In the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Old Testament, an incredible story can be seen of an all-powerful God who works in the lives of humans that He specifically calls His own. These people, named the Israelites, after one of their ancestors, Israel, are enslaved to the Egyptian people, forced to do immense amounts of manual labor. God uses the harsh environment and obstacles to teach the Israelites many different things before rescuing them from the Egyptians. God ultimately attempts to teach the Israelites three major ideas: faithfulness, sin before God, and holiness.
It is important to note that one of God’s primary methods for teaching His people is through verbal expression. Whether that manifests itself through God Himself talking to the people (which very rarely occurs in the entire Bible), or Him talking through a leader or prophet, God often uses specific words ideas, and commands to express His desires to the Israelites. This form manifests itself in many different ways. For example, in Exodus, God chooses Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and to be His voice to the people. Moses acts as God’s voice for a long period of time, from the very first time Moses tells Pharaoh to free the Israelites (Exodus 5:1), to when Moses delivers the Ten Commandments to the people (Exodus 20), all throughout the entire books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, until Moses dies at the conclusion of Deuteronomy. It is obvious that God chose Moses for a specific purpose. More importantly, though, it is what God does through Moses to change His people, the Israelites. The reader can see that God desires several things for his people. The most obvious thing God attempts to teach the Israelites is faithfulness. He desires them t...
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... with the destruction of Egypt’s army and pharaoh.
Another parallel that is interesting to investigate is the difference in the covenants that God makes with Abraham and later, the Israelites. For Abraham, God spends a mere five verses describing the conditions that Abraham must fulfill to keep the covenant – only circumcision, but in the book of Exodus, nineteen out of the forty chapters – almost fifty percent – are filled with directions concerning specific commands from God. And the three remaining books of the Torah are littered with all kinds of obscure social and moral laws from God.
Works Cited
The Holy Bible: Updated New American Standard Bible : Containing the Old Testament and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1999. Print.
Kugel, James L. How to Read the Bible: a Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. New York: Free, 2007. Print.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.
...nnel for the message to the Israelites. This serves God's ultimately purpose of setting his chosen people free. Although Moses does not seem like a worthy candidate for the task, God gives him the power to overcome his flaws. Moses was successful in communicating and obeying God's word throughout his journey, because he never sought to control or possess the land or the people, unlike Pharaoh. In the end, the journey of the spiritual hero can finish in either one of these two paths. It is up to the individual whether or not they will succumb to temptation and be led down into hell and remain there forever.
There are several Egyptian documents that not only mention the Israelites in their texts, but also tie the Bible to historical facts. Egyptian documents such as the Tell el-Amarna letters, a large “stele” of the Menephtah, and the Elephantine papyri not only tell the history of Egypt, they also coincide with biblical scripture. The documents confirm not only dates, certain numbers, and rituals, such as circumcision, but places and event, e.g. The Exodus, of biblical stories.
God’s people found themselves in captivity in Egypt after the death of Joseph and the Pharaoh that had knowledge of the good done by children of Israel (Ex. 1:8-14). God saw the oppression of His people and sent Moses and Aaron to deliver His people from slavery (Ex. 3:10, 4:14-16).
Following the creation story of the book of Genesis is the book of Exodus. In Genesis, God promised Abraham a “great nation from which all nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3)” and in Exodus God completes this promise through the creation of the holy nation, Israel. Exodus tells the story of the God who rescued his people out of Egypt because of the promise he had made to Abraham. God calls to Moses to complete his promise. God’s call to Moses is not only important because he liberates the Israelites but also because God reveals His name(s) along with His true Nature. God calls upon Moses and tells him that He’s back to help the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and that Moses is to lead them. God then gives him full instructions on what to tell the Pharaoh and, more importantly, the Israelites, who are promised, land “flowing with milk and honey”.
The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville: Abingdon Press, ©2003.
Even though God saw people as evil, he wanted to show his grace. He wanted to separate certain people in the world as His chosen people. “He wanted a chosen people: 1. To whom He might entrust the Holy Scriptures. 2. To be His witness to the other nations. 3. Through whom the promised Messiah could come” (Mears 47). This covenant is made between God and Abram. This covenant marks the beginning history of Israel, God’s chosen people.
Holy Bible: the New King James Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments.Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Bibles, 1982. Print.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
... people. It also shows the dependence of people on God. Moses was a man of courage who sought to see the face of the God. He received the laws of the lord and made sacrifices for them when they sinned. Moses acted as a mediator between Yahweh and his people (Woolfe).
The Book of Exodus encompasses several of the most significant individuals, as well as events. In the Book of Exodus, Moses was a prominent character that was discussed seemingly throughout the text (Harper 's Bible Dictionary 1952, 655). The Book of Exodus is a segment within the Pentateuch, which covers the first five accounts of the Old Testament. There are three noticeable premises that are accentuated in Exodus, which are deliverance, the covenant, and the Promised Land. The opening section of the Book, which is separated into two parts, is the first eighteen chapters, which review Moses’ lifetime, the dilemmas that the Israelites’ met whilst in Egypt, and the events and plagues that drove the Israelites’ to ultimately depart from Egypt.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
...er the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:15). Unlike Abraham, who communicated to God solely through prayer, Moses communicated to God in a physical form and a direct way, in addition to prayer.
Bibles, Crossway. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version: Containing the Old and New Testaments. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010. Print.