In Exodus 5, Israel learns that everyone serves someone—and that the wrong master only multiplies burdens. Pharaoh’s command to “get back to your burdens” exposes the cruelty of false masters who demand more and give nothing. But Jesus, the greater Master, stands before the weary and says, “Come to me… and I will give you rest.” This sermon traces the contrast between Pharaoh’s yoke and Christ’s, showing that true freedom is not found in autonomy but in serving the gentle and lowly Lord whose service becomes our rest.

In one of the strangest and most debated stories in Scripture, God meets Moses on the road to Egypt—not to bless him, but to kill him. In Exodus 4:18–26, we see both the terrifying wrath and the steadfast love of God collide in one moment of blood and mercy. Moses, the chosen deliverer, had neglected the covenant sign; and yet through the blood of his son, the wrath of God was turned away. This strange encounter is not a detour from the gospel—it reveals it. In the blood that spared Moses, we glimpse the blood that would one day save us all: the Son cut off so that we might live.

The whole Bible points to Jesus, and in this story of Moses receiving three signs from Yahweh, we get to witness not merely parallels to Jesus' story but rather the establishment of a pattern which Jesus would fulfill perfectly. Moses is chosen to be the shepherd-messenger, and one thousand years later, Jesus would be the Good Shepherd. Moses brought a message of being freed from slavery to Egypt, while Jesus brought a message of being freed from sin. Moses was given three signs to help the Israelites believe his message, but these three signs were not magic tricks; they were signs of transformation and hope, pointing to the hope we have in Christ, who became sin in our place and was struck that we might be spared.