Exodus

The book of Exodus is the story of God rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt and forging a special relationship with them.

Exodus is the second book of the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses), and it’s where we find the stories of the Ten Plagues, the first Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments.

The book gets its name from the nation of Israel’s mass emigration from Egypt, but that’s only the first part of the story.

• This book follows Israel out of Egypt into the desert, where the nation is specifically aligned with God (as opposed to the idols of Egypt and the surrounding nations).

• This is the book in which God first lays out his expectations for the people of Israel—we know these expectations as the 10 Commandments.

• Most of the Old Testament is about how Israel meets (or fails to meet) these expectations.

• So if you want to understand any other book of the Old Testament, you’ll need a basic understanding of what happens in Exodus.

Who wrote Exodus?

The whole Torah is a carefully, intentionally edited work. Moses is traditionally credited as the human author of the Old-Testament book of Exodus. This is because Exodus is part of the Torah, which is known as the Law of Moses. That doesn’t necessarily mean Moses penned every single word of this book—but since Moses is the main human character in these books, and since Moses is the one receiving directives from God, the books are attributed to him.

Important characters in Exodus

Exodus has a tight cast of important characters to keep an eye on.

God (Yahweh)—the creator of heaven and earth and the divine being who chooses the nation of Israel to represent him on earth. God goes to war against the gods of Egypt, frees Israel from their tyranny, and then makes a pact with the new nation. While the rest of the nations serve lesser gods, Yahweh selects the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the people group that will serve him and him alone.

Moses—One of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets who serves as a go-between for God and the other humans in the book of Exodus. Moses negotiates with Pharaoh for Israel’s freedom, passes God’s laws on to the people of Israel, and even pleads for mercy on Israel’s behalf when they anger God.

Aaron—Moses’ brother and right hand. Aaron assists Moses as a spokesperson, and eventually is made the high priest of the nation of Israel.

Pharaoh—the chief antagonist in the Exodus story. Pharaoh enslaves the nation of Israel, commits genocide, and obviously refuses Moses demands for his people’s freedom. Pharaoh is worshiped as part of the Egyptian pantheon: a lesser god laying an illegitimate claim to God’s people. God defeats Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt by sending a series of ten devastating plagues, and finally destroying Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea.

Key themes in Exodus

Exodus is all about God making Israel his own.

• God rescues the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whom he made some important promises to back in Genesis).

• Then, he gives them his expectations—a list of dos and don’ts.

• Finally, God sets up camp in the midst of the new nation: they are his people, and he is their God.

• When God gives Israel the Ten Commandments, he frames them by stating his relationship to the Hebrews. This verse sums up the themes of Exodus 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)

1. Redemption

It’s hard to miss this one! The entire book is about God hearing Israel’s cries for help, rescuing them from their oppressors, and making them his own.

2. Covenant

Like the rest of the Old Testament text, covenant is a big theme here. God makes a solemn, binding agreement with the people of Israel, establishing himself as their god and them as his people. This relationship comes with certain expectations, with benefits for the Israelites if they uphold their end of the agreement, and consequences if they do not.

3. God’s presence

Toward the beginning of the book, the cries of Israel rise up to God, who hears them and remembers his promises to Abraham back in Genesis. In the middle of the book, God meets Israel in the wilderness: he is high atop a mountain, and they are on the plain below. God is closer to the people, but still a ways off. However, by the end of the book, God is dwelling in the middle of Israel’s camp in the wilderness. Moses writes that it is God’s presence among his people that sets Israel apart from every other nation in the world (Exod 33:16).

4. Law

This is related to the theme of covenant—specifically, the expectations God has for the people of Israel. From chapter 20 onward, we start seeing more and more directives for the people on how to live as the people of God.

Exodus in context

Exodus is where the story of the Bible really starts picking up. God has already made his promises to Abraham: his descendants would be a mighty people, they would possess the land of Canaan, and through them the whole earth will be blessed by God.

While in Genesis we see God working through a family, in Exodus we see God working with an entire nation.

Exodus is a collection of theology we’ll see over and over again in the Old and New.

• God is faithful, and keeps His promise to Abraham (Gn 15:13–21) by judging the Egyptians and liberating Israel. God’s liberation of Israel from slavery foreshadows His work to redeem the nations (Ro 6:17–18),

• The Lord also gives Israel the first iteration of the Law, and begins to dwell among His people in the tabernacle. His judgment on His people serves as an example for Christians now (1 Co 10:6–13).

Exodus is also where God reveals His memorial name: YHWH, or LORD (Ex 3:14; 6:3).

An overview of Exodus’ story and structure

Act 1: Prologue

(Exodus 1–2)

Exodus picks up where Genesis leaves off: the young nation of Israel is in Egypt (they were invited by Joseph, the one with the famous coat). A new Pharaoh notices the Israelites multiplying, and enslaves them. Afraid of an uprising, he orders that all Hebrew sons should be cast into the Nile 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 driver, he flees the country.

Act 2: God saves Israel

(Exodus 3–19)

Forty years later, God appears to Moses as a burning bush and sends him to deliver Israel from the hand of Pharaoh.

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 those famous 10 plagues upon the Egyptians. When the last plague kills Pharaoh’s son, he finally allows Israel to leave.

The Ten Plagues and their Spiritual Significance.

These plagues had a duel purpose:

The Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for about 400 years and in that time had lost faith in the God of their fathers.

• They believed He existed and worshiped Him, but they doubted that He could, or would, break the yoke of their bondage.

• The Egyptians, like many pagan cultures, worshiped a wide variety of nature-gods and attributed to their powers the natural phenomena they saw in the world around them.

• There was a god of the sun, of the river, of childbirth, of crops, etc.

• Events like the annual flooding of the Nile, which fertilized their croplands, were evidences of their gods’ powers and good will.

When Moses approached Pharaoh, demanding that he let the people go, Pharaoh responded by saying,

“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).

Thus began the challenge to show whose God was more powerful.

1. The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, 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, 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” (Exodus 7:17).

2. The second plague, bringing frogs from the Nile, 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 (Exodus 8:13–14).

3. The third plague, gnats, 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” (Exodus 8:19).

4. The fourth plague, flies, 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 (Exodus 8:21–24).

5. The fifth plague, the death of livestock, was a judgment on the goddess Hathor and the god Apis, 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 (Exodus 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.

6. The sixth plague, boils, 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.” Clearly, these religious leaders were powerless against the God of Israel.

Before God sent the last three plagues, Pharaoh was given a special message from God. These plagues would be more severe than the others, and they were designed to convince Pharaoh and all the people “that there is none like me in all the earth” (Exodus 9:14). Pharaoh was even told that he was placed in his position by God, so that God could show His power and declare His name through all the earth (Exodus 9:16).

• As an example of His grace, God warned Pharaoh 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 (Exodus 9:20), while others did not.

7. The seventh plague, hail, attacked Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, the crop fertility god; and Set, the storm god.

• This hail was unlike any that had been seen before.

• It was accompanied by a fire that 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.

Before God brought the next plague, He told Moses that the Israelites would be able to tell their children of the things they had seen God do in Egypt and how it showed them God’s power.

8. The eighth plague, locusts, 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.

9. The ninth plague, darkness, was aimed at the sun god, Re, who was symbolized by Pharaoh himself.

• For three days, the land of Egypt was smothered with an unearthly darkness, but the homes of the Israelites had light.

10. The tenth and last plague, the death of the firstborn males, was a judgment on Isis, the protector of children.

In this plague, God was teaching the Israelites a deep spiritual lesson that pointed to Christ.

• Unlike the other plagues, which the Israelites survived by virtue of their identity as God’s people, this plague required an act of faith by them.

• God commanded each 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 last plague.

• God described how He would send the destroyer through the land of Egypt, with orders to slay the firstborn male in every household, whether human or animal.

• 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 (Exodus 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.

• First Corinthians 5:7 teaches that Jesus became our Passover when He died to deliver us from the bondage of sin.

• While the Israelites found God’s protection in their homes, every other home in the land of Egypt experienced God’s wrath as their loved ones died.

• This grievous event caused Pharaoh to finally release the Israelites.

By the time the Israelites left Egypt, they had a clear picture of God’s power, God’s protection, and God’s plan for them.

• For those who were willing to believe, they had convincing evidence that they served the true and living God.

• Sadly, many still failed to believe, which led to other trials and lessons by God.

The result for the Egyptians and the other ancient people of the region was a dread of the God of Israel.

• Even after the tenth plague, Pharaoh once again hardened his heart and sent his chariots after the Israelites.

• When God opened a way through the Red Sea for the Israelites, then drowned all of Pharaoh’s armies there, the power of Egypt was crushed, and the fear of God spread through the surrounding nations (Joshua 2:9–11).

This was the very purpose that God had declared at the beginning.

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 allowing Israel to escape their would-be captors—and then uses the sea to wash away Pharaoh’s army. The Israelites leave Egypt and make their way to the foot of Mount Sinai in the wilderness. God descends on the top of the mountain, and then, something amazing happens.

Act 3: God makes a covenant with Israel

(Exodus 20–40)

The Israelites leave Egypt and make their way to Mount Sinai, where God gives His laws to Moses. God makes a covenant with the nation of Israel and the generations to come: because He rescued them from Egypt, Israel is to observe His rules. God speaks the Ten Commandments directly to the whole nation of Israel, and He relays specific ordinances to Moses on the mountain. And the people agree to it!

After this, God makes plans for a place of worship. He’s going to come down from the mountaintop and dwell in the midst of the people of Israel—but in order for this to happen, the people need to prepare a portable tabernacle for him. 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 … not cool. Moses pleads with God on Israel’s behalf, and the nation is given another go at keeping God’s commands.

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 Leviticus is all about.