Introduction to the Book of Exodus

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:31:21utc

General Observations:

The name of the book is taken from the Septuagint. A literal translations would be "the getting out of..." or "departure." In Hebrew the book takes its title from the opening words: "These are the names ..." (Ve-elleh Shemoth).

The book Exodus is one of the great books of the Pentateuch and of the whole Bible. It describes one of the key episodes in the history of salvation. The lines of God's revelation of Himself that were drawn in the lives of individuals in Genesis come together in this book in a more complete and clearer picture of YHWH, the "I AM" the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. This God occupies the central place in the book, and He reveals Himself in His call to man. Maybe the best title of the book would be the words of Hosea: "Out of Egypt I called my son."[ 1 ]

The title Exodus is, in a certain sense, misleading in that it gives the impression that the deliverance of Israel from Egypt would be the main event in the book. The great happening is the encounter with God; what Moses called before Pharaoh "a festival to Me (YHWH) in the desert" (ch. 5:1). The Exodus itself was the means, not the goal.

It has been said that all theology in the Bible begins with ch. 3:14, "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.' " Those dynamic words reveal and, at the same time, hide the mystery of who God is. In Genesis we see how God moves away from man when man falls into sin. In Exodus we see how God moves back to earth and draws man to Himself. God pitched His tent on earth to live among people who lived in tents. In Exodus we find for the first time the Immanuel concept: "God with us." It comes to us as an image that finds its fulfillment in the Incarnation, when the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us, as John puts it.[ 2 ]

We find a rather complicated mixture of models in Exodus; some are given in the form of images and pictures and some in, what we would call, realities. The oppression of Israel in Egypt was a hard reality of daily life for suffering people. It was, what we may call "real life." At the same time it becomes a picture of evil, of the power of darkness and human sin. The reign of the Antichrist is said to occur in Sodom and Egypt.[ 3 ]

The great picture album is found in the chapters 25-40 where Moses received the concept of the tabernacle with its furnishings, and the execution of the work and the erection of the tent. The finished product is a metaphor of earthly matter of spiritual realities of heaven. Moses is shown a pattern while on Mount Sinai. We read this in ch. 25:9,40. The writer to the Hebrews picks up this theme in his epistle.[ 4 ] In several places in the book of Revelation, John shows us that the original, of which the tabernacle with all its furnishings was a copy, is in heaven. ("Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.")[ 5 ] The highly poetical language of Revelation suggests that there is no building in the earthly sense of the word but a spiritual reality which surpasses anything matter can express. Paul puts it clearly in Colossians: "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."[ 6 ]

It is important to remember that the principal truth expressed in the book of Exodus is the Incarnation, that is, that God came down to earth to dwell with man. This truth is woven into a closely knit pattern of other truths which, to our human mind, are more easily accessible. There is Egypt with its demonic oppression. There is the call of a man. There is judgment upon the world which says: "Who is the LORD that I should obey Him?" (ch. 5:2). Then there is the Passover, the actual Exodus or deliverance and the feast of unleavened bread. There is the journey through the desert, the mentality of the people of Israel, which God describes as "stiff-necked." There is the law, the code of moral behavior and finally there is the tabernacle, which expresses at the same time fellowship with God and separation from God. The writer to the Hebrews observes astutely that the tabernacle was an obstacle to fellowship with God. In Hebrews we read: "The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing."[ 7 ]

Outline of Exodus:

The division of Exodus in sections is not very difficult. The great dividing line is at ch. 19 where Israel has arrived at Mount Sinai. So we can divide the book in two:

A. Toward Sinai. ch. 1-18.

B. At Sinai. ch. 10-40

A. Toward Sinai ch. 1-18

The first two chapters compress a history of about two centuries and the opening verses (1-5) link the book with Genesis with which it probably formed one volume originally. The rest of the first chapter paints a grim picture of repression and persecution such as will probably be surpassed only by the reign of the Antichrist.

Chapter two gives the account of the birth of Moses, his miraculous escape both at birth and as an adult.

Chapters three and four describe God's call of Moses to which he submits very, very reluctantly.

Chapters five through twelve describe the ten plagues which force Pharaoh's hand; chapters thirteen through fifteen record the completion of the deliverance and the destruction of the enemy.

Chapter sixteen vs. 1 through seventeen vs. 7 give examples of the various needs of Israel during the journey in the desert toward Mount Sinai and God's provision for those needs.

Chapter seventeen vs. 8 through 17 give a brief but dramatic account of Amalek's attack on Israel and Israel's victory.

Chapter 18 tells of Jethro's visit to Moses, Moses' heavy burden as leader of the people and Jethro's sound advice to lighten this burden.

B. At Sinai ch. 19-40

Chapter nineteen gives a description of the descent of the glory of the LORD on Mount Sinai and Moses' first ascent. Chapter twenty vs. 1-17 give the Ten Commandments, chapter twenty vs. 18 through twenty-three vs. 19 contain various laws, mainly concerning human relations. Chapter twenty-three vs. 20 through 33 outline the plan for the conquest of Canaan. Chapters twenty-four through thirty-one describe Moses' second ascent and the unfolding of the plan for the tabernacle and the priesthood.

Chapters thirty-two through thirty-four could be called "The Breaking of the Law." The people committed the sin of idolatry by making a Golden Calf, and Moses literally breaks the two tablets of the law. This section is at the same time the deepest and the highest point of the whole book. In their idolatry the people tried to syncretize the demonism of Egypt with the worship of the only true God. In trying to atone for the sins of the people, Moses drew closer to God and saw more of His glory than any other man in the Old Testament.

Chapters thirty-five through thirty-nine detail mainly the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishing, and chapter forty shows how the tabernacle is put together and then describes how the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Authorship and Date:

There should be less confusion about the authorship of this book than of Genesis, but there isn't! Besides the theory that places the whole Pentateuch after the return of Israel from the Babylonian captivity, which we reject, there is enough confusion about existing sources from before the actual time of departure out of Egypt. The fact that Jesus calls Exodus "The book of Moses" in Marks' Gospel [ 8 ] should settle the matter for us.

That some of the laws written down in Exodus were already accepted codes of moral behavior long before Israel arrived at Mount Sinai seems quite plausible to me. The Ekagi tribe in Irian Jaya had knowledge of the laws that were on the second stone tablet long before any missionary entered with the Gospel or any contact with other civilizations was established. The only reasonable explanation of this phenomenon seems to me to be that, after the flood, all the descendants of Noah knew that their Creator did not want them to steal, lie, or commit adultery. The Ekagi must have preserved this knowledge without much alteration throughout the ages. But the fact that at least some of the laws were not new makes them no less a part of divine revelation.

According to ch. 7:7, Moses was eighty years old at the time of the Exodus. The book of First Kings tells us that the temple was built 480 years after Israel left Egypt,[ 9 ] which was (according to Thiele, quoted in the Expositor's Bible Commentary) in the year 967 BC, placing the Exodus at 1446 BC, which was during the reign of Pharaoh Tutmos III> (Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, pg. 290).

[ 1 ] Hos. 11:1

[ 2 ] John 1:4

[ 3 ] Rev. 11:8

[ 4 ] Heb. 8:5

[ 5 ] Rev. 11:19

[ 6 ] Col. 2:17

[ 7 ] Heb. 9:8

[ 8 ] Mark 12:26

[ 9 ] I Kings 6:1