As we begin reading the book of Exodus we discover that the children of Israel are enslaved by the Egyptians. God delivers His people out of bondage through His servant Moses. As the children of Israel are preparing to leave their enslavers, God gives His people important instructions. One of those instructions is found in Exodus 13:3 where “Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place.”
For roughly 400 years the children of Israel were enslaved. Through divine intervention, which included ten plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, God’s people were set free. The Exodus event became a cornerstone event that was recalled by Moses when the children of Israel entered The Promised Land in Deuteronomy 16; by the Psalmists in Psalm 78, 105, and 106; and by the prophets in Isaiah 51, Ezekiel 20, and Hosea 1. The purpose for recalling the Exodus was to remind the children of Israel of God’s might, majesty, and mitigation. The retelling of the Exodus was to encourage the children of Israel to remain faithful to God because He was always faithful to them. The Exodus proves this.
God’s deliverance of those enslaved in Egypt is a foreshadowing of Christ’s deliverance of those enslaved by sin. Beginning with the sins committed in the Garden in Genesis 3, God’s people have been enslaved to sin. God delivers His people out of bondage through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:14-18). Before the event of His great deliverance, Jesus gives His people important instructions. At the annual feast of the Passover, Jesus “19 took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:19-20).”
Soon after, Jesus went to the cross to deliver us from our sins. There were no plagues or sea crossings. There was only the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. Christians have remembered our deliverance from sin in Jesus’ command to “do this in remembrance of Me.” Weekly, Christians recall the sacrifice of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). We gather together on the first day of the week and remember the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior (Acts 20:7). We remember how “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many . . . (Hebrews 9:28).” We recall how Jesus “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness . . . (1 Peter 2:24).”
The Christian’s deliverance from sin by Christ’s sacrifice is recalled and remembered to encourage us to remain faithful because God is faithful. God is faithful in not letting His Son stay in the grave (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27). God is faithful to forgive our sins (1 John 1:9). God is faithful to redeem us (Ephesians 1:7). God is faithful to resurrect us (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). We can be assured of God’s faithfulness.
As God’s people we learn to value freedom by God’s deliverance of the children of Israel. We learn to value love and sacrifice by God’s deliverance of His people from sin through Christ. We learn from God what it means to be free from the bondage of others and sin.
