1. We learn something about the incompleteness of the Old Testament. “The Old Testament can only leave men expectant, it cannot make them satisfied.” It is open-ended. It can’t stand on its own. It points us to the future. It needs a conclusion. Our Lord Jesus is that conclusion.
2. We learn something of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. “The Old Testament predicts a pattern, the New Testament proclaims a fulfillment.”
3. We learn something of the function of the Exodus in the Bible. It sets the stage for the work of Christ.
4. We learn something of how God works in history. His past actions set the stage for future actions. This displays His sovereignty in history and that He is pointing history in a clear and definite direction. History has a goal – the glory of God displayed in what He does through His Son! History is Christo-telic!
5. We learn something about Jesus Christ.
He is greater than Moses, greater than Joshua, greater than the unblemished one-year old male lambs of the Passover, greater than the manna in the wilderness, greater than Israel (he past his test in the wilderness), and greater than all the events leading up to, in, and after the Exodus.
The Exodus under Moses saved people from earthly bondage, slavery, and the temporal wrath of God. The greater Exodus under Jesus saves people from spiritual bondage and slavery and the eternal wrath of God.
The Exodus under Moses saved people from sinful Egypt to sinful Canaan. The greater exodus under Jesus saves people from this sinful and sorrowful world to Immanuel’s land – the New Heaven and the New Earth, a world wherein dwells only righteousness.
6. We learn something about the differences between the Exodus under Moses and the Exodus under Christ.
One difference is that all were saved irrespective of faith in the Exodus under Moses; but in the Exodus under Christ, only those who apply the blood to their own souls through faith are saved.
But the greatest and most astonishingly ironic difference is this – in the first Exodus under Moses, God’s first-born son, Israel (Ex. 4:22), was spared judgment – instead, a lamb was slaughtered and the Egyptians’ first-born was killed; in the greater Exodus under Jesus, God’s first-born Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, becomes a curse and is judged and slaughtered instead of Israel or Egypt. Whereas God’s wrath terminated upon His people’s enemy – Egypt; at the cross, God’s wrath terminated upon His Son. Whereas the ancient people crushed an unblemished lamb to divert the wrath of God; God the Father crushed His Son to exhaust His wrath for those who believe.
The audio can be found here.
Dr. Richard Barcellos is associate professor of New Testament Studies. He received a B.S. from California State University, Fresno, an M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary, and a Th.M. and Ph.D. from Whitefield Theological Seminary. Dr. Barcellos is pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Palmdale, CA. He is author of Trinity & Creation, The Covenant of Works, and Getting the Garden Right. He has contributed articles to various journals and is a member of ETS.
Courses taught for CBTS: New Testament Introduction, Biblical Hermeneutics, Biblical Theology I, Biblical Theology II.
