The Book of

EXODUS
 CONTENT: What is it About?
The book of Exodus is the second chapter of
the Pentateuch and concerns three weighty
biblical-theological themes:
1. God delivers Israel from Egyptian
bondage (Ex 1-18)
2. God gives Israel the law (Ex 19-24)
3. God provides the tabernacle for Israel
(Presence of God, Ex 25-40)
 CONTENT: What is it About?
Exodus has a tight cast of important
characters to keep an eye on.
1. God
2. Moses
3. Aaron
4. Pharaoh
 CONTENT: What is it About?
Exodus has a tight cast of important
characters to keep an eye on.
1. God
2. Moses
3. Aaron
4. Pharaoh
 CONTENT: What is it About?
Exodus is all about God making Israel his
own. This verse sums us the themes of the
book nicely: “I am the LORD your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery.” (Ex 20:2)
Redemption Law
Covenant God’s Presence
 CONTENT: What is it About?
Exodus continues Genesis. The young nation
of Israel is in Egypt. A new Pharaoh notices
the Israelites multiplying, and enslaves them.
Afraid of an uprising, he orders that all
Hebrew sons should be killed at birth. But
one baby boy escapes this fate: the Hebrew
Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s household.
When adult Moses kills an abusive Egyptian
slave, he flees the country.
 CONTENT: What is it About?
He reaches Midian and enters the household
of Jethro (Reuel) by marrying his daughter
Zipporah. While shepherding his father-in-
law’s flock, God appears to him in a burning
bush and commissions him and his brother
Aaron to return to insist on the release of
Israel from its enslavement, in the process,
God reveals his covenant name YHWH
(tetragrammaton).
 CONTENT: What is it About?
Moses, with the help of his brother Aaron,
confronts Pharaoh on God’s behalf: “Let My
people go” (Ex 5:1). Pharaoh refuses, and so
God sends the famous 10 plagues upon the
Egyptians (Ex 7:14-12:30). When the last
plague kills Pharaoh’s son, he finally allows
Israel to leave.
 CONTENT: What is it About?
The Israelites celebrate the first-ever
Passover, and then set out into the
wilderness. Pharaoh changes his mind and
sends his army to recapture them. God saves
Israel miraculously by parting the Red Sea
and then uses the sea to wash away
Pharaoh’s army. The Israelites make their way
to the foot of Mount Sinai.
 CONTENT: What is it About?
In Mount Sinai, God gives His laws (Ten
Commandments) to Moses. God makes a
covenant with the nation of Israel and the
generations to come. After this, God makes
plans for a place of worship. He’s going to
dwell in the midst of the people of Israel —
but in order for this to happen, the people
need to prepare a tabernacle (with the Ark of
the Covenant) for him.
 CONTENT: What is it About?
God gives Moses the plans for the
tabernacle, the sacred furniture, and the
garments for the priests. But already things
aren’t going as planned. While God is giving
Moses laws for the people, the people start
worshiping a golden calf. Moses pleads with
God on Israel’s behalf, and the nation is given
another go at keeping God’s commands.
 CONTENT: What is it About?
And so Israel builds the tabernacle: a holy
tent. The book of Exodus ends with the glory
of the LORD filling the tabernacle. God is
now dwelling among His chosen people,
Israel. However, now there’s another
problem: how will the people live in the
presence of such a holy and powerful being?
That’s what the next book, Leviticus, is all
about.
 Authorship and Date

Since Exodus is the second part of the

Pentateuch, the issue of authorship and
dating is the same as those in Genesis.
 Literary Style
In large part, the book of Exodus continues
the type of narrative presentation of Israel’s
past observed in the book of Genesis.
However, it introduces law as a genre. The
law expresses God’s will for Israel’s
behavior, beginning with the Ten
Commandments (general ethical principles)
and then continuing with the case law
(applications to specific situations).
 Issues

1. The Birth of Moses

Ancient literature outside the Bible attests to several
stories in which a child, perceived as a threat by an
enemy, is abandoned and later spared by divine
intervention or otherworldly circumstance. Roughly
30 stories like this survive from the literature of
ancient Mesopotamia, Canaan, Greece, Egypt, Rome
and India.
 Issues

1. The Birth of Moses

The Mesopotamian work known as the Sargon Birth
Legend offers the most striking parallels to the
biblical story. It relates the birth story of Sargon the
Great, an Akkadian emperor who ruled a number of
Sumerian city-states around 2000 BC, centuries
before the time of Moses. Some assume that the
biblical story of Moses’ birth was based on the Sargon
Birth Legend, but this is unlikely.
 Issues

1. The Birth of Moses

Reasons:
- the legendary account of Sargon’s birth is known
from only four fragmentary tablets—three from the
Neo-Assyrian period (934–605 bc) and one from the
Neo-Babylonian period (626–539 bc); meaning the
legend was composed only after the biblical story.
- It’s a rags-to-riches story vs. Moses’ story.
Issues
Plague 1. Waters Turn to Blood
The first plague was a judgment against Apis (the god
of the Nile) Isis (goddess of the Nile) and Khnum
(guardian of the Nile). The Nile was also believed to be
the bloodstream of Osiris (god of vegetation and
agriculture), who was reborn each year when the river
flooded. The river, which formed the basis of daily life
and the national economy, was devastated, as millions
of fish died in the river and the water was unusable.
Pharaoh was told, “By this you will know that I am the
LORD” (Ex 7:17).
Plague 2. Frogs
The second plague was a judgment against
Heqet (the frog-headed goddess of birth). Frogs
were thought to be sacred and not to be killed.
God had the frogs invade every part of the
homes of the Egyptians, and when the frogs
died, their stinking bodies were heaped up in
offensive piles all through the land (Ex 8:13-14).
Plague 3. Lice/Gnats
The third plague was a judgment on Set (the god
of the desert). Unlike the previous plagues, the
magicians were unable to duplicate this one and
declared to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God”
(Ex 8:19).
Plague 4. Flies
The fourth plague was a judgment on Uatchit,
(the fly god). In this plague, God clearly
distinguished between the Israelites and the
Egyptians, as no swarms of flies bothered the
areas where the Israelites lived (Ex 8:21-24).
Plague 5. Pestilence
The fifth plague was a judgment on the goddess Hathor
(primeval goddess, mother) and the god Apis (sacred
bull, son), who were both depicted as cattle. As with
the previous plague, God protected His people from
the plague, while the cattle of the Egyptians died. God
was steadily destroying the economy of Egypt, while
showing His ability to protect and provide for those
who obeyed Him. Pharaoh even sent investigators (Ex
9:7) to find out if the Israelites were suffering along
with the Egyptians, but the result was a hardening of
his heart against the Israelites.
Plague 6. Boils
The sixth plague was a judgment against several
gods over health and disease (Sekhmet, Sunu,
and Isis). This time, the Bible says that the
magicians “could not stand before Moses
because of the boils.” (Ex 9:11) Clearly, these
religious leaders were powerless against the
God of Israel.
Plague 7. Hail
The Pharaoh was warned to gather whatever cattle and
crops remained from the previous plagues and shelter
them from the coming storm. Some of Pharaoh’s
servants heeded the warning (Ex 9:20), while others did
not. The seventh plague came and attacked Nut (sky
goddess), Osiris (crop fertility god), and Set (storm god).
This hail was unlike any that had been seen before. It
was accompanied by a fire which ran along the ground,
and everything left out in the open was devastated by
the hail and fire. Again, the children of Israel were
miraculously protected, and no hail damaged anything
in their lands.
Plague 8. Locusts
The eighth plague again focused on Nut, Osiris,
and Set. The later crops, wheat and rye, which
had survived the hail, were now devoured by
the swarms of locusts. There would be no
harvest in Egypt that year.
Plague 9. Darkness
The ninth plague, darkness, was aimed at the
sun god, Ra (Re), who was symbolized by
Pharaoh himself. For three days, the land of
Egypt was smothered with an unearthly
darkness (Ex 10:22), but the homes of the
Israelites had light (Ex 10:23).
Plague 10. Death of Firstborn
The tenth and last plague was a judgment on Osiris, the
god of judgment or death. It was for the entire land of
Egypt. But God commanded each Israelite family to
take an unblemished male lamb and kill it. The blood of
the lamb was to be smeared on the top and sides of
their doorways, and the lamb was to be roasted and
eaten that night. Any family that did not follow God’s
instructions would suffer in the plague.
The only protection was the blood of the lamb on the
door. When the destroyer saw the blood, he would
pass over that house and leave it untouched (Ex 12:23).
This is where the term Passover comes from. Passover
is a memorial of that night in ancient Egypt when God
delivered His people from bondage. This grievous event
caused Pharaoh to finally release the Israelites.
 Issue: Did it happen?
There are many scientific inferences and archeological
supports that show the plagues took place. Besides,
the Torah tells us so. But it may not have been an
assault against the gods and goddesses of Egypt,
rather it was an assault against the pharaoh himself .
He was a divine figure whose responsibilities included
the well-being of Egypt itself. And the point is not in
the plagues themselves but in the power that God
exercised over the whole series to being about his
plan.