The Exodus Typology, Pt 1
A few very basic things things should be remembered:
1. Everything in the OT was ultimately written for the benefit of God's NC people (2Tim 3:16-17; 1Cor 10:11; Rom 15:4). Therefore, we should make every honest effort to understand the prophets of old, especially since all truth finds its ground in the OT.
2. The OT describes The Exodus account, wherein God's Chosen People were freed from their physical bondage to Egypt's king Pharaoh as being redemptive in nature (Deut 7:8). Therefore, we have every reason to view The Exodus as a shadow, forerunner or type of NC spiritual, eternal redemption.
3. While it won't be possible to unpack all the many types, we'll will concentrate on a few of them for the primary purpose of this argument, which is to prove: A) God sovereignly and
unconditionally chose to make one nation for himself from the loins of one man; B) He also decreed that his Chosen People were to be enslaved to Pharaoh for 400 years; and C) He also decreed that He would do what was
impossible for the ancient Hebrews to do through his chosen servants (Moses and Aaron): Free themselves from the oppressive yoke of Pharaoh so that they could go and worship and serve the Lord their God who called them for those purposes through the promises He made to their forefather Abraham.
And with regard to this latter point, we should not forget the historical context in which God
Effectually Called Abraham. The call to Abraham came on the heels of the Tower of Babel judgment in Genesis 11. Clearly, the progeny of Noah and his three sons
didn't truly understand what the Flood was all about, and the lessons they were supposed to learn from that universal, catastrophic event; hence, the second universal judgement upon all mankind. So...God for the time being set aside those wicked men when he confused their tongues and scattered them across the face of the earth. Instead, He was determined to make one special nation for himself out of whole cloth, as it were, with which he would enter into an everlasting, personal, covenant relationship; yet, paradoxically, not with everyone who physically descended from the patriarchs(Rom 9:6-13; Mat 3:9-10; Jn 8:39-41). So then, in the Abrahamic Covenant, which of course was confirmed to Issac and Jacob (as opposed to Ishmael and Esau, respectively), we again find God making a second lump of clay from the one Depraved, Corrupt Adam Lump. (The first instance of this occurring was, of course, in the Garden after the Fall.) Therefore, these two distinct classes of ancient Hebrews are microcosms of the entire human race; for one class are the Natural Children and the other the Children of the Promise. And so it is with all mankind in the world (Rom 8:29-30).
Likewise, we should understand Egypt, which was very likely the first empire to appear on the world stage, is a type of World. And I might add, a highly religious, spiritual world. The Egyptians actually embraced a good deal of biblical truth which they willingly perverted by their spiritual ignorance and darkened understanding and carnal minds. They certainly believed in "higher powers". They believed in the afterlife. I have to think they believed in some form of eternal afterlife embodiment since they went to great trouble to preserve dead bodies, etc. So, yes, the pagan Egyptians who worshiped many gods clearly "understood" some spiritual truth -- but they perverted the truth because they didn't want to retain YHWH in their knowledge either! YHWH's truth is pure. Theirs was corrupt. What else could corrupt hearts produce? Can we draw pure water from a polluted well? (Apparently, we can according to some.)
4. My final point is to reiterate again that God decreed that his Chosen People were to serve the pagan king Pharaoh for 400 years. He consigned them to PRISON! God literally consigned Abraham's descendants to 400+ years of misery and oppression in which his people were
HELPLESS. (Ex 3:7-10; 15:13-16) They were totally
unable to extricate themselves from their bondage to Pharaoh, just like anyone today is unable to extricate themselves from their bondage to sin. And God decreed all this because of the sins of another nation -- the Amorites. Right here we get a glimpse of the majesty of God. How he sees and knows all -- he sees 100% of the big picture and knows precisely how to weave the fabric of redemptive history with myriads of intricate details that include but is not limited to the rise and fall of kings, the rise and fall of princes and governors, the rise and fall of nations, etc. -- all to ultimately achieve his good and wise purpose. And of course, God also decreed that he would punish the nation that abused his people. Since all this is true, how can we not see that God also decreed the Fall of Man -- of Adam whom God appointed the Federal Head of the entire human race? In what terms we want to think of this decree is immaterial -- whether God decreed it directly or permitted it "indirectly". It doesn't matter. Since the lowly sparrow doesn't fall to the ground apart from God's will, neither did Adam.
