The exodus. Other than Jesus’s death and resurrection, it is arguably the most famous story in the Bible, helped by Paramount’s Ten Commandments (1956) and DreamWorks’ Prince of Egypt (1998). Roberts and Wilson call it, “the clearest example of a recurring, time-condensing, rhythmic, melodic theme in the entire Bible—one that illuminates the opening pages of Genesis and the closing pages of Revelation, the whole history of Israel, the Gospels, the Letters, the Christian life, and of course the death and resurrection of Jesus.”[1] Without doubt, the exodus is the quintessential pattern of redemption in the Old Testament—its echoes reverberate everywhere. And yet, have you ever asked how the promise of redemption in Genesis 3:15 fits into that pattern? Is it possible that the exodus itself echoes God’s promise from the garden?
King Tut Cover Photo by Sergiy Galyonkin, licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0.
In this brief article, I will argue that the answer is Yes.[2] The seed of redemption was indeed planted in the garden. The exodus echoes the garden promise in at least three ways: (1) problem and preview, (2) paradigm and plagues, and (3) Passover and pursuit.
1. Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson, Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption through Scripture (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 27.
2. John Currid agrees: “The remainder of Scripture is an unfolding of the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. Redemption is promised in this one verse, and the Bible traces the development of that redemptive theme. The place of the book of Exodus in the seed conflict is crucial” (John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Exodus, 2 vols. [Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2001], 1:20).
Problem and Preview (Exodus 1–4)
The book of Exodus opens with the Israelites oppressed and enslaved. Yet, perhaps forgotten by them but not by a reader of Genesis, God is about to fulfill the promise he made to Abraham in Genesis 15:13–16, that he would bring back his descendants from the land in which they would be oppressed for centuries. In that time, God has continued to keep covenant and bless his people as Exodus 1:7 demonstrates, echoing the “fruitful and multiply” language from Genesis (Gen. 1:28; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 17:20; 28:3; 35:11; 47:27; 48:4). But there is a problem: Pharaoh sets himself against God’s multiplying blessing (Exod 1:10, “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply”). This serpentine craftiness is amplified as he commands the death of the male offspring of God’s people (Exod. 1:15–22). It is not without reason that Ezekiel would call Pharaoh king of Egypt “a dragon [i.e., serpent] in the seas” (Ezek. 32:2).[3] If Pharaoh’s infanticide succeeded, not only would the nation of Israel be devoured, but the line of Abraham, through whom the promised snake-crusher was to arise, would be swallowed up too.[4] This pharaonic embodiment of the serpent must be crushed before he devours the hope of God’s people, and because God always keeps his promises, we anticipate a great reversal.
3. Why a dragon? Naselli explains, “As a general rule, the form a serpent takes depends on its strategy. When a serpent in Scripture attempts to deceive, it’s a snake. When a serpent attempts to devour, it’s a dragon. Snakes deceive; dragons devour” (Andrew David Naselli, The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer, Short Studies in Biblical Theology [Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020], 18, italics added).
4. James M. Hamilton Jr., “The Seed of the Woman and The Blessing of Abraham,” TynB 58.2 (2007): 253–73; see also T. Desmond Alexander, “Genealogies, Seed, and The Compositional Unity of Genesis,” TynB 44.2 (1993): 255–70
God previews three aspects of the forthcoming redemption in the commissioning of Moses: (1) the goal, (2) the signs, and (3) the final means. First, the goal of the exodus is redemption. The seed(s) of the serpent in Genesis 4–11 (e.g., Cain, Lamech, Babel) aim at self-exaltation at the expense of others and/or in rejection of God. Though the Israelites are enslaved as cogs in Pharaoh’s City-of-Man machine (cf. Gen. 11:1–9), the Lord will bring them out with a mighty hand to a promised garden-like land (Exod. 3:8 cf. Deut. 8:7–9). This garden-like land will become home to the garden-like sanctuary of the tabernacle (Exod. 25).[5] God does not plan to quickly dispatch Pharaoh because he aims to magnify his name in all the earth (Exod. 9:15–16), which is why he hardens Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 3:19–20; 4:21). Pharaoh’s City-of-Man project is about to—unwittingly—make Yahweh’s name great. Just as the created serpent will not outwit God (Gen. 3:1), so too the created Pharaoh is no match for his Creator.
5. See T. Desmond Alexander, From Eden to the New Jerusalem: Exploring God’s Plan for Life on Earth (Nottingham: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 20–42.
Second, in Exodus 4:1–9, the Lord enables Moses to perform three signs so that people will believe that the Lord really sent him. One of those signs involves the staff of God turning into a snake (Exod. 4:2–4, 20), but, other than the miraculous nature of this sign, we have to wait to see what it signifies (Exod 7:8–13 [see below]). Third, the Lord explains to Moses that Pharaoh won’t let the people go until the tenth plague, the killing of firstborn sons (and this is by God’s design). He says, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold I will kill your firstborn son’” (Exod 4:22–23). Here, God describes Israel as a corporate Adam (another echo of Eden), whom Luke calls the son of God (Luke 3:38 cf. Gen. 5:1–3). Thus, when God previews the coming redemption over this draconian despot, he makes clear it will come by the death of the seed of the serpent.
Paradigm and Plagues (Exodus 5–10)
Positioned as a prologue to the plagues, the serpent sign in Pharaoh’s court in Exodus 7:8–13 “is critical for our understanding . . . because it is a paradigm of the plague narratives.”[6] In other words, what the throne room scene symbolizes the plague narrative televises. Therefore, I will focus our attention on Exodus 7:8–13 in this section. To grasp the import of this text, we need to understand its symbolic ancient Egyptian context.
6. John D. Currid, “The Egyptian Setting of the ‘Serpent’: Confrontation in Exodus 7,8–13,” BZ 39.2 (1995): 205; see also Currid, Exodus, 1:159–60.
Let’s focus upon the ancient Egyptian background of the staff and snake. First, the staff. Renowned OT scholar and archaeologist, John Currid explains,
The staff of Pharaoh in ancient Egypt was emblematic of royalty, power, and authority. The rod as a symbol of Pharaonic sovereignty began at the coronation of the king, when the crook was placed in his hand. Pyramid Texts 196–203 describe that scene of enthronement . . . The crook became one of the most significant characteristics of Osiris beginning in the Late Predynastic period and continuing throughout the dynastic ages. Osiris, of course, rose to the level of universal deity in Egypt. He was king of the underworld and conqueror of death, and he embodied the Egyptian conception of kingship . . . Pharaohs carried the shepherd’s crook and the flagellum as emblems of their identification with Osiris and their having received his authority and power.[7]
7. Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 114–16. For greater explanation, see pp. 111–19 of this work.
When Moses and Aaron enter into Pharaoh’s court, to an Egyptian they bear a symbol of an alternative and rival authority—the staff of Yahweh. This rod/staff is no comfort to Pharaoh (Ps. 23:4)!
Second, the snake. Have you ever wondered why the pharaonic crown features a serpent? No, it was not because Pharaoh is the Heir of Slytherin, nor because of that scene from Indiana Jones. Instead, Duane Garrett explains,
The cobra . . . was a potent religious and national symbol [for ancient Egypt]. Several deities had snake form, including Renenutet, a cobra-goddess who was the guardian of the pharaoh, and Edjo (Wadjyt), a cobra-goddess who was the patron deity of Lower Egypt (where the Israelites lived). Usually depicted as a rearing cobra, the uraeus, Edjo famously appears on the pharaonic crown alongside Nekhbet, the vulture goddess and patron deity of Upper Egypt. YHWH has therefore co-opted a major symbol of the power of Egypt and of the pharaoh personally. The spiritual guardians that Pharaoh thinks he can depend upon are actually under the direct control of YHWH.[8]
8. Duane A Garrett, A Commentary on Exodus, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2014), 275, italics added. In p275n11, Garrett adds, “If Pharaoh had been Chinese, the miracle would have involved a Chinese dragon; or if American, it would have involved a bald eagle.
When Aaron casts down the staff and it becomes a serpent, the power and protection of Egypt are called into question. The showdown between the staffs-become-serpents pits God’s authority against the gods of Egypt. When Aaron’s serpent swallows (Exod. 7:12, bāla‘) the Egyptian serpents, it symbolizes the destruction of “the authority and power that those rods symbolized.”[9] The symbolism reveals that all authority ultimately belongs to Yahweh. “He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Dan. 4:35). The serpent-king is no match for our Creator and Redeemer, and the rest of the plagues, Passover, and pursuit broadcast this.
9. Currid, Exodus, 1:172.
Passover and Pursuit (Exodus 11–15)
The culmination of Yahweh’s crushing defeat of the serpent-king arrives with the fulfillment of two earlier passages (Exod. 4:21–23; Exod. 7:8–13). First, the Lord God keeps his promise to Moses that their redemption would come with the death of the seed of the serpent: “Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. . . . But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel” (Exod. 11:5, 7). How are God’s people delivered from such destruction? Well, the seed of the serpent are characterized by unbelief and an attitude that says, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice . . .?” (Exod. 5:2). God’s people, on the other hand, are delivered by actively trusting in God’s promise. They need not fear God’s imminent judgment, because a spotless male lamb died as a substitute. The Passover is a pointer to the reality that God’s ultimate victory over the seed of the serpent will include a blameless male substitute sacrifice—the Lamblike Servant (John 19:31–37).
Second, the symbolism of Exodus 7:8–13 is realized and experienced in the defeat of Pharaoh’s host at the sea. In Exodus 14:26–28, we read of how the Lord crushed Pharaoh’s army, deluging the dragon. When Moses leads the people in song praising Yahweh’s victory, they sing, “Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy . . . You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters . . . You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed (bāla‘) them” (Exod. 15:6, 10–12). The shattering blow with which the Lord crushes the army of the serpent-king is when he causes the earth to swallow them up, just as his serpent-staff had swallowed theirs.[10]
10. Exodus 7:12 and 15:12 are the only passages in Exodus that use the verb “swallow” (bāla‘). Thus, Morales writes, “It is quite likely . . . that the divine demonstration of Aaron’s staff threatened Pharaoh with being swallowed up by chaos, a foreshadowing of the demise of his hosts in the sea” (L. Michael Morales, Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology 2 [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020], 59).
Conclusion
I conclude, therefore, that the exodus itself echoes God’s promise from the garden. The exodus deepens that promise with the addition of satisfaction through substitution—the Passover lamb dies in the place of the firstborn. In the climactic fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, the serpent is defeated by such lamblike substitution. John paints this picture in Revelation 12, where the Lamb, Jesus Christ, conquers the dragon (“that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” [Rev 12:9]) by the blood of his substitutionary death! This is the substance to which every knight versus dragon story points—Jesus kills the dragon and saves his Bride, the Church.[11] Hallelujah, what a Savior!
