Walking with GOD Chapter CHAPTER 3: EGYPT and Exodus

Bible References I - Exodus 3-5, 11-12,14,16,17

II - Exodus 19, 20, 23-25, 32, 37-50
Stories (I)Moses, Plagues, Red Sea, Manna
(II) Ten Commandments, Rules to live by, Rules for worship,
Tabernacle, Ark, Golden Calf, Levitical priesthood, Covenant
Renewal

Nearly four hundred years, or ten generations, have gone by since Jacob’s family settled
in Egypt’s best land, the land of Goshen. Given that so many generations had spent their
entire lives in Egypt, it is not surprising that Israel has become accustomed to the culture,
practices, and even religion of Egypt. Pharaoh fears the Israelites’ growing numbers and
responds with slavery; the Egyptians “made their lives bitter with hard service” (Exo
1:14).

1. When Moses went up to Mount Horeb, what mission did God give him? How
did Moses react? (Exo 3: 7-12).

Answer God tells Moses that he has looked down and seen the affliction of his
people and that he will send Moses to Pharaoh to bring the people of
Israel out of Egypt. Since Moses is a man under death sentence for
killing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he is not immediately
convinced of his chances for success. He asks, “Who am I that I
should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”. The
Lord reassures Moses, promising that he himself will be “with him.”

The Egyptians practiced a polytheistic religion with many gods, not only worshiping these
gods but also their manifestations in created animals and realities. After ten generations
in Egypt, the Israelites would certainly be accustomed to hearing the names of many gods
daily. When Moses returns to Egypt and announces God’s plan to the Israelites, the first
question put to him would likely be, “Which god sent you?” God answers Moses’ request
and reveals his name: Yahweh meaning “I am who I am.” The name Yahweh means that
God is with his people. Yahweh is not a distant God, but a God who is present. Here, at
the burning bush, Moses is the first of God’s people to learn God’s inmost, secret name.
The Lord reveals his name, and Moses will work signs and wonders in God’s name! In the
New Testament, Jesus will say, “Whenever two or more are gathered in my name, there I
am in their midst” (emphasis added); invoking Jesus’ name invokes his presence (CCC
2666).

2. How does the Lord respond when Moses tells him he is not qualified, i.e., he is slow of
speech? (Exo. 4: 10-17).

Answer “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or
seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will
 be your mouth and teach you what you shall speak” (Ex 4:11-12). The
Lord wants Moses to know that even though Moses does not feel
suited to this monumental task, God has prepared him and given him
the necessary gifts to do his will.

3. What was the simple request that Moses made to Pharaoh? What was the answer of
Pharaoh? (Exo 5:1-10)

Answer “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the
wilderness”. Moses reiterates, “Let us go, we beg, a three days’
journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God”.
Moses does not ask Pharaoh to release the captives and let them leave
Egypt forever, but only for a three-day retreat! The Pharaoh answers
“I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go”. In
Pharaoh’s mind, the God of the Hebrews was obviously not a
powerful God, or the Israelites would not be enslaved.

4. What were the plagues that God sent because of the Pharaoh’s refusal to allow Israel
to serve Yahweh?

Answer (Exo. 7:14-25, 8,9,10). The first plague turns the Nile to blood, a sign
that recalls the drowning of Israel’s innocent children. The Nile, the
linchpin of Egyptian economy and life, was worshiped as the god
Hapi. To see the Nile, a constant source of life, now running with
blood would signify death, and the conclusion drawn would be that
the God of the Hebrews had struck a mortal blow to the Egyptians’
beloved god Hapi. After 7 days, the second plague, the multiplication
of frogs, brings judgment on the goddess Heqt, the goddess of life and
fertility who was represented as a woman from the waist down and a
frog from the waist up. Pharaoh begs Moses to take away the frogs.
Moses obliges, and the next day Egypt is filled with the stench of the
rotting bodies of the goddess of life. After the next plagues of gnats,
flies, disease on cattle, boils, hail, and locusts, the Lord tells Moses to
stretch out his hand “that there may be darkness over the land of
Egypt, a darkness to be felt”. The God of the Hebrews blows out the
sun god Re like a candle.

In Exodus 4:21, 9:12, 10:1, 20, 27 and 11:10 what does it mean that God hardens the
heart of the pharaoh so that he will allow the Israelites to leave and then pursue them
later when they finally are allowed to leave (Ex 14: 4, 8)? Shouldn’t God have “softened”
the heart of the Pharaoh instead? Romans 9:17 provides the answer. “For Scriptures says
to Pharaoh for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you,
 and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” In other words, so that God can
show how powerful he is compared to the Egyptian gods and even to the Pharaoh himself.

5. Describe what the Israelites must do to be saved from the 10 th and final plague
(Exo. 12:1-13). Describe the liberation of Israel from Egypt. (Exo. 14:5-30).

Answer Having sacrificed and roasted the lamb, the Israelites are to eat it at
night, standing up, with their sandals on, ready to go. Then they are to
spread the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of their houses.

The firstborn sons of Egypt are killed in the night. In his grief over the
death of his firstborn son, Pharaoh commands Moses and Israel to
leave Egypt. But with the light of day, Pharaoh’s grief turns to rage.
He musters his army and soon catches the Israelites, pinning them
against the shores of the Red Sea. God parts the waters, allowing the
Israelites to cross on dry land, all the while protecting them from
the Egyptian army by a pillar of cloud. The Egyptians rush into the
sea to catch them, but the Lord sends the water crashing down upon
them. The entire army of Egypt, the great world power at the time, is
decimated.

The Origin of the Feast of the Passover. The angel “passed over” and spared the
firstborn of the Israelites on the eve of the Exodus while killing the firstborn of the
Egyptians. This was the start of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
This event is celebrated as the Feast of the Passover which begins with the 15 th and ends
with 21st day of the month of Nissan (March or April).
Catholics don’t celebrate Passover anymore, which is still celebrated by Jews, as this is
now superseded by the Eucharist in the Mass. The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s
Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death and resurrection
of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action. ( CCC 1409)

Moses explains why God allowed struggles in the desert: God has led you these forty
years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your
heart … he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna … that he might
make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds
out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deut 8:2-3) The goal of the Exodus was not simply
freedom from slavery, but freedom for the Israelites to know and serve the Lord with all
their heart.

6. Israel travels six weeks and arrives at Mount Sinai. After seven more days of
encampment at the foot of Mount Horeb, now renamed, Sinai, God gives Israel their
vocation on this same mountain which is to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests
(Exo 19:5-6). What does God give them to fulfill this mission?
 Answer God gives Israel the Ten Commandments, which aim to shape their
lives so that they can receive the fullness of God’s blessing and
communicate that blessing to others.

Reading the 10 Commandments in isolation of the narrative often leads to a narrow and
legalistic misunderstanding of the law. The commandments are given in the context of
relationship, only after the Lord manifests his love in freeing Israel from bondage. As
the Catechism notes, “The Commandments properly so-called come in the second place:
they express the implications of belonging to God through the establishment of the
covenant” (CCC 2062). In first place is the covenant relationship into which God invites
Israel. A life lived according to the commandments is simply a return of the love God
has first bestowed.

7. What happens while Moses is on the mountains? How did Moses answer God when
he threatened to turn his wrath against Israel? (Exo. 32:1-14).

Answer In Moses’ prolonged absence, they turn to Aaron to build an idol and
lead them in a liturgical feast. In making the golden calf, Israel is not
forging a new cult but returning to Egyptian worship of the god Apis,
often depicted in the form of a bull. Moses argues that by wiping out
Israel, God will discredit his reputation with Egypt and the world.
Then, Moses appeals to the covenant promises God had made to the
patriarchs to give them numerous descendants: Remember Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel [Jacob], your servants, to whom you swore by your
own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your descendants as the
stars of heaven.” Now Moses’ naming of the three great patriarchs and
God’s covenant promises to them saves Israel, the descendants of the
patriarchs, even though Israel is guilty of apostasy.

8. Who respond when Moses comes down and calls all who will rally to the Lord’s side?
What did they do? (Exo. 32:25-29).

Answer Only one tribe responds, the tribe of Levi. The Levites take control of
the camp and end the idolatry, grinding up the molten calf idol and
slaying about three thousand men. Up to this point every tribe was
priestly, and the father of every family served as a priest. After Israel’s
apostasy, however, all the tribes but Levi will be stripped of their
priestly privileges. Only one tribe will be priests—the tribe of Levi.
 The event in Exo 32 that narrates God ordering the Levites to kill 3,000
unbelievers who participated in the worship of the golden calf is difficult even for
sincere Christians to understand, much less to accept. The problem of God
appearing as a wrathful God in the Old Testament is not something new but is an
age-old issue. The heretical Marcionites in the 2 nd century misread Scriptures
because they believed that the Old Testament that portrays God as wrathful should
be dismissed and only the New Testament which depicts a merciful God should be
believed. Origen of Alexandra said we should read the whole Bible in the light of
Revelations Chapter 5 where the Lamb will unlock the seven seals of the scrolls to
finally understand Scriptures which is difficult to interpret. We should read the
Bible from the standpoint of the compassionate and forgiving Lamb of God. The
Bible expresses truth by means of poetic allusions, or allegories of the spiritual
struggle. When we are faced with evil (or idolatry as in the case of Ex 32) the
author wants us to understand that we must not go in half measures but must fight it
all the way.
– Bishop Robert Barron.

9. In leaving Mt. Sinai, will Israel be leaving the presence of God? Why not? (Exo 25:9,
25:22, 29:45-46).

Answer The liturgical legislation revealed to Moses on the mountaintop

answers this question by making clear that the tabernacle—where God
will be perpetually present—and the liturgy surrounding it perpetuates
God’s presence in the midst of Israel, functioning as the portable
mountain of God based on the heavenly “pattern” shown to Moses on
the mountain. The tabernacle, also referred to as the tent of meeting,
was defined by three distinct boundaries: at the center, and containing
the Ark of the Covenant, was the Holy of Holies, which only the high
priest could enter; surrounding the Holy of Holies was the Holy Place,
which the priests could enter; and around that the outer court,
accessible to those Israelites who were ritually clean. The purpose of
the tabernacle and its liturgy is to perpetuate God’s presence on Sinai
with God’s people wherever they go. Leaving Sinai, Israel will not
leave God.
God’s presence during the journey is manifested by the Pillar of Cloud
at daytime and the Pillar of Fire at night. And when at rest, the Cloud
of Glory would settle in the Tent of Meeting.