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Introduction Even before His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus had perfectly fulfilled the Old Covenant, down to the smallest detail. This had the effect of bridging the gap for His people to now enter the New Covenant Kingdom of God. This Kingdom will eventually be fully realized one day at the second coming of Jesus. But that is in the future. We are in the “now”. And this means we are in between the inauguration of the Kingdom of God at the first coming of Jesus, and its consummation, or full-on arrival date at His second coming. Put another way, when Jesus came to earth He initiated the “True Exodus” for the true people of God. It was unlike the first Exodus in that the land of slavery is sin, and the promised land is heaven. The whole sphere of things is spiritual, with clear connections and ripple effects in the physical. However, as Romans 8 clearly teaches, both creation and our bodies – the physical elements which are affected by the spiritual - are groaning for the day of final redemption. That will be a day when everything completes the greatest Exodus from sin. Like the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night leading Israel out of Egypt through the Read Sea, Jesus Christ has already led the church, the true Israel, out of spiritual Egypt through the cross and empty tomb. In a sense, the church is still trailing behind Christ, crossing the Red Sea on the safe, dry ground of an immutable adoption by the Father. We’ve been born again, out of slavery and into sonship. The train of saints traveling this path will continue until the last soul has crossed to the other side. Then the end will come, when Christ comes with His angels to bring the kingdom to earth and end, once and for all, every trace of sin in His universe.

The “Already-Not Yet” Kingdom of God Our Exodus will be complete on that day. But until then, Jesus teaches us that we are to patiently maintain this mindset of “already-not yet.” This state of eschatological limbo accounts for so much of the confusion and frustration we experience on this earth. The deeper we feel this, the deeper we know that the kingdom is still future. Even though Jesus already brought His Kingdom to earth, sin is still in the DNA of everything around us, posing constant opposition to the Kingdom. We feel it and it pains us to the very core. It is the pain of the “not yet” Kingdom of God.

Introduction:

The Lord’s Prayer as a Biblical Theology for the True Exodus Community

Church in the Boro, Rob Wilkerson

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However, Jesus has promised that His Kingdom will prevail, and that not even the gates of hell itself can stop the expansion into the kingdom of darkness. And that is precisely the life of the son and daughter of God until Jesus finally consummates the Kingdom. We live as super-conquerors prevailing with a promise against the sin and corruption in creation, as well as against the very gates of hell itself. Simply put, we cannot lose. It is impossible that the Kingdom of Jesus can fail. He wants us then to pray as saints living in between the inauguration of the Kingdom and its full-on arrival. This is the joy of the “already” Kingdom of God.

“The New Testament still looks forward to a consummation yet to come, but it regards this event as being guaranteed by the fulfillment that has already happened in Jesus Christ. As Cullman has put it, in New Testament thought, ‘the decisive turn of events has already occurred in Christ,’ and ‘the future expectation is founded in faith in the “already”.’”1

This then is the background to the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. It is a prayer that was designed by Jesus Himself, “to encapsulate and celebrate, in the presence of God, the liberation that had already begun to take place and that had yet to be completed.”2 The Lord’s Prayer then is a razor’s edge prayer, which intimately and intricately guides us through the already-not yet.

True Exodus Theology: The First Exodus as the Background for the Lord’s Prayer A more careful look at the Lord’s Prayer will show us that the liberation or Exodus of Israel from Egypt indisputably serves as the background for the prayer Jesus teaches His disciples, as well as the foreshadow of entire Sermon on the Mount, if not the entire opening era of Jesus’ ministry. They may or may not have understood the allusions and made the necessary connections. Regardless, the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus as well as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit means we do understand these things today (Luke 24:27, 44-49). We should therefore make the necessary connections, because they build the foundation for properly understanding this prayer the way a Second Temple Jew would have understood it then, but more importantly the way a True Exodus Community member should perceive it today. The overarching comparison between the Exodus and the Lord’s Prayer is very gripping. Jesus is greater than Moses (Heb. 3), and has led His people out of the greatest Egypt, through the greatest Red Sea. The people He now addresses in the Sermon on the Mount have come out of the wilderness testing successfully through Him as their substitute (Heb. 4:15-16). Israel wandered for 40 years in the Sinai desert. Jesus was led by the Spirit for 40 days in the Israeli

1 Daniel Fuller, The Unity of the Bible: Unfolding God’s Plan for Humanity (Grand Rapids:

Zondervan, 1992), p. 408.

2 N. T Wright, ”The Lord’s Prayer as a Paradigm of Christian Prayer” in Into God’s Presence: Prayer in the

New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 2001), p. 140.

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wilderness. Israel wandered as a result of their unbelief. They had fallen to temptation to disbelieve God. But Jesus wandered to fulfill all belief. He conquered temptation and believed God. They failed. He conquered. And He did it all for them, to bring them into His rest, His family, and His promised land. When He comes to choose and teach His disciples now, He comes to them as a people already delivered, already victorious, already conquering, already faithful, already trusting, because they are already sons. He has done it for them, on their behalf. The first Exodus initiated the Old Covenant which put the people in a position to obey and be blessed or to disobey and be cursed. The True Exodus initiated the New Covenant which put the curse for disobedience on Jesus Christ, and the blessings for perfect obedience on the saints. They are now eternally secure in the very same Father-Son relationship enjoyed by Jesus and His heavenly Father, one which cannot be shaken or broken. This True Exodus theology is crucial therefore, to a proper understanding the Lord’s Prayer. Misunderstanding or neglecting it leads saints to pray as servants instead of sons. We will pray actually wondering whether God will really do what we are asking Him to do. But when we fully grasp the reality of this True Exodus and the New Covenant it initiated, we pray as sons of God, fully immersed in His Kingdom, already aligned with His will and purposes, and guaranteed to receive the inheritance of the Kingdom. This means we pray with certainty and enjoyment, not wishful wondering and doubting. A True Exodus reality changes the entire atmosphere of the Lord’s Prayer. As we pray it, we inhale promise and surety, and we exhale a faith that counts us righteous. What follows below is an attempt to consider the connections between the first and second Exodus in the Lord’s Prayer. My thoughts attempt to take into account several key features alluded to before.

The first Exodus as the theological and national background for the Sermon on the Mount and therefore the Lord’s Prayer.

The second Exodus as the new reality in which theological beliefs and national, as well as international, hopes actually lie now.

The True Exodus as the inauguration of the Kingdom which is already here, but not yet consummated.

The certainty and enjoyment in which New Covenant people live as a result of the True Exodus.

The acknowledgment that while we seek first the kingdom of God we will suffer and sin.

The understanding and practice of prayer as Jesus taught based on all the above.

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The wider New Testament teaching on this True Exodus theology, particularly as it relates to each of the components of the Lord’s Prayer.

What I want to propose about all of this will reshape how we think about the Lord’s Prayer, and therefore how we pray it. It will become fairly obvious that the prayer reflects a mindset rather than a formula. It is Jesus’ own systematic theology of the True Exodus. On the one hand this means that we should arrange our own thinking and praying around His leadership here. On the other hand, He’s not teaching us to memorize and mindlessly repeat the wording of this prayer. He wants the truth and theology behind it and throughout it to teach us to think like sons of the Kingdom, which in turn helps us talk to the Father as sons, which in turn helps us accomplish the Father’s purposes. The Lord’s Prayer therefore, is a radical realignment of theology and prayer, especially for twenty-first century, westerners whose prayers always seem to begin with us, our needs, and our desires. I gladly confess that this truth has decimated my own prayer life, because it reflected an “Our Father, in heaven…my kingdom come and my will be done on earth” mentality, though all the while I was so utterly convinced that I was all about the kingdom of God and His will on earth. In response to my confession, the Holy Spirit is rebuilding my prayer life as member of the True Exodus community of New Covenant people. May the proposal I offer help us to actually understand what it means to truly seek His Kingdom and righteousness first. I will begin first by simply giving an overview in table form of the Exodus era compared to the Sermon on the Mount. As illustrated above, I see it as a ripple effect of the first Exodus era. Then, I will follow this with a summary look at the closer relationship to the Lord’s Prayer.

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A Comparative Overview of the Old Covenant and New Covenant Exoduses

Old Covenant New Covenant

Exodus 2:1-10

Divine protection and preparation for Moses as

deliverer of Israel

Matthew 2

Compare 2:15 w/ Hosea 11:1

Divine protection and preparation for Jesus as Ultimate

Deliverer of Israel

Exodus 1:1-10 Compare with Genesis

15:13-14

The people of Israel exiled in Egypt for 400 years

Matthew 2:15, 18

Jesus’ substitutionary participation in the Egyptian exile

Exodus 7-12

Old Covenant gathering of Israel preceded with signs & wonders in the plagues and

Red Sea Crossing

Matthew 4:23-25

New Covenant gathering of Israel preceded with signs and wonders

in the healing of the sick, deliverance from demons, and

preaching of the Kingdom

Exodus 19:3-6

Old Covenant Prologue Matthew 5:13-16

New Covenant Epilogue

Exodus 20

Ten Commandments Matthew

5:1-12 Nine Beatitudes

Exodus 21-22

Old Covenant Law Matthew

5 New Covenant Law

Deuteronomy 28

Promise Obey and I will bless you; disobey and I will curse you.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Ezekiel

36:26-27

Promise I will cause you to walk in my

ways and obey my laws. All the curses for disobedience have already been put on Christ.

Worship of God in the

Tabernacle and Temple

Worship of God in the New Temple, the Body of Christ

Final Destination:

Jerusalem at Mt. Zion

Final Destination: The New Jerusalem

in heaven

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A True Exodus Theology of the Lord’s Prayer

The True Exodus Prayer: “Our Father…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 4:22-23; Hosea 11:1 Our Father is the God who rescues Israel precisely because Israel is God’s firstborn son (Hos. 11:1). However, that relationship was largely experienced in terms of a servant relationship (Isa. 41:8). Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment of this relationship. In Christ Jesus, our Father has rescued His only Son (Psa. 16:10; Acts 2:27), so that all who come to Him experience their relationship in terms of a son (John 1:12). Though we stumble and suffer now, this is no red flag that God has somehow forgotten about us. Instead, our Father will talk to us and discipline us as sons (Heb. 12:3-11). Today, we live as a people who are unswervingly convinced that nothing can separate us from the Father’s love (Rom. 8:35-39). “Jesus spoke with God as a child speaks with his father, simply, intimately, securely, childlike in manner.”3

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us that our very approach to communicating with God begins

with the unalterable assurance of our eternally unchanging relationship to God as His favored, beloved, and adopted sons and daughters.

The True Exodus Prayer: “…Who is in heaven…” The First Exodus Shadow: Isaiah 63:10 – 64:12 Recalling the “days of old” when Moses and Israel were wandering in the wilderness, the prophet Isaiah writes that these were days of rebellion and grieving the Holy Spirit. All along it was He, the Holy Spirit, who had led them, to make a glorious name for the Lord (63:10-14). Now, once again, Israel finds themselves wandering in a new wilderness, via their exile in Assyria and Babylon. And the prophet Isaiah wonders when God will “Look down from heaven, from your holy and beautiful habitation” (63:15), to lead His people once again, just as He did in the days of old. It is in the context of exile and new exodus that the prophet addresses God as, “our Father” (63:16), whom he prays will “rend the heavens and come down” (64:1), in order that they would be released from their sins and saved (64:5-6), and that “the nations might tremble at your presence!” (64:2). In so doing, God’s name will be vindicated or hallowed. Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment that “our Father who is in heaven” has sent His Son Jesus Christ to bring about the final exodus from the wilderness of sin , so that His people, the church, may be the place where He makes a glorious name for Himself, and thereby makes the nations tremble at His presence. This comes from a heavenly

3 Joachim Jeremias, The Lord’s Prayer, p. 34. Digital edition:

http://www.peacechurchrochester.org/Adult20 Confirmation/The%20Lords%20Prayer%20-%20Jeremias.pdf.

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wisdom which is not of this age (1 Cor. 2:6-9, quoting Isa. 64:4), but is almost incomprehensible as it unfolds the “bigger picture” of the plan of God for the people of God (Eph. 3). And it will continue to be unfolded as the gospel of the kingdom of heaven is proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to the nations (Matt. 24:14). Though we suffer and stumble now, God’s mission from heaven in the person and work of Jesus Christ will continue to go forth unimpeded so that all the nations of the earth will ultimately find their rest in Him (Matt. 13:31-32). Until that final day comes, we live now as a people committed to the heavenly mission, “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations…” (Luke 24:47).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us to look to heaven as His throne from where Jesus rules at

the right hand of the Father. It is a throne where salvation and forgiveness from sins flows freely to the nations. And His message is also His mission.

The True Exodus Prayer: “…hallowed be your name…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 3:13-15; 32:11-14 The revelation of the name of YHWH to Moses was the spearhead leading Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt (Exod. 3:13-15) and later to forgive Israel’s sins with the golden calf (Exod. 32:11-14). God wanted Israel to learn that His reputation among the nations of the earth was inseparably linked with them as His people, and this necessarily included the final outcome of His fulfilled promises to them. He was a God who wished death to Himself if He did not fulfill His covenant to them (Gen. 15:9-10, 17-21). As a God who could not lie, the fulfillment of this promise meant not only deliverance from Egypt and into a promised land, but also from sin and rebellion and into a heavenly family (Heb. 6:13-20). It is in the midst of the first exodus that YHWH showed His salvation to be accomplished in two primary ways: first, by mighty miracles, signs and wonders (Exod. 3:20; 4:1-9), not the least of which included the ten plagues of judgment on Egypt (Exod. 7-12), and the parting of the Red Sea to accomplish Israel’s escape (Exod. 14), the leading of Israel by wonders in the day and night skies (Exod. 13:21-22), and the miraculous provisions for His people in the wilderness (Exod. 15:22-27; 16; 17:1-7); and, second by gathering His new nation of people into the promised land. Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment of this fulfillment of God’s reputation (Heb. 6:19-20; 9:15). In fulfillment of the two primary arms of salvation in the first exodus, Jesus began His ministry of the True Exodus with miracles, signs and wonders, including healing, deliverance from demons, raising the dead, and miraculous provisions (Matt. 15:32-38; Mark 5:30-44). But the greatest miracle paralleled the Red Sea and completed the salvation of His people from sin, and vindicated His deity, and this was Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Afterward, He gathered His True Covenant community from all over the world into a people called the church. Thus, it was with these same two arms of salvation that the early church began and continued Jesus’ mission with the same understanding and approach (Acts

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4:23-31; 5:12-16; 15:12-17). And though we stumble now, and suffer as did Jesus and His first disciples, He has already guaranteed our ultimate deliverance because His reputation is inseparable from it. People from every people group and language will be gathered into the church (Rev. 5:9-10). Therefore, we pray asking God to continue to vindicate Himself among the nations in miracles, signs and wonders through us, and especially in the bold preaching of the kingdom of God in the gospel. As True Exodus people, we live as those who treat the name of YHWH manifested in Jesus Christ with the highest honor above anything else on the planet (1 Pet. 1:14-21).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us to root our hearts, minds, action and mission in the “I AM”,

Whose covenant Name makes and keep a promise to us, vindicating that name and promise among the nations through miracles, signs, wonders, and gospel-preaching. In praying like this, for this, and toward this, we are thereby blessing and sanctifying His character and reputation among the nations of the earth in our individual and corporate lives.

The True Exodus Prayer: “…Your kingdom come…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 7-14 The showdown between Moses and Pharaoh is the background to the showdown between God and Satan. The greater story is about which one is stronger. This necessarily means war. War is always fought in a series of battles. And the battles always claim casualties. Only the battles prior to the Exodus did not. While the war-victory had already been declared by God (Exod. 3:20), through the plagues there were ten battles waged against the Kingdom of Pharaoh (Exod. 7-11), and the various gods he worshiped. They were simply a foreshadow of the greater battles which would be fought by the saints, all in ear-shot of the war-victory cry (Revelation 4-19). The complete and utter rescue of every single Israelite from Egypt was a foreshadow of the complete and utter victory of every single saint in heaven. Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment of the triumph already obtained at the cross and empty tomb. Though we suffer and stumble now, His kingdom cannot not come. Now we live as a people who exercise the reign and rule of God with the power, authority, and gospel of King Jesus Christ (Col. 1:19-20; 1 Cor. 15:25). The universal reign of King Jesus on planet earth as prophesied in Isaiah 52:7-10 (against the backdrop of the Exodus), is fulfilled in the gospel of the kingdom (Rom. 10:14-20). In and through that message of the gospel of the kingdom, everything in heaven or earth, visible or invisible – including ad especially death - is reconciled to the reign of King Jesus (Eph. 1:19-23; Col. 1:15-20; 1 Cor. 15:24-26). They are reconciled both through the delegated and exercised control of the saints or the church (Matt. 16:18-29; 18:18-20), and through the King Himself (1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 19:11-20:15).

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Key: Jesus teaches us to pray and therefore boldly act in a way that realizes the “already”

presence of the Kingdom, while also asking Him to consummate it sooner, in realization of the “not yet” presence of the Kingdom. This is why we pray, “Maranatha!” or “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

The True Exodus Prayer: “…Your will be done…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 19 ff. The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was the inauguration of connecting heaven with earth. Moses mediated between both spheres so that laws and instructions in heaven could be delivered to and enacted upon earth. This looked forward to the Tabernacle, and then later the Temple, which was the consummate Old Covenant connection between heaven and earth, with priests mediating God’s will. They exercised this mediation through offering sacrifices on behalf of the people of Israel (Lev. 4:20, 26, 31; Heb. 8:4), interceding on their behalf to God (Lev. 9:22-24; Num. 6:22-27), inquiring of God on their behalf (Exod. 28:30), as well as through teaching the Law of God (Deut. 24:8; 33:10; 2 Chron. 35:3; Neh. 8:7). Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment that in Jesus Christ, God and man united as a mediator and connected heaven and earth (Heb. 7:26-27; 9:11-15). The Father has now made the Son the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). We pray to the Father just like Jesus did, “not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). What is more, the Spirit now mediates the will of God on earth through the church and the Word (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15). And even though we stumble and suffer, we are actually already caught up in His will and embraced by His loving plan (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:3-14).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us to ask for a fresh realization of His will and purposes so

that we can participate more purposefully and productively.

The True Exodus Prayer: “…on earth as it is in heaven.” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 36-40 The first Exodus era experienced the connection of heaven and earth through the tabernacle in the wilderness, and later through the temple in Jerusalem. In both constructions, God manifested His presence to them in the “shekinah” glory cloud, which descended from heaven. It covered the entire tabernacle in the wilderness (Exod. 40:34-38), and penetrated the entire interior of the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11). This “shekinah” glory was their only source of directive to move in the wilderness (Exod. 40:36-37), and their only measure of God’s favor in the kingdom (Ezek. 8-11). In the wilderness, when the glory cloud was lifted from the tabernacle, it was time to follow the cloud and move. In the kingdom, when the glory cloud was lifted from the temple, it was a sign of God’s coming judgment on Israel.

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Now, as a True Exodus community, earth and heaven have been united in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. He Himself is the connection between heaven and earth. But His first coming only inaugurated and initiated that connection. Today His glory remains with us and leads us to move throughout the nations (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8), proclaiming a coming judgment on the world from which they can be protected in the propitiation of Christ (Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:4-11, 16). Day by day we draw closer to that final day when both heaven and earth will be connected forever (Rev. 21). But until that day comes, the King accomplishes the connecting work of heaven and earth through His church (Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 1:15-20). We are now God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9). The church is His temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17), built with living stones (1 Pet. 2:4-5; Eph. 2:19-22), where God now dwells by His Spirit (Eph. 2:22).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches the church to more fully realize that right now their presence

is the connection of heaven and earth. Therefore, they pray because they need wisdom and insight to make that connection everywhere they go (Eph. 1:17-23; Col. 1:9-13), through their primary mission of making disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20).

The True Exodus Prayer: “Give us today our daily bread…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 16 Daily bread immediately connects us back to the manna and quail in the wilderness (Exod. 16). The servant-nation grumbled in disbelief, so soon after the Red Sea miracle. But God graciously answered His people corporately with heavenly bread from His own hand. Hundreds of years later, their descendants would do the same thing yet again. Only the second time, they asked Jesus for a sign after their bellies were filled with a miraculous supply of food, enough to feed five thousand men, from only five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6). The irony then is that God had once again given miraculously from His very own hand His very own Son, Who was the epitome of any and every need both physically, and especially spiritually. When the greatest miracle in history from the very hand of God is walking on earth, it is a sinful and spiritual adulterous generation who asks for a sign from God in order to believe Him (Matt. 12:39). Now, the True Exodus community prays with a certainty and enjoyment that Jesus Christ Himself is our true bread of life (John 6:35). As such, our daily needs are therefore spiritual, yet with ripple effects into the physical so that even those lesser needs are as certain to be met as the greater. Manna was not needed in Egypt (where they ate leftover meat parts, Exod. 16:3) nor in the Promised Land (where they ate milk and honey, Exod. 33:3). “Our daily bread” is the food of the “already-not yet”, pointing us to the truth that we are already in the True Exodus now, having been delivered from spiritual Egypt, even though not yet living in the promised land of heaven. This is why we need “daily bread” until we come to the true promised land in heaven. And even though we stumble and suffer, Jesus is our Shepherd and we will not lack anything (Psa. 23:1). God did not hold back His Son, and He will not therefore hold back

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anything else we need (Rom. 8:32). Our God will supply all our needs through His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).

Key: Jesus’ prayer forces us to come to grips with the “already-not yet” so that we receive

from His hand what we need day by day, without any unnecessary grumbling or doubt (Matt. 6:19-21, 25-34). We can do this because He has gone before us and victoriously endured and conquered the spiritual temptation connected to physical appetite (Matt. 4:1-4; Heb. 4:15). So He offers Himself now as the true bread we truly need (John 6:32-33).

The True Exodus Prayer: “…and forgive us our sins as we forgive…” The First Exodus Shadow: Leviticus 25:38, 42, 55 The first Exodus era initiated the year of Jubilee. Every fifty years, on the Day of Atonement, Israel would sound the trumpet of celebration, announcing a divine “reset.” Those who had sold property or children would have them liberated and returned, and all debts would be forgiven (Lev. 25:8-55). It was intended to remind Israel to look back on their enslavement in Egypt and remember God’s provision of rescue and deliverance as a motivation to reset everything back to the beginning as it was when God first rescued Israel. They were once slaves of Pharaoh, but God had set them free and reset everything aright. Now, every fifty years, they were to follow His example and do the same for one another (Lev. 25:38, 42, 55). As a True Exodus community now, we pray with a certainty and enjoyment that looks back on our slavery to sin, recalling with celebration that we were set free from sin, joyously resetting every relationship and wrong to the way it was when we were first rescued by King Jesus. He Himself began His ministry with this very proclamation of Jubilee (Luke 4:16-21). As a result, True Exodus people will live as ambassadors of Jubilee, seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10), with one clear message of liberty: “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Cor. 5:18-6:3). Those who have been rescued from slavery will live as those rescuing others from slavery (Matt. 18:21-33). And even though we will stumble and suffer, we receive our forgiveness from God (1 John 1:9) and freely offer it to others (Luke 7:36-49; Matt. 18:21-35). Conversely, it is the epitome of wickedness to refuse forgiveness for others in light of what God has forgiven us (Matt. 18:21-35; cf. Matt. 6:14-15; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:37; 17:1-4). Forgiveness of sins therefore, is the primary means through which the kingdom of God is brought from heaven to earth (Matt. 18:18-35; John 20:23).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us that the year of Jubilee is now an every-moment reality.

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The True Exodus Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation…” The First Exodus Shadow: Exodus 17:7; Deuteronomy 6:16 The first Exodus led the people in the wilderness to put God to the test by choosing not to believe Him (Num. 13:25-29; 1 Cor. 10:9-11). They did this by complaining which was tantamount to challenging God to continue to produce proofs of His presence with them, despite the Red Sea event (and the water from the rock, and the manna and quail, ad nauseum) which ought to have answered all doubts once and for all. Nevertheless, they lived as people condemned to die both in and for their unbelief, never to enter God’s rest (Heb. 4:7-13). The True Exodus community today prays with a certainty and enjoyment that Jesus Christ has believed God once and for all, and that He is with us always to the end of the age. Though we stumble and suffer, we choose not to live as those without faith in the presence of a God who is nearer to us than our breath (1 Cor. 10:9). We reject all complaining and arguing so that we may become a bold and bright witness for God in the world (Phil. 2:14-15). Therefore, we constantly connect the handling of temptation with prayer for success, just like Jesus did (Luke 22:31, 32, 46).

Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us that as True Exodus people no temptation has overtaken us

which He has not also already provided a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). We must succeed where our ancestors failed.

The True Exodus Prayer: “…but deliver us from [the] evil [one].” The First Exodus Shadow: In the first Exodus, “Let My people go!” was the demand of God through Moses made to Pharaoh. “Deliver us from Pharaoh!” was the cry of Israel heard by God. The Pharaoh of the Exodus was the one who arose not knowing Joseph or his part in redemptive history. As a result, he behaved wickedly toward the people of God. The real perpetrator of course, was not flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12), but “the evil one,” or Satan, who seeks constantly to kill and destroy (John 10:10). He is a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44), and his failed efforts to kill Moses (Exod. 1:8-2:10) only foreshadowed his failed efforts to kill Jesus (Matt. 2:13-18). The True Exodus community today prays with certainty and enjoyment that Jesus has disarmed Satan and his demons, putting them to open shame by triumphing over them (Col. 2:15), thereby destroying his works (1 John 3:8). Though we stumble and suffer, we know that Satan’s time is short (Rev. 12:12), and that a hell has already been prepared for he and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Until that day comes, Jesus Himself prays for us, “Protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

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Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us that as True Exodus people, since we have already won the

war, we pray to win the battles now. Those battles are chiefly waged now against idolatry in the fellowship of the saints (1 Cor. 10:1-22).

The True Exodus Prayer: “For yours is kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.” The First Exodus Shadow: 1 Chronicles 29 The pinnacle of Israel’s history is found in the temple of Solomon, for it represented the completion and crown of YHWH’s establishment of a kingdom on earth.4 When the shekinah glory cloud of God descended into the temple, it represented the penultimate completion of God’s promises to Abraham. Israel was now in their promised land, living peacefully under the presence of God Almighty Himself, Who once dwelled in a tabernacle in the wilderness, but now dwelt in a magnificent and permanent temple. It was at David’s dedication of the plans and offerings for the temple that he gathered the people of Israel and prayed,

“Blessed are you, O Lord, our God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name” (vv. 10-13).

The completion of the temple established God’s capital of the world in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion (Psa. 48:1-2; 74:2; 125:1; 133; Isa. 24:23), from where He would reign and rule through His people, Israel, as a light to the nations (Isa. 49:6; 60:3) While David was not allowed by YHWH to build the temple, God promised that his dynasty as king would last forever. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, King of kings, who was born of the virgin Mary, a direct descendant of the line of David (Matt. 1:2-16). And since the promise of an everlasting throne came through David to Jesus Christ, so also the promise of an everlasting kingdom would come through Mount Zion to its penultimate fulfillment in the church, consummating in its ultimate fulfillment in the New Jerusalem, or the new heavens and earth. The benediction of the Lord’s Prayer becomes a restatement of the “already / not-yet” kingdom of God which has already come to earth in and through the church, but is not yet fulfilled in and through its final form in heaven. For now, the church represents the throne and place of God’s rule over His earth (Matt. 16: 18-29; 18:18-20; Eph. 1:21-23; Col. 1:16-20).

4 Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Grand

Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), p. 118.

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Key: Jesus’ prayer teaches us that as True Exodus people, His kingdom, power and glory

are the only assurances against the abuses of all other earthly kingdoms, powers, and glories. Praying the benediction of the Lord’s Prayer reminds us of His throne (the kingdom), His dominion (the power), and His priorities (the glory), all of which guide and guard the church in her mission today.

Conclusion I am indebted to N. T. Wright for the seed thought fleshed out in this introduction to the series I am preaching on the Lord’s Prayer entitled “Praying the Mission.”5 Equal gratitude goes also to Brant Pitre for his invaluable contribution to this theological matrix regarding the Lord’s Prayer.6 The mission is His kingdom and His will, just the same as it was for Jesus while ministering on earth. We are therefore united in every possible way with the King Himself, except of course, consummately when we will see Him face to face (1 John 3:2). This unity with the King Himself includes our mission. His mission was to inaugurate the Kingdom with the gospel message. Our mission is to continue His mission and expand the Kingdom with the same gospel message. The Lord’s Prayer then, gives the True Exodus community a model, much like Israel’s Ten Commandments, useful for focusing our communication with the Father. It is a “Model Prayer” then offering us a biblical theology of the new Exodus mission. As Wright has put it,

“The prayer is given by Jesus to constitute his followers as the true Exodus people. They are to succeed, not least by prayer, where the original wilderness generation failed. The prayer moves from the disciples’ relation to God, through the honoring of God’s name and the doing of his will, to provisions for bodily needs and dealing with evil. Furthermore, the prayer has something of the same shape – and, within the new eschatological moment, something of the same role – as the Decalogue within the Exodus narrative. Thus the Lord’s Prayer may be seen as being to the church as the Ten Commandments were to Israel: not just something to do, a comparatively arbitrary rule of life, but the heart of the new covenant charter.

5 Of the forty-plus resources consulted for even a hint of the redemptive-historical, biblical-theological

background to the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord’s Prayer, Wright’s chapter was one of only two. It is viewable online at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Christian_Prayer.htm. (Other works which hint at a New Exodus theme include The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text by John Nolland [NIGTC Series] pp. 29 ff.; and ??). It is both surprising and therefore confusing that so many commentators, authors, scholars, theologians and pastors have seemingly altogether missed the very historical connection which gives redemptive-historical meaning to the most important prayer we can ever pray. I pray my introduction may be a different step in the right direction.

6 Brant Pitre, “The Lord’s Prayer and the New Exodus” in Letter & Spirit 2 (2006): 69-96. Viewable online

at http://www.scotthahn.com/download/attachment/2525.

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“The early petitions of the prayer, with their focus on God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will, can all be used in this context as the framework for focusing in one’s private prayer on God himself, and for claiming already in the present…the blessings of the future that are already secured in Christ…The individual Christian is called to be a man, woman, or child of prayer as a New Exodus person.”7

Finally, a look at the ministry of King Jesus for us right now provides even more certainty and enjoyment in our prayer life. If it is true that Jesus’ constant task at the right hand of the Father in heaven is to intercede for this True Exodus community (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), and if it is true that the Spirit of Jesus intercedes for us by essentially translating our prayers to the Father (making them what they need to be in order that the Father will answer them, Rom. 8:26-27), then an overwhelmingly staggering and breathtaking truth unfolds itself to us.

“The Lord’s prayer…by uniting Jesus’ people with their Lord in the prayer that formed the inner core of his own life, brings about the situation where those who pray it are even now, whether they realize it or not, ‘seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’” (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1,3).8

Think of it! While praying the way Jesus taught us to pray, we are by faith rapturously, gloriously, and incomprehensibly caught up in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus Himself! We can’t see it when it happens, but this unseen reality is as authentic as anything else we can see. This is the only theological explanation for the myriad of first-hand accounts we have of the prayer lives of people we admire so much. If you’re like me, perhaps you’ve read and profited heavily from so many godly men and women whose lives were built on incredible prayer. Men like George Müller,9 Rees Howells,10 Hudson Taylor,11 E. M. Bounds,12 Andrew Murray13 and others would all tell us, if they were

7 Wright, p. 147, 151, respectively.

8 Ibid, p. 151.

9 Read Arthur T. Pierson’s book, George Mueller of Bristol: And His Witness to a Prayer-Hearing God (Old

Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1899). Available in PDF online at http://www.bsmi.org/download/mueller/ GeorgeMuellerOfBristol.pdf.

10 Norman Grubb’s most famous book, Rees Howells: Intercessor is perhaps one of the greatest classics on

prayer ever written. It is available through Amazon online at http://www.amazon.com/Rees-Howells-Intercessor-Norman-Grubb/dp/0875081886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287088509&sr=8-1.

11 A tremendous and invaluable resource by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor in Early Years, is

available digitally online at http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/hudsontaylor/hudsontaylorv1/ hudsontaylorv1tc.htm.

12 Edward M. Bounds is perhaps the most voluminous author on the subject of prayer. A brief biographical

sketch along with digital versions of his works are available online at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bounds.

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here today, “Look to Jesus Christ, your True Exodus Deliverer, in order to learn how to pray! Then, when you’ve mastered His prayer, come back and we’ll give you the crumbs we’ve managed to collect along the way!” May we heed their counsel and commune with their God, with the Father, and with Jesus Christ, our supreme teacher on prayer.

13 Andrew Murray’s most famous work is perhaps the one entitled With Christ in the School of Prayer.

That book more than any other impacted me personally, in my high school and college days, with regard to prayer. A brief bio and digital versions of his works are available online at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/murray.