The book of Exodus begins with a relatively long introduction to give the reader context for the significant part of the book. It probably only took a few months to get from Ex 3-Ex 12 but the first few chapter took many years. The rest of the book took fourteen days less than one year.
The book of Exodus begins with a story of betrayal. Joseph saved Egypt from destruction but his people were enslaved because the Egyptians were afraid of them. Pharaoh even tried to commit genocide by asking the midwives to kill all the male children that were born in Israel. The midwives refused to do that. One particular boy survived and he was called Moses. His mother tried to hide him at home but as he grew she was afraid so the committed him to the Lord and put him in an ark of bullrushes on the River Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found the baby and adopted him as her own but appointed his own mother as wet nurse.
Moses spent forty years being trained in the Egyptian palace and he learned all the wisdom of Egypt. However, he could not forget the things that his mother taught him when he was a child. When he was forty years old he tried to identify with his own people and then killed and Egyptian who was beating an Israeli. Moses had to leave Egypt and spent the next forty years in the Midianites desert where he was married and he cared for his father in law’s sheep. Moses met the Lord and the Lord told him to return to Egypt to free His people from slavery. Moses spent these forty years unlearning all the wisdom of Egypt so the Lord could use him.
Moses met his brother Aaron and they went to Pharaoh and asked him to set Israel free. At first Pharaoh refused even though the Lord bought plagues on Egypt. However the final plague involved the death of all the firstborn of Egypt and he was afraid that all the Egyptians would die so he let Israel go. The Lord gave Israel special protection under the blood of a sacrificial lamb during the last plague and Israel celebrated their first Passover. The Lord then gave Israel regulations concerning the Passover so that they would not forget where they came from, as long as they followed the Lord’s recommendations.
Israel went east from Egypt and through the Sinai peninsula. Pharaoh decided that he would bring the slaves back so he chased after them with his army but the Lord saved Israel and destroyed all the Egyptian armies when they tried to follow Israel through the parted Red Sea. Israel the Lord and the great victory that He had given them that day.
The people grumbles about food and water as they went through the desert and the Lord fed them and gave them water. Moses father in law, Jethro, visited Moses and gave him some good advice, really this advice came from the Lord but Jethro acted as His agent.
Moses made preparations to meet the Lord and make the covenant between the Lord and His people. The Lord appeared before the Lord on Mt Sinai and then He addressed the people directly giving the the Ten Commandments which were to be the foundation of their relationship with the Lord.
While the Lord gave the Ten Commandments as a simple foundation for all Israel’s activities as the Lord’s people, He also gave them instructions and regulations so that they would be able to apply these Commandments in a consistent way in all the different situations they faced from day to day. They were also sinners and the Lord established a system of sacrifices and offerings to deal with their sin.
Moses went up into the mountain to meet with the Lord and was given specific details concerning the Tabernacle, the priesthood and the Sabbath. While Moses was on the mountain, Israel rebelled against the Lord and worshipped the golden calf. Moses acted as a mediator between the Lord and the people and the Lord did not destroy them for their sin.
Israel began to build the tabernacle and make the priestly garments. Moses inspected the work and then the Tabernacle and all its instruments were put in place before the priests were sanctified and the Lord’s presence descended onto the Tabernacle.
In less than a year the Lord took a group of slaves and made them into a nation with an established ceremonial system of worship.
The book of Exodus is composed of blocks of material which usually have clearly marked beginnings and ends. The different episodes are rarely self-contained. They assume a knowledge of earlier material and anticipate later events. To understand Exodus it is important to follow the flow of the narrative and see how the various episodes relate to each other.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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