Exodus is the second book of the Bible. It takes its name from the main event narrated in the book, the 'exodus' of Israel from Egypt and the beginning of their journey to the Promised Land. It main theological significance lies in its exposition of the grace of God that 1) reached down to Israel to rescue here from the heavy burden of slavery to which she had been subjected by the pharaoh of Egypt, and 2) blessed her with the gift of the torah (the law) at Mount Sinai, which spelt out for Israel what it meant to live as the people of God.
The Hebrew name of the book is w'elleh shemot, which is the first two Hebrew words of the book, "and these are the names" of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt. This sentence indicates that Exodus simply continues the story of how God's promise to Abraham and his offsprings unfurled since the end of the book of Genesis.
The history of Israel told in Exodus may be divided into two parks. The first—Chaps 1-18—narrates how a new king who came to power in Egypt forgot all that Joseph had done for the country and began, instead, to oppress the Hebrew people, subjecting them to harsh labour and even to order that every male child born to them must be sacrificed to the Nile. In the midst of this God remembers his promise to Abraham:
I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . ."
God then sent Moses, himself rescued from death in the Nile, to rescue the Israel from their enslavement to the pharaoh. This first part of the story ends with Israel departing Egypt for the Promised Land "flowing with mild and honey."
The second half of the story—Chaps 19-40—narrates Israel's arrival at Mount Sinai. There God formally declares Israel to be "my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (19:5-6). This was followed by the gift of the Ten Commandments, a set of instructions spelling out the broad moral-ethical framework by which the people of God were to live. The remainder of the book also records Israel's response to these life-transforming events: she sinned, making an idol of a golden calf and worshipping it and pitching God to such anger as to want to destory them. It was only Moses's intervention on their behalf that saved them from destruction. The point is clearly made that Israel—and by extention, all humans—could not on their own save themselves if salvation depended on obedience and satisfaction of God's demands. Already the message that, ultimately, there is salvation only by grace is clearly made.
The book ends in forgiveness for the people and with instructions for the construction of the tabernacle where Israel could properly worship God.
An extented treatment of the book of Exodus is being prepared.
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