Exodus: The Book in Review

Step Back

When our Bible study focuses intently on each passage, one after another, we may find it difficult to step back and see how they fit together. But we must remember the Bible is a work of literature. It was not written to be scrutinized in bites; it was written to be devoured in gobbles. We should remember to read the Bible as we’d read any other book: moving through it at a reasonable pace and recognizing ongoing themes, climax, resolution, and character development. When we hit milestones in the text, we should take the opportunity to survey where we’ve been and how it fits together.

So, now that we’ve completed our study of each chapter, we ought to look back and put it all together.

Review

Let me list the main points I’ve proposed for each passage in the last section:

• Exodus 35:1-39:43: When God empowers his people with the glory of his grace and truth, his redeemed, new covenant people are able to do everything just as he commands.
• Exodus 40:1-38: While the tabernacle reveals the magnificent glory of God with us, there is something even more glorious yet.

In addition, my overview of the whole book led me to this overall main point:

Who is Yahweh, and why should you obey him? He is the God who 1) demolishes the house of slavery (Ex 1-15), 2) prepares to rebuild (Ex 16-18), and 3) builds his house in the midst of his people (Ex 19-40).

The main idea of Act I (Ex 1:1-15:21) was that Yahweh demolishes the house of slavery. He does this in two parts:

1. He trains up a qualified mediator to deliver (Ex 1:1-7:7).
2. He delivers his people from their enemies into a frightful joy (Ex 7:8-15:21).

The main idea of Act II (Ex 15:22-18:27) was that Yahweh prepares the house of his people by showing them they need his law to know him.

Now in Act III, Yahweh builds his house in the midst of his people. We’ve already covered three parts:

1. In Part 1 (Ex 19:1-24:18), God prepares the conditions for a perfect paradise with his people, where they can draw near to him through the blood of a substitute.
2. In Part 2 (Ex 25:1-31:18), God delivers blueprints for a tent, so he can re-create heaven on earth by living among his people.
3. In Part 3 (Ex 32:1-34:35), God hands them something better than paradise; he hands them more of himself.

Pull It Together

Now what do these things show us about the flow of thought in chapters 35-40? We have reached the end of the book and have every reason to expect something even more climactic than the Passover, the Red Sea crossing, or the Ten Commandments.

• Act I describes God’s deliverance of his people. Act II shows how God prepares them for a covenant relationship with him. Act III now constructs that covenant relationship.
• Part 1: Exodus 19-24 opens the gates of paradise by drawing the people close through the blood of a substitute and endowing them with a utopian vision.
• Part 2: Exodus 25-31 recreates heaven on earth, proposing a place where God will dwell with his people, through a series of building plans.
• Part 3: Exodus 32-34 shows us what happens when a righteous God tries to live with a sinful people.
• Part 4: Exodus 35-40 now enacts the covenant as the parties finally move in together.
  • Exodus 35-39 uses every possible narrative convention to explain how astoundingly obedient the people are to Yahweh’s commands.
  • Exodus 40 portrays the final product, where Yahweh finally moves in. Except it ends like a wedding reception where the bride and groom ride off into the sunset…in two different cars.

These chapters show us that the tabernacle was not God’s final plan. Of course, it would later lead to a temple. But not even the temple would be the final plan. These religious structures have no power in themselves to save. Only the final Immanuel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh, can fully draw us in and unite us to God.

Greg (2012), Creative Commons

Act I: Yahweh demolishes the house of slavery (Ex 1-15).

Introduction: Nobody can prevent Yahweh from keeping his promises, but we’re not sure how he’ll do it (Ex 1).

Part 1: Yahweh appoints a mediator and ensures he is fully qualified and trained for the task of deliverance (Ex 2:1-7:7).

Part 2: Yahweh delivers a deserved destruction to his enemies and a frightful joy to his people (Ex 7:8-15:21).

Act II: Yahweh prepares to rebuild by exposing how deeply his people need his law to know him (Ex 16-18).

Act III: Yahweh builds his house in the midst of his people (Ex 19-40).

Part 1: Yahweh architects a perfect paradise for the community of his people, so he can bring them near through the blood of a substitute (Ex 19-24).

Part 2: Yahweh explains how his people can re-create this paradise on earth (Ex 25-31).

Part 3: Yahweh hands them something more glorious than paradise; he hands them more of himself (Ex 32-34).

Part 4: The obedient new creators build the house, and Yahweh moves in. But not even Moses can enter the glory. This tent cannot be it; there must be something more to come (Ex 35-40).

Gaze Upon Jesus

When Yahweh finally moves in, Moses unexpectedly can’t even enter the cloud of glory. But Jesus would eventually come to finish all the Father’s work. Now he has taken up his rest at the Father’s right hand. And we who have believed enter that rest (Heb 4:3). So now, it is not the work of our hands, but the community itself that is the dwelling place of God (1 Cor 3:16-17).

Apply

Let’s be honest: The book of Exodus contains both some of the most exciting narratives and some of the most boring inventories in all the Scripture. But now that you’ve seen the point of it all, have you found eyes to see the glory? Dwell in this book for any length of time, gaze on the glory of our God’s grace and truth, and you, too, will experience something Moses and the freed slaves could only have dreamed.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.