Echoes of Exodus

This was a very though-out book! The author’s found many Types of men who were types of Moses’, because they were leaders who God called out to lead His people over a difficult time period and through difficult circumstances.
God saved Moses and the Israelite people from Pharaoh’s wrath, God sent plagues on the Egyptians to deliver the Israelites from bondage and He destroyed Egypt’s gods. As the Israelites miraculously crossed over the Red Sea, they were miraculously delivered from Pharaoh.
The author’s describe a number of Exodus’-like journeys, the second journey is when Joshua has to lead the Israelites into Canaan over the River Jordan. Israel has to circumcise her men, set up a memorial and celebrate Passover, just like the Israelites did before they crossed the Red Sea. Moses’ leadership is replaced by Joshua, who has to depend on God even more than Moses did.
You will enjoy reading the other Exodus parallels, you may even create some of your own!

First sentence: The exodus is central to the Scriptures, central to the gospel, and central to the Christian life. Whatever book of the Bible you are reading, and whichever Christian practices you are involved in, echoes of the exodus are in there somewhere.

In Echoes of Exodus, the authors argue that the themes of exodus--of deliverance--are to be found in every book of the Bible. The Bible tells a cohesive story of a God who saves, who rescues, who redeems, who restores, who fulfills, who blesses, who loves.

The approach they take to illustrating this is unique. It is a musical approach. They write,
"Scripture is music. We use musical metaphors all the time when we talk about the Scriptures, without even thinking about it. We might describe the Bible as a symphony or a love song. We might refer to the opening of Genesis as an overture or to Revelation as a finale. We might talk about the story being composed or perhaps orchestrated by God, with themes and rhythms and echoes running through it, all building to a crescendo. If we are handling some of the difficult sections, we might say that there is a clash here or a discordant note there, but that there is always, ultimately, a harmony within the Word of God, and therefore that we can expect things to resolve....A musical approach to Scripture encompasses a number of aspects, each of which can help us see Scripture in a fresh light. One, which we have already mentioned, involves the language of tension and resolution...The Bible has a clear storyline, a melody, a tune, and it can be summarized (or sung) by a small child. It also has a range of individual and corporate stories that run together, sometimes taking center stage, sometimes fading into the background, providing harmony and counterpoint, treble and bass, height and depth, in such a way that no single writer (or musician) could possibly represent it all."
The book begins with a discussion of Exodus, of Passover. The book then journeys on through the rest of the Bible going back to Genesis and finally concluding in Revelation.

I would definitely recommend this one! I found it very relevant. Like the authors I agree that modern society is confused about what freedom really is. So often we do focus on being delivered FROM something and never realize we are delivered for a purpose and by design. We are saved from slavery to sin so we can glorify God and enjoy HIM forever.

Newly published in 2018, Echoes of Exodus, gives readers a swift tour through the Bible to uncover many of its exodus events and motifs. The subtitle indicates that the purpose of Echoes of the Exodus is to help us in Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture. What you get in Echoes of Exodus is that and much more. The exodus theme is prominent in the Bible from beginning to end but we need a some help in seeing it. Usually when we hear the word “exodus” we think of that one great event recorded in the Book of Exodus.

Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson, both bloggers, speakers and capable writers give us in Echoes of Exodus practical insights into finding the exodus theme across the whole of Scripture, not just in the Book of Exodus. Another book with a similar title Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif by Bryan D. Estelle is almost 400 pages long. This study by Estelle confirms that the thread or theme of exodus is replete in Scripture. The value of this new book by Roberts and Wilson is that it is written with all readers – – from those seeking an overview to mentors looking for another Bible study resource. At 176 pages in length Echoes of Exodus can be used as a personal guide in reading the Bible or as a study guide in a small group setting.



Roberts and Wilson explain how vital the exodus thread is for understanding the Bible. Near the beginning they state that…



The exodus is central to the Scriptures, central to the gospel, and central to the Christian life. Whatever book of the Bible you are reading, and whichever Christian practices you are involved in, echoes of the exodus are in there somewhere.
(loc 44).



That focus made plain in Echoes of Exodus helps us see several important characteristics of the Bible.



The thread of the exodus helps us move away from a tendency to compartmentalize Scripture or to over-categories its narrative structures (such as is common to Dispensational theology).


By enjoying the exodus theme in both the Old Testament and New Testament we can see that these two chunks of Scripture have more in common than not. We can see how the key exodus threads in the OT run into and are amplified in the NT. We see sub-narratives throughout that add rich color and vibrancy to the key threads in the Bible’s meta-narrative. Getting these benefits will brighten your grasp of the Scripture’s meaning when it was written and its meaningfulness for us now.


The threads of the exodus in Scripture give us a greater appreciation for who Christ is in all of Scripture. Roberts and Wilson ably demonstrate how all these fascinating metaphors, motifs, events related to exodus create longing for the ultimate exodus in Christ. He brings us home.

This emphasis on tracing redemption theme in the exodus are not new. N. T. Wright has portrayed the exodus thread many times in his books and talks. Roberts and Wilson help us dig into Scripture for ourselves and find these gems in its opened pages. You will find that uncovering the exodus threads will be more than adding information on top of information you already know. The exodus is Scripture is deliberately placed throughout to bring us into revived life in Christ – individually and corporately. “The point is this: metaphors have great power to fashion the way we conceptualize things…” (loc 128).



For more information about Echoes of Exodus you can download a sample at the Amazon page or in whatever you use for reading. The publisher Crossway has an authors page and preview which includes an excerpt you can download. Recently one of the authors Alastair Roberts gave a helpful talk on 10 key ideas about the exodus theme we can find in the Bible.



Alastair J. Roberts (PhD, Durham University) is one of the participants in the Mere Fidelity podcast and a fellow of Scripture and theology with the Greystone Theological Institute. Roberts has a key role in teaching Davenant Institute. He will we leading in important discussions this Summer on Christian wisdom.



Andrew Wilson (PhD, King’s College London) is the teaching pastor at King’s Church London and a columnist for Christianity Today. He is the author of several books, including Unbreakable and The Life We Never Expected (with his wife, Rachel).

An exceptional look at biblical interpretation and its holistic integrity through the lens of the Exodus narrative. An indispensable and concise little book (surprising given that Alastair helped write it!!) that is a worthwhile addition to anyone's library, and a fantastic book to hand out to friends, family, or church members. Highly, highly recommended.

INTRODUCTION
My oldest son is four years old. As a four year old, he spends a few hours every day in school working through a few pages of his pre-k books, and recently he’s been learning about patterns. He’s learning to look back on the rhythms of the past to predict what will come next in the series as he fills in the blank spaces in his workbook. As a Christian dad, I love the fact that he’s learning about patterns so early because I want him to be able to rightly understand the Bible, a book filled with patterns and themes about creation and fall and redemption that grow and heighten throughout history as they find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ and his consummated kingdom.

SUMMARY
In Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture, Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson employ a musical reading of Scripture to demonstrate how Israel’s defining moment in their exodus from Egypt is part of a greater pattern of redemption for the people of God found throughout the entire Bible pointing to and culminating in Christ. The first movement focuses on the redemption of the people of God seen most clearly in Israel’s exodus from Egyptian bondage and deliverance to serve the LORD in the promised land. The second movement goes back in time to trace the themes of redemption through the book of Genesis while the third movement carries the song forward through the remainder of the Old Testament. The fourth and final movement captures the crescendo of the redemption theme by connecting full and final redemption for God’s people to Christ in his deliverance of us from the kingdom of sin and Satan into his eternal kingdom of light.

CRITICAL EVALUATION
The main thesis of the book that the “exodus is central to the Scriptures, central to the gospel, and central to the Christian life” is clearly proved (9). In the midst of an evil generation worthy of the judgment of God, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and was delivered through the watery wrath of God, just as Israel was delivered through crossing the Red Sea. The authors conclude, “Just as God remembered Israel and led them to a mountain where he gave them a new covenant, new laws, and ultimately rest, so God remembers Noah (8:1) and brings him safely to a mountain, where he receives a new covenant, new laws, and a place of rest” (59).

The same exodus parallels at the beginning of the Bible are also present at the end, which is why one needs less of prophecy charts and more of Exodus in order to understand Revelation. The book of Revelation “begins, like the story of Moses, with awe-inspiring visions of God (chaps. 1, 4) alongside promises of the rescue that will come at the end of the church’s sufferings (2-3). This rescue comes through a slain Lamb, like the Passover lamb, who appears in response to the cries of God’s people, ransoms them, and makes them kings and priests (5)” (154). The authors continue, “The people of Israel are sealed, so that they cannot be destroyed by the judgment coming on the world (7); those “coming out of the great tribulation” (like Egypt; Rev. 7:14) include people from every tribe and nation (like Israel), and they are guided by a shepherd (like Moses) to streams of living water and to serve God in his temple (like the exodus)” (154). This ending is fitting because it reveals to us that the Bible is a “redemption story”, “a cosmic exodus, stretching from Eden to the New Jerusalem” (155).

In the midst of this almost overwhelming whirlwind overview of the themes of redemption found on repeat throughout the Bible, the most helpful contribution of this book is the way that it seeks to ground Christians in the redemptive story of the Bible. The Bible is not a book of systematic theology or merely a Christian reference book. “We are to read about the exodus like we might read about the D-day landings: as a defining history that explains who we are. The exodus is our family story” (10). And as exodus people, being free from sin to serve God in Christ shapes how we live.

“Exodus people know what it is to be ground into the dust by those with power. So whenever we see it happening to others—racial minorities, slaves, trafficked women, the poor, unborn children, refugees, the homeless, those with disabilities, sojourners, orphans, widows—we act….We use our power to serve the interests of those without it, because the exodus was never just for us. Free people free people. And of course, we tell this story” (162). As Christians, we are exodus people called to live in light of the cosmic exodus being fulfilled in Christ as we seek the redemption of people from every nation with the gospel of King Jesus.

CONCLUSION
Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture is another helpful biblical theology book that helps the bride of Christ understand the story into which we’ve been adopted through Christ, which roots us in the story of redemption that God has been telling since creation and shapes our lives in light of it. May this book help us grasp that we are exodus people, and may it help us live as people of redemption in a world in bondage to sin.

This is one of the best books I've read this year. The authors did an excellent job of explaining Biblical theology without using those words. I loved the way the used music to explain hermeneutics. I really enjoy reading and learning about the unity of Scripture, and this book had a lot of helpful things that I had never considered. The book was written very well, easy to understand, and the review/discussion questions after each chapter would be great for a small group or Bible study.

This book is excellent. Roberts and Wilson provide a solid biblical theology and the patterns found not just on the Exodus, but throughout Scripture. It resonates well with Biblical Theology lovers who are eager to find "hidden" patterns from Old Testament all the way to the New, especially as fulfilled by Christ. There is a lot in the book which is original or seldom mentioned in the literature, but also a lot which is classic in biblical theology. Overall, the reader won't be disappointed yet will be let wanting for a treatment on subsequent books of the Pentateuch and their relationship with the rest of Scripture. This book, although it is primarily a Biblical Theology treatment, ties to systematic formulations, especially as found in the Protestant tradition. Hope to see more from Roberts and Wilson in the near future.