The Book Of Exodus Theology
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament. According to dictionary, the word Exodus means, “departure or emigration, usually of a large number of people.” (Dictionary.com). Exodus is the continuation of the book of Genesis; it picks up where the other one left off. Genesis ended when God chose his people, the Jews of Israel. The book of Exodus can be classified into three sections: the beginning, the middle, and the end.
In the beginning, the book of Exodus explains what the circumstances where the enslavement of Jews under the Pharaoh. With all the difficulty and sacrifice the chosen people of God had to go through, a Levi man married a Levite woman and gave birth to a son named Moses. During that period, the Pharaoh of Egypt had ordered, “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live”(Exodus 1:22). Being a mother, she tried to hide her baby as much as she could and then she had to let him go. After three months of hiding the baby, Moses’ mother put him in a papyrus basket and let him float away in between the weeds of the Nile. Moses ends up being raised by the daughter of the Pharaoh. Moses grew up and became chosen to be the deliverer of God’s people. Moses went to Pharaoh to release the Jews. Pharaoh refuses and God through Moses brings forth the ten Plagues. Each Plague did more damage than its predecessor, the last one with the death of the first born in the family, these even t lead to the first Passover. Moses showed the Pharaoh how power full the God of Israel is, by the partition of the Red Sea to deliver the Israelites from Pharaoh.
The middle segment of the book is about journey to the land of the free. During which God gave people His Law carved on to a thick slice of stone. In spite of all the amenities given by God, the people fought against Him by making a statue of Gold and started worshiping it. The Last portion of Exodus is how God created the Ark of the Covenant, with its different aspects that He wants the people to follow including the forms of worship.
RESPONSE
The idea of going to church came from the book of Exodus and it is very clear. The picture being painted about the various sacrifices the Israelites have to give was part of a master plan. The Passover Lamb of God, which is the utmost sacrifice humanity, could give. The sacrifice of the Lamb is seen in various parts of the Bible. For Instance, in Genesis Abraham ends up sacrificing a ram, in Exodus, during the last plague, a lamb was sacrificed and its blood were marked on the door frame so that the Israelites would not be affected by the Plague. Imagine this, if lord had to kill the first born, how angry must have he been in order to do such a terrible thing. On another note, it is interesting see how God give the people the Ten Commandments; know which they would not be able to keep. It shows us that we are not able to abide by even the simplest of laws. God’s involvement in the people of Israel is clearly shown, through their deliverance from slavery to the food and water in the desert. I believe that it shows that God will provide with all our needs as long as we love him with all our heart. An example of this concept is, “Give, and it will be given to you” (Luke 6: 38). From the book of Exodus, we understand that sin is something that never gets unpunished. God’s does punish you for our sins, sooner or later. It is implied that if we are relieved of a situation we shouldn’t be in, it means that we shouldn’t go back to it. Especially, it is said in Exodus about not going back to other God’s. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other Gods before me.” From this it is very evident about the concept of going back to your old self. On a separate note, why did the Lord harden the Pharaoh’s heart? So does that mean he was showing that he was on both sides, or simply put a way to prove us that we had free will? If it was the latter than the former, why go through such extreme circumstances? Could He have made the point with less causality? Something to definitely make us think and analyze about is the way I look at it.
