A lot to unpack in this story

Now this story may feel familiar, but lets make sure we go through it with open eyes, as the significance beyond the surface level is critical to the over arching story of what is too come.

There are four parts to this lesson. Deliver Us, The Journey, The Ark of the Covenant, and The Promised Land. We want to keep the details somewhat to a minimum but make sure we understand the significance, as I think later on you will see these stories don’t just make good dramatic movie scenes but are the fabric of the faith.

Deliver Us

Deliver us meaning ‘Liberate or Free us from evil’

The twelve tribes of Israel are now in bondage in Egypt. Generations passed, and still they were trapped. What began as a journey due to starvation became generational oppression. The descendants of Abraham were enslaved by the Egyptians and forced into hard labor.

For years they cried out to God for help.

And God answered by calling a man named Moses.

Moses’ story begins in an extraordinary way.

At a time when Hebrew children were being killed, he was rescued as a baby and raised in all places in the Pharaoh’s household itself. An unbelievable circumstance for a descendant of Israel. Yet despite growing up in the palace of Egypt, God chose him to lead His people out of slavery.

One day while tending sheep in the wilderness, Moses saw something strange: a bush that was on fire, but not burning up.

From that burning bush, God spoke to him.

When Moses asked God His name, the Lord answered with words that would echo through history:

“I AM WHO I AM.”

In that moment God revealed something profound. He was not simply another god among many. He is the one who is; the source of all life and existence itself.

This same God sent Moses, now fully knowing his Israelite identity, to confront Pharaoh and demand freedom for His people.

But Pharaoh refused.

Through Moses, God sent a series of plagues upon Egypt, each one demonstrating that the God of Israel was greater than the powers of Egypt.

Then, finally came the last and most dramatic moment: the Passover.

God instructed the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb and place the lamb’s blood above the doorposts of their homes. That night the angel of death passed through Egypt, but the homes marked by the blood of the lamb were spared.

But there was another important instruction.

The people were not only to sacrifice the lamb; they were commanded to eat the lamb. That was pivotal to the Angel of Death not harming them. Remember that.

This event became the great feast of Passover, remembered by the people of Israel for generations.

Through the Passover, God delivered the Israelites from slavery and led them out of Egypt in what we now call the Exodus.

This moment became one of the defining events of the Old Testament. God did not just rescue individuals, He rescued an entire people and began forming them into a nation.

The climatic moment comes as Moses raises his staff to part the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape from the pursuing Egyptians. Symbolically, the crossing from our bondage to our promise through water will be a foreshadowing event to our spiritual renewal in Baptism.

The Journey

After their escape from Egypt, the Israelites journeyed into the wilderness where God continued to guide and care for them.

When the people grew hungry, God provided food from heaven called manna. Each morning mysterious bread appeared on the ground, enough for the people to gather and eat for the day. Remember that.

Through this gift God taught them to trust Him daily for their needs.

During their journey through the wilderness, God also brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where He established a new covenant with them and gave them the Law. The Law, or more commonly known as the Ten Commandments were meant to guide them in living as God’s people; a community built on faith, justice, and worship.

That said, even during the waiting for Moses on Mount Sinai the people grew tired and impatient, and built a large Golden Calf as something to worship. What Golden Calfs do we have in our own lives?

The Ark of the Covenant

Now if you are like me that term, “Ark of the Covenant” I always heard on an off or saw pictured but never fully understood it. I knew I want to say at times it carried the ten commandments, but with the term ‘Ark’ I remember thinking, “Wait, was Noah involved, is their a piece of the Ark or Boat?” Maybe you never had this humorous confusion, but I think it is critically important we define the Ark of the Covenant, its importance and what it contained.

The Ark was constructed out of acacai wood and covered in gold, after the 10 Commandments were brought down from by Moses. In fact it was carried on rods so no one could even touch it. In later lessons we will speak more on its incredible significance but for now, know it was carried ahead of the Israelites in search of the Promised Land, or led them basically. What it contained or meant to store basically however is critical to understand what the Israelites kept sacred:

  • The two stones containing Ten Commandments

  • A Jar of Manna, to celebrate the heavenly bread sustaining the people of Israel

  • Moses’ brother, Aaron’s Rod or Staff. This was important because Aaron descends from the priestly tribe of Israel descending from Levi

The Promised Land

For forty years the people of Israel journeyed to find the promised land, and a key note that is worth reflecting on is…Moses would never make it. We would never enter the Promised Land

So, after leading the people through the wilderness for forty years, Moses was allowed to see the Promised Land from a distance, but he would not step into it.

Moses was the chosen leader, the one who confronted Pharaoh and led the people to freedom.

Yet even he did not receive the final reward.

There is something deeply meaningful in that.

Sometimes the story God is writing is bigger than one person’s life. Moses’ mission was not to possess the Promised Land; it was to lead the people to its edge.

In many ways our lives can be like that too. We may plant seeds that others will see grow. We may help build something whose full beauty we will never see in our lifetime.

And that does not make our role smaller. It means we are part of something greater.

Moses faithfully led God’s people to the threshold of the promise.

And from there, the story really gets good

“Allegorically, sinful man serves the devil, typified by the Pharaoh, and is forced to labor in the mud of earthly desires. But when Christ offers to lighten our burden, we are led through the sea of Baptism, where he destroys the sins that enslaved us.”

-St. Augustine-