The Books of Moses
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exodus 20:2
The title of the second book of the Old Testament comes from the Greek name given to it. The word exodus means “going out,” which is fitting since it relates to the purpose of the book, and shows how God delivered His people from Egypt. This deliverance also marks the beginning of Israel as a separate nation, as the LORD fulfilled His promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation (Genesis 12:2). At the foot of Mt. Sinai, the people of Israel were formed as a nation and ruled by a theocracy (meaning a “rule by God”) through the giving of the covenant which contained moral, civil, and ceremonial laws which the people were commanded to obey.
These laws were given specifically to the nation of Israel and the civil and ceremonial laws are not binding upon us today. These laws were done away with by Christ, as Paul writes, “the Law was our tutor until Christ” (Galatians 3:24). Jesus delivered us from the Law of Moses. While the Moral Law is for all people of all time, sinners are not saved by the law. The law was not given to instruct man how to get to heaven. Salvation has always been by the Gospel (Galatians 3:16-18). God’s work of salvation is beautifully described in Exodus in the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12, 1 Corinthians 5:7), the manna from heaven (Exodus 16, John 6:48-51), and the water from the rock (Exodus 17:1-7, 1 Corinthians 10:4). Through the law God shows that we cannot be holy of ourselves. At the same time, through the sacrifices and worship ordinances of the Ceremonial Law God shows us how we are holy, namely, through the blood offering of God’s promised Savior.
Lord, point us to our salvation in the work of Jesus. Amen.
Yet as the law must be fulfilled or we must die despairing,
Christ came and has God’s anger stilled, our human nature sharing.
He has for us the law obeyed and thus the Father’s vengeance stayed
Which over us impended.
The Lutheran Hymnal 377:5