If you’ve ever booked a tour while traveling, you know everything depends on the skill of the guide. With a good guide, the trip is a pleasure.
Inferior guides babble all day and may even get us lost. The book of Exodus tells us we have a Guide who provides authoritative commentary on life and goes before us every step of the way.
As the book of Genesis ends, Jacob and his family of about seventy souls are living in Egypt, where they found safety and relief from famine in the days of Joseph.
But Exodus fast-forwards the story, and in the intervening years, the Israelites multiply into a mighty nation and are enslaved by the Egyptians.
Exodus is the story of how God, using His servant Moses, delivered His people, crossed the Red Sea, traveled to Mount Sinai for further instructions, and built the tabernacle as a dwelling for God’s guiding presence among them.
Exodus portrays the doctrine of redemption, even as the Passover Lamb is a type of Christ. That elaborate tent, the tabernacle, also wonderfully foreshadows Jesus, the One who tabernacles among His people, leading us unfailingly.
Knowing that God goes ahead of us removes the fear that comes from dramatic changes in life.
Our Redeemer has promised to guide our steps and give us the wisdom we need, but we must first set aside anxiety, quiet our hearts, and set our minds on seeking His will and His timing.
He knows the way through the wilderness.
Key Thought:
God provides the redemption, provision, and guidance His people need.
Key Verse:
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever” (Ex 14:13).
Key Action:
We must be still in God’s presence, then go forward in God’s power.