The Exodus is one of the most controversial books in the Bible in my opinion. Many scholars and historians don’t believe it actually happened. So what does that mean for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? 3 major religions in the world believe in God facilitating this mass exodus out of Egypt when they were slaves.
Reasons some scholars don’t believe: Egyptians kept a record (hieroglyphics) of most major events. Many of those records are still around today. The records show no signs of any sort of exodus. Likewise, there are contradictory stories of other world leaders and their geographical locations at the time.
If I believe the Bible is inerrant (without error), infallible (incapable of being wrong), and inspired (by God), then I have to believe that the Exodus happened (and wasn’t some sort of parable/story). What I learned while investigating this is that for every scholar that wants to prove that some events of the Bible didn’t actually occur, there are many counterarguments showing how it is still possible (https://youtu.be/QEm-ovpMM5c). Thus brings me to faith and trust.
History is a crazy complicated thing to research and understand. For the most part, we only know what was recorded, and of that, we only know what we can understand and comprehend. With so many other elements of the Bible being “confirmed” throughout history, I have to be ok knowing that some elements will never be confirmed, that is, I need to have faith and trust in God and the Bible.
Exodus 1-3
- Exodus = departure
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy were all originally one book (Jews called it the Torah, also called the Pentatuech).
- Believed Moses wrote most of them
- Written 300 years after Joseph died
- Nice Pharaoh is obviously dead. New Pharaoh, not so nice towards Hebrews.
- Lots of Hebrews still living in Egypt because of Jacob and his descendants.
- Racism is sometimes driven by fear and self-preservation
- Pharaoh was afraid of the Hebrews and so he enslaves them. Thinking if they had to work long, hard hours in the the hot sun, they won’t have any energy left to fight him.
- But still, they thrive.
- Slave does not equal forced labor. Back then, they were considered part of the family. They were “slaves” for an arranged period of time in order to pay off debt. However, this is referring to forced labor.
- Pharaoh wants to kill all the babies, so he recruits Shiphrah and Puah to help.
- They ignore his orders and are praised for it.
- They could either be liars or murderers. They chose to be liars to Pharaoh.
- They continue expanding and growing.
- Pharaoh makes the killing of Hebrew babies a nationwide order.
- Hebrew mother (descendant of Levi) puts her baby in a basket instead of killing him.
- Pharaoh’s daughter finds him, realizes he’s a Hebrew baby.
- Baby gets to live and now the mother gets paid to nurse him.
- Once weaned, Pharaoh’s daughter takes the baby, becomes his mother, and names him Moses.
- Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s house (the same people that enslaved his people).
- Moses knows he’s a Hebrew
- He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he murders the Egyptian and hides him in the sand.
- Another Hebrew calls him out for killing another man.
- Pharaoh wants to put Moses to death.
- Moses flees to Midean (300 miles away).
- He was 40 years old when this happened.
- He stops at a well in Midean. He meets 7 daughters of the priest.
- Moses gets married to Sepora and has a son.
- Pharaoh dies.
- Israelites who lived there cried out to God for rescue
- God “remembered” them.
- “Remebered” means He is moving into action
- The angel of the LORD appears to Moses (theophany).
- Angel who looked like a man appeared to him in a burning bush.
- God tells Moses that he is the one that is going to set the Israelites free.
- Moses explains why he isn’t a good candidate for this.
- God says he is the “I Am”.
- “I Am” means I am what I will always be, I am self existing
- God tells Moses what will happen
Exodus 4-6
- Moses gives God 3 more excuses, and God gives rebuttal for all 3
- Moses throws staff on the ground and it turns into a snake.
- God says he will teach Moses what to say and will send a helper.
- God provides Aaron, Moses’s older brother.
- Moses heads to Egypt
- God said he was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh will say “No” to whatever Moses asks of him.
- On the way to Egypt, God gets angry and seeks to kill someone.
- Moses’s son Gershen hasn’t been circumcised. So some think that God is angry with Moses for this reason. Moses violated the covenant.
- Zeporah circumcised him.
- Make it to Egypt, Aaron speaks to the Israelites.
- Moses demonstrates a sign from God.
- Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh, he denies their request.
- They ask again, he says no, and Pharaoh makes slaves work harder
- Slaves blame Moses and Aaron.
- Moses talks to the Israelites again, but they don’t want anything to do with it anymore.
- Moses begins building confidence in God despite his own shortcomings.
Exodus 7-9
- God is sovereign over hearts, he once again reveals to Moses that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh will, once again, deny their request.
- God mentions he is doing this so that Israel will know that He is the Lord.
- The fallen angels didn’t yield to God as Lord, they did their own things.
- Moses and Aaron go in front of Pharaoh and tell him that there will be displays of God’s power if he continues to rebel
- They perform signs, but Pharaoh’s magicians perform similar signs.
- Their snake staffs were eaten by Aaron’s staff
- Each plague was an attic on the false God’s of the Egyptians (a polytheistic culture)
- More info here: https://www.gotquestions.org/ten-plagues-Egypt.html
- After the snake staff, came plague #1, turning local water to blood
- They worshipped the God’s of the Nile
- Pharaoh’s magician’s could do the same thing once again
- Plague #2 – The frogs
- Magician’s could replicate this as well
- They couldn’t solve the problems, only make it worse
- Pharaoh promises to yield but when the frogs are gone, he changes his mind
- Plague #3 – The lice or gnats
- Plague #4 – Flies but they won’t attack Goshen (where the Israelites live)
- Same thing happens
- Plague #5 – Livestock
- Plague #6 – Boils
- Plague #7 – Hail
- Pharaoh at one point asks Moses to pray to God on his behalf
Exodus 10-12
- God uses the wicked so that his people will know and trust Him
- Plague #8 – Locusts
- Plague #9 – Darkness
- Plague #10 – Death of Firstborn
- They had to sacrifice a lamb and spread it’s blood on the doorways.
- Foreshadow to Jesus
- Eat dinner but finish quickly
- Stay dressed and be ready to leave
- Still celebrated today
- Known as Passover because the Lord passed over their house when he saw blood on the doorways
- Not clear, but could be theophany or christophany
- Egyptians drive Israelites out and give them jewelry and gold
- They had to sacrifice a lamb and spread it’s blood on the doorways.
- ~600k men and ~2-3M people left Egypt. Some non-Israelites went with them and some Egyptians went too.
- God tells the Israelites to treat the others like family as long as their circumcised.
- They spent 430 years in Egypt but God said they would only be there 400
- God could have just given a generality
- Or those 30 years may have included the good times when Joseph first moved his family there
Exodus 13-15
- God tells the Israelites to celebrate their freedom with a 7 day feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread
- Moses is not in charge, God is
- Moses is leading them to Canaan
- He leads them the long way around for their protection and for their good to avoid the affects that the Phillistine war had on their hearts
- Moses remembered Joseph’s bones (from 400 years prior)
- Angel (maybe God the Son) leads them on their way, cloud by day, fire by night (maybe God the Father)
- God tells Moses that Pharaoh is coming after them
- God tells Moses to set up camp in their path
- Moses listens
- The people fear Pharaoh more than God and blame Moses for their troubles
- God kills Pharaoh’s army in the sea
- People complain about the taste of water
- God tells them if they worship and obey him, the people will be spared from the diseases he put on the Egyptians.
Exodus 16-18
- Israelites continue to complain about the food
- Complaining is really about the position God has put them/us in
- God promises them food
- Says he will give them bread in the morning and meat in the evening
- Bread from heaven was called Mana.
- Practical purpose: Feeding the people
- Eternal purpose: Glorifying God and revealing his power
- Spiritual purpose: Training people to trust God
- Rule is that they need to gather the Manna every day except the Sabbath, and gather just enough for that day.
- Need to work twice as hard the day before the Sabbath in order to rest on the Sabbath
- Obviously this requires trust.
- They travel to a new place where there is no water. God tells Moses to strike a rock with his staff.
- Water pours out
- Another army comes and attacks them, likely had very little weapons
- Moses puts Joshua in charge of getting an army together so they can fight back
- War is against the Amalikites, descendants of Esau’s grandson
- Moses stood on top of mountain and as long as he held up his arms and staff, the Israelites were winning. Whenever he lowered them, they began losing
- Aaron and Herr, helped hold his arms up until Joshua and the army won
- God promises to destroy the Amalikites because they attacked God’s people.
- Moses builds alter and says “The Lord is my Banner”, meaning God is victorious, I want everyone to know that I belong to God
- Jethro tells Moses to begin delegating tasks to trustworthy people
Exodus 19-21
- About 7 weeks after leaving Egypt, they make it to the base of Mount Sinai
- Referred to as the mountain of God, may also be referred to as Mount Horeb
- God tells them he is going to meet the people at Mount Sinai, so they need to clean themselves up (consecrate themselves)
- When they meet God, no one is allowed to touch the mountain or they will have to be killed. If someone touches that person, they will have to be killed too.
- Killing is different than murder
- Hebrew word for murder is never used in the old testament when referring to war or capital punishment
- God descendant the mountain in fire and it was covered in smoke
- There was an earthquake
- Loud trumpet noise
- God tells Moses to climb the mountain, the one that no one else can touch
- Moses does
- God gives Moses the 10 commandments
- First 5 are vertical, they show us how to honor God
- Last 5 are horizontal, they show us how to honor others
- Once God leaves, they were afraid
- Moses tells them not to fear, means do not dread
- Moses also tells them that God is testing them and that the fear (reverence/awe) of God will be before them so they may not sin
- Awe, delight, and respect help us in sinning against God
Exodus 22-24
- When it comes to theft, the amount he took often exceeds what he stole
- God forbids charging interest rates on loans. Loans back then typically had around 25% interest but it was usually the needy that needed to borrow money
- God protects the women
- God cares for the sojourners, the widows, and the orphans
- I.E. God cares for those in need and requires that others don’t exploit them
- People that practice sorcery or divination are punishable by death
- Sorcery – contacting spirits for guidance and power
- If God forbids it, those spirits being contacted are not angels but rather likely demons
- God is protective of the land he gives
- Drive out people that worship other gods, destroy their pillars
- Monolatry – people that worship one god but also acknowledge the validity of other gods
- God doesn’t deny that other gods exist, he may even indicate that they do exist
- God ordains 3 feasts:
- Feast of Unleavened Bread – 7 day feast celebrated annual for their release from Egypt which happens right after Passover
- Feast of Harvest – Pentecost
- Feast of End Gathering – Happens after the last harvest of year.
- Moses spreads blood all over the people, likely a foreshadow to Jesus
- Moses goes into a mountain for 40 days
Exodus 25-27
- God tells them to build the tabernacle
- They got the supplies from plundering the Egyptians
- God blessed them with those things and then used it for His glory
- Metals used in construction get more precious the closer you got to the holy of holies
- Bronze -> Silver -> Gold
- Ark of the Covenant
- 4 ft long x 2 ft wide x 2 ft high
- Humans weren’t supposed to touch it
- As they moved they carried it with gold covered wooden poles
- Similar to how they couldn’t touch the mountain
- Cherubim on the lid.
- Cherubim are angelic beings (not messenger) but they have 4 wings covered in eyes, likely have form and body of a man but they have 4 faces.
- Guardians of holy places like the garden of Eden
- Mercy seat has 2 cherubim next to it and is made of pure gold
- Considered God’s resting place, his throne on earth
- Golden Lampstand or Menorah – symbol of God’s presence. 6 branches and 7 lamps
Exodus 28-29
- If you don’t like that God required animal sacrifices, remember, God did not cause the sacrifice, man did
- Blood purifies, without shedding of blood, nothing is purified
- Levi’s (one of the son’s of Jacob that slaughtered the men in Shechem) descendants are priests for the Lord
- Descendents of Levi are called Levites, the book of Leviticus is about their work
- High priest garments
- Attire represents that he is a mediator between God and man
- Represents man before God and God before man
- Bells on the hem, if the priest died on the job, the bells would go silent. Since they were in the holies of holies, no one else was allowed in there.
Exodus 30-32
- God orders very specific sacrifices
- Reveals that our sins need to be atoned for and God has a plan for that
- Moses and Joshua are still on Mount Sinai
- The priests have to go through a lot to make sure they are clean so they won’t die
- Jesus washed the feet of his disciples
- We need Jesus to make us clean so we won’t die
- God initiates work
- God initiates rest
- Moses had been up on the mountain for almost 6 weeks
- The people ask Aaron to make them a god
- They thought Moses was delaying
- Aaron builds a calf and an alter
- Out of the jewelry
- Aaron has a feast for God
- The same Aaron who performed miracles in front of Pharaoh and who God appointed as high priest
- The people attribute being set free from Egypt to the calf
- God gave them a tablet with his commands
- They descend the mountain and Moses throws the tablets down after seeing the calf and they break.
- Moses destroys the calf, rebukes the people
- Moses asks them to repent, the ones that don’t die (about 3,000 out of 3 million)
Exodus 33-35
- God and Moses spent time together frequently.
- If Moses wanted to meet with God, he would go to the tent of meeting (different from the Tabernacle)
- God sends the Israelites away from Mount Sinai towards Canaan
- God the father wasn’t going with them, he sends his angel instead (maybe Jesus)
- Moses wasn’t happy about that
- God tells Moses that he will be gracious on who he will be gracious to and will have mercy on who he will have mercy
- God tells Moses that they need to rebuild the tablets
- God tells Moses he is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving, and just
- After the tablets are created, Moses’s face is glowing from being in the presence of God that he has to put on a veil.
- The Israelites are in the wilderness for 40 years
Exodus 36-38
- Lots of people bringing stuff to donate
- Moses tells the people to stop bringing stuff
- People actually followed what God told them to do, they were obedient
- Each piece of furniture signifies something about our relationship with God
- Alter – represents sacrifice of Christ
- Bronze laver – represents being washed clean
- Table of showbread – feasting on the word
- Alter of incense – prayer
- Menorah or candle stick – Holy Spirit constantly aflame in us
- Ark of the covenant and mercy seat – His presence with
- Altogether there are 7 pieces of furniture, represents the 7 days of creation
Exodus 39-40
- Once everything was built, Moses had to consecrate it with oil
- Then he brings in Aaron and his sons, washes them, puts priestly garments on them, and anoints them
- God appoints Aaron as priest and his family to serve Him
- No requirements of celibacy or singleness
- They were actually encouraged to multiply
- This all happened with 1 year of when they left Egypt
- Cloud fills the tabernacle, it was dense