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Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah
Episode 3
Intro
Narrator / Intro Voice:
Welcome to Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah, a weekly podcast from Fairfax Bible Church where we explore Scripture together, uncovering its themes and design patterns. We’re glad you’re here. Now, here are your hosts, Matt and Hannah.
Opening Banter
Matt:
The B-I-B-L-E… yes, that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God…
The B-I-B-L-E. Let me hear it. Henry, you were a Sunday school kid, weren’t you? You learned that song as a kid.
Hannah:
I did, yeah. I was not expecting you to start singing that.
Matt:
Well, you know, sometimes it just comes out of me. So welcome. This is Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah. I am Matt.
Hannah:
And I’m Hannah.
Introducing the Guest
Matt:
I am so excited. I know you’re excited. We have our first guest. Yes. Friends, meet my very good friend, Angelique Solomon. You are the first guest on our podcast.
Angelique:
Thank you for having me.
Matt:
Oh, it’s our pleasure.
Angelique:
Happy to be here.
Matt:
It’s our pleasure.
Angelique:
So excited and happy MLK Day.
MLK Day Reflection
Matt:
Yes, we are recording this on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. I don’t know when you’re going to hear it, but that’s when we’re recording. So we celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ, and we celebrate the freedom that we have here in the United States, free from the tyranny of racial division.
We’ve got a long way to go. And actually, we might get into that as we go along.
Getting to Know Angelique
Matt:
So, people have gotten to know me and Hannah a little bit over the last couple of weeks. But they need to know about you.
Angelique:
I’m Angelique. I’ve been at Fairfax Bible Church for six years. I’ve served in various capacities in women’s ministry, Go Beyond, and the prayer team. Now I’m a faithful member of the prayer team, and I’m really grateful for that.
I have a wonderful husband, William Solomon, and beautiful kids. I have a nine-year-old Solomon… and another one in the womb.
Matt:
Oh, okay. We’re breaking news here!
Hannah:
Wow, congrats. I didn’t know that.
Angelique:
I know, it’s not a secret, but… okay! So yeah, I work for the government, and I really love my church family. I’m happy to be here to talk about Exodus.
Matt:
Well, we love you. And how long have you and I been in the same small group now?
Angelique:
We’ve been in the same small group for six years. I’ve had the great privilege of sitting under Matt’s leadership for literally six years.
Matt:
It’s been a joy. You and your husband are very dear friends to us, so not only am I glad you’re here, I’m glad you’re our first guest.
Angelique:
Thank you. I’m really happy to be here.
The Godfather Debate (Continues…)
Matt:
Alright, let’s catch up on a couple things from last week. First of all, Hannah, I have a score update. So far the score is running two to one that you should watch The Godfather.
Hannah:
So you’ve had three people vote on this?
Matt:
Yes. Two people say, “Matt, you’re right. Hannah should watch The Godfather.” And one person says, “No, you’re an idiot. Stop bothering Hannah about this.” That person happens to be my wife, Christy.
Hannah:
Yeah, I think her vote counts for double.
Matt:
Fair. Last week I was trying to convince Hannah that the pattern of the oldest versus the youngest in The Godfatherwould actually help her be a better Bible reader. And I apparently failed.
Angelique, have you seen The Godfather?
Angelique:
No, I have not.
Matt:
Okay. Alright. I’m giving up.
Hannah:
Yeah.
Matt:
Your husband’s a big comic book guy. I don’t know if he’s a big old movie guy.
Angelique:
I’m sure he’s seen The Godfather.
Matt:
I’ll ask him when I see him this week.
Wrapping Up Genesis
Matt:
This is episode three, and we finished the book this week. We finished Genesis. I need to talk to producer Kyle about getting a cool sound effect for that.
Before we move into the next book, Hannah, can you catch us up? What’s the story so far?
Story So Far
Hannah:
We’ve been tracing this family that God chose to be his vehicle for restoring blessing to all humanity. Last week we focused on Jacob and his favored son Joseph, who became a ruler in Egypt after being sold into slavery by his brothers.
We saw God’s providence in all of this, because through Joseph’s position, God preserved the family of Israel during a severe famine.
The whole family of Jacob, or Israel, moves to Egypt. Before Jacob dies, he blesses his sons. And interestingly, even though Joseph is blessed, it’s Judah who receives the blessing of the royal line that the Messiah will come from.
That brings us to the beginning of Exodus. The family of Israel is growing rapidly, and a new Pharaoh feels threatened. He oppresses them into slavery and orders that all Hebrew baby boys be drowned in the Nile.
But one of these boys, Moses, is delivered through the waters of death. He’s chosen by God to lead Israel out of slavery. After a series of signs, plagues, and the Passover, God leads Israel out of Egypt to the Red Sea and delivers them through chaotic waters, described as a kind of recreation into new life.
We finished our reading this week with the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15, a beautiful celebration of praise for God’s deliverance.
Matt
Yeah. So when we were talking in our warmup time here, if we gave everything in this series of passages its due, this podcast would be about four hours. And we try and keep it more manageable than that. So there’s probably some aspect of this passage that is your favorite and you’re dying to hear us talk about it. We’re not going to talk about it.
We could do a whole thing on the character of Moses and the story of Moses in the background of Moses, because there’s a lot, even in the first couple chapters. But there are a couple things we want to call out. And I think you want to give out a gold star, our first gold star of the week, right here.
Hannah
There was an amazing comment by none other than Kristy Rumble, from day 17 of the reading, when we read about Moses being delivered through the Nile.
She observed two design patterns. The first is a reversal of the Genesis 3 temptation pattern. When Moses is set in the basket, the word used is actually the same word as “ark” in Noah’s story. It’s only used in those two stories in the entire Bible. This becomes another deliverance through the waters, where God creates a sanctuary to be delivered through the chaotic waters of death.
When Pharaoh’s daughter sees Moses in the basket, she sees him and takes him, using the same keywords from Genesis 3, but here they’re reversed. Instead of temptation and sin, it’s deliverance. So gold star for that design pattern.
The second design pattern she noticed is that God actively responds. At the end of Exodus 2, God hears, remembers, sees, and knows his people. This leads him to create a plan to deliver them. This is the same way God responded in the past, like with Abraham, and how he will continue to respond in the future. Two gold stars for Kristy.
Matt
What an overachiever. Fantastic. So Moses is on the scene, and we find ourselves wondering, is this the guy? We’re waiting for the seed of the woman, the deliverer who will strike the serpent. The story leaves the question open.
We eventually learn it won’t be Moses in that ultimate sense, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t essential. There are three themes we want to tease out, and one of them is especially close to your heart: freedom and liberation from slavery.
It’s been about 400 years since Joseph. That’s a long time. It’s a paragraph in the text, but it’s generations upon generations of people. They’re still in Egypt, but it’s no longer flourishing. They’re enslaved, stripped of dignity, and caught in an us-versus-them dynamic. This is deeply personal for you, so I’d love for you to speak into that.
Angelique
The story of Moses and Exodus has resonated with me for a long time, especially as a Black woman in America. I come from an enslaved people group. Thinking about the Israelites going from flourishing to generations of slavery, people living and dying in bondage, children being thrown into the Nile, it’s devastating.
The courage of the midwives stands out to me. They disobeyed government authority because killing children was not God’s plan. That inspires me deeply.
I see a pattern throughout Scripture of people crying out to the Lord and the Lord hearing their cries. When I reflect on my own heritage, enslaved Christians passed down Bible stories orally. Figures like Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. all drew from Scripture.
This is not a one-to-one comparison between Israel and Black Americans, but Gentiles are grafted in. God hears the cries of his people. That arc of faithfulness is incredibly encouraging, and it applies to oppressed people groups everywhere, including the persecuted church.
Matt
One thing that struck me this week is that slavery is also tragic for the enslaver. Pharaoh’s fear drives his oppression. He’s terrified of losing control, resources, power. It’s not equal suffering, but it’s still a tragedy rooted in fear and mistrust of God.
Angelique
Yes, absolutely. Oppression is tied to fear and control. I was looking at the word “oppression” and noticed how closely it connects with humility. All of us are capable of oppression through sin. Pharaoh was warned repeatedly, yet hardened his heart.
None of us are immune to wanting control. But Christ shows us the path of humility that leads to true freedom.
Matt
Another theme close to your heart is hope and waiting. Israel waited around 400 years. At the end of Exodus 4, the people believe and worship when they hear that God has seen their affliction. Talk to us about hope in that waiting.
Angelique
Hope is the heart of Scripture. I love the idea of moral imagination, seeing beyond horrific circumstances to God’s promises. People endure unimaginable suffering: slavery, illness, grief, anxiety. Some endure it for their entire lives.
But moral imagination says God will make all things right. He will set the oppressed free. Even when hope is hard, Jesus is still enough. Generations before us lived and died clinging to that truth. Exodus reminds us that God hears, God acts, and God is faithful.
Matt
So Moses is drawn from the water, called by God, and sent back to Egypt. We won’t even talk about the burning bush today. God reveals his name, sends Moses to Pharaoh, and Moses is… less than enthusiastic.
Hannah
He says no four times. It’s only the fourth time that God gets angry.
Matt
God is incredibly patient. Moses goes back with Aaron, confronts Pharaoh, and we get this epic showdown. Pharaoh resists, and the plagues escalate.
Angelique
The plagues come in groups of three. In the first sets, Pharaoh is warned. In the third plague of each set, there’s no warning. It shows God’s patience eventually runs out on hardened hearts.
Hannah
It’s interesting that God is patient with both Moses and Pharaoh. Why not just force Pharaoh immediately?
Matt
At first Pharaoh hardens his own heart. Later, God hardens it. There’s a point of no return. Pharaoh treats this like a negotiation, as if he’s equal with God. In the end, he loses far more than he ever imagined.
Hannah
And the plundering isn’t violent. The Egyptians willingly give their wealth, and many even leave Egypt with Israel.
Matt
That’s such a beautiful picture of blessing extending beyond Israel. I also want to give a gold star to Catherine Castles, who noticed that Egyptian magicians can replicate the early plagues, but not the later ones. Pharaoh’s illusion of equality with God collapses as the power gap becomes undeniable.
Hannah
The Passover and the Red Sea connect deeply to earlier design patterns: deliverance through water, creation imagery, and new life emerging from chaos. The same language appears in Genesis, the flood, and here in Exodus.
Matt
That imagery is powerful. It reaches back to the very beginning.
Hannah
Redemption literally means to buy back. Humanity belonged to God, but became enslaved to sin and death. Exodus shows a pattern: liberation from death through the Passover, then liberation from slavery through the Exodus.
The lamb’s blood represents surrendered life opening the way back to God. This all points forward to Jesus, the spotless Passover Lamb, whose death happened during Passover. Through him, we are redeemed and set free.
Matt
It’s incredible. Because of Jesus, we’re no longer slaves to sin or death. We’re free.
Angelique
Amen. Christ sets us free. Period.
Hannah
Redemption has a purpose. Israel was redeemed to serve God, and we’re redeemed to represent him in the world with justice, mercy, and love.
Matt
The tragedy is that sometimes we want to go back to slavery. That story repeats in our lives. God frees us, but we struggle to surrender.
Angelique
It’s hard. Even in privileged lives, suffering is real. We need moral imagination to trust God’s goodness and walk in freedom.
Matt
That’s all the time we have for this week. Next week we’ll move into the wilderness, covenant, and what it means to live as God’s redeemed people today.
Thank you all for reading faithfully, asking great questions, and walking this journey together.
Want to Join Us?
- Download the Bible App
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- Matt will accept your friend request and enroll you into the group bible study plan “One Story That Leads to Jesus.”
Questions or problems? Contact Matt Rumbaugh or Hannah Schmerschneider.