Amos 9:7

Easter Vigil

Exodus for All

"Are not you like the sons of the Cushites to me? O sons of Israel?" declares the Lord. "Did not I bring Israel up from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Qir?"

Sermon

The account of the Israel's exodus is given particular attention in the readings tonight. This event is at the center of the Passover, which is fulfilled in Christ's death and resurrection. It is fitting, therefore, that we listen to the word of the Lord, who promises through Amos an exodus for all.

The first exodus God announces in our text is his deliverance of the Cushites. The land of Cush was in the upper Nile region of which Ethiopia was a part. In Old Testament times it was one of the farthest reaches of known lands. The Cushites are not referred to because of the color of their skin (cf. Jeremiah 13:23) or their status as slaves (2 Samuel 18:21; Jeremiah 38:7), but because they represent a distant land (Esther 1:1; 8:9). God has no "favorites" (cf. Acts 10:34: Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9). He unleashes His exodus power for those who are geographically the furthest away from Israel.

God also enacted an exodus for those who lived within a closer proximity to Israel, in this case the Arameans and the Philistines. The Lord equates Israel's exodus with those of some of the nation's fiercest adversaries, the Philistines and Arameans.

"The sons of Israel" (referring in our text to the double kingdom of Judah and Israel) do not have exclusive rights to exodus deliverance. The Lord delivers all people, by grace, through faith (cf. John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:2).

As we consider Israel's exodus, we do so believing in an exodus for us, for the Lord promises an exodus for all. The exodus began when there was a new king in Egypt, "who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8). "The Egyptians put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor . . . who worked them ruthlessly. . . . They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields" (1:11–14). With genocidal fury the Egyptians even attempt to kill Hebrew baby boys by throwing them into the Nile River.

But it gets worse! Pharaoh gives orders to his slave drivers no longer to supply Israelites with straw for making bricks, but to require them to make the same number of bricks as before (Exodus 5). And so the slaves—mired in the mud of the eastern Nile Delta—are beaten with whips and begin to lose hope.

The plagues unleash divine wrath, and Moses finally convinces Israel to leave Egypt. Running for their lives they find themselves near Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-Zephon, surrounded and stuck on all sides. "They said to Moses, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?' " (Exodus 14:11).

Israelites see Pharaoh madly chasing after them. People spot the chariot drivers whipping their horses into a violent frenzy, and in the distance they can hear the war cry of Egypt's choicest warriors. The enemy boasts, "I will draw my sword, and my hand will destroy you" (Exodus 15:9).

We know a similar enemy who enslaves, taunts, and destroys. We feel his accusing whip slice open our past. We hear his war cry, "Because you thought this, watched this, did this, and said this you will have hell to pay!" Sensing his hot breath on the backs of our necks, we hear him calmly whisper, "I will draw my sword, and my hand will destroy you." Jesus calls this enemy a "murderer and a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Peter says he is "a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Paul describes him as "the god of this age who blinds our minds" (2 Corinthians 4:4). And John calls him a destroyer (Revelation 9:11).

Just when Israel was fleeing Egypt and as good as dead, the Lord blew with His Spirit and the waters covered the Egyptians (Exodus 15:10). Water and Spirit are His means of salvation. The Song of the Sea does not mention God as having human instruments of warfare. The sword Pharaoh draws is not opposed by another sword. The chariot he rides is not met by another chariot. The army he leads clashes with no human fighting force. Israel sings, "The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is His name!" (15:3).

Zechariah 4:6 gets to the heart of this military strategy. " 'Not by might and not by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord the God of Armies." With the defeat, Israel celebrates, "The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation" (Exodus 15:2).

But it gets better. Our exodus from slavery to sin, self, and Satan also begins with an evil king who in genocidal fury gives orders to throw the Israel, Jesus our Lord, into the butcher's blade (Matthew 2:1–18). Other enemies join the assault. Pharisees plot with Herodians. Detractors say he is demon possessed. Scribes test him with Torah trivia. His brothers ride and ridicule him. Sadducees posture with pentateuchal pride. But the final assault begins with thirty pieces of silver, and He is sold away as a slave.

Breathless from the run, Jesus falls down exhausted in the garden. He is near the Kidron Valley, between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. Opposite of Bethany Jesus is surrounded on all sides. And make no mistake about it; He will have hell to pay. Once arrested Jesus is bound, accused, blindfolded, mocked, tried, stripped, and then beat into a bloody pulp. The enemy begins licking his chops saying, "I will draw my sword, and my hand will destroy you."

Blood-soaked and spiked to a tree for six hours, His lungs scream for air. After a loud cry He bows His head and dies. But (and make no mistake about this either), the Lord blew His Spirit once more and made a way through the sea of death to bring His Son to life forevermore! "He is not here! He has risen just as he said" (Luke 24:6). Mary cries out, "Rabboni!" (John 20:16), followed by the exclamation, "I have seen the Lord!" (20:18). Thomas climactically confesses, "My Lord and my God!" (20:28).

Because God still blows His Spirit, all people, as good as dead, may be born again. There is an exodus for Israelites, Cushites, Philistines, and Arameans. There is an exodus for you; there is an exodus for me; there is an exodus for all! With liberating power God's Spirit hovers over baptismal waters and frees us from addictions, compulsions, and obsessions. Walking wet in baptismal promises we are no longer mired in guilt and shame because "the body of sin has been done away with and we are no longer slaves to sin" (Romans 6:6). Paul goes on, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (8:15–17a).

And so the best is yet to come. God will blow His Spirit one last time to sound a trumpet that will usher in the final exodus. There will be a Rider on a white horse. He will seize the beast, the false prophet and the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and hurl them all into the lake of fire. And they will sink to the depths like a stone (Revelation 19–20). Then, forever free from all slavery, Eden will be restored.

The exodus is here. The exodus is now. And the exodus is for all. All of this points to the best exodus, Christ's second coming, when He will set us forever free. Hallelujah! Amen