Transcript The Book of Exodus - ST Mary AV Service

The Book of Exodus
Story Line
1- Exodus: The Deliverance (1-18)

Israel in Egypt (1)
The Early Moses (2-4)
Plagues (5-11)
Passover (12:1-13:16)
Exodus from Egypt (13:17-15:21)







The generally accepted date
1280 B.C
Wilderness Journey (15:22-18:27)
of Israel's exodus from Egypt is
The Story
 The first half of Exodus is a narrative account of the Israelites'
escape from Egyptian bondage and their journey to Mount
Sinai
 This deliverance account includes the story of Moses, God's
chosen leader.
 Moses mediated a series of disasters that culminated in the
Israelites' release
 Overcoming all obstacles, including a great expanse of sea,
the Israelites made their way through the wilderness until
they came to the mountain of God, where the terms of the
covenant were revealed to them through Moses.
Israel in Egypt & The Early Moses
 Beginning with Jacob's clan the Hebrews lived in Egypt for many
generations. After a time the government changed hands and the
Egyptian Pharaoh, or king of Egypt, enslaved the Hebrews
 8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know
Joseph. 9And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the
children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10come, let us
deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the
event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us,
and so go up out of the land." 11Therefore they set taskmasters
over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for
Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they
afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew (1:8-12)
 The term pharaoh is derived from the Egyptian phrase "the great
house." It designates the highest office of Egypt and is not a
personal name.
 The Israelites were set to work building cities,
making mud bricks.
 Pharaoh ordered that all male Hebrew infants to be
killed , but one survived—Moses.
 Notice how their covenant blessing became their
curse; they had become so numerous that the new
ruler considered them a threat
 Hard work of city building did not diminish the
Hebrew population so the Egyptians initiated a
policy of male infanticide
 The midwives who serviced the Hebrews secretly
refused to cooperate
 The desperate Pharaoh then commanded that all
Hebrew infant sons be drowned in the Nile
MOSES
 Was born to Amram and Jochebed from
the tribe of Levi
 After they were no longer able to conceal
Moses, they placed him in a reed basket
waterproofed with tar and set him afloat
in the Nile
 Meanwhile, Pharaoh's daughter came
down to bathe at the river.
MOSES
 When she discovered Moses she took him to court and raised
him there as a virtual grandson of the Pharaoh.
 His birth mother was a wet nurse and told him of his true
identity
 He rescued a Hebrew slave by killing his abusive Egyptian
master. In danger of being exposed, Moses fled to Midian
 Moses found refuge with Jethro, the priest of Midian. Moses
eventually married one of his daughters and served as
shepherd of his father-in-law's flocks
 Jethro is the name of Moses' father-in-law which means
‘Excellent’ or Reuel (means friend of God)
 Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush in Exodus
3:1-15 marks a turning point in Israel's history
The Burning Bush (3:2-4)
At the Burning bush, Moses learned the
identity of the God who would deliver
the Israelites from bondage
Mount Sinai or Horeb
 Moses would be God’s mediator
God sent Aaron with him
I Am, Ego Emi
 God who exists
 God who exists independently
 Unchangeable
I Am, Ego Emi
 Jesus Christ“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham
was, I AM.”
 I AM in Greek is Ego emi; is in the present indicative active
form of the verb “to be.” Meaning, what is true of His
being before is true of Him today, that He has no change
from eternity past to eternity future
6"For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons
of Jacob. (Malachi 3:6).
 St. Catherine's Monastery is located at the base of Jebel Musa in
the southern Sinai. According to post-biblical tradition this is where
Moses saw the burning bush and received the Law from the hand of
God
The God of the Fathers (3:4-6)
 6Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid
to look upon God.
 God of the exodus is the God of the
ancestors, thus connecting Israel's
deliverance with the history of and promises
to the ancestors
Land of Milk and Honey (3:7-8)
 God is a caring and compassionate God. He hates to see his
people suffer and acts out of compassion
 Not only will he relieve their suffering, he will bring them to
the land promised to the ancestors.
3:13 - 4:23
 Having received the revelation of the divine name, as well as
his mission, Moses went back to Egypt and presented God's
demand to Pharaoh. "Let my people go!" Pharaoh refused to
budge.
 Only after a devastating series of disasters did he allow them,
indeed urge them, to leave Egypt.
Plagues (5-11)
 Because Pharaoh refused to grant permission to leave, God sent the
plagues
 The description of disasters is an example of graphic storytelling
 The story of the plagues has given rise to a variety of interpretations
deriving from different perspectives
Plagues
 From the perspective of biblical history the plagues were
intended to reveal God's power to break Egyptian resistance
and were said to come from the finger of God
Plagues
 From a history of religions perspective the plagues may
represent God's judgment on the gods of Egypt, including
Ra’ the sun god who was attacked in the ninth plague
 From a literary perspective the plagues are arranged in
three series of three disasters, with the tenth plague as the
climax
Plagues
 gods.doc
Passover (12:1-13:16)
 The Israelites avoided the
devastating tenth plague because
each family slaughtered a lamb
as a substitute for its firstborn
 They painted blood from the
lamb on the door frames of their
homes, and when God saw this
evidence of the sacrifice on a
house, he "passed over" that
house, sparing the firstborn son
Passover (12:1-13:16)
 God mentioned this plague early

on to the Pharaoh
Then you shall say to Pharaoh,
"Thus says the LORD: "Israel is
My son, My firstborn. 23So I
say to you, let My son go that he
may serve Me. But if you refuse
to let him go, indeed I will kill
your son, your firstborn."
(Exodus 4:22-23)
 The avoidance ritual of the tenth plague developed into a
ceremonial meal called the Passover
 this meal a roasted lamb was eaten along with bitter herbs
and unleavened bread (bread made without yeast) called
matsot.
 Eating matsot symbolized the hurriedness of Israel's
departure; the bread simply had no time to rise
 The exodus story became so important to Israel's
identity that the prescription for remembering it came to
be contained within the tradition of the event itself. The
yearly Passover celebration developed into one of Israel's
most important festivals
 God asked the Israelites to consecrate every firstborn
 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2"Consecrate to
Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the
children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine."
(Exodus 13:1)
Law of the Firstborn (14:11-16)
 11 "And it shall be, when the LORD brings you
into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to
you and your fathers, and gives it to you, 12that
you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the
womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an
animal which you have; the males shall be the
LORD's. 13But every firstborn of a donkey you
shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not
redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all
the firstborn of man among your sons you shall
redeem.
Law of the Firstborn (14:11-16)
 14So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come,
saying, "What is this?' that you shall say to him, "By
strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage. 15And it came to pass, when
Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the
LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both
the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore
I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb,
but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' 16It shall be as
a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes,
for by strength of hand the LORD brought us out of
Egypt."
Exodus from Egypt (13:17-15:21)
 After leaving Egypt the Israelites fled into the Sinai peninsula
 Pharaoh had second thoughts about allowing them to depart
so he mustered his chariotry and chased them.
 The Israelites took Joseph’s bones with them and God guided
them all the way through with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of
fire.
 After a short time the
Israelites were pinched
between Pharaoh's army
and the Red Sea
 The Israelites, as was their
tendency, blamed Moses for
their predicament
 When all hope seemed lost, by a divine act the Israelites
escaped through the sea on dry ground and the army of
Pharaoh drowned when they tried to follow
 It is the culmination of God's great work in delivering the
Israelites from oppression and bondage and providing
salvation.
Exodus 15
 celebrates the victory over
Pharaoh in a poetic song of
triumph
 Moses and his sister
Miriam led the people in a
victory hymn to God
 This song is the origin of
the first praise (ode) of the
Coptic church's Mid-night
Praise
Wilderness Journey (15:22-18:27)
COMPLAINERS
After the escape from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites
toward the burning bush site so that they too could meet
God.
Along the way they had numerous difficulties that tried
Moses' leadership ability and patience, and tested the
faith of the people.
When they arrived at an oasis the water was undrinkable,
so the people complained to Moses, who changed the
bitter water to sweet. (Mara)
When they lacked food, God rained down manna and
quail.
 When they came to Rephidim
expecting to find water, they
found none. The people again
turned on Moses and blamed
him for their predicament. God
instructed Moses to strike a
rock and water flowed.
 Then the Amalekites fought the
Israelites. Joshua led the
counterattack, and the
Israelites prevailed as long as
Moses' arms were raised to
God
 Moses listens to his father-in
law’s wise advice