, Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 (7:48) through 3. And even before that, Noah and his family are delivered through the flood, a kind (7:55) of exodus from a world drowned in sin, Genesis chapter 6 through 8. So the way out is God’s (8:05) response to human brokenness, whether it’s physical slavery, spiritual bondage, or the chaos (8:12) of sin.

Think about your own life. What’s your Egypt? Maybe it’s an addiction, a toxic relationship, (8:22) or the weight of guilt and shame. The good news is that God still hears your cries.

(8:30) In the New Testament, Jesus becomes the ultimate Moses. Through his death and resurrection, (8:37) he confronts the powers of sin and death, leading us out of slavery. As Paul writes in Romans chapter (8:45) 6, 6 and 7, our old self was crucified with him so that we might be set free from sin.

(8:54) The way out is God’s gift of liberation, freely given through Christ. Like Israel at the Red Sea, (9:04) we stand on the shore of grace, watching God make a way where there seems to be none. (9:11) Point number two, the way through, the wilderness of transformation.

But the exodus doesn’t end with (9:21) escape. Leaving Egypt was just the beginning. After the Red Sea, Israel enters the wilderness, (9:30) a harsh place.

They face hunger, thirst, and temptation. In Exodus chapter 16, they grumble (9:38) for food and God provides manna. In Numbers chapters 13 through 14, they doubt God’s promise (9:47) and their fear of giants led to 40 years of wandering.

The wilderness is the way through, (9:56) a place of testing and transformation where God shapes his people. The wilderness isn’t just (10:05) Israel’s story. Abraham faced his wilderness when he waited decades for the son God promised him.

(10:14) Jesus himself was led into the desert for 40 days, tempted but faithful, Matthew chapter 4 (10:21) verses 1 through 11. And by the way, did you notice that 40 days? Could that be one day for every year (10:30) that Israel wandered in the wilderness? The way through is where we learn to trust God, (10:39) to lean on his manna, to let go of old habits, and to become the people he’s calling us to be. (10:48) So church, we all have wilderness moments.

Maybe you’re in one now, facing uncertainty or loss (10:55) or a season where God feels distant. Your wilderness isn’t punishment, it’s preparation. (11:04) As Deuteronomy 8-2 says, God led Israel through the desert to humble and test you to know what (11:13) is in your heart.

And again, by the way, this testing isn’t so God can know what is in our heart. (11:21) He already knows what’s in our heart. It’s so we can know what’s in our heart.

And we don’t know (11:29) what we can do until we’re tested. And then through that experience, we know what is in our heart, (11:35) whether we will keep his commandments or not. In your wilderness, God is forging a new heart, (11:43) one, if you allow it, that trusts his provision.

And point number three, the way into, (11:54) it’s new life and God’s promise. The exodus climaxes and the way into God’s gift of new life. (12:04) For Israel, this was the promised land, a place of rest and abundance, (12:08) Joshua 1, verses 2 and 3. But the pattern repeats throughout scripture.

Abraham (12:16) enters the land of Canaan. Noah steps into a renewed world. And in the New Testament, (12:23) Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection embody this pattern perfectly.

His death is the way out, (12:31) breaking sin’s power. His burial is the way through a dark cocoon of transformation. (12:38) His resurrection is the way into new creation, where, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, (12:47) verse 22, and Christ’s all will be made alive.

Paul compares our journey to a seed in 1 Corinthians (12:56) 15, 36 through 37. The seed dies. It’s the way out, germinates in the soil of darkness, (13:04) the way through, and bursts forth as a new plant, the way into.

Like a caterpillar emerging (13:11) as a butterfly, we’re transformed, free to live with purpose. Early Christians who were called (13:19) the way, Acts 9, verse 2, embodied this new life, loving boldly in a broken world. They were freed (13:27) from sin, transformed by the Spirit, and sent to embody God’s love for us.

The way into begins now, (13:37) when you are in Christ. You’re a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17, called to live (13:45) differently, loving, serving, and shining as God’s child.

That’s what God offers us. (13:52) In Galatians 5, verse 1, Paul says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (14:00) This freedom isn’t just a future hope.

It’s a present calling. The way into means living (14:08) with purpose, loving others, and anticipating the day when Jesus returns to make all things new. (14:17) I personally like how The Exodus Way is vividly displayed in Jesus' journey.

(14:24) His death on the cross is the ultimate way out, shattering the chains of sin and death, (14:30) much like the Passover lamb’s blood spared Israel. His burial is the way through, a silent, (14:36) transformative moment akin to the wilderness where the old self is buried. His resurrection (14:44) is the way into, bursting forth into new creation, opening the door for us to follow.

(14:52) This pattern mirrors Paul’s agricultural imagery, again, of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, (14:59) 36-38. A seed must die to its old form, endure the dark soil of germination, (15:06) and emerge as a vibrant new plant. This motif isn’t just theological.

(15:13) It’s woven into creation itself, even the natural world. From seed to butterflies, (15:20) to our own spiritual rebirth. And this is the part I was working on just before church.

(15:27) So let me interject an idea here, realizing that this motif occurs in nature, like agriculture, (15:34) where you plant a seed, it’s buried and dies and begins to germinate its contents, (15:39) only to sprout into a new creation. I ask, could this transformation from seed to plant (15:47) be the plant world’s process of metamorphosis, ruled by God’s law of seed producing after its (15:56) kind? Genesis chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. What if this motif is God’s law of natural spiritual (16:05) development? This out-through-and-in process is how we develop.

And the Bible has example after (16:13) example of what-ifs based on previous human endeavor of this process being carried out. (16:20) Which means the Bible then becomes a reference tool to help us identify (16:27) and work through our development. Can you imagine that? What do you think? (16:34) The Bible Project traces this pattern in books like Isaiah, where God promises to lead his people (16:41) out of exile, through restoration, and into a renewed Jerusalem.

And in Matthew, where Jesus' (16:48) life follows this arc. From Abraham’s call to the apostles' mission, The Exodus Way reveals God’s (16:57) unchanging plan to redeem, refine, and renew his people. So The Exodus Way is God’s timeless story, (17:07) and it’s ours too.

The Bible Project highlights this motif as a lens to see (17:14) scripture’s unity, a pattern scholars call the Exodus Paradigm. From Israel’s deliverance to (17:22) Jesus' resurrection, God leads us out of bondage through the wilderness and into new lives. (17:29) Where are you on this journey? Are you crying out for freedom, wandering in a wilderness, (17:36) or stepping into God’s promises? Wherever you are, God walks with you just as he did (17:43) with Abraham, Israel, and the early church.

So this week, I challenge you to reflect on your (17:51) Exodus. Spend time in prayer asking God to show you what he’s leading you out of, through, or into. (18:02) If you’ve never taken the first step out of slavery to sin, (18:05) come talk to me or one of our members, and Jesus is ready to lead you into freedom.

(18:11) And let’s close with a prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for being our deliverer, our guide, (18:20) our promise maker, and our promise keeper. Lead us on The Exodus Way from death to life, (18:27) and help us trust you every step of the way.

In Jesus' name we pray it. Amen. (18:33) You’ll go now as people of the way, freed by Christ, transformed by his Spirit, (18:41) and alive in his love.

We’re extending the invitation while we sing.