The Bible from 30,000 Feet: Soaring Through the Scriptures in One Year from Genesis to Revelation

Bible

GIVE ME A YEAR, AND I’LL GIVE YOU THE BIBLE

It takes just under seventy hours to read the Bible straight through at a moderate rate. But most people would never approach it nonstop like that. To do so would be tedious. However, if that reading time were spread out over the course of an entire year, it would average out to about an hour and twenty minutes per week.

This weekly approach breaks down the Bible into more bite-sized chunks, allowing you to set aside time for meditating upon and applying the Bible’s meaningful truths. In your hand is a tool that will help you to do exactly that. In fact, I want to make a deal with you: Give me a year—fifty-two weeks—and I’ll give you a working understanding of the message of the Bible. I will help you to see it as a whole, understand and apply the main principles of all sixty-six books, and show you how it all fits together, revealing a panorama of God’s mind and plan as revealed in Scripture.

When you fly at 30,000 feet (the relative cruising altitude for most commercial aircraft), a glance out the window reveals a broad, curved horizon and the shifting blur of the ground below. You have a sense of the massiveness of heaven and earth, but not the details of everyday life—no buildings or cars or people, and certainly none of the triumphs or struggles of human hearts as they engage with one another at ground level. So when you consider the title of this book, The Bible from 30,000 Feet, you might wonder how you could get anything meaningful from looking at the Bible from such a great height. Just think of all the things you’d miss, you might say. And while that would be a struggle with any other book you might read, the Bible is different.

The Bible is unlike any other book you will ever read, unlike any book that has ever been written. It’s both personal—a love letter from God to us—and historical—an account of God’s interactions with His people over thousands of years. It gives us the big picture—God creating the world and everything in it, the forming of nations, God’s plan of redemptive history—and the intimate details—Jesus pouring His heart out to His Father in Gethsemane, David describing his brokenness after his affair with Bathsheba, Hannah praising God for her miracle child Samuel. It is certainly worth the effort to consider every single paragraph and verse, and the nuance of every word. But there is also value in stepping back from the details and considering the larger scope. We can sometimes miss the forest for the trees and lose our bearings of the larger story amid the numerous details. Therefore both approaches are needed—up close and farther away.

Reading the Bible ought to be a lifetime commitment. God is deeply concerned with the ins and outs of your life, and nothing does His work in your heart like His Word. But I am concerned, even alarmed, because the tendency in our age is to drift away from listening to God’s voice in His Word. The biblical understanding of past generations has become the biblical illiteracy of modern ones. Researchers tell us that only 19 percent of churchgoers read their Bibles daily.* I’ve written this book in part to counter that trend. God’s Word is a living thing—and it can do His work in your life, even from 30,000 feet. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what (Hebrews 4:13 MSG). No matter who or where you are, the Bible can still speak to you and show you vital truths about God—His love for you, and His plans for your life.

I want to give you a taste of God’s Word, a movable feast you can eat over a year’s time, in chapter-sized portions. In The Bible from 30,000 Feet I’ve covered the whole Bible in fifty-two chapters. So if you’ll give me a year, I’ll give you the Bible. Stick with this plan for the next fifty-two weeks, and I promise you that you won’t regret it; in fact, your appetite for the Scriptures will increase. You’ll gain a clearer sense of the big picture, the grand plan of God for the world…and for you.

In order to give you an overview of each book, I’ve provided a flight plan at the beginning of each chapter, using FLIGHT as an acronym:

Facts: The basics about who wrote the book and when it was written

Landmarks: A brief overview of the major themes of each Bible book

Itinerary: The key points—the distinguishing topics and memorable moments in each book

Gospel: Jesus is in every book of the Bible, and this tells where to find Him

History: A bit of context to set the scene for each book

Travel Tips: Points of application to keep in mind as you travel through the Bible

The In Flight portion of each chapter is a compact version of my teaching on each of the Bible’s books. You’ll find that, even from this surveyor’s perspective, the Bible is full of amazing people, stories, and events—and most of all, an amazing God. My hope and prayer is that your appetite will be whetted—that after reading this book, you’ll go back to the Book and dig in, hungry for more. An airplane can take you on incredible adventures, whether for work or play, but the Bible can change your life—even from 30,000 feet.

Finally, one of the advantages of our flyover vantage point is the ability it gives us to see what has been called the Bible’s scarlet thread of redemption—God’s redemptive plan through the ages. From the very beginning God planned to redeem mankind from sin and restore us to intimate relationship with Himself. At this altitude, we see clearly that the Bible is really all about one person, Jesus Christ. The Old Testament points toward Him through prophecy and types, and the New Testament describes the immediate and ultimate effects of His first and second comings.

So as we prepare to take this yearlong flight together, make sure you buckle your seatbelt, place your heart in an upright position, and don’t hesitate to ask your flight attendant, the Holy Spirit, for any assistance you’ll need along the way.

Skip Heitzig

* Rankin, Russ. Study: Bible Engagement in Churchgoers’ Hearts, Not Always Practiced, LifeWay Research, accessed March 15, 2017, http://www.lifeway.com/Article/research-survey-bible-engagement-churchgoers.

OLD TESTAMENT

GENESIS

FLIGHT PLAN

Facts

Author

Moses authored Genesis, the first of the five opening books of the Bible, which Jesus called the Law of Moses (Luke 24:44). Moses lived 120 years (Deuteronomy 34:7). His life can be split into three parts: his life in Egypt (around 1500 BC), in Midian (the mid-1400s BC), and in the wilderness (the early 1400s BC).

Date Written

We don’t know where or when Moses wrote Genesis, but he could have started to collect the facts about God and His people after he was taken into Pharaoh’s house. He probably finished writing the book sometime prior to his exile in the wilderness of Midian.

Landmarks

Genesis is the foundation of God’s work as Creator and Redeemer of His creation. It all begins here—creation, sin, God’s remedy for sin, family, government, and the origins of the nation of Israel. To get a grip on all these beginnings, we’ll follow a set of landmarks: four great events—the formation, the fall, the flood, the fallout from man’s rebellion—and a foursome of great men.

Itinerary

• Four Great Events (Genesis 1–11)

The Formation (Genesis 1–2)

The Fall of Man (Genesis 3–5)

The Flood (Genesis 6–9)

The Fallout from Rebellion (Genesis 10–11)

• Four Great Men (Genesis 12–50)

Abraham (Genesis 12–25)

Isaac (Genesis 21–28, 35)

Jacob (Genesis 25–37, 42–43, 45–49)

Joseph (Genesis 37–50)

Gospel

The Old Testament predicts the coming of a Superman, One who will repair the damage caused by Eden’s evil interloper, a dark prince who spoiled God’s creation. Numerous prophecies, predictions, and allusions point to both the first and second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. These form the trail mapping God’s plan to save mankind—a scarlet thread of redemption woven throughout the Scriptures.

The first thread was woven after the fall, when Jesus was introduced as the Seed of the woman who will overcome Satan (Genesis 3:15). We also see a symbol of salvation in Noah’s ark (like Jesus, the sole means of salvation), Jacob’s ladder (presaging Jesus as the only connection we have to God in heaven), and in the parallels between Joseph and Jesus: both were betrayed by loved ones and sold, and both played mediators between life and death. God’s redemptive plan goes back to the beginning of time.

History

The story of Genesis unfolds in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, starting with Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Some controversy exists as to how long ago the beginning was, but simple math indicates that Genesis covers at least 2500 years of human history, focusing on the emergence of the Hebrew people. Noted biblical archaeologist Dr. Steven Collins places the human record of Genesis between 3300 BC (the Stone Age) and 1800 BC (the Middle Bronze Age).

Travel Tips

The challenge of Genesis is to personalize these well-known stories, understand that they are real accounts of real events and real people, and learn practical lessons from them. That begins with three points of recognition:

• Recognize God is the Creator (Genesis 1). God created all things for a purpose. As the Bible unfolds, this purpose is ultimately found in Jesus Christ. First, all people must recognize their need for a relationship with their Creator through Christ. How do we do that? Read on.

• Recognize you are a sinner (Genesis 2). Humans are fallen beings in need of redemption. One of the key moments in Genesis is when God established a relationship with Abraham through his seed—down the line, that was Christ. Ultimately, Christ will crush the serpent (Satan). Part of this crushing of sin in the world is to make new creations of people who turn from their sin and to Jesus Christ.

• Recognize that God has a purpose for you (Genesis 12–37). As you read Genesis, you’ll find all types of characters and narratives. All of them come into contact—for better or worse—with God. God is the great conductor, leading the symphony of life according to His purposes. When you turn to God, know that He has a plan for your life: to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). As a Christian, your purpose is to grow more Christlike day by day until Christ either comes for His church or calls you home. Your growth starts here in Genesis.

In Flight

The Formation (Genesis 1–2)

The record of the formation of the universe is simple, straightforward, and unambiguous: God created it all (Genesis 1:1-5). That’s it. If you can accept that first verse of the Bible, you should have no problem believing the rest of it.

Here’s a rundown of Earth’s first week:

• Day one: God turned on the light, dividing day from night.

• Day two: God set up the hydrological cycle, separating the water in the sky from the water covering the earth. This firmament was different from the sky we have now; it has been described as a vapor canopy that surrounded the earth and lasted until the flood.

• Day three: God pooled the waters into oceans (possibly even a single ocean), creating land masses (possibly even a single continent). Then, because it now had a place to grow, God produced plant life, vegetation of all sorts, each with its own ability to reproduce itself through seeds.

• Day four: God installed some celestial bodies—the sun, moon, and stars—and instituted days, seasons, and years.

• Day five: God put birds into play, along with sea life—both examples of amazing diversity and complexity.

• Day six: God generated the animal kingdom in all of its remarkable variety and then topped off His creation with its pinnacle: human beings, created in His own image (Genesis 1:27). He arranged food for everyone, set Adam and Eve in charge of taking care of His creation, and called it all good (Genesis 1:31).

• Day seven: His work completed, God rested (Genesis 2:1-2).

Creation itself is amazing—a perfect balance of conditions that make life on earth possible—but even more powerful is the thought that God cares so much about the people who live in it. Right away, God gave Adam an equal counterpart and helper, Eve (Genesis 2:18-25), and made them caretakers of His creation.

The Fall (Genesis 3–5)

Up to this point, God had given mankind only one negative command: not to eat from a particular tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Everything else—all the good things in Eden—was theirs to do with as they pleased. However, God also gave us free will. From the start, we had the ability to choose our actions.

Prohibition becomes an invitation, and Satan knew it. He questioned God, God’s Word, and God’s motives (Genesis 3:1-7). Eve’s first mistake was engagement with this clever, single-minded entity. Adam’s mistake was just standing there while she did it.

That day marked the beginning of what the Bible calls the world—a term used especially in the New Testament to describe the system of thinking and behaving that opposes God (1 John 2:16; 5:19). God established His creation, the physical world, and called it good, and now Satan intruded with his modus operandi, the spiritual world of deception and destruction. Satan came to commandeer God’s world, and Adam handed him the title deed.

This is the darkest day in the history of the human race, where all our problems began (Romans 5:12). Death spread and reigned from Adam to Moses. When Adam took that fruit and sinned against God, he acted as the representative of every human being ever—so that the effects of what he did spread to everyone throughout all history. Every human being to be born would now have a sin-imbued nature.

It was a game-changer for Satan too. When God laid out the consequences for Adam and Eve’s disobedience—bearing children in pain and working the ground to feed their family, among other things—He nailed down Satan’s future as well: At some point in the future, God would provide a way to defeat him (Genesis 3:15). This marked the beginning of God’s long-term plan of redemption. Eventually, a descendant of Eve—specifically, a woman from God’s chosen people Israel—would give birth to the Savior, a Son who would undo everything Satan accomplished in Eden and crush him in the process. It set Satan on a narrower path, one intended not just to bring down mankind but to end the godly line through whom this Messiah would come. God’s rescue operation for the world was now set in motion.

Satan set about polluting everything God had made, looking to destroy the human race and end the threat to his power on earth. The end result was a human race so twisted and wicked that God decided to reboot life on a global scale (Genesis 6:17).

The Flood (Genesis 6–9)

When God decided to wipe mankind off the face of the earth, He chose a single individual to live so that the human race could begin again. Noah alone was considered righteous by God (Genesis 6:5-8), so God made him the instrument of mankind’s physical salvation.

If you look back to Satan’s desire to disrupt God’s ultimate plan to save mankind and crush him, he and his minions probably responded with a resounding cheer to God’s decision to send a flood: Yes! He’s going to wipe all of them out. Game over. But, as usual, the enemy of our souls underestimated the Lord of the universe. God established His covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18), and told him to build a boat. Here are the specs, He told Noah (Genesis 6:14-16), and Noah obeyed. No doubt, Noah took a lot of grief from his neighbors as he faithfully built this enormous vessel. His very work on it was a witness to the unbelieving world (Hebrews 11:7). And then it started to rain.

And boy, did it rain (Genesis 7:11)! The foundations of the earth broke up, releasing gushing torrents that had been stored in subterranean cavities. The vapor canopy dissolved, pouring down water from the heavens. More water than most had ever even imagined was suddenly released—for forty straight days. Hills were covered, then mountains, and if you weren’t on the boat, you died, wiped away like grime off a windshield (Genesis 7:17-24). Meanwhile, God kept life and hope alive on one boat.

God’s Word tells us He unleashed a worldwide flood but preserved life and kept His promise to maintain the eventual line of the Savior through Noah and his family. Even in judgment, then and now, God is just and merciful. The shame of it is what mankind did with its second chance.

The Fallout (Genesis 9–11)

After the flood, people and animals followed God’s command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 8:17; 9:1). Mankind established a new social order, ordaining human government with the authority to exercise capital punishment as a just response to murder (Genesis 9:5-6). There was also a new physical order. The protective vapor canopy, a sort of thermal blanket that had surrounded earth since its creation, had been destroyed as a result of the floodwaters bursting forth, resulting in a more dangerous environment (storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and drought, plus higher exposure to solar radiation) that contributed to a general shortening of human lifespans.

That didn’t stop people from multiplying. Genesis 10 is called the Table of Nations because it records how Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, had their own children, who eventually became various people groups and nations around the world. However, the second half of God’s command was to fill the earth—to spread out, in other words. Instead, they did the opposite, coming together to build a superstate that stood in rebellion against God (Genesis 11:1-4).

God, of course, saw what they were doing, but more than that, He saw why. The people were united in opposition to God’s direct instruction, so He decided to head them off at the pass, confusing their language and forcing them to abandon the tower at Babel (Genesis 11:5-9).

God’s response to man’s rebellion was the beginning not just of historical Babylon but spiritual Babylon. Everything that Satan did and does to disrupt God’s plan to bring salvation through His people, the Jews, and to deceive and destroy mankind in general can be categorized as spiritual Babylon. It’s what we mean when we speak of the world or the world system, in contrast with God’s kingdom and kingdom values. The choice between the two shapes each of our lives, as it did the next phase of God’s plan for mankind, led by four great men.

The Foursome (Genesis 12–50)

As is so often the case throughout history, God uses people to accomplish His purposes. The rest of Genesis is the account of four such people—four great men whom we call the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

Abraham

The first time they met, God told Abram, I want you to leave everything you’re familiar with; get out of your comfort zone. Though it’s going to be hard to leave all of that behind, what I’m going to replace that with—how I’m going to bless you—is incalculable, mind-blowing. So leave everything that has shaped your life up till now, make a clean break, and come follow Me. And in a remarkable show of faith, Abram obeyed (Genesis 12:1-4).

One of the key events in the Bible is the covenant God made with Abram (Genesis 15). It was a one-sided promise, whereby God would do all that was necessary to fulfill the conditions. Abram’s part was to trust God—to remain patient, hopeful, and full of belief. Abram had concerns and he shared them, but God didn’t get mad at Abram. Instead, He took him for a walk and repeated His promises (Genesis 15:5). It was a comforting, reassuring moment—and a reminder of two important things: God can handle your hard questions, and He always keeps His promises.

Abram responded with faith (Genesis 15:6), and from that moment on, God said, You’re righteous. I’m taking your faith and crediting it to you, calling you righteous because of your faith. It was a pivotal moment, establishing a precedent for how God arranges everything so that unrighteous people can be made righteous in His sight.

In the meantime, however, Abram’s wife, Sarai, was getting impatient. She thought, as so many of us do when we’re tired of waiting on God’s promises, I’m going to help God out. After all, God helps those who help themselves. Not only is that idea nowhere to be found in the Bible (Benjamin Franklin popularized this ancient sentiment in his Poor Richard’s Almanack), the main thrust of Scripture is the exact opposite—that God helps the helpless.

That’s exactly what God did here. He cleaned up the mess Sarai caused when she gave her servant Hagar to sleep with Abram in order to produce a child (Genesis 16). God would bless Ishmael, the son Hagar had with Abram, but He would keep His promise and give Abram and Sarai a son, Isaac, through whom He would keep the line of Jesus going. As a symbol of His faithfulness, God also changed their names to Abraham and Sarah.

On His way to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with a pair of angels, God dropped in on Abraham to let him know that his son would be born within a year (Genesis 17:15-21). Sodom and Gomorrah were doomed (Genesis 19:13), but God is always looking to save any who want to be saved. For Abraham’s sake, He saved Abraham’s wayward nephew Lot from the destruction (Genesis 19:29).

A bit later, God gave Abraham the hardest test ever, telling him to offer his precious son Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-2). Whatever thoughts Abraham may have had about why, his only response was obedience. Another remarkable point is that God felt it necessary to identify Isaac as the son whom you love (Genesis 22:2). This is the first use of the word love in the Bible, and it was written about a father loving his only son and preparing to offer him in sacrifice. It clearly foreshadows God’s own plans for His only Son, who would be sacrificed on the same mount years later.

Abraham embraced God’s will through a process. He obeyed God’s command, but he also thought about what he knew of God’s nature and character, and that gave him confidence that God would work everything out for the best. His faith was tested severely and he passed God’s test, leaving a legacy of godliness for Isaac.

Isaac

As Abraham’s life drew to a close, he sent a servant out on a final mission—to find a wife for Isaac. His own wife Sarah had recently died (Genesis 23:2), and he was discharging at long last a common duty, ensuring his son’s happiness and the continuation of his line. God orchestrated the match, bringing Abraham’s servant Eliezer to Rebekah, confirming the match, and then blessing his journey home with the young bride-to-be (Genesis 24:12-63).

It’s a beautiful love story, and Isaac’s part in it is touching. While Eliezer was away he waited patiently and sought God, trusting his father’s judgment to make a match. It was a beautiful beginning for the relationship. I wish I could tell you that they all lived happily ever after, but they didn’t.

Here’s a quick flyover: Rebekah was infertile, like her mother-in-law Sarah had been, so Isaac prayed for her and she became pregnant. However, it was a difficult pregnancy, and she asked God why. The Lord replied, Two nations are in your womb (Genesis 25:23). Rebekah’s twins would indeed become fathers of nations: Esau was born first, red-haired and hairy, and then came Jacob, grabbing at his brother’s heel to pull him back inside the womb.

Their names fit—Hairy and Heel-catcher—and their personalities made their differences even clearer. Isaac encouraged Esau’s sportiness and Rebekah doted on Jacob’s indoor acumen (Genesis 25:28). Of course, as whenever parents pick favorites, it went poorly.

Jacob

God had predicted that Rebekah’s secondborn would rule over her firstborn (Genesis 25:23), but it seemed highly unlikely that Jacob would take Esau’s position and inheritance. Esau was their father’s favorite, strong and outgoing, an obvious provider. However, he was also ruled by his urges. Jacob made up for his lack of outdoor skills by being clever and even conniving. He bided his time, waiting to make a play for his brother’s birthright—the inheritance and property rights of the firstborn—based on Esau’s weakness.

Jacob’s cunning swindled Esau twice. The first time, he got his brother to abandon his birthright for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34). The second time, with his mom’s help, Jacob dressed up like Esau in pelts, sprayed on some eau d’Outdoorsman, and tricked his dad into giving him his brother’s blessing while Esau was out hunting at their father’s request. Isaac was blind in his old age, and Jacob got away with this. But Jacob had to flee when Esau became enraged over his brother’s deception and wanted to kill him (Genesis 27:41-45).

Despite all the massive family dysfunction going on, God was sovereign. He let Jacob know He was with him, giving him a dream of a stairway full of angels connecting heaven and earth, and repeating the promise He had made to Jacob’s ancestors (Genesis 28:13-15). It was the first of two key moments in Jacob’s faith. God’s timing was perfect, because Jacob was in for a rough season with his uncle Laban, a man as tricky and self-serving as he himself had been.

Jacob fell hard for Laban’s younger daughter, Rachel, and Laban agreed to their marriage in return for Jacob’s service to him (Genesis 29:9-20). Jacob jumped at the chance to earn his bride’s hand and said, I’ll serve you seven years if I can marry Rachel. Laban agreed and played it cool, but he also played Jacob for a lovesick fool.

Sure enough, after Jacob met the terms of their deal, Laban switched daughters on the wedding night. Ironically, he pulled a reverse-Jacob, switching his firstborn daughter Leah for his secondborn, Rachel, Jacob’s intended (Genesis 29:18-25). Payback! Jacob went to Laban and said, You tricked me! But Laban slickly siphoned another seven years off of him, and Jacob ended up working fourteen years for two wives.

That kind of family drama was a constant companion. Rachel and Leah ended up competing to see who could bear Jacob the most sons, even bringing in their handmaidens, Hagar-style, to up their totals. Leah won the babython, eight sons to four, and with a total of twelve sons, Jacob was really blessed.

Eventually, Jacob left Laban and headed home to Canaan. He got word that Esau was coming to meet him. That led to Jacob’s second pivotal moment of faith. He sent his family on ahead and hung back to wait for Esau, thinking there was a decent chance his brother would kill him. That night, the incredible happened: Jacob wrestled a Man who turned out to be God—and whom Jacob did not let go of until he received God’s blessing (Genesis 32:24-26). It was at that point that God changed Jacob’s name, calling him Israel in honor of his struggle (Genesis 32:28). God also blessed Jacob’s meeting with Esau, which went without incident.

Jacob learned the hard way that it’s more important to ask Am I on God’s side? rather than the more typical question, Is God on my side? It was a question one of his sons also learned to ask as he went through various trials on the way to the triumphs God had in store for him.

Joseph

The story of Jacob’s second-to-last son is one of the most epic in the entire Bible. Though I’ll just hit the highlights, his impressive biography and incredible personal journey unfolds for us in Genesis 37–50.

Joseph was a dreamer shaped by the school of hard knocks, a believer molded in a crucible of pride, betrayal, and a series of sudden rises and falls into a model of perseverance and faith. Most people are familiar with the Sunday-morning highlight reel of Joseph’s life: Drama was a fact of life for Jacob’s eleventh son (and Rachel’s first). He was Daddy’s favorite (another family theme), was given a fancy technicolor coat that pretty much screamed Hate me!, shared some dreams that depicted him lording it over all his jealous brothers—and his parents, got thrown into a hole by his fed-up brothers, and was sold into slavery in Egypt. That’s just Act I.

In Act II, Joseph caught the eye of his owner, Potiphar (an official in Pharaoh’s court), moved upstairs to run the household, and got hit on by the first desperate housewife, Mrs. Potiphar. When he refused her advances on ethical grounds, she ratted him out and got him thrown in jail, where, even though he interpreted some dreams for some of Pharaoh’s key guys, he languished, forgotten by everyone except God.

In the final act, Joseph was recalled from prison to interpret some troubling dreams for Pharaoh himself. God gave him the meanings of the dreams and eventual favor with Pharaoh, who put him in charge of plans to prepare Egypt to survive the famine the dreams foretold. Everyone in Egypt got fed, and people came from all over the region to buy food, including Joseph’s brothers from Canaan.

When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, they thought they were dead men, fearing their younger brother’s revenge. But Joseph summed up the whole affair by crediting God for turning their evil into a blessing for many, including them (Genesis 50:20)! Pharaoh insisted that Joseph bring his whole family down to a temporary land of plenty in Goshen, father and son were lovingly reunited, and the family was reconciled.

Enjoy this moment, because when we pick up the story in the book of Exodus, things will have changed. The children of Israel will have multiplied greatly, in keeping with God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they will have fallen out of favor with Egypt’s rulers and been made slaves. In Egypt, they were allowed to grow and become a great nation. They thrived and God blessed them, but Egypt was never meant to be their home. God had promised His people the land to which He had called Abraham, and He would rescue them from Egypt, calling them to go home.

EXODUS

FLIGHT PLAN

Facts

Author

Jesus stated that Exodus was written by Moses (Mark 12:26), and the earliest Jewish scribes agreed. It is the second book of the Torah, known as the five books of Moses or the Law of Moses (Luke 24:44).

Date Written

Exodus was probably written shortly after the book of Genesis, possibly between 1445 and 1405 BC. Exodus covers the period of time during which God freed the Hebrew people from servitude in Egypt and they wandered for forty years in the wilderness.

Landmarks

The two major themes of Exodus are redemption and identification. God delivered His people from slavery, and then He decreed to His people how to live free. That one-two punch at the heart of Exodus reflects the Christian life: Once Jesus redeems you from your sin, you start reading your Bible and going to church as a way to identify yourself with Him. Israel’s great deliverance can be seen in four phases: domination, liberation, revelation, and identification.

Itinerary

• Domination: The Bondage of Egypt (Exodus 1–12)

A Misplaced Recollection

A Misguided Emancipator

A Transformative Manifestation

A Mousy Messenger

A Monumental Encounter

• Liberation: The Barrenness of the Wilderness (Exodus 13–18)

Miraculous Reminders

• Revelation: The Bringing of the Law (Exodus 18–31)

A Must-Read: God’s Top Ten List

Major Consequences and Merciful Maximums

• Identification: The Birth Pains of the Nation (Exodus 32–40)

The Uh-oh Moment

A Holy Meeting Place

Gospel

When God gave Moses the law to guide the Israelites’ lives and worship of Him, He was also pointing to the eternal covenant that came in Christ. Under the covenant of the Law, Moses mediated between God and His people, but under the covenant of grace, the perfect Mediator came in the person of Jesus Christ—fully God and fully man.

The Passover—including the death of Egypt’s firstborn, the shedding of a lamb’s blood, and the departure from bondage—is one of the clearest and most dramatic pictures of salvation in Christ in the entire Bible. New Testament authors point this out frequently (John 1:29, 36; 19:14; Acts 8:32-35; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 15:3-4; 1 Peter 1:19-20; Revelation 5:6-9).

The details of the tabernacle, recorded in Exodus 26–27 and 30, foreshadow heaven and Christ Himself. Jesus, the Great High Priest, made it possible to have fellowship with the Father. The tabernacle eventually became the temple, and Jesus eventually became the ultimate fulfillment of the temple as the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

History

The book of Exodus covers about a forty-year period, beginning 350 years after Joseph’s death. The historical time frame of the Exodus wanderings is controversial; people have differing opinions about the exact dates and locations of the events. Most agree Exodus is set in the Bronze Age, but scholars debate whether it occurred earlier (1400s BC) or later (1200s BC) in that era. The identity of the pharaoh described in Exodus is also debated, depending on an early view (Thutmose III or Thutmose IV), or a late one (Rameses II).

Travel Tips

We’ve all had a Genesis—a beginning—but not everyone has had an Exodus—a deliverance from bondage. Much more than history, the Bible is His story—God’s story of the redemption of His creation. How does Exodus relate to you today?

• Recognize your need for deliverance. At some point in your life, you will have to come to terms with your need for redemption. Part of observing the Passover includes retelling the Israelites’ redemption story so that God and His deliverance won’t be forgotten. Your redemption story—how you came to know Jesus—should be part of your testimony too.

• Recognize that Jesus is the deliverer. Moses said, The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst. Him you shall hear (Deuteronomy 18:15). God gave His people a new life when He liberated them from Egypt, but, mighty as it was, that deliverance only pointed to a greater liberation by the One who delivered the whole world from sin’s grip: Jesus Christ.

• Resolve to spend more time with the God who loves you and saved you. God established the law and the tabernacle to teach His people how to worship Him properly. However, He was also making it clear that He wanted to spend time with them, in their presence, enjoying and blessing them.

In Flight

As we fly over the book of Exodus, we’re going to witness the birth of a nation. Births are exciting, but also painful; ask any mother. Exodus means going out. Abraham’s descendants through his grandson Jacob came into Egypt as a family of seventy people. They would leave after 400 years as a nation of around two million (Genesis 15:13). God had bigger plans in mind for His people, but they came with a challenge.

Domination: The Bondage of Egypt (Exodus 1–13)

A Misplaced Recollection

Between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, 350 years had passed, long enough for any nation to forget its roots, its history. All that Joseph had done to save Egypt from famine had been forgotten, along with respect for God and favor for Israel. God blessed the people of Israel anyway, and their numbers increased dramatically. In order to curb the growth of this exploding minority, Pharaoh issued a terrible order to the Hebrew midwives: kill the firstborn sons (Exodus 1:15-16). Because they feared God, they found a way around the order; God blessed them for their civil disobedience and multiplied His people even more (vv. 17-21).

It was under this heavy oppression that God produced His deliverer: Moses, one of the most amazing men in the Bible—in his character, in what he withstood, in his closeness to God. He became Pharaoh’s adopted grandson and was raised with all the wealth and privilege of an Egyptian prince. Egypt was the mightiest kingdom in the known world at the time, a progressive culture of science, mathematics, academia, architecture, and engineering. According to the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, Moses was next in line to be Pharaoh.¹

A Misguided Emancipator

Apparently, though, Moses was aware of his Jewish roots, and he felt some kind of empathy for the Israelites’ troubles. Admittedly, he expressed it in a rather misguided way, killing an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating one of his fellow Hebrews. Moses looked this way and that way—but, unfortunately, not up—and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand (Exodus 2:12).

Seems to me that, because sand blows away so easily, that it’s not the best material to use for burying a corpse. Moses’s dirty deed and sandy cover-up made for a rocky landing. The good news is that Moses was not an accomplished murderer; the bad news, for him, was that he was found out pretty quickly and forced to flee. He ended up all the way across the Arabian Peninsula in Midian.

It’s been well said that Moses spent forty years of his life as a prince, trying to be something, the next forty as a shepherd, discovering he was really nothing, and the final forty as Israel’s leader, proof that God can take nothing and make something out of it.

A Transformative Manifestation

God made contact with Moses in an unusual way, fitting the path of Moses’s life: a burning bush. When a flaming shrub calls your name, you stop and look. When that flaming shrub tells you you’re standing on holy ground, you take off your sandals as instructed. When the flaming shrub identifies itself as the God of your ancestors, you hit the ground face-first (Exodus 3:1-6). God was bringing Moses into the loop of the covenant He made with Abraham and reiterated to Isaac and Jacob—and Moses was going to be His guy to get His people back on track to the land He had promised to the patriarchs.

Also, whereas God introduced Himself to Abraham by telling him to leave home, He identified Himself to Moses by His name: I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14). He had not done so with any of the patriarchs (Exodus 6:2-3), but here God said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’ (Exodus 3:14).

A Mousy Messenger

While Moses was clearly impressed with God, he just as clearly felt unequal to the task. God responded to his excuses, one by one: Moses said, What if they don’t believe me? and God upgraded Moses’s shepherd’s staff to a snake-stick. Throw it down and it becomes a snake; grab it by the tail and it’s a staff again (Exodus 4:1-5). Then God had him put his hand in his coat, turned it white with leprosy, and then healed it when Moses stuck his hand back in his coat. Then God told him, If those two tricks don’t get their attention, just pour some river water on dry land; it’ll turn to blood.

Moses should have exclaimed, Wow! Cool! I’ve never seen anything like that. They’ll be blown away. Instead, he came up with another excuse: I never took speech in high school; public speaking gives me butterflies. God was ready for that one too (Exodus 4:11-12): Look, Moses. I made your mouth, right? Trust Me, and I’ll give you the words to put in it.

Any inability you have can be overshadowed by the ability God has. This should’ve been enough for Moses, but it wasn’t. Moses’s final protest was less of an excuse than the heart of his other excuses: Send somebody else—anyone, Lord! That’s when God got a little upset (vv. 14-17): You have a brother, Aaron, right? Take him with you. I’ll tell you what to say, you tell him, and he’ll say it. So, take your stick, do your signs, and don’t let a flaming branch smack you on the way out!

A Monumental Encounter

God’s chosen leader Moses, with Aaron as spokesperson, opposed the king of Egypt himself, mano a mano, in an epic showdown. God warned Moses in advance that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21-23). God had revealed Himself to Moses; now He would reveal Himself to Pharaoh and the entire nation of Egypt, through a series of plagues—each one a tailor-made judgment designed to attack different aspects of their false belief system.

The Egyptians worshipped a whole host of gods and goddesses. God told Moses, Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD (Exodus 12:12). Moses was just the messenger; the real showdown was between Pharaoh, leader of an economically advanced and militarily powerful dynasty who was hiding behind his deceitful deities, and almighty God, the Great I AM. We know it was no contest, but Pharaoh had yet to learn that. God used plagues to teach him:

Plague one: The water of the Nile River turned to blood (Exodus 7). False god attacked: Osiris, the river god. The Nile was the principal resource of all Egypt, considered the source of all life. This was an attack against a key part of both their worship and ecological systems.

Plague two: Frogs covered the land (Exodus 8:1-14). False god attacked: Heket, the patroness of childbirth and creation. It was a major offense to kill a frog in Egypt, so when the plague put frogs in every nook and cranny, the Egyptians couldn’t do anything because it was illegal to kill them!

Plague three: The dust became lice (Exodus 8:16-19). False god attacked: Geb, god of the earth. The word translated lice could also mean sand flies—nasty little biting bloodsuckers.

Plague four: Flies swarmed across the land (Exodus 8:20-32). False belief attacked: These flies may have been scarab beetles, an Egyptian symbol of eternal life worshipped and placed in sarcophagi, either physically or symbolically, to symbolize their version of the afterlife. As God made clear here, their plan had some serious bugs in it.

Plague five: The livestock were afflicted with pestilence (Exodus 9:1-6). False god attacked: Mnevis, Hathor, or Apis, all livestock-related fertility deities. As was often the pattern with these plagues, only the Egyptian people and their property suffered. In all of these first five plagues, we read that the heart of Pharaoh became hard (v. 7).

Plague six: Boils broke out on people and animals (Exodus 9:8-12). False belief attacked: Egyptian priests would throw a handful of ashes into the air and speak a blessing to the people. Moses initiated this one by scattering a handful of soot in front of Pharaoh. When it settled, boils broke out. Also, for the first time, we see that it was the LORD [who] hardened the heart of Pharaoh (v. 12).

Plague seven: A mixture of hail and fire obliterated people, livestock, and crops (Exodus 9:13-35). False god attacked: Nut, the Egyptian sky goddess. Further, the devastation of the early crops (flax and barley) showed up Seth, the god of wind and storms, and Isis, the goddess of life, who was often depicted working with flax.

Plague eight: Locusts destroyed the rest of the crops (Exodus 10:1-20). False god attacked: Min, whose annual start-of-harvest festival was ruined by the swarms. It’s a safe bet that these locusts were what scientists know today as the short-horned grasshopper, a quick-breeding, fast-moving, voracious group of crop-eaters that still plague the region to this day.²

Plague nine: Darkness covered the land (Exodus 10:21-29). False god attacked: Ra, the sun god. This darkness which may even be felt (v. 21) sounds pretty creepy. It’s possible it was a physical manifestation of the spiritual oppression of Egypt’s false worship system.

After the first five plagues, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It’s not until the sixth plague that we see the Lord hardening his heart. It’s as if God was saying, Over and over, you’ve chosen to go against Me. Now, I’m going to solidify your choice in your heart. If Pharaoh had any perspective at all, he would have been terrified. His stubbornness set the stage for the final and most terrible plague.

Plague ten: The death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:1-10; 12:29-30). God’s final, crushing blow did two things: it delivered His people from Egypt, loaded down with Egyptian riches that became theirs for the asking (Exodus 11:2), and it established the Passover as one of the most important, widely observed Jewish festivals—and a foreshadowing of the redemption Christ would purchase on the cross for all mankind. Through Moses, God instructed each Hebrew family to sacrifice a lamb, smear its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes, and prepare a special meal commemorating the historical night about to happen (Exodus 12:1-11).

God moved through Egypt that night, striking down every firstborn, whether human or animal—unless the doorframe was smeared with blood. Those houses He would pass over, sparing the inhabitants (Exodus 12:12-13). God did not save people because they were Jewish; He did not condemn people because they were Egyptian. Anyone who was inside a house marked with lamb’s blood would be spared. Any firstborn who was outside or in an unmarked house that night would die.

The Passover was all about the blood—the sacrifice—that provided a substitute for the life required by the plague of death. In effect, the blood of a lamb set the slaves free. And it still does. John the Baptist would say of Jesus, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). No wonder God told them, You shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever (Exodus 12:24).

Liberation: The Barrenness of the Wilderness (Exodus 13–18)

Miraculous Reminders

After that dreadful night of widespread death, Pharaoh basically kicked Israel out of Egypt, for the Egyptian population was now terrified. Now they were free! As God had predicted, the Egyptians sent the Hebrews out with gold, silver, clothing, and livestock: Thus they plundered the Egyptians (Exodus 12:36). It all sounds good—and it was for Israel—but Pharaoh was still a wild card. God hardened His enemy’s heart again, knowing he would give chase.

As the Hebrews left Egypt, God initiated a signature mark of His presence: He led them during the day by a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire, neither of which left the people at any point (Exodus 13:21-22). Later Jewish writings called these signs the Shekinah—the resting place—that described God’s presence in the tabernacle and temple. They were in a barren wasteland but with a divine GPS! God’s glory was their rear guard, so that as Pharaoh chased them to the edge of the Red Sea, he couldn’t close the gap.

By God’s power, Moses split the waters of the Red Sea and the people passed through on dry ground (Exodus 14:22). Pharaoh sent his army right in after them, but God messed with their chariots and made it clear that they were fighting a losing battle because He was with Israel (vv. 23-25). He told Moses to stretch out his hand, and the waters rushed back in, completely wiping out the mightiest army on earth and winning the respect and belief of Israel (vv. 26-31).

However, despite God’s continuing presence and provision, Israel had an ongoing trust issue as they traveled; the recurrent theme in the next several chapters is their grumbling and complaining. It was like the worst family vacation ever, with the people trapped in the family station wagon with no air conditioning and no satisfying answer to the question, Are we there yet?

Journeying across the Sinai Peninsula—picture serious desert here—they ran out of provisions. They weren’t shy about letting Moses know—at least we had food in Egypt—but God was ready for them. He brought them quails that night (Exodus 16:12-13), drew water from a rock (Exodus 17:5-6), and dropped bread from heaven for them each morning (Exodus 17:4, 14-15). When they first saw the bread, the people asked, What is it?—which in ancient Egyptian was mon (translated into English, manna). The name stuck, and so did the menu for the next forty years.

Revelation: The Bringing of the Law (Exodus 19–31)

In Exodus 19, the emphasis shifts from liberation to legislation—the laws that God gave Israel to tell the people how to live with Him and each other. He wanted them to be constantly aware of His holiness and their need for grace. In giving Israel His Law, God was anchoring them to their history with Him and giving them their identity as His chosen people, so they would know who they were, where they had come from, and where they were going.

Three months after leaving Egypt, Israel set up camp in the wilderness at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:2). God called Moses up the mountain and laid out the bottom line: Remember where you were, what I’ve done, and how I’ve cared for you. If you will obey Me, I’ll bless you beyond belief. God brought the people out of Egypt, where they had at one time known regular meals, taken them way out in the middle of nowhere, where there was no natural protection or provision, and provided miraculously for them in the wilderness.

When Moses reported God’s message to the people, they got on board (Exodus 19:8): God has a law? Bring it on; we’ll do it. They sounded sincere, but the fatal flaw of the law was the weakness of the human heart to keep it (Deuteronomy 5:29). This didn’t become fully clear until Christ came. The purpose of the Law was to make it clear that we couldn’t match God’s standard of holiness (Romans 3:19). The apostle Paul said, The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). That’s what the new covenant of grace in Christ is all about, but the law came first.

A Must-Read: God’s Top Ten List

The law made it clear that God expects two things from His people: supreme devotion to Him and sincere affection for others. He began with His Top Ten, the Ten Commandments, but that was just the beginning. There were many more laws in the chapters to come, but the Ten Commandments work as a summary (Exodus 20:3-17). The first four are about supreme devotion to God, and the last six focus on sincere affection for others:

1. No other gods before God (v. 3)

2. No carved images of any created thing (vv. 4-6)

3. No taking God’s name in vain (v. 7)

4. Keep the Sabbath (vv. 8-11)

5. Honor your parents (v. 12)

6. No murder (v. 13)

7. No adultery (v. 14)

8. No stealing (v. 15)

9. No bearing false witness (v. 16)

10. No coveting (v. 17)

These laws look simple, but how many have you broken—either inwardly by your desires, or actually? This list reveals God’s holiness. He is fundamentally different than we are, set apart by the perfection of His nature and qualities. That came across loud and clear: The people told Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die (Exodus 20:19). Moses responded, Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin (v. 20). He drew the direct connection between recognizing God’s holiness, respecting it, and not sinning.

Major Consequences and Merciful Maximums

God was serious about consequences for breaking His laws. For example, there’s a whole host of regulations about capital punishment, beginning with He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death (Exodus 21:12). Capital punishment predated Moses, going all the way back to Noah’s time (Genesis 9:6). While taking any life is definitely not something to be taken lightly, the Law of Moses viewed capital punishment as righteously administered judicial execution.

There were stipulations for people who harmed someone but their victim recovered sufficiently. However, if anyone harmed someone in a lasting way, then the lex talionis—the law of exact retribution—came into play (Exodus 21:23-27). The idea was that the punishment must fit the crime. Versions of it appear in the earliest written laws—the code of Hammurabi, for example—and in each of those instances, it was a legal guarantee of payback.

But God included it for a different reason: He wanted to limit vengeance. God understood that human nature isn’t satisfied with exact retribution. Our nature is to say, "You poked out one of my eyes? Thou shalt be blind in both of thine! You knocked out one of my teeth? Thou shalt wear dentures forevermore hence!" We want to keep going until it feels right, not realizing that, at a certain point, we’ve made it worse than the original crime.

God also ordained laws to regulate three feasts that the Jews were to observe each year (Exodus 23:14): Passover (also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating their redemption), Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Harvest, celebrating God’s provision), and Tabernacles (also called the Feast of Ingathering and Sukkot, the Feast of Booths, celebrating God’s protection in the wilderness). God has always been big into fellowship. People would gather from all over Israel, flooding to Jerusalem at these three times each year, spiritually and socially uniting in worship and celebration.

Identification: The Birth Pains of the Nation (Exodus 32–40)

This is where most people slow down as they read through the Bible. This section is the graveyard of many Christians’ New Year’s resolutions. All the great stories of beginnings in Genesis draw them in, and the deliverance of Israel in Exodus is thrilling stuff, but then come the details—social laws, moral laws, spiritual laws, property rights, governance—and the enthusiasm dries up. I’m not going to say it’s as fast-paced and emotionally stirring as what came before it, but everything here—and in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—is here for a reason. God cares about the details of everyday life. But, since we’re cruising at 30,000 feet, I’ll just hit a few highlights.

The Uh-oh Moment

Everything seemed to be cruising along at this point, but while Moses was up on the mountain receiving all of this instruction from the Lord, the people had a major uh-oh moment: the golden calf. Moses was up on the mountain, receiving the law and instructions for the tabernacle from God Himself. In the midst of this powerful revelation, the people down below turned in a snap to idolatry, worshipping an idol they forged from melted-down jewelry. Anyone seen Moses lately? No? All right, then—it’s pagan party time! Uh-oh.

God told Moses to hightail it back to camp, where his anger became hot (Exodus 32:19) and he chucked the stone tablets—freshly hewn and engraved by God’s own finger!—down, broke them, mixed up the dust with water, and made everyone chug it (v. 20). You want to party? Have some wrath-flavored punch. Moses, incredulous, asked Aaron how it happened. Aaron’s response is Classic Buck-Passing 101: So they gave [their gold] to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out (v. 24). It was amazing, bro—I chucked all this gold in the fire and poof! Instant calf. More like intentional sin.

Moses made the people choose sides: Whoever is on the LORD’S side—come to me! (Exodus 32:26). The sons of Levi joined him, but it’s not clear if anyone else did. He commanded them to let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor (v. 27). Three thousand men were killed that day, which sounds harsh, but think of it this way: If they would dare to sin so soon after God’s deliverance, right beneath the mountain where God was talking with Moses, there was a serious problem in the camp. Moses cut it out like surgeon removing a tumor.

A Holy Meeting Place

Chastened by the whole episode with the calf, Israel responded with humility and obedience. The people built the tabernacle, resting on each seventh day and following God’s specifications (Exodus 40:17-19). This was almost a full year after they had left Egypt. Moses put the replacement set of tablets God had given him, a pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod (collectively called the Testimony) in the ark, inserted the poles through the rings to lift the ark, and set the mercy seat on top.

Once the ark was in the Holy of Holies and everything had been set up properly, God’s glory settled over and throughout the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35). From that point on, the Hebrews waited on God. When the cloud lifted up from the tabernacle, they packed up and moved on; when it settled, they stopped and set up camp. At that moment, though, the nation rested at the foot of Mount Sinai.

The tabernacle was at the very heart, both geographically and spiritually, of the encampment of Israel. It’s a great way to end the book: God’s presence dwelling among His people. The grumbling and groaning weren’t over yet—far from it!—but the story of Exodus ends in a good place. God delivered His people from the furnace of Egypt into the fiery wilderness, where He provided for, preserved, and protected them. The message of Exodus is this: God wants to deliver you from the slavery caused by your sin, and take His rightful place at the very center of your life.

LEVITICUS

FLIGHT PLAN

Facts

Author

Both internal evidence (more than thirty times we read that the LORD spoke to Moses) and external evidence (early Jewish testimony) point to Moses’s authorship of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah.

Date Written

Leviticus was written sometime in the fifteenth century BC, probably after the completion of the tabernacle. The initial revelation of the law was given to Moses at Mount Sinai (Leviticus 25:1) and during the wilderness wandering.

Landmarks

Leviticus divides into two sections. The first focuses on establishing the law and the way to God through sacrifice. God clarified how people were designed to live and how they could atone for their sins. The second section emphasizes walking with God through sanctification—the process by which we become holy, or set apart, for God’s purposes. In a word, we should be different.

Itinerary

• The Way to God Through Sacrifice (Leviticus 1–17)

Laws of Personal Proximity

Laws of Professional Activity

Laws of Ritual Purity

Laws of National Sanctity

• A Walk with God Through Sanctification (Leviticus 18–27)

The Difference of Holiness

The Moral Difference

The Organizational Difference

The Devotional Difference

The Community Difference

The Voluntary Difference

Gospel

The scarlet thread of redemption is clearly woven into the nature and practice of the law and the tabernacle sacrifices. Beyond the veil separating the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle