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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