The themes of exile and exodus recur throughout the history of Israel. They became a single primary theme woven together throughout the words and warnings of the law, the oracles of the prophets, and the psalms of the Psalter. The theme was carried over into first century Judaism. The gospels used the exodus theme to identify the ministry of Jesus with the eschatological fulfillment of the new exodus promised by the prophets (Mk 1.2, 3; cf. Isa 40.3). John completes the canon by comforting the persecuted church with the hope that God would in the end vindicate his people by permanently delivering them from exile.
The drama of exile and exodus for the people of God began in Eden. Eden was not simply something that happened; but it was a poetic, biblical example of what happens. At creation Adam and Eve were given dominion over all things – including all the "beasts of the field" (Gen 1.28). In Eden, however, Adam and Eve rejected their relationship with God and because of this experienced the true exile of fear, guilt, alienation, and domination. When the first couple's crime against God was revealed they fled from him. The result was expulsion from Eden and separation from God (Gen 3.22-24). Adam and Eve were cursed, yet, their curse was not without remediation. Eve was going to have a child that would someday, somehow rectify their alienation from God and crush the one who had seized dominion.
Although the Cain story begins with a hopeful tone, "I have produced a man with help from the Lord" (Gen 4.1). This child of Eve would not prove to be the one who would bring deliverance from exile. The exile theme continued to play out when Cain opened the door to sin and slew his brother (Gen 4.5-8). He was consigned to some place of wandering east of Eden (4.16). The result of Cain's sin against his brother was exile, yet, in his separation he was protected by God (Gen 4.15).
In this Eden-Cain drama there is something related in the sins of the actors – the influence and power of a beast. Adam and Eve were deceived by a lying serpent and Cain was captivated by a murderous beast. So, the exile of the first family resulted from their abdication of their governing role over the beasts and instead becoming subjugated to them. As the story of the first family unfolded through the Hebrew Scriptures it became apparent that they were a prototype for the people of God through all time. The nations, also, to which they would be exiled, would be compared to wild beasts. Ezekiel, for example, would come to refer to Pharaoh as a 'dragon that lays in the midst of his rivers' and Daniel would liken the four key nations which dominated Israel to four great beasts which came up from the sea (cf. Ezek 29.3; Dan 7.3). The dominion of the nations over the people of God seems to be a deliberate echo from the stories of Eden and Cain by the prophets to reflect the unnatural relationship of the people of God to the animal-like, godless nations throughout the ANE.
Following after the pattern of Adam; his descendants failed to honor God. Their rebellion, displayed through sexual deviance and violence, led to the flood (Gen 6. 1-4, 11). The flood became a kind of 'new creation' where God brought the waters of chaos under control and gave man a fresh start. This fresh start is inferred by the "idyllic but unreal" city in the plains of Shinar, one in which the people were settling down, working together, and with everyone speaking the same language. What appeared to be ideal, keeping the model image of Eden in mind, would soon reveal latent rebellion against God's command to Noah and his descendents to fill the earth. What appeared to be a harmless action, that is, settling in one place to prevent themselves from being "scattered over the face of the earth", would actually be an act of rebellion; one which would attempt to impede "divine momentum" and thwart the plan of God (Brodie, Dialogue, 202). The confusion of languages that occurred in the city of Babel was really a scattering of the people throughout the world. Brodie compares God's confusion of the tongues and resultant scattering of the people to the "expulsion of the man and the woman" from Eden. The scattering of Adam and Eve and the scattering of Cain and his family was now experienced by all the families of the earth.
Sometime during the third millennium B.C.E. a man named Abraham was commissioned by God to leave the land of the Chaldeans, the land of his nativity, and travel to a new land. God was going to give him and his posterity this land as a base of operations to fulfill their charge; a commission to bless all the nations (Gen 12.1-7). Now, after a long season of separation, God was going to act to recover his scattered people and end their exile. He was going to use one man and his descendent(s) to do it. The curse of conception that was spoken to Eve was being felt by one of her daughters. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was barren. God had made Abraham a promise that he was going to have many children, 'like the sands of the sea and numbered like the stars of heaven' (Gen 22.17), and that they were going to bless all the nations from their new land. Eventually, the curse was overcome and Abraham had a son. Within four generations the descendants of Abraham and Sarah numbered 70 (Ex 1.5). At the end of Abraham's life, however, the only land he possessed was that in which he was buried. His exile, which he participated in with the whole human race, had come to an end, his exodus was complete, and he was at rest.
The descendents of Abraham, the children of Israel, didn't always fulfill their commission from God to bless others. They were guilty of lying (Gen 37.31, 32), cheating (Gen 27.35), murdering (Gen 34.25), and committing adultery (Gen 35.22). At one point Genesis records that they stunk before the tribes of Canaan because of their behavior (34.30). Their behavior contributed to them living outside the land God promised (Gen 47.1). Exile from their promised land, from a theological perspective, is presented throughout the Hebrew Scriptures as the death of everything that gave identity to the life of Israel. Although Israel was not living in the land promised to Abraham they did see one promise of God fulfilled; that is, "the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them" (Ex 1.7). Israel's rapid growth caused Pharaoh to implement plans of genocide – plans that included throwing all male babies into the Nile River, subjecting the men and women to hard slave labor, and inflicting on them pitiless abuse (Ex 1.13, 22). Despite Pharaoh's efforts the people continued to increase and spread throughout the land.
During this critical time of oppression and enslavement for Israel a woman became pregnant and had a son. In an attempt to save his life she laid him in a floating basket and placed it in the river. The baby was found by the daughter of Pharaoh and drawn from the Nile before he was drowned. The child was called Moses; Egyptian for "drawn out". It is only after the naming of the boy that "there is a momentary glimpse into a hope and a future" for the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage. He was called the son of Pharaoh's daughter (Heb 11.24). At some point, and the Exodus narrative of his early life is not explicit, he began to associate with his enslaved Hebrew brothers. For example, when Moses saw an Egyptian master beating a Hebrew slave he delivered him by killing the Egyptian and hiding his body in the sand. On another occasion he saw two Hebrew men in a quarrel and felt compelled to arbitrate. His actions brought the wrath of Pharaoh, but, for a second time he escaped.
The book of Exodus builds on the concepts mentioned above of oppression, exile, and deliverance. Childs compares the story of Moses in Egypt with the story of Moses in Midian by pointing out that at the end of the first account Moses flees to Midian (2.15) where he finds, in the second story, the priest of Midian (2.16). In the first we see the Egyptian oppressing the weak (2.11) and in the latter we see Moses called and Egyptian delivering the weak from the oppressor (2.18). Moses' escape from Pharaoh became a form of exile; after all, Moses claimed to be an 'outsider in a strange land' when he named his first son (Ex 2.22). Because of Pharaoh he was being forced to live in exile from his people.
After fleeing for his life and living forty years in exile; God spoke to Moses in a meeting that would change the course of human history. Because of his faithfulness to the promises he made to Abraham; God was going to act to relieve the suffering of his people in Egypt (Ex 3.6, 7, 10). His actions would lead to the deliverance of his people and eventually the world. Moses' original attempt to deliver was a failure, but after his encounter with God he had a new mission and new authority. Moses, the shepherd of Midian, was now to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. The result of their deliverance was going to be the inheritance of their own land, a good and broad land that "flowed with milk and honey" (Ex 3.8). This Exodus from Egypt was essentially an end of exile and a return to Eden.
Moses' initial confrontation with Pharaoh was met with obstinate refusal to allow the people to leave and worship God (Ex 5.1, 2). Following the narrative of God displaying his power over Pharaoh and staking his claim as sovereign over the lives of all men; Pharaoh released the people. On the eve of their exodus the people of God sat calmly waiting for his deliverance while those who rejected God received his justice (Ex 12.1-32). This night would be remembered and commemorated in the feast of the Passover. This feast would forever remind Israel that God would vindicate his people and deliver them from exile.
Pharaoh was not content, however, and pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea. By an act of divine power, reminiscent of God's domination over the chaotic primordial waters, the waters of the Red Sea were driven back and subdued by an east wind and Israel was allowed to cross. In a second millennium Babylonian creation myth the god Marduk, with the help of the north wind, defeated Tiamat the sea monster and her accompanying host of serpents. In dialog with these myths the book of Exodus reflects the same kind of victory. The God of Abraham showed that he was a faithful warrior king and deliverer of his people when he defeated their enemies and when he brought them alive through the midst of the waters (Exodus 14, 15). God had carried his people on "eagles' wings" and brought them safely to himself (Ex 19.4). The Exodus from Egypt was complete, but the exile would not truly end until the people were safe in their new land.
The history of the nation detailed above and culminating in the exodus would live on in the memory of Israel for hundreds of years; being perpetuated through tradition and ritual. During that time the story would be a prime motivator and an interpretive key in the minds of Israel's prophets in their effort to help the people understand their circumstances. The nation would have many highs and many more lows – most notably the Assyrian exile of the northern tries of Israel and the later exile of Judah into Babylon. Despite these desperate times the people were given hope through prophets who were inspired to speak with new and "imaginative poetic voices". These prophets began to reinterpret their history and provide a renewed hope for the future. All the images mentioned above (e.g., a child deliverer born from Eve, protection in the land of wandering, the defeat of beastly kingdoms and resulting exodus) became hooks on which the prophets began to hang new promises on.
Isaiah, in chapters 40-55, reflects on the deliverance from Babylonian exile. Because of Israel's sins they had been punished with exile (40.1, 2), but now God was going to make a "triumphal highway" for his glorious return (40.3-5) at which time he would lead them like a shepherd leads his flock through the desert (40. 9-11). In the wake of his return the idolatrous kingdoms of men (40.15-20), in this context Babylon, which seemed to have so much power, would be consumed like grass and would be considered "as less than nothing" (40.6-8, 17). The powerful nation of Babylon would be overcome by the everlasting Creator, God, who gives power to the weak and who causes the faint to raise up with "wings like eagles" (40.28-31). The language used by Isaiah in this chapter echoes the language of the exodus from Egypt. God would send shepherds, like Moses and Aaron to assist the people in their exodus from Babylon. In this chapter Isaiah has successfully reclaimed the stories of the nations past to give them hope and encouragement.
Isaiah 56-66 should be considered from a post-exilic context. The prophet was conjuring up "the days of old" when Moses and the elders of the people brought Israel, like shepherds leading a flock, up out of the sea (63.11, 12). Isaiah cried to God to look down, like a father on his children, and show compassion on them for their condition (63.15, 16). They had wandered and wanted to return to the land he had given them to possess (63.17). Unlike the triumph of God over the horses and chariots of Egypt (Ex. 15) the adversaries of the "holy people" had trampled them down (63.18). With engaged prophetic imagination Isaiah pictures God on Mt. Sinai looking down with concern on the affliction of his people (63.15, 64.1, cf. Ex.3.7). Isaiah cries out for God to break his long silence, rend the heavens and come deliver them (64.1, 12). All of these actions were predicated on the fact that he was their father (63.16, 64.8). Again it is easy to see by the explicit references to Moses and the parting of the waters and the implicit language of God as warrior (64.1; cf. Ex.15.1-18) and father (63.16; cf.Ex.4.22, 23) that Isaiah is building on the national memory of the exodus.
Isaiah was not alone in his use of the exodus to invoke memories in the minds of the people. Jeremiah, a prophet of the exile, was consumed by the domination of the Babylonian superpower. Like the voice of Isaiah 40.3, Jeremiah proclaims deliverance for the people of Israel and Judah (50.2-5). Like sheep gathered after being scattered God was going to gather his people together from Babylon, the beast that had "devoured" them (50.6-8). The nations of Assyria and Babylon had hunted for Israel like lions on the prowl for sheep, but God was about to act and restore Israel to his pasture and feed them like a shepherd feeds his flock (50.17-20). There was a call to come out of Babylon in order to escape her judgment; the sword of God was going to be against her. All her officials were to be killed, their horses and their chariots were to be destroyed, her treasures were to be plundered, and her waters were going to be dried up (50.35-38; 51.21, 36). Despite her wealth and power, displayed in the act of the nations drinking from her cup, she would suddenly fall (51.6-8). The hour of vindication would soon come and the warrior God was going to "dry up her sea" and execute vengeance (51.11, 36). He would remove from Babylon's mouth the thing he had swallowed (51.44). As in the passages reviewed in Isaiah the fiftieth and fifty-first chapters of Jeremiah are filled with the familiar theme of exodus with additional references to the powers that dominated and devoured them as monsters or powerful beasts (50.17, 51.34, 44).
From the beginning to the end the book; Jeremiah is concerned with exile (cf.1.3) and the impact it had on the relationship between God and Israel. Suddenly, with a flick of the pen, Jeremiah announces an end to exile – an exodus from Babylon. The relationship was now restored and "would never be forgotten" (50.5). From the time of Israel's release from Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E, through the post-exilic period, and until the first century C.E. the incompleteness of restoration was profoundly felt by Israel. As Brueggemann writes, "Homecoming [had] …never been fully accomplished, so that Judaism is marked perennially as a scattered, displaced community".
The ministry of Jesus Christ was bound up in his proclamation of the good news regarding the kingdom of God (Mk. 1.14, 15). The prophets had foretold that God would reveal himself as king and would fulfill his promises to Israel. In agreement with Brueggemann, Wright asserts that exile and restoration (exodus) represented the "central drama that Israel believed herself to be acting out" and that many in the days of Jesus, "if not most", believed the exile continued despite their geographic return. He identifies, in parables like the prodigal son, the theme of exile and restoration with the "exodus itself as the ultimate backdrop". Dunn contends that Wright is exaggerating the importance of return from exile as the "controlling story" or "grand narrative" of Jesus' ministry by providing several other motifs that play into his teaching. Dunn does concede, however, that Wrights' application of exile and restoration to the parable of the prodigal is "plausible" yet finds the theme inadequate to explain the second half of the parable. He believes the "central significance" of Jesus' message of the kingdom is found in his critical assessment of Israel's leaders and his "concern for the 'poor' and 'sinner'".
The good news proclaimed by Jesus was to the 'poor' and 'sinner', to those marginalized by the powerful, to those who were blind, to the captives looking for liberation, and to the oppressed who needed deliverance (Lk. 4.18, 19; cf. Isa. 61.1, 2). Is it too much, however, to say that these were the actions of Moses? Did not the exodus accomplish these things? Did the prophets not connect these actions to the exodus? A balanced view of Jesus' ministry is that he and the writers of the gospel considered him to be playing a role similar to Moses and that his message was an imaginative retelling of Israel's story of which exile and exodus are a significant part.
This inspired retelling of Israel's story and in particular her story of exodus can be seen in the gospel of Mark. Mark leads off his gospel by putting a composite quote from Isaiah and Malachi in the mouth of the baptizer John. The first part of the quote is taken from Malachi 3.1, which, in its original use by Malachi, was alluding to the first exodus when God sent his messenger (angel) before them (Ex 23.20). Isaiah 40.3, from which the second part of the quote is draw, is alluding broadly to the original exodus from Egypt. In the verses following this quote Mark applies them to John. He claims that the Baptist was preaching repentance and when those from Judea and Jerusalem confessed their sins against God he baptized them in water (1.4, 5). It was in this setting that Jesus was introduced.
The synoptic gospels all record Jesus' baptism using language that conjures up the exodus and provides theological context to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus came to be baptized of John claiming that it was a necessary act in order to fulfill all righteousness (Mt 3.13). It was a baptism of repentance which John did not think Jesus needed (Mt 3.11, 14). Wright, though not addressing this passage specifically, states that repentance was what Israel needed to do if her exile was to come to an end. Jesus was showing the nation of Israel what the first step was to be on the road out of exile. The scene of Jesus' baptism is filled with allusions and echoes from Israel's past.
Baptism (Mt 3.13-17; Mk1.9-11; Lk 3.21-22; Jn 1.29-34) | Old Testament Allusion |
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So, the details of Jesus' baptism account seem to resonate with Israel's memory of the exodus. When the readers of the gospels in the first century reflected on Jesus coming out of the water, having the Spirit descend on him, and then spending 40 days in the wilderness they were most certainly struck by the implications.
Without the promises of God to the first men (e.g. Adam, Abraham) there would be no expectation for anything more than wandering and exile. Yet their experiences, their failures and hopes, provide the backdrop for the exodus theme. Without it the exodus has no meaning. Like Handel's Coronation Anthem the music begins with a "long sustained crescendo that conveys an overwhelming sense of expectation and suspense" when suddenly the voices resolve the longing of the listener for resolution with the words, "Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet, anointed Solomon King. And all people rejoiced, and said: God save the King, long live the King, may the King live forever! Amen, Alleluia". Israel's expectations were also increased by the long sustained crescendo of their hope for deliverance when God tore open the heavens and spoke to them through his son. The exodus image and the creative reshaping of the story by the prophets created the right framework for God to speak to the world.
The story of deliverance is not over because we, at present, do not see everything subject to man as promised in the garden. We do, however, see Jesus and our hope in him causes us to anticipate final and complete emancipation. The church has picked up the story of Israel. She, through her history, has had to flee from the dragon and God has given to her "the two wings of a great eagle" for her to escape (Rev 12.13-13.1). In the end the people of God will be safely at home in his presence. There will be a garden city where God dwells and all the nations of the earth dwell there with him (Rev 21-22).
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