Deep Dive into The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments by Thomas R. Schreiner - Exodus

The book of Exodus narrates the initial fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, where God began to realize His promises of numerous offspring, land, and worldwide blessing. This deliverance from Egypt served as the "Exodus paradigm," a theological model establishing that redemption precedes obligation and guaranteeing God’s future will to save.

At Sinai, God established the Mosaic covenant. Unlike the unconditional Abrahamic guarantee, which relied solely on God’s faithfulness, the Mosaic covenant was conditional. It functioned like a suzerain-vassal treaty where Israel’s status as a "kingdom of priests" depended on their obedience to the Ten Commandments. However, the immediate rebellion of the golden calf revealed the internal defect of this arrangement: external laws could not transform the human heart. When the people shattered the conditional Mosaic covenant, Moses interceded by invoking the unconditional Abrahamic promise, effectively using the "trust fund" of the patriarchs to save the nation from the broken "employment contract" of Sinai.

To resolve the tension between His desire to be near His people and the danger His terrifying holiness posed to them, God ordained the construction of the tabernacle. Designed as a microcosm of creation and a restoration of Eden, the tabernacle provided a protected space for divine fellowship. Through graded levels of access and the mechanism of substitutionary atonement, it guarded the perfection of the divine presence from human corruption.

Ultimately, these narratives foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ. As the true Passover Lamb and the faithful Priest-King, Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. He effects a "new exodus" that liberates God's people from the slavery of sin and establishes a new covenant, culminating in a reality where God dwells eternally with His people without the need for a physical temple.

Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologian

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