God mercifully leads Israel out of Egypt and toward the Red Sea by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. God's presence with his people was constant and faithful, never departing from them. As we think about Israel's deliverance and our own, there are many similarities, perhaps none greater than God's presence. As we near Christmas, we celebrate our savior, Immanuel, God with us.

As Israel prepares to begin their exodus from Egypt, God instructs them to remember their deliverance by God's powerful hand through a feast and the consecration of the firstborn. Israel's rescue from slavery came through a substitutionary death, a sacrifice made on their behalf. They, like us, have been redeemed, bought with a price. We belong to Him.

God came to the rescue of the people of Israel and delivered them from bondage under the Egyptians. He called them to remember what he had done for them through the Passover meal and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Hundreds of years after the exodus God came to rescue his people and deliver them from a greater enemy. Now we are called to remember what he has done for us in a special way.

God prepared the people of Israel for the 10th and final plague by instituting the Passover meal. The Israelites would escape death as the passover lamb was sacrificed on their behalf serving as a substitute. The Passover teaches us about God's deliverance of the people of Israel and points to Christ who is the perfect Passover lamb sacrificed on our behalf for our sins. Now we, like the people of Israel, are covered by the blood of the lamb.

This week we venture back into chapter 7 of Exodus. God is going to liberate his people from slavery after He defeats the gods of Egypt. Through the plagues God is revealing himself to both Israel and Egypt that they may know He is the LORD. God is redeeming his people by mighty works of judgment.

In Isaiah 58, God gives a prophetic indictment against his people for neglecting the oppressed. God calls his people to do justice, to serve and fight for the oppressed. As Isaiah 58 teaches, a passion for justice is a fruit of devotion and knowing God.

As Moses once again verbalizes his inadequacies to lead God’s rescue of Israel, God strongly verbalizes and physically displays his total control of the entire mission. This passage presents us a strong example of the God of the Bible: The LORD says what he will do and then does exactly what he says. Despite our broken world, the God of the Bible can be trusted above all; he is most reliable.

When Moses and the people of Israel faced adversity at the hands of Pharaoh they fell into the trap of focusing on their circumstances, their enemy, and their own inadequacies. God called them to fix their eyes on him. As the church we must fix our eyes on him by remembering his character, remembering what he has done, and remembering his promises.

After the people of Israel receive God's promise of deliverance, things get immediately worse. Their faith is challenged and pushed to the limits. How do you trust God when everything seems to be going wrong? This week we study Exodus 5 and learn how not to put our confidence in our circumstances, but in God instead.

Moses is called by God to a daunting task. Moses' fear leads him to question God and hesitate. Gracefully, God supplies his every need and Moses is served and strengthened through biblical community.