Walk Through the Bible: Exodus

Passage: Exodus 3:1-12

Exodus is an incredible book, an epic tale of the grandest proportions.  It contains some of the most famous stories in literature, the enslavement of the children of Israel by Pharaoh in Egypt, the rescue of baby Moses, the call of God to Moses out of a burning bush, the ten plagues, the Passover, the exodus of God’s people, the crossing of the Red Sea, the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, the wilderness wanderings with manna and water out of a rock, Mt. Sinai, the golden calf, the Ten Commandments, the building of the tabernacle.

Perhaps most importantly we are shown the birth and founding of the nation of Israel, one of the world’s oldest and most consequential people, who still are central in the world scene.  From this birth we learn the moral meaning of community life, the nature of political leadership and the standards for judging right and wrong and what makes a social order better or worse (LK).

Here we see God’s ways for human life and thriving, as opposed to the ways of Egypt, Mesopotamia or Canaan, a way devoted to decency and dignity, righteousness and holiness (LK).

Above all else, preeminently, Exodus is about God.  God is the central and decisive character.  God delivers His people, leads them, guides them, feeds them, forms a covenant with them, gives them their laws, has a special relationship with Moses, and creates a place for Himself to dwell among them.  Most of all God reveals Himself, YWVH, I am who I am.

To read Exodus is to encounter God, as Moses did at the burning bush.