by Dwight A. Pryor
FROM GOD’S POINT OF VIEW, what was the end of the Exodus? Was Passover’s redemption complete within itself or did it point to a purpose beyond itself? How we answer this question bears significantly on how we see the place of Israel in God’s covenant story.
The word end is used here in the Greek sense of telos, aim or goal: What was the goal of the Exodus? Here are five answers to this important question, each of which is worth pondering.
1] Redemption. “Let my people go!” (Exodus 8:1) the LORD God of Israel demanded of Pharaoh. Keeping His covenant promise to their forefathers, God rescued Jacob’s children from Egyptian enslavement and set them free from bondage to an evil taskmaster. Freedom was the first objective of the Exodus and is the divinely ordained destiny of God’s people.
2] Relationship. “You have seen … how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself” (19:4). The Israelites were set free in order to draw near. Too often we think about the God of Israel only as a “Lawgiver”. We forget that first and last the LORD is a Lover. He is passionate for the people engraved upon His hands and betrothed to Him in lovingkindess. The second objective of the Exodus was to bring the children of Israel near to their Beloved in the fullness of covenant relationship and intimacy of knowledge.
3] Revelation. From Egypt God led the Jewish nation to Sinai, where He called for the congregation of Israel to assemble at the Mountain (19:10ff). Accompanied by the awesome sounds of the great shofar, the Almighty descended in a cloud of glory to speak the Ten Words (Commandments) to His newly redeemed people. Passover and Pentecost are inseparably linked in Jewish tradition and are connected by counting the fifty days between them. Shavu’ot, when the Spirit-inspired Torah was first given to Israel, is considered the atzeret or completion of Pesach. God redeemed His people in order to reveal to them His life-affirming will and wisdom. This was the third objective of the Exodus.
4] Responsibility. “Let my people go, that they may serve (worship) me” (8:1). Redemption led to revelation which entails responsibility. Israel was set free so they could be set apart as a holy nation to serve the LORD as a kingdom of priests. At Sinai Israel received her redeemer as King. Like a bride she willingly entered into the obligations of a monogamous covenant relationship with the true and living God by affirming: “Na’asei v’nishma” – “We will do and we will obey all that the LORD has commanded!” (24:7). The embittered slaves to Pharaoh were set free to become beloved servants of the Most High God. This was the fourth objective of the Exodus.
5] Residence. “Have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell in their midst”(25:8). The redeemed children of Israel were commissioned to be righteous builders, constructing a suitable habitation on earth for the King of Heaven. Their enterprise began with the mishkan (tabernacle) in the wilderness, housing the glory of the LORD throughout Israel’s pilgrimage. But the intent of the mishkan was consummated in the construction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem – the only event in the Bible linked by elapsed years to the Exodus from Egypt (1 Kings 6:1). The ultimate end of Israel’s Passover redemption therefore was to prepare a place for the God of Israel to take up residence and to reign in the midst of His covenant people, to the blessing of all the nations.
WE REJOICE IN THE State of Israel’s sixtieth anniversary. In view of the objectives of the Exodus, however, we would do well to remember that political Zionism – the establishing of a secure and successful nation on Israel’s ancestral land – should not be an end unto itself.
The remarkable redemptive events of 1948 were one giant step toward the ultimate restoration of authentic spiritual Zionism – in which Zion once again becomes the place where the King of the universe dwells in the midst of a holy people. This is the end of the Exodus for which all creation awaits and toward which we all must build.
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