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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. To all my fellow pastors, I've got a question for you. Does your city know that your church exists? Listen, I get it. You're preaching, you're leading, you're discipling, you're doing ministry. We are in the same boat. And let's be honest, social media and marketing, not your strong suit. Not mine either. And that's probably the last thing on your mind. And that's why we chose to partner with Church Candy Marketing for our church Plant the garden. We out here, y'all. They help churches get more actual guests walking through the doors on Sunday without your eye having to stress over ads or algorithms or trying to crack the social media code. Right now, Church Candy is helping nearly 400 churches reach their communities with simple invite ads. And it works. It's super effective. I can tell you from firsthand experience. So if you're tired of being your city's best kept secret, how about you do this? Go to churchcandy.com Manny and book a free consultation book a discovery call. Their team will break it all down and show you how to start seeing new faces at your church this Sunday. I'm in the trenches with you trying to grow the church. And how about we just start a whole campaign? No more empty churches. So let's partner with Church Candy and get our churches full. The glory of Jesus. Let's go, family. Welcome to the book of Exodus. I'm super, super excited. Hey, we're on day 97, so if you've been rocking with us for 96 days, then shout out to you, hey, if you haven't done the reading today, then like I say, every day. Pause the audio, stop the video. Go do the reading. Today we are in Exodus chapters 1, 2, 4. We got four chapters of the Bible to read. Honestly, action packed. I know I've been saying that for a while now, but after we get through the first 14ish chapters of Exodus, that's when they cross the Red Sea. It'll get a little slower, so I want you to gear up, okay? Enjoy, Enjoy these, these, these narrative based chapters. At the beginning of Exodus where all the action is, we're gonna get temp temple tabernacle instructions two times, okay? In this book. So enjoy the narrative, but we're gonna do this together. We can get through this. We're gonna get through the book of Exodus. Let's jump in with some context clues, couple big picture ideas. Okay, first context clue is that Exodus, the story of the Exodus, would be the origin story for the people of Israel. Now, I know you're thinking to yourself, isn't Genesis like an origin story? And yes and no. Genesis is more of the origin story for humanity, the origin story for the entire Bible. But Exodus is the origin story for the people of Israel, for the nation of Israel. When you think about the Torah and the people of Israel specifically, I want you to think about Exodus as like, that origin story, and I want you to think about Genesis as almost like a prequel. Okay? So think about Exodus as part one. This actually the first narrative. This is the first story. This supposed to give identity. A prequel isn't part one. It's kind of like here's the behind the scenes footage on what happened before the origin story. So Genesis kind of functions as a prequel in the Bible. Exodus is really our massive origin story. And so we're gonna see all these parallels between Exodus and Genesis as we go through the days. Here's another big, like, context clue that I want you to focus on. Since this is Israel's origin story, you may want to do some digging in terms of, okay, what's the historical validity that there was an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from. From the land of Egypt? Like, wouldn't there be record of that? Like, wouldn't the Egyptians have kept record of that? You know, archeology is always, you know, the Christian archeology, at least, is always trying to back up or defend the things that are being said in the Bible. And here's the biggest defense that this stuff actually happened. It's not archaeology, because it's quite clear that the Egyptians saw this event as embarrassing and probably went to great lengths to remove this from any of their official records. But let's just think about this, right? If you were to fabricate an origin story, if you were to make up an origin story for your nation, like for your people group, wouldn't that origin story involve you guys being awesome? Amazing? I don't think that origin story would involve you being slaves, you being subjugated, you being oppressed. I don't think that origin story would involve God delivering you and then you building a golden calf idol out in the wilderness in total rebellion against the God who's delivered you. Okay, if this is a Fabricated origin story. This is a terrible. These people missed a fantastic opportunity to make themselves look really, really good. And the thing that consistently makes me, or convinces me that I'm reading something that is a true account of real events is that the frailty and the failure of humanity is on display. If you kind of want a technical term for this. A lot of times when I teach apologetics, I'll tell people that we know that the Bible is real because it gives early testimony. Like, if you look at the dating of secular letters and then you look at the dating of Paul's letters, it's like, man, this stuff's early. It gives eyewitness testimony. It gives excruciating testimony, which means people were under pain. Like they got fed to lions and they went to their deathbeds. They saying that, like, the resurrection really happened, right? So, like, if. If it. If it's gonna cost me pain in order to say that something's true, that's probably true. And then there's expectant testimonies. There's tons of prophecy in the Bible. But the one that I always love is that the Bible has embarrassing testimony. One of the ways that I know that this stuff is true is because there's no way that Moses would write a story where he is killing people if that's not true. Okay, if Moses is fabricating stories, then he would probably eliminate the parts where his failures are on display. He'd probably maybe eliminate the parts where he stutters or eliminate the parts where he fails or falls on his face. Like, he would probably edit that stuff out. So this is Israel's origin story. And the reason I believe it is not because there's been an archeological find. It's not because we've identified the Pharaoh who was really the pharaoh at the time of the Exodus. No, I believe it because this is either ridiculous or totally true. Okay, like this. If this is fabricated, then this. This is a. This is a terrible way to fabricate a story. The humanity that's on display would actually point to the fact that this stuff is true. That's kind of like big picture context. Let's actually get into a bit of the reading when we get into chapter one, okay, Everything that Pharaoh does is going to backfire on him. It's a massive theme for the whole first chapter. So Pharaoh is going to say, hey, like, let's oppress the people. He oppresses the people of Israel. They keep growing. And this is classic xenophobia. He's scared if they keep multiplying, if they keep growing. There's gonna be more Israelites than there are Egyptians. They could partner with our enemies. They could overtake us. We're gonna lose power. So they oppress them. Well, that backfires. He oppresses them. They keep growing. The next thing that he tries is, hey, let's kill the babies. The midwives that are assigned, they're like, no, we're not about that. Finally, he's serious about infanticide. So you're gonna get themes from Exodus are gonna come back when Herod is gonna kill baby boys under the age of 2 years old. And then this backfires because of the system to kill children that Pharaoh puts in place. A woman puts her baby in a basket. The word there is tevah. We're gonna come back to that word. It's gonna be our nerdy nugget for the day. Puts her baby in a basket. And what house does that baby end up at? Pharaoh's house. So Pharaoh ends up raising the very child that he was trying to kill, because everything that he tries to do against God's people backfires on him. And, man, I could preach that. Cause if you're blessed, you're blessed. If you're blessed, you're not cursed. And if the enemy tries to curse you, if the enemy tries to do something against you, you're blessed. The blood of Jesus has blessed you. He's covered you. So everything that Pharaoh tries to do, everything he attempts to do, that doesn't mean that it doesn't cause pain and suffering. It just means that it doesn't thwart God's purpose and plans. Okay, what's this tevah? It's our nerdy nugget for the day. This tevah is actually a loner word. Okay. It's not an original Hebrew word. It's kind of like baptize in English. The Greek word is baptizo. And instead of creating an English word, we just took the Greek word, we loaned it from the Greek language, we just took it into the English language, and now it's a part of the English language. So teva, it actually means ark. So this is calls back to Noah and the flood and an ark, a teva was actually used in Egyptian idol worship, pagan worship. And it was a floating basket that actually had idols on it. And it would kind of float on the Nile river from one temple to the next temple. So you could see why God uses this word when talking about the ark. That is going to have eight images, eight people made in the image of God inside of the ark. And that this floating Temple would be the thing that would protect them in the chaos waters. So the Nile river represents the chaos waters. The floating temple is a teva. It's an ark. So Moses now is going to live through what he's gonna have to lead the people through. This is gonna be a theme all the way through Exodus. That he's going to live through what he has to lead through. So he survives the waters, therefore the people are gonna survive the Red Sea. He survives the wilderness. He goes out into the wilderness, he meets God, this, the burning bush. And God's like, hey, go free the people. Bring them back here. So he survives the waters. He leads them through the waters. He survives the wilderness for 40 years. He is able to lead the people through the wilderness for 40 years. He encounters the presence of God on this holy mountain, the burning bush. He can lead the people there. Moses had never been to the promised land, therefore he couldn't lead the people there. Joshua had been to the promised land, and this is why Joshua is actually the leader who's able to lead the people there. This is actually a timeless truth. You cannot lead people where you have not gone yourself. This is really important for every worship leader. I can't lead people into the presence of God if I've never been into the presence of God. I can't lead people into wisdom, if I've never encountered wisdom. I can't lead people in a way that I have not lived myself. Let's keep tracking. So now you know what a tevah is. This basket that Moses mother makes is. Is a form. It is an ark. It is in small form, the same thing that Noah actually has to construct. Finally, Moses ends up in Pharaoh's home. I need you to see this. God's sovereignty in separating Moses. Everyone that is subjugated by the Egyptians are of slave class of people. Which means they were probably illiterate. But Moses would have had access to the best educational resources, I mean, in the known world. And so who better to be the figurehead for producing Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy than Moses? Okay, so this is again God's divine sovereignty. Pharaoh, you think you are gonna destroy my people? You think you're gonna destroy this leader? Actually you're setting him up for his divine purpose. Moses ends up killing an Egyptian. He flees, he's on the run. And while he's out in the wilderness, he encounters God. Now, next thing that I just wanna tell you is that Moses life. And we're gonna be dealing with Moses for the next, I mean, for the remainder of the Torah, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Moses is gonna be the main character for the rest of the Torah. We're gonna be face to face with Moses. So it's good to know this, that Moses life can be split into 40, 40 and 40. Okay, from the ages of 0 to 40, he lives in Egypt. From the ages of 40 to 80, he's wandering out in the wilderness, he becomes a shepherd, he marries a Midianite woman by the name of Zipporah. And finally, at 80 years old, he encounters the burning bush. So if you ever wanted to know, like what, if you ever pictured moses like a 33 year old at the burning bush and wrong, it's another nerdy nugget for the day. Moses is actually 80 years old at the burning bush and gets commissioned by God to go back to Egypt and to lead the people out of bondage, to lead the people out of slavery. And then from the age of 80 to 120 is when you get the plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the building of the tabernacle, and the 40 Years of Wandering through the desert, wandering through the wilderness. So Moses, life can be split into 0 to 40, 40 to 80, 80 to 120. Bible Department family. It's Dr. Manny Arango and first thing I want to say is that I'm proud of you for completing the New Testament. You did it. And now that we're in the Old Testament, I hope that looking at Genesis and Exodus from an ancient perspective and worldview has kind of like opened your eyes. Well, I got news for you. If you've enjoyed some of the interpretations that I've brought to the table from Genesis, then that's just the tip of the iceberg. This entire book, Crushing Chaos, was written from an ancient hermeneutic. I'm looking at stories like the Flood, Adam and Eve from the perspective of an ancient person. And we've got an event coming up on April 26th where I'll take a lot of the content from this book and I'll turn that content into live lectures. You don't want to miss it. You can actually register for that event right now. The link is in the description. And more than content, I think what you'll find as we gather together in Nashville are like minded believers and friends in a community of people that you don't just watch content with online that you can get to know in person. I'd love to see you in Nashville. I'd love to hug you. High five you. And I'd Love to nerd out together for one day as we come together in Nashville to learn about how to crush chaos. I'll see you in Nashville. Peace. Let's get to our timeless truth. God does encounter Moses at the burning bush. Okay. And five times Moses rejects the call of God in his life. And honestly, Moses, five rebuttals I would put into the category of just like classic insecurity. You got the wrong guy. I don't think I can do this. And God's response to Moses, it always blows my mind. He does not respond to Moses the way that you and I would respond to people who are insecure. Like, imagine if you had a friend who's battling with insecurity. You'd probably tell your friend all kinds of reissues, like, oh, man, you're handsome, you're this, you're articulate, you're whatever. You compliment them, right? To try to get them to believe in themselves. That is not how God handles Moses insecurity. Here's how God handles Moses security. He says, I am that I am. He says, whoa, Moses, I'm not here to tell you that you are who you are. I'm here so that you can get a revelation that I am who I am. And if the I am has called you, then you are more than sufficient as long as you have me. I don't need you to be eloquent. I am that I am. I don't need you to be wealthy. I am that I am. I don't need you to have all the answers. I am that I am. Now, that's not an excuse for us to mail it in, be lazy. No, that's just saying, actually, the very thing that I'm insecure about, I don't need to allow the thing that I'm insecure about to cause me to have crippling insecurity in my life. That means that I don't move forward, that God's called me to do. God doesn't come into your life. And I know we all have our little affirmation journals, and it's cute, but the reality is that God at no point says, get an affirmation journal to combat your insecurity. No, he says, get a revelation of me to combat your insecurity. The problem with your insecurity is not that you don't know enough about you. It's that you don't know enough about me. So often we try to get people to fall in love with themselves and like themselves in order to get over their insecurities. I'm Telling you right now, I'm a very confident individual. It's not because I like me. I'm very aware of my failures, my faults, my shortcomings, my sin. The Bible says the human heart is wicked above all things. If I try to be secure by falling in love with me, so I just start studying me, that's only gonna lead to more insecurity. Cause there ain't a lot about me that's awesome. The reason that I'm a secure, confident person is cause I go, wait, you knit me together in my mother's womb. Whoa. You call me your son. My. My identity doesn't start with me. My identity doesn't start with discovering me. That's humanistic in its approach. My identity starts with not discovering myself, but with an encounter with God where I realize who he is. And if you are who you are, and if you've called me, then that's it. That's all I need to know. What I need to know is that you're my creator and I'm made in your image. And there's a lot of people who I think you got an affirmation journal. You're still insecure. And my timeless truth for you today is maybe you need to stop with the affirmations. And maybe you need to start with a confession. And that confession is, God, you're able to do all things God. You've never failed God. You're Jehovah Jireh, you're a provider God, you're Jehovah Sidkenu, you're my righteousness God, you're Jehovah Shammah, you're the God who is there. You're Jehovah Nisi, you're my banner God. I've gotta actually get a revelation of you. And then, and only then, I can see myself. I know that that's counterintuitive. I know that that's not man centered. That's God centered. It's saying if I actually seek God, if I seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, everything else will fall. If I get the top button button right, all the other buttons will fall into place. But if I start up at the top with me, myself and I, then I'll always be arrogant. I'll always be insecure. Because pride and insecurity are actually the flip side of the same exact coin. All right, that's the first couple of chapters of Exodus. And tomorrow we'll. We'll pick up some loose strands, but we'll get into Exodus chapter. Let me check the schedule. We'll get into Exodus chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8. So we got four more chapters tomorrow for day 98. Hey, if you're on a streak, don't break it. If you're not on a streak, guess what? It's a good opportunity to get on a streak. I love you guys. I'm so proud of you. Hey, if you're going through this content every day, I am insanely proud of you. The number one decision you can make to change, increase, revolutionize your spiritual life is to hear from God every day. And he wants to talk to you every day through His Word. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.