Christmas and... The Exodus?

By Ilcias Vargas, Jr.​

I am currently reading through the book of Exodus.  With the Christmas season upon us, I asked myself, “What do the Exodus story and the Christmas story have in common?”  Taking these stories into consideration, one can find that they actually have quite a bit in common: the oppressive acts of power-hungry rulers, the longing for liberation, and the miraculous deliverance of babies, to name a few.  Christmas is observed by Christians as a remembrance of God’s gift in sending His Son as a baby.  Of course, this purpose is often lost sight of in the busyness and excitement of the holiday season.  Yet just as the children of Israel were to remember their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, we should also be sure to remember what God has done to save us from the slavery of sin.

​The deliverance of the children of Israel was the work of God’s almighty hand.  Moses had tried to bring about such a deliverance in his own human attempts, but his plans came to naught (Acts 7:22-25).  The work of liberating the enslaved Israelite nation could only be accomplished by God’s power—in the end, all the credit went to God.  Before the tenth plague that fell upon Egypt, God told Moses, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations…” (Exodus 12:14).  The Hebrew people were to always remember what God had done for them.  They were to remember that they owed their freedom and blessings to the God of Heaven, who had delivered them from bondage in Egypt.

“We should never forget the price that was paid for our salvation.”

​We, like the children of Israel, have been delivered by the hand of God.  Thousands of years ago, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God had foreseen the crisis that was to break upon the world, and “made provision to meet the terrible emergency.  So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’” (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22).  Because Jesus came and was born in Bethlehem; because He never listened to Satan’s destructive lies; because He died, rose again, and came forth the Victor over death; we can have life.  We are told that “it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  In the end, the credit goes to God.  Like the children of Israel, we should always remember that we have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).  We should never forget the price that was paid for our salvation.
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This Christmas, let us not lose sight of the Reason for the Season.  Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, remembering what He has done for us through His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection.  In word, deed, and song, let us bring glory to the One Who has delivered us as He delivered the Hebrew people so many years ago.