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Coming to Life: Exodus

Katie Hauck Ministries

· 8 min9K

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In the last lesson, we talked about how Jacob’s family ended up in Egypt and were reunited with Joseph. What started as a place of rescue eventually became a place of bondage.

As time passed, a new Pharaoh came into power who didn’t remember Joseph or what he had done. Instead of seeing the Israelites as a blessing, he saw them as a threat. Out of fear, he enslaved them and even ordered that all their baby boys be killed.

It’s in the middle of that darkness that Moses is born.

His life is spared, and he’s raised in Pharaoh’s household, but as he grows up, he begins to see the suffering of his people. In a moment of anger, he tries to take matters into his own hands, and it doesn’t go the way he planned. He ends up running away, probably thinking his story is over.

But it wasn’t.

God meets Moses in a burning bush and calls him back—not because he has it all together, but because God has a plan. And what follows is one of the most powerful moments in Scripture: God delivers His people from slavery, parts the Red Sea, and leads them into freedom.

But the story doesn’t stop with rescue.

God doesn’t just bring them out of Egypt—He begins to show them how to live.

At Mount Sinai, He establishes a covenant with them. He gives the Ten Commandments and other instructions, not to control them, but to set them apart and draw them into a relationship with Him.

And this is where you start to see something familiar.

Even after being rescued, the people struggle. They doubt, they complain, and they turn away. But God doesn’t give up on them. He continues to guide them, provide for them, and make a way to stay near to them—even instructing them to build the tabernacle as a reminder that His presence is with them.

Exodus is really about two things: rescue and relationship.

And that’s not just their story—it’s ours too.
Because God still rescues people. And He still invites us into relationship with Him.

So as you think about this, ask yourself:

Where do I need freedom right now… and am I willing to let God lead me out of it?

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Welcome to Coming to Life, a one-year journey through God's Word. My name is Katie Haack. In our last video, we talked all about Genesis and how the 70 descendants of Jacob were brought from Canaan to Egypt, where they were reunited with their brother Joseph and where they moved to escape the great famine. The book of Exodus starts right where that book left off. It explains that years went by and a new pharaoh took over. He didn't remember Joseph and the great things he had done for their nation. The Israelites ended up in slavery. They grew in number, reaching an estimated 2 million people, and the pharaoh became concerned about their power, if they would decide to revolt. So he made a decree to kill all the baby boys so the people would stop multiplying. One Israelite woman from the tribe of Levi decided to protect her baby boy by hiding him for three months and then putting him in a basket and placing it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. This child was Moses. The pharaoh's own daughter found him and raised him as her own. Moses grew up and saw the oppression of his people. He tried to solve the problem his own way, but a man died and Moses fled. God stepped in and solved the problem in his own perfect way instead. And we get to read about some of the greatest miracles of all time. God speaking to Moses through a burning bush and the parting of the Red Sea. Fun fact, this is not the only time God parts the waters. He actually does it five times in the Old Testament. The book of Exodus, just like Genesis, was written by Moses. It is 40 chapters long. The first half tells this story of God rescuing his chosen people from slavery and bondage. The second half talks about God forming a new type of relationship with these people. I like to say that Exodus is about rescue and relationship. Both are things we know God is still doing today, but it looked a little different back then.

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And if you recall in our last video, we talked about why the people were not holy enough to come into God's presence. God had to lay out his plan to create that relationship. First he cared for their physical needs. He gave them a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them. He gave them water from a rock so they would have something to drink. And he rained bread down from heaven for them to eat. This bread is called manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. Most people think that manna means bread, but what it actually means is, what is this? The people grumbled and complained because bread coming from heaven wasn't enough for them. So God also sent quail. After three months, they arrived at Mount Sinai. This is where God first spoke to Moses in the burning bush. And he will again speak to him now. God gave Moses a covenant saying, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Moses reported this to the Israelites and they accepted the covenant saying, we will do everything the Lord has said. God tells Moses to warn the people that if they break it, they will perish. And he gave them the most famous laws, the Ten Commandments. It's interesting that the first half ended with ten plagues and this half continues with Ten Commandments. God continued and gave many more laws. There will be a total of 613. It is important to remember that the purpose of the laws was not to condemn them. In fact, Paul tells us in the New Testament that we would not know what sin was if it was not for the law. God was setting a standard of righteousness that he knew we could not keep.

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He needed us to recognize our need for a savior. Despite the fact that the Israelites just experienced God's deliverance and witnessed his incredible power, they broke the commandments almost immediately and began worshipping other This is a theme that will run throughout the rest of the Bible. It is the theme of God having a chosen people, people that he desires to pick him over the gods of this world. People that repeatedly failed, worshipping unworthy things. God is a God of grace, though, and he gave them another chance. He tells them to build a tabernacle. Because the incredible presence of the Holy God would enter into this building, there were very specific instructions on how to build it, what to put in it, where to put everything, and how to enter it. The tabernacle was a tent, so it was portable, and it could go with the Israelites when they moved. God also gave them instructions on how to build a piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant to place inside of it. This is the place where God and man would meet. The Ark was made of wood with gold overlay. Inside of it was placed the Ten Commandments, Aaron's rod, which signified God's miraculous powers, and a pot of manna, which reminded them of God's great provision. The lid was called the Mercy Seat. There were two gold cherubim, or angelic beings, facing each other with their wings going up, covering the seat. The tabernacle, the Ark, and the way they were laid out

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were so important that Moses spent 15 chapters telling them how to build it. The best part, it was when it was finally completed, the presence of God filled it. God is so holy, though, that the people still cannot come into his presence. He shares with them a plan to continue to build this relationship. We will talk about that in the next video. Exodus is a record of the birth of Israel as a nation. Its title means to exit or depart. It does not directly point to Jesus, but it foreshadows his ministry. This book describes a man who leads his people out of bondage and redeems their lives, just as Christ will do. It symbolizes death to the old way of living and the blessings that come with the new. It describes the Passover, and we know that when Christ is crucified, he becomes the Passover lamb. It illustrates the tabernacle, a dwelling place for God that thankfully we now have inside of us. It teaches us that God will care for us and that he calls us for a purpose. Many people think that the book of Exodus is just a story about Moses parting the Red Sea, but there is so much more we can learn from it. I hope that the information shared today helps you grasp how interesting the Bible is

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so that you develop a passion for reading it. I pray that as you dig into scripture and go through your workbook, God speaks to you in exciting ways and your spirit begins coming to life. God bless.

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