If you recall an earlier Leviticus Lesson (all of which are archived here for you) … this middle Book of Moses clearly has a central chapter. (Not numerically, but theologically or thematically.) And that is the “Day of Atonement” Chapter, chapter number sixteen. All about bloodshed and the forgiveness of sin … with “Communion with God” being the ultimate Goal!

And … maybe by now unsurprisingly … so does Exodus have a central chapter! (That is the Book of Exodus, the Story of God’s bringing His enslaved people back to Himself!) I’m specifically talking about Exodus Chapter fifteen.

Which highlights “The Song of Moses,” celebrating God’s miraculous Deliverance of the Jews from the clutches of wicked Pharaoh!

To be more precise: Exodus 15:1-21, with even Miriam getting involved at the end! (The first time we hear people singing in the whole Bible: and they’re singing about Redemption! Hallelujah!)

Roughly the first half of the Song (Psalm) rejoices over God’s defeating the chaotic elements of the Red Sea! Drowning a whole army, in fact, and its God-hating leader!

Then the “fulcrum” verse of the Song … “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11 … there is NONE like unto our great God!

Then roughly the last half of the Song leads Israel to a Mountain where God is to be worshipped! As in Verse 13 … “Thou (God) in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto THY HOLY HABITATION.” God’s Habitation being His “Holy Mountain, His Holy Hill!”

The Goal of Redemption … fellowship with God!

Verse 17 is even more dramatic! “Thou (God) shalt bring them in, and plant them in the MOUNTAIN of thine inheritance, in the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the SANCTUARY, O Lord, which thy hands have established.” See the Holy Mountain again, God’s very Home?

Then verse 18, just before Miriam and the ladies add their harmonious “Amens” … “The LORD shall reign for ever and ever.” Now let me add my AMEN!

All this (Exodus 15) matches Leviticus’ central chapter (16) and its Day of Atonement Emphasis … dwelling in the Presence of God! (Via bloodshed and the forgiveness of sin!)

Our great God is all about Atonement, restoring every bit of that which sin has robbed from us!

Glance at Exodus (the whole Book) again … it began in the deadly waters of the Nile River (Moses in his little ark) … but it ends at the Mountain of God, Sinai … God in intimate communion with His man (still Moses)!

That’s the Story of Creation Week, too. (From chaos, “without form and void,” to Fellowship with God, “in the Garden in the cool of the day!”

That’s the Story of the Flood too! From the roaring waters of death (40 days and nights of rain) to the top of Mount Ararat … and a new Relationship with God!

That’s (in essence) the Story of Leviticus too. STAYING in Fellowship/Communion with this great, loving God!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Just this addendum …

When God initially tried to get Pharaoh to “let His people go” … the Lord offered these reasons …

“And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may SERVE me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” Exodus 4:22-23, where “serve” (Hebrew “abad”) also means (many times) “to worship!”

“And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a FEAST unto me in the wilderness.” Exodus 5:1, where “hold a feast” also means “to worship” God, in sweet Communion and Delight!

Yes, God is “hungry” for our Love. He is determined to “delight” in His people. Back to Jesus’ Words in John 4:23 … “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the FATHER in spirit and in truth: FOR THE FATHER SEEKETH SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM.”

Wow!

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There can be no real (and close) Communion with God (the Theme of the whole Book of Leviticus) … apart from blood sacrifice! Not in God’s Economy, anyway.

And the Book of Exodus certainly centers on that epochal “blood sacrifice” Event, the Passover!

Three steps were involved in the Process. Slaying the little lamb, applying the blood to the doorposts, and then eating its flesh!

The slaughter/bloodshed … picturing Jesus, the coming Lamb of God! (The Cross of Calvary)

The application … at the “gate/door” of each house … symbolizing believing faith in God’s Son as the Sacrifice, the Saviour!

The eating/internalization of the sacrifice … described in Exodus in amazing detail … indicating consecration as a result of one’s soul Salvation!

Wow!

And just so you know … this is the same process through which the Priests of the Old Testament were subjected, in order to serve in their high and holy Calling! Yes, in both Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8 all three steps are enumerated.

This suggests Israel as a “Priestly Nation!” As in Exodus 19:6 … “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”

Wow!

God is obviously preparing Israel (mankind throughout Genesis having drifted further and further away from Divine Fellowship) to lead creation back to Himself!

Now let me show you one more “link” … Israel to worship/communion with God. As a “Priestly” People, Nation.

This idea/nexus centers on the Hebrew word “abad.” It can (and often does) mean “to serve as a slave.” Exodus 20:2 … “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (abad).”

It also can (and often does) mean “to serve in an act of worship!” As in Psalm 100:2 … “Serve (abad) the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.”

Or Numbers 3:7, specifically regarding the Levites/Priests … “And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do (abad) the service (abad) of the tabernacle.” Twice in a single verse!

See?

Israel transformed (via the blood of the lamb) from being a slave to being a servant (priest) of God!

Wow!

It’s called Grace!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Yes, Leviticus with its Emphasis on the very PRESENCE of God Almighty, is a sublime Portion of Scripture.

But prior to enjoying God’s Presence, one must gain a KNOWLEDGE of this great Person!

And the first half of the Book of Exodus is dedicated to that grand Theme, knowing God! (Then the last half of Exodus focuses on entering God’s PRESENCE, setting up for the whole Book of Leviticus!)

Knowing God?

Moses’ Call, at that burning bush … “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, WHAT IS HIS NAME? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” Exodus 3:13-15, God’s very Name! That’s getting to know Him, for sure!

Even knowing Him to a fuller extent than did Abraham! “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” Exodus 6:2-3

Moses sure can, now, answer this question … “And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

Wow!

And even the plagues … “And the Egyptians SHALL KNOW that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:5

Did this Strategy work?

At the Red Sea … this was sung: “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11, knowing God? They sure did!

Now …

Here’s another way God identifies Himself. In the first part of Exodus I mean. As the God of Creation, yes still in Exodus!

The Lord takes rebellious Egypt (Pharaoh) and deconstructs them! Un-creates them! From the most powerful Nation on earth (at that time) … to a destroyed people (army and all) drowning in the churning Red Sea! From order to chaos, the very reverse of the days of creation!

And conversely … God takes Israel, a family of only seventy people (that was the whole Nation way back then, Exodus 1:5) … and creates (builds) them into a Nation of over 2,000,000 strong! (Over 600,000 young men of fighting age, by actual count, census! Numbers 11:21) Creation, Act 2! Out of “nothing” … something great, “the very Apple of God’s Eye!”

In fact, when God finished creating (in the Account given us in the Book of Job) … “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars SANG together, and all the sons of God SHOUTED for joy?” Job 38:4-7, there was harmonious singing and much joy!

And when God brought Israel up out of the Red Sea, a people who now obviously KNOW their LORD … “Then SANG Moses and the children of Israel this SONG unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I WILL SING unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15:1, amazing! Singing, shouting, angelically so!

Yes, KNOWING GOD!

Jesus even added this little Fact, praying to His Father in Heaven … “And this is life eternal, that they MIGHT KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3

Need I say any more?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

But I will. “But the people that DO KNOW their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Daniel 11:32

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Yes, the Book of Exodus leads us right up to Leviticus, by divine design I’m sure. Exodus, the Block of Scripture that takes Israel as a bunch of “aliens” living in Egypt (a “type” of the world) and transforms them (by the end of Exodus) into a people, a nation with a hunger for God!

And that’s where the Book of Leviticus serves a such vital function. Then teaching the people HOW to live in Communion with the Lord God, Who loves them so. How to maintain that glorious Fellowship!

Today a simple overview of Exodus, with a dramatic spiritual Lesson that arrangement teaches us.

The Exodus Composition (Holy-Spirit inspired, mind you) consists of 40 chapters. Chapters 1-15 deal with getting Israel out of Egypt! Then chapters 16-40 focus on Sinai, and a growing Relationship with God. (The very Prelude to Leviticus!)

But there is a “middle” Portion (small but serving as a “fulcrum, balance”) between these two halves … Exodus 15:1-21. Which is “Moses’ Song of the Sea.” (The first Song in the Bible, by the way!) Celebrating Redemption/Atonement by the blood of an innocent little lamb!

Wow!

Furthermore, these two parts of Exodus center on … (first) KNOWING GOD, then (second) WORSHIPPING GOD!

To express it a little differently … gaining KNOWLEDGE of God. Then enjoying COMMUNION with God!

That’s the Goal of Exodus … to know Him then to meet/live with Him!

They will get to “know His Person” through the Exodus Miracle.

Then they will get to “enjoy His Presence” through the Sinai Miracle.

Wow!

I do trust you will see how appropriate then Exodus really is!

The Exodus Experience (chapters 1-15) … through the waters!

The Sinai Experience (chapters 15-24) … to the Mountain (the very mount of God)!

Then the Tabernacle Experience (chapters 25-40) … life in/at God’s House! (In other words “Communion” with the Lord!)

Whereupon Leviticus then begins its Tome of further instructions about properly maintaining that sweet Unity/Harmony/Fellowship … God with His people/ the Jews with the Lord!

Amen!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

More tomorrow, the Lord willing.

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I never realized how “compact, organized” the Books of the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) really are! How they “link” so ingeniously to each other! How they develop one single overarching Plot!

With the Book of Leviticus sitting right in the middle of the Five! With its great Emphasis on “Fellowshipping” with God!

Today let me show you an “inclusio” regarding the beginning of Genesis and the ending of Exodus. It is thrilling, this very thought … this Holy Spirit inspired style of writing!

Genesis begins with the Garden of Eden. Where God apparently went down daily and “walked” with Adam and Eve for a while! (Genesis 3:8) A Garden specifically built for such Communion, God with man!

But, you know what subsequently happened in Genesis! Sin, sin, sin! Beginning with what is still called the “Fall” of man. Spiritual death passed upon us all!

Things don’t get a lot better in Exodus either, for a while. The Book begins with Israel in bondage in Egypt! Under the “control” of a Pharaoh, who knows not God!

But … and here’s the point of today’s Lesson … look how Exodus ends! With God having given instructions to Moses on building a structure called a “Tabernacle!” And the main purpose of that Holy Tent? The same as that of the Garden of Eden!

Communion with the Lord God Almighty!

Fellowship then, by the end of Exodus, has been restored! Mankind’s true purpose again having been realized! At God’s Initiative, I might add.

HE HUNGERS TO “WALK” WITH HIS PEOPLE!

Preacher Bagwell, what does this have to do with Leviticus? (I can hear someone asking.) And rightly so …

Leviticus takes up the Story where Exodus leaves off … detailed Instructions on HOW to maintain that Fellowship, Harmony, Interaction, Adoration, Worship between man and God!

“Inclusio” means that a Body of Literature (here the Genesis-Exodus Continuum) both begins and ends with the same Theme or Words or Idea! And, as I have tried to show you … that “inclusio” involves the God-man Nexus!

Jesus said it this way, when talking to a woman at a well near Sycar … “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: FOR THE FATHER SEEKETH SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM.” John 4:23, where “seeketh” (in Greek “zeteo”) means to strongly desire!”

That’s why Eden!

That’s why the Tabernacle!

That’s why Calvary!

That’s why Heaven!

“O come, let us adore Him!”

Our great God!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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