93651.2 Exodus

Posted byJonathan Kobayashi

Overall Theme and Background. The authorship of Exodus is attributed to Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the dominate historical narrative is the Nation of Israel’s departure from Egypt at about 1445 BC. It marks the end of years of oppression under the Egyptians and the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would make of them a great nation and that they would reside in the Promised Land.

A. The descendants of Israel began to multiply and the Egyptians who did not know Joseph became fearful that they would align themselves with foreign enemies. They assign harsh taskmasters and force them to make bricks for building. The Hebrew midwives are instructed to kill all male babies, but they disobey this order out of fear of God (1:1-22).

B. Moses is born. His mother places him in a small ark lined with pitch and places him in the bullrushes where he is found by Pharoah’s daughter. He became her son and was brought up in the Egyptian Court (2:1-7).

  1. When Moses (his name meaning drawn out of the water) was a mature man of about 40, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Out of fear of Pharoh, he fled to Midian where he becomes the son-in-law of a priest who places him in charge of sheep (2:11-22). Pharoah dies but the children of Israel are still in bondage and cry out to God who acknowledges his covenant relationship with them (2:23-25).
  2. Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God instructs him to go and deliver His people out of Egypt. It is here that God reveals Himself as “I AM WHO I AM” (3:14). This would be the title that Jesus would use of himself to declare that He is God (See the gospel of John summary for seven “I AM” statements of Jesus). Moses tells God that he is not qualified which incurs God’s anger. But God agrees to have Aaron, Moses’s brother speak for him (4:10-17). On the way to Egypt, God attempts to kill Moses which seems to be a very strange scenario. Moses’s wife cuts off the foreskin of their son which then meets the requirement of circumcision being a sign of the covenant given to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 7:10-14) and satisfies God’s anger.
  3. Moses had been given three signs from God to perform before the children of Israel to prove that he spoke for God. These were turning his staff into a snake, making his hand leprous and then restoring it, and turning the water of the Nile into blood. He performs these signs before the elders of Israel and the people, and they believe and worship God when they learn that He is concerned for their condition (Exodus 4:29-31).

C. Chapters 5 through 10 detail the back-and-forth interaction between Moses and Pharaoh as Moses implores Pharaoh to let the children of Israel to leave Egypt. As a note aside, the Pharaoh mentioned in this interchange with Moses was Amenhotep II not Ramses II as was initially thought. This was determined by diligent comparison of Bible verses, length of the various pharaoh’s reigns and extra-biblical writings. You can view Amenhotep’s mummy in the Cairo, Egypt museum today and as you look upon it, you realize that this is the remains of the pharaoh who knew and spoke with Moses face to face.

  1. Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks him to let the Israelites go and worship in the wilderness. He refuses and accuses the people of being lazy, so they are treated even more harshly (5:1-23).
  2. God affirms to Moses that He will give the land that He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the Israelites but they did not listen to Moses because of the harsh labor (6:1-9).
  3. God tells Moses that he is to communicate all that He tells him to Pharaoh through Aaron. God tells him that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart even though He will multiply signs and wonders so that the Egyptians will know that He is the Lord (7:1-5). Moses is now 80 and Aaron is 83 (7:7).
  4. Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and Aaron throws down his staff which becomes a snake as God instructed them. Pharaoh summons his magicians and sorcerers who do the same thing. Aaron’s snake gobbles up theirs, but Pharaoh’s heart is hardened (7:8-13).
  5. The narrative then details what is called the Ten Plagues, but each time Pharoh’s heart is hardened.
  1. The plague of blood (7:14-24).
  2. The plague of frogs (7:25-8:15).
  3. The plague of gnats (8:16-19).
  4. The plague of flies (8:20-32).
  5. The plague on livestock (9:1-7).
  6. The plague of boils (9:8-12).
  7. The plague of hail (9:13-35).
  8. The plague of Locusts (10:1-20).
  9. The plague of darkness (10:21-29).
  1. The Lord tells Moses that He will place one more plague upon Egypt and that Pharaoh will drive them out. The Israelites are instructed to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold as they were made favorable towards the Israelites by the Lord. These articles would later be used to cast an idol of a golden calf but later for things used in the Tabernacle. Moses was also highly regarded by the Egyptian people and Pharoah’s officials (11:1-3). The Lord will go throughout Egypt and that every first-born son will die (11:4-5).

D. The Passover and unleavened bread (12:1-30). The Lord instructs Moses to have the Israelites examine lambs to ensure that none have defects and to slaughter them and place their blood on the sides and tops of the door frames to their homes. When the angel of death went through Egypt, any home that did not have the blood would have the first-born son killed. This is the first Passover and is very significant as a figure foretelling of Jesus shedding His blood for us. He was examined and found without defect. Just as the Israelites were protected by the covering of the blood from death, we too are covered by the blood of Jesus that He shed on the Cross. They were also to take bread without yeast which is also known as unleavened bread. Yeast in the Bible signifies the corruption of sin. This became a lasting ordinance. The Israelites were in Egypt a total of 430 years to the very day (12:41).

E. The Exodus from Egypt (Chapters 12:31-51; 13:1-20)

F. Crossing of the Red Sea (14:1-31). The Egyptians changed their mind as they realized that they had lost their labor force. They pursued them. Moses stretches out his hand and the waters parted. The Israelites went through on dry land. The Egyptians followed and Moses stretches out his hand again and the waters sweep over the Egyptians drowning them. This incident can represent baptism as the Israelites go into the death waters but come up in a picture of newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).

G. The Israelites were now on the other side of the Red Sea and no longer in danger from the Egyptians.

  1. They rejoice with the song of Moses and Miriam who was Moses’s sister (15:1-21).
  2. They find water (15:22-27).
  3. God provides manna and quail for them to eat and the Sabbath rest is initiated (16:1-36).
  4. God tells Moses to strike the rock which brought forth water for the people to drink. The rock is symbolic of Christ who is the Living Water for us to drink (17:1-7 and John 4:10; 7:37-39).
  5. The Amalekites, which was a nomadic tribe, attacked Israel but are defeated (17:8-16). God vows to destroy them. The Amalekites fought against the Israelites for generations. Haman the Agagite in the book of Esther is descended from the Amalekites and attempts to destroy all the Jews in Persia but was destroyed (Esther 9:5-10).
  6. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses visits the camp and sees the heavy leadership burden Moses has. He suggests a tiered management structure that is still the model used by many corporations today (18:1-27).

H. They arrive at Mount Sinai. The people consecrate themselves and Moses and Aaron go to the top where God is (19:1-25).

  1. The Ten Commandments are given and the admonishment not to create idols along with instructions on building an alter (20:1-26).
  2. Laws are given regarding servants, personal injuries, property, social responsibility, mercy and justice and the Sabath (Chapters 21, 22,23 and 23). The land was to be worked for six years and then left fallow on the seventh. This law was not followed and resulted later in 70 years of captivity in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11; Daniel 9:2).
  3. Chapters 24 through 31. Moses goes up Mount Sinai and remains for 40 days. Detailed instructions are given regarding the various things of the tabernacle and the garments of the priests. There are many interpretations of what the various things here represent but due to space constrains, we will not go into them here. Moses is given the Ten Commandments on stone tablets written by the finger of God (31:18).
  4. Due to the lengthy time that Moses was gone, the people make a golden calf idol. They worship it and begin to indulge in revelry. Moses throws the tablets down; they break and he calls for those who would stand with him. The tribe of Levi answered his call and slew about 3,000 of the people. Due to their faithfulness in answering the call, they became the tribe that would act as priests for the people. God vows that when the time comes, He will punish the people for their sin. He then strikes them with a plague (Chapter 32).
  5. Moses asks God to show him His glory. God places him in a cleft in a rock where he will see only God’s back when He passes as no one will live who sees His face (33:18-33). This passage inspired an old hymn which in part says “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock where rivers of pleasure I see.”
  6. Two new tablets of stone are prepared with the Ten Commandments. God gives commandments about idolatry and not intermarrying or making treaties with the inhabitants of the land they will go into as they will cause the Israelites to worship the false gods (34:1-17).
  7. When Moses spoke with the people, he would put a veil over his face but remove it when he spoke with the Lord in the tent of meeting. When he emerged, his face was radiant before putting the veil back over his face (34:33-35). It was this passage that inspired the Apostle Paul to write in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

I. Chapters 35 through 40 detail materials for the Tabernacle, its construction and contents. Exodus concludes with the cloud of the Lord over the Tabernacle by day and a fire in the cloud at night in the sight of the Israelites as they traveled (40:38).

J. Discussion Question, Application and Passing it on

  1. Moses was a strong-willed man at 40 when he killed the Egyptian. No doubt he felt he could deliver his people apart from God. It took another 40 years as a lowly sheep herder in the wilderness to break him to the point where he had no confidence in his natural abilities plus a direct contact with the I AM. Are you attempting to serve God in your natural strength? How could you be become more dependent upon the Holy Spirit and listening to God’s speaking to you?
  2. Share with someone what you have learned from Exodus especially about the model of Passover as it relates to the blood of Christ and salvation. Also, use the passing through the Red Sea as a figure of baptism.