#13 Introduction to Part 1: The Need for Redemption

We are now ready to begin our study of the book of Exodus, beginning with the first part of our outline as identified again below.

I. The Story of Redemption: Chapters 1-13:16

A. The Need for Redemption Chapter 1

A simple question, kept before our hearts and minds as we consider this first chapter of Exodus, will help us to receive what God has for us here: “How does this chapter in its historical setting help me to see the deep need for the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purposes among the Hebrew people in Egyptian bondage?”

Coming from Genesis directly into Exodus the first thing that we notice is that a period of approximately 400 years has transpired between the last thing we encounter in Genesis and this first chapter of Exodus. Compare these two verses from Genesis 15:

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

It will become clear that this period of 400 years of being out of the land has been completed as we come into Exodus chapter one. But this brings up an important principle of faith regarding how we view God’s Word. If we need to know anything about these four hundred years we can trust God to reveal it to us. What He leaves unsaid we do not need. We do well to limit our nagging habit of speculating about the things that God leaves unsaid in His Word. In this specific instance our best course of action is to study what God HAS revealed to us in this first chapter, leaving off speculation regarding all that God leaves unsaid.

Israel has been enslaved in Egypt for some time. But, how did they get into Egypt to begin with? Our first six verses reiterate the arrival of Jacob and all his house into Egypt. This refers back to the fiftieth chapter of Genesis. When the descendants of Jacob came into Egypt during the days of a great famine in their part of the world, they encountered their brother Joseph in a very influential position in the Egyptian government. They were eventually welcomed into Egypt by the Pharaoh at that time, who delighted in Joseph. But, by the time we come into Exodus, a great deal has changed. The entire first chapter of Exodus can be best understood if we look at it in terms of how it reveals the deep need for redemption (and salvation)[1] among the Hebrew people who are now in slavery in Egyptian.

[1] See Appendix A regarding the difference between redemption and salvation.