So now, we continue our march through the Scriptures to determine if these assertions about exile and exodus and the attendant theme of rescue from foreign subjugation( that is inherent in the idea of exodus) truly does play out at the level which makes it a (if not the) dominating theme of the Word of God, as through it, God reveals His plans and purposes for the world of His creation. As was previously said, we find these things, once we are looking for them as part of the wider context and narrative, with rapidity and regularity.
Venturing forth from the books of Moses, we encounter Rahab, who, though living in Jericho amongst her people, is truly in exile from that for which God had purposed her. Without re-tracing the entirety of her story, we find that upon the fall of the city, her and her family are spared. Prior to God’s intervention on her behalf through her “encounter” with the Israelite spies, she stood under the same sentence of condemnation as did the rest of Jericho. Exile from life was the end which had been apportioned for her. The gracious and promised sparing of her and her family represent their exodus into the covenant community of the people of God. Rahab and her family experience redemption and salvation, which are congruent terms to exodus and deliverance from exile.
When we encounter Achan and read about his sin, God makes it a point to speak of Israel, saying “they have violated My covenantal commandment” (Joshua 7:11). Israel had just been victorious over the great city of Jericho, but had been routed and defeated by the small city of Ai. Thoughts of foreign subjugation probably began to seep into Israel’s collective consciousness. Perhaps their God was not powerful enough to do all that had been promised to them? Perhaps the victory at Jericho was a fluke? Israel, in violation of the covenantal commandment in relation to what was to be done with Jericho in its entirety, once again, though in the land, found themselves in exile from God’s promise to subdue the whole of the land before them. Israel had been tasked by God to purge the land of evil, yet Achan was seizing upon that which God had said was to be devoted to destruction. Once the evil had been purged from their midst, exodus into the victorious carrying out of God’s purposes to purge wickedness and evil from the land was resumed, and this temporary re-exile was reversed.
When Joshua designates the cities of refuge, according to the command that had been given by God through Moses, we are presented with a picture of exile and exodus. When the person that was guilty of manslaughter fled to the city of refuge, he would be in a state of self-imposed and unfortunate exile. Provisions, however, were made for his eventual exodus, so that he “may return home to the city from which he escaped” (20:6b).
Once we reach the book of Judges, we encounter exile and exodus as a particularly significant theme. The exile of foreign subjugation and oppression would come when “The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals” (2:11), and when “They abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors Who brought them out of the land of Egypt” (2:12a). The exile would take the form of the Lord handing Israel “over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them” (2:14b). In this situation, “Whenever they went out to fight, the Lord did them harm, just as He had warned and solemnly vowed He would do” (2:15a). Through the monotonous cycle of these repetitive exiles, “They suffered greatly” (2:15b). However, exodus would never be far away, as “The Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers… When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive” (2:16,18a). This was because “The Lord felt sorry for them,” in their state of exile, “when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them” (2:18b), much like Israel groaned under the oppression of Egypt in a previous state of exile that found them in need of an exodus. Unfortunately, what we also learn is that “When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one” (2:19a), which would serve to return them to exilic status.
So in moving through the book of Judges, we find Israel, as they “did evil in the Lord’s sight” (3:7b), given over to the subjugation of Aram-Naharaim, and their king, Cushan-Rishathaim, for a period of eight years. God provided exodus under the leadership of a man named Othniel, whom “The Lord’s Spirit empowered” (3:10a). This was done “When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord,” and, as we notice the specific language designed to recall the exodus from Egypt under Moses, “He raised up a deliverer for the Israelites who rescued them” (3:9). Following that deliverance, “The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,” so “The Lord gave King Eglon of Moab control over Israel” (3:12a). Exile had come again. However, “When the Israelites cried out for help to the Lord, He raised up a deliverer for them. His name was Ehud” (3:15a). Through and under Ehud, exile was overcome by exodus.
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