Prophecy, Freedom, And Redemption
The Book Of Exodus
As I began studying for Exodus, one scholar mentioned Exodus contained the same amount of, if not more, prophecy than most books in the Old Testament. I had read Exodus before, but only at face value. Digging in deeper has opened my eyes to so much more than I could have imagined. Exodus is a book of prophecy, freedom, and redemption.
When we read prophecies in the Old Testament, some of them or multi-fold, meaning they were telling of what would happen during the prophets’ lifetime, of the coming Messiah, and of what is still to come mentioned in Revelation. Yes, one prophecy alone can be twofold, or even threefold.
Reading through the plagues, not only were they what was happening at the moment, but many of them point us to something else in the Bible or for what is still to come. Want to see some of these? I know you do, so let’s jump in.
Prophecy
In the first plague (Exodus 7:14-24), we read of God turning all the water into blood. As with all the plagues, God showed His power over the Egyptian Gods. Not only was this for God to reveal Himself to the people then, but it also points us to what is ahead.
Revelation 8:8 tells us that during the trumpet judgements, a great mountain of fire will be thrown into the sea, and one-third of the water in the sea will become blood. The same result will happen as in Exodus, the fish will die. This plague also points us to Revelation 16:4, the bowl judgements that will make the rivers and streams turn to blood.
The second plague, the plague of frogs, repeats this same pattern. God sent the plague to come against the goddess Heket, who oversaw birth. She was represented by a woman’s body and the head of a frog, and known as the divine midwife. When all the frogs began to die, this was a way of God showing his power over her.
This plague too points us to what is to come. Revelation 16:13 says, “And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.”
This plague was twofold. It told of what was happening in the present, yet points us to future events. I shared two here, but there are more that do the same. We read of the plagues of locust, boils, hailstones and darkness. All of which point us to Revelation.
Freedom
One consistent theme we will find throughout the plagues is the hardening Pharoah’s heart. You can read more about that here. This hardness sadly points us to what’s happening throughout history and will continue to happen until Jesus returns. More hearts will harden.
We find the pattern of Pharoah being replayed in Revelation 9:20-21. This scripture says, “But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
This scripture is referring to the plagues prophesied in Revelation. God used Moses and Aaron to warn Pharoah of what was to come if he did not let God’s people go. In this same way, God has already given us this same warning. We have the book of Revelation that tells us what will happen to those who harden their hearts.
I know many people who choose not to read Revelation, they would rather not know, but Revelation is a book of hope. It warns us of what will happen if we do not accept Jesus, but it also tells us what wonderful things lie ahead and the hope that we have in Jesus.
As we read both the prophecies in Exodus and Revelation, it should drive us to want to fulfill the great commission, the commandment Jesus left us with, which is shared in Matthew 28:19 and is to go and make disciples of all nations. None of us want to see our friends or family members have their hearts hardened. We want to see them experience the same freedom we read of in Exodus when God brings His people out of Egypt and the same freedom we experience through Jesus.
Redemption
Throughout Exodus, we find God revealing Himself to His people. After 400 years in Egypt, they no longer knew God the way Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew Him. Even though they did not know God, He still loved them and wanted to redeem them. In all reality, they were the same as the Egyptians.
In the final plague, we find God killing the firstborn. The only difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites was the blood. Both groups did nothing to deserve redemption – but God.
By the blood of the Passover lamb being placed on the doorpost, the spirit of death passed over their homes. In this same way, when we accept the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, on our behalf, we no longer receive the death we deserve, but receive the gift of eternal life.
If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior or you have questions, I would love to answer them for you. You can always reach me here. Know this truth, there is nothing any of us can do to earn salvation. It’s only through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we can enter into eternal life.
Want to study Revelation? Check out my course.
