BOOK SUMMARY: THE CHRIST KEY - CHAPTER 5B - PAGES 98-106 - EXODUSES: EXILE AND RETURN AS THE MESSIANIC MISSION

JEREMIAH 16 & 23 - Before Jeremiah starts the exodus (salvation) portion of his prophecy he reminds Israel why they are about to be judged and exiled into Babylon (Jeremiah 16:11-13). Exile is coming but it’s not the end of the story. As there was an exodus from Egypt, so there’ll be an exodus from the north country and from the entire world (Jeremiah 16:14-15). God will achieve this exodus through sending many fishermen and hunters (Jeremiah 16:16). Sending is the Hebrew word shalach. The Greek equivalent is apostello where we get our word apostle which means sent one.  Recall that Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19, Luke 5:10). The purpose of God sending many fishers and hunters in Jeremiah 16 is to bring God’s people home from exile. Thus, we can see that missions and evangelism are God’s means of bringing people out of captivity—THE EXODUS.  This is more than an Israelite exodus. This is a global exodus of the nations (Jeremiah 16:19). God’s promise to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham will be fulfilled (Genesis 12:3, 22:18).

Jeremiah 23 also shows us salvation in terms of exodus and re-creation. God is going to gather His flock out of all the countries and they will be fruitful and multiply. These are exodus and creation terms joined together.  What makes this possible? The righteous Branch of David (Jeremiah 23:3-8). This descendant of David will reign as king and Israel will dwell securely with Him. David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23 use the phrase branch. In speaking of the covenant God made with David, David says that it’s sure to succeed. David says it will prosper which is the Hebrew word tzemach which means to sprout, grow or branch. Jeremiah says that God will raise up for David a righteous Branch (tzemach) who will reign. Branch is a technical term for Messiah (Zechariah 3:8). This seed promised to David is the seed promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) and the seed promised to Eve (Genesis 3:15). This Branch was born of Mary (Luke 1:32-33). Jeremiah is teaching us that when the Son of David arrives, God’s people will rejoice in the worldwide exodus (Jeremiah 23:8). Jesus’ coming to us to die and rise again, is the beginning of the worldwide exodus which is still happening.
 
HOSEA - Hosea’s family was mean to be symbolic of Israel’s relationship with God. God told Hoses to go and take a wife of whoredom and have children with her. It could be that God was saying that she was going to cheat on Hosea. It could be that God was asking Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman or a prostitute. In either case, God was asking Hosea to share his bed with someone who would not be faithful to him. This would illustrate that God had endured centuries of infidelity from Israel and that His bride, Israel, fornicated with Baal, Molech and other idols. See Hosea 1:2, Hosea 3:1-3. Hosea had three children with Gomer: Jezreel which means God sows; Lo-Ruchamah which means no Mercy; Lo-Ammi which means not my people.
            But there is good new in Hosea described in terms of exodus and re-creation.  See Hosea 2:14-23. God says that He’s going to allure Israel which carries the idea of seduction. God is using honeymoon type language to show that He intends to bring Israel back into loving relationship with Him. All is not lost. There is hope. God is going to bring her into a wilderness (like Egypt) and give her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope just as God brought Israel into the wilderness in order to lead her into an Eden-like, garden-like land. In Hosea, God’s love for Israel will lead her to call God her husband. God’s love for her is covenantal and will also result in God’s restoration of creation. A people that God judged and showed no mercy will now have mercy. A people that were formerly called not my people will now be called My people. See 1 Peter2:10, Revelation 21:3 and Jeremiah 31:33.   
            In Hosea we see what are likely three plays on words in Hosea 2:15. (1). Vineyard  in Hebrew is kerem. Achan’s father was Carim which is derived from kerem. Achan was a guy who caused Israel serious sorrow after God allowed Israel to be defeated at Ai for Achan taking spoils from the battle of Jericho that he should not have. (2). Hope (tiqvah) in Hosea 2:15 and cord (tiqvah), used in Joshua 2:18 are the same word. Recall the story of Rahab who used a scarlet cord to identify her home so that she would be spared from God’s destruction of Jericho. (3). Valley of Achor reminds us of the place that Achan was stoned and burned for sinning against God and causing Israel trouble (Joshua 7:1-9). The use of these three phrases lead us back to Joshua who God is using to lead Israel in their exodus into the promised land so that they can live with God. It’s as if Hosea is flipping around what happened in Achan’s situation and saying, “The son of Carmi made Israel lament, but God will give her vineyards for wine of rejoicing (exodus). The Valley of Achor will be transformed into a door of hope whereby re-creation or restoration happen, return to Eden-like land. As Rahab had a cord of hope for salvation, so too, Israel can have hope in the Lord’s exodus redemption/salvation.” The subtle allusion to Rahab ties together with the genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:5). This salvation results in Israels anah – response, singing or confession that the Lord is her husband (Hosea 2:16). Harmony with humanity and animals will be restored in a new Eden-like state (Hosea 2:18).  God will sow her for himself in the land, He’ll have mercy on No Mercy and God will be God to His people. When Messiah comes, He will take His “Gomer” off the street corner, away from the brothel of idolatry and charm her into following Him into the wilderness where He’ll further lead her into the new creation.
 
THE STAGE ON WHICH CHRIST ACTED OUT HIS LIFE – The Exodus of Egypt was not just Israel’s past but a paradigm for future exoduses which point us towards the ultimate and final exodus. The final exodus is superior in quality and extent. Jesus is seen as recapping Israel’s history through His own life in that He was led down to Egypt as a child and then later had an Exodus when He returned home with His family.  Jesus’ feeding of the 5000+ in the wilderness harkens back to God providing quail and manna in the wilderness after their exodus. Jesus’ crucifixion is compared to the salvation God brought to Israel from venomous snakes as the bronze serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. Jesus is the Passover Lamb that the Exodus Passover Lamb pointed to. Passover lambs were inspected before sacrifice. So too, Jesus was tried in court and found blameless. The continually remind Isreal of the Exodus, high priest would yearly offered up the Passover lamb to God, just as the high priest had Jesus killed. The salvation account of Christ must be read through the lens of the Exodus or you’ll not see all that God intends for us to see in the grandest exodus of all. The OT exodus set the stage for Exodus Christ would lead us through. The Exodus eventually led to the tabernacle being erected—God’s house on earth. We’ll tackle that in our next lesson.
 
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – How do exile and exodus now inform your reading of all of Scripture?