The New Exodus

1 Corinthians 10:1-11, ESV

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

In Deuteronomy 28-30 Moses lays before Israel the choice to either obey God and be blessed, or disobey and be cursed. Yet Moses predicted, as a true prophet of God, that eventually the children of Israel would choose to disobey God and they would be cursed. Moses predicted that Israel would be punished by God, banished from their land, and dispersed throughout all the nations of the world, even to the ends of the earth. This wasn't a potential reality, it was a predicted reality. In this sense the entire Mosaic Covenant was designed with the full knowledge that it would be broken. It was never intended to last forever and was certainly not predicted to last forever, because from the start God had something better in mind.

Yet despite this negative prediction laid before Israel, Moses went on to predict that after the children of Israel found themselves cursed, scattered, and broken off from their covenant with God, that if they turned back to God He would extend mercy to them, forgive them, and regather them and bring them back to their land:

Deuteronomy 30:1-6
(1) "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
(2) and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul,
(3) then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
(4) If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.
(5) And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
(6) And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

This is the New Exodus predicted by Moses, and one of the key aspects of it is the "heart circumcision" mentioned in v. 6. These "New Exodus" predictions given by Moses have to be understood in light of what is also prophesied by Isaiah, and especially in light of what is written in the New Testament. Moses was not given a complete revelation of this ultimate redemption event and his understanding of it was limited. If we study Isaiah we will find that the New Exodus would involve a New Covenant that would also include Gentiles and was predicted to be a universal gathering of God's people from all nations, and not just a gathering of ethnic Israelites. This is proven by the words of Paul who referred to the "heart circumcision" that was first mentioned by Moses, here in Romans 2:29:

Romans 2:28-29
"For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."

The key here is that "heart circumcision," a primary characteristic of the New Exodus, can never come from man, but can only come from God by the Spirit. The New Exodus is the great end-times "Spirit-led" exodus journey offered to all of humanity. Moses predicted it in terms of faithful Israelites returning to their God-given land, but Isaiah and the New Testament both add to his limited understanding to explain that the New Exodus actually reaches out to all of mankind, with the final destination being the New Jerusalem of the New Creation, a "promised land" prepared by God for every nation. The New Exodus is in fact an exodus out of this corrupt and dying world and into the new world that God has prepared for all peoples who are faithful to Him.

"For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God... These [God's people] all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland... But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city... But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel... For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." (Hebrews 11:10, 13-14, 16, 12:22-24, 13:14)

The prophet Isaiah was very familiar with the New Exodus promises of Deuteronomy 30:1-6, and he turned to them because he knew that during his day the children of Israel were on the verge of being ejected out of their lands for disobedience to God, just as Moses had predicted. Because Isaiah repeatedly alludes to Deuteronomy the entire second half of Isaiah is often referred to by scholars as "Deutero-Isaiah". The two halves of Isaiah mirror the two halves of the Bible. The first half has 39 chapters matching the Old Testament's 39 books, and the second half has 27 chapters matching the New Testament's 27 books. In this way chapter 40 of Isaiah matches with the book of Matthew and in 40:3 we read the prophecy of John the Baptist who was sent to "Prepare the way of the Lord..." Isaiah writes of this redemption plan from chapter 40 to the final chapter 66, which includes a reference to the New Heaven and New Earth (in 66:22) that we also find described in Revelation 22, the final book of the Bible.

In Isaiah the repeated references to the "Way of the Lord" refer to the highway or path of the New Exodus leading out of Babylon's spiritual bondage towards the final destination of (the New) Jerusalem. The early church was keenly aware of Isaiah's New Exodus theme, and they recognized themselves as the faithful remnant of Israel who were being led along the "Way of the Lord" by Israel's Messiah. That's why the church founded by the Apostles was first known simply as "The Way."

In the development of Second Isaiah's [Isaiah 40-66] eschatological message, one of the dominant themes is that of the new exodus. Previous prophets, to be sure, had appealed to the memory of the Exodus. But it was Second Isaiah who, more than any of his prophetic predecessors, perceived the meaning of the Exodus in an eschatological dimension. "The conception of the new exodus," writes Professor James Muilenburg in his superb commentary, "is the most profound and most prominent of the motifs in the tradition which Second Isaiah employs to portray the eschatological finale." ... His expectation of YHWY's coming to inaugurate his eschatological rule was shaped according to the pattern of the Exodus from Egypt, the crucial event of Israel's past.

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as the "Servant of the Lord" who was predicted in Isaiah 40-55 to lead the righteous remnant of Israel along the path of the New Exodus out from exile and on to the promised land.

In the Book of Acts the early Apostolic Church is shown fulfilling the prophecies of the faithful remnant of Israel gathered to begin the New Exodus, with Gentiles added as members of "renewed Israel" just as Isaiah had predicted.

For an extended study on the New Exodus theme in the book of Acts see "Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus" by David W. Pao, available here.

The Book of Revelation Describes the Process and the Consummation of the New Exodus:

For a good verse-by-verse commentary that recognizes the numerous allusions to the process and finally to the glorious finish of the New Exodus in the book of Revelation see "The Book of Revelation" by G. K. Beale, available here -http://www.amazon.com/dp/0802871070/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_5UWytb1VDHMXMP9V

---Isaiah is the bridge that connects and helps to explain the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant

1. Isaiah predicted God's judgment and Israel's exile into the nations based on the fulfillment of Deut. 28:15-68.

2. Isaiah predicted that God was going to act to bring about a New Exodus for Israel, calling them not just from one nation as in the past, but from all the nations to which they had been scattered. Isaiah uses the name "Babylon" as a code word for all of the pagan nations of the world, because Babylon was the traditional source of fallen angelic influence over the post-flood world.

3. Isaiah also predicted that this great Exodus from Babylon would also include people from all the nations of the world. The Gentiles would be a part of this New Exodus as well!

4. All of the pagan nations of the world are descended from Babylon; therefore the King of Babylon is the King of the World. The end-times judgment on Babylon includes all the wicked cities of the world - Isaiah 14:21 and Rev 16:19

There are 38 verses in which Moses is spoken of as the �Servant of the Lord.�

There are five chapters in Isaiah that speak of a �Servant of the Lord,� referring at first to Israel but then ultimately pointing to Jesus as the singular "Servant" who fulfills the responsibilities of Israel. See http://www.redmoonrising.com/Isaiah-servant.pdf

God promised to save the world through Israel. He kept his promise thru Jesus�Israel in person. (I just summed up 500 pages of N.T. Wright!)

Deuteronomy 18 talks about how the people were afraid of drawing close to the Lord, which caused Him to promise to send another Prophet like Moses (fulfilled by Jesus). At Mt. Sinai in Deut. 18:16 the people drew back from the Lord out of fear, but when Jesus came He spoke softly to the people saying, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matt 11:28-29)

Shepherd � King David, the Lord, Cyrus, the Messiah (Isaiah 40), Jesus in the Gospels

�Sheep without a shepherd� � Num 27:17, 1Ki 22:17, 2Ch 18:16, Eze 34:12, Zec 13:7 - then Isaiah 40 predicts the Shepherd is coming - Jesus says He came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel...

Deut. 29:4 - "But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear."
- Connects to Acts 28:25-28 and Isaiah 6:9-10, 42:18-20, 43:8, and Matthew 13:10-17

Deut. 30:6 - At the start of the New Exodus God circumcises the hearts of His people, so that they can truly love God with heart and soul, and so they can truly live. See also Romans 2:29

Offspring of Israel: Gen 12-24 (Abraham's seed), Deut. 30:9, Isaiah 43:5, 44:3-6, 45:19,25, 53:10, 54:3, 59:21, 61:9, 65:9,23, 66:22, Rev. 12:17

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, 'I am the LORD's,' another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand 'The LORD's' and name himself by the name of Israel." Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. (Isaiah 44:3-6)

Exodus to the Promised Land

I was a slave in Egypt, building pyramids to the stars, worshipping foreign idols as gods, working in fear of punishment, famine, pestilence, and death. But the Lord delivered me from the enemy hordes which swarmed around and within me. He leads me through the wilderness into my salvation.

I was the city of Jericho, but Yeshua raged against the stone walls of my anger, envy, lust, pride, fear, greed, deceit, strife - and more. These walls are tumbling down, down, down. And I shall dwell in His city of light, peace, and love all my days. He is my refuge - my strength and my joy.

I was the shadowland of Canaan, and Yeshua has marched in to clear the rubble. I shall dwell in the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, and in His goodness and mercy shall I follow Him forever.

O Israel, we wrestle with God no more, for He is with us - Emmanuel. We rest in Him. Our sabbath is in Him. Hallelujah!

- To the Lord, through "David" His servant, December 9, 2014