“Coming out of Egypt” is symbolic of being set free from the taskmaster of the law. When the taskmaster is disarmed of his weapon of the law, people are set free to soar on the wings of the Spirit of grace.
For four hundred years the children of Israel were held in captivity in Egypt by a cruel Pharaoh. They were becoming more mighty in number than the Egyptians, so Pharaoh made them slaves.
But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. (Exodus 1:7-11)1
In most teachings I have heard regarding the symbolism of Egypt and God’s people being delivered from bondage, the analogy is made to their coming out of worldliness, the passions of the flesh, addictions, and demonic oppression. While that analogy may apply, I believe the primary symbolic meaning of “coming out of Egypt” is being set free from the bondage of the law. We see this in Paul’s allegorical explanation of the Old Covenant and New Covenant by using the story of the Egyptian slave girl, Hagar, and Abraham’s wife Sarah in Galatians 4. Egypt and Hagar represent law. Abraham’s descendants and Sarah represent faith and grace.2
Today satan works in the same way as the cruel Pharaoh: he strives to bring God’s people under the “taskmaster” of the law. Religion has held many in bondage. And why? Like the Israelites who were multiplying and becoming more mighty than the Egyptians, satan attacks God’s people because of the grace and favor of God on us. Lest we multiply and grow exceedingly mighty, satan’s strategy is to put us in bondage to the law.
The evil Egyptian Pharaoh set up taskmasters over the Israelites for the purpose of afflicting them and thinning out their population to weaken them. The job of the Israelites was to make bricks. At one point Pharaoh commanded that no more straw be given them to make the bricks, forcing them to find their own straw. More back-breaking labor. Pharaoh’s mantra was “Get back to your labor!… Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today?”3 The whole goal of the Israelite enslavement was to control them and to kill them with mindless labor. But the God of Abraham kept His covenant of grace and set His people free from those taskmasters.4
This is where the analogy of the law comes in: today when the law is used on people in the form of performance-based religion, it’s the ministry of death. It’s goal is to control through rules and regulations to create a passive culture. The ultimate goal is to weaken the church, stop its growth, and keep the Gospel from going forth.
But hallelujah! More and more eyes are being opened to the freedom that comes with the revelation of grace! We’re no longer making bricks to build structures and systems for the kingdom of this world, but instead we’ve become living stones of the kingdom of heaven. Now we labor more abundantly than them all, but not us – the GRACE of God in us!5
(from pages 213-215 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2Galatians 4:21-31
3Exodus 4, 14
4Exodus 6:2-5
51 Corinthians 15:10″
