Know Your Bible ~ Exodus

*Author:

Not stated but traditionally attributed to Moses. In Exodus 34:27 God tells Moses, "Write down these words," and Jesus, in Mark 12:26, quotes from Exodus as "the book of Moses."

*Date: 

Approximately the mid-1400s BC.

*In Ten Words Or Less: 

God delivers His people, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt.

*Details, Please: 

The Israelites prosper in Egypt, having settled there at the invitation of Abraham's great-grandson Joseph, who entered the country as a slave and rose to second in command. When Joseph dies, a new pharaoh sees the burgeoning family as a threat--and makes the people his slaves. God hears the Israelites' groaning, remembering "his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" (2:24) and raising up Moses as their deliverer. God speaks through a burning bush, and Moses reluctantly agrees to demand the Israelites' release fro Pharaoh. To break Pharaoh's will, God sends ten plagues on Egypt, ending with the death of every firstborn child--except those of the Israelites. They put sacrificial blood on their doorposts, causing the Lord to "pass over" (12:13) their homes. Pharaoh finally allows the Israelites to leave the country (the "Exodus"), and God parts the Red Sea for the people, who are being pursued by Egyptian soldiers. At Mount Sinai, God delivers the Ten Commandments, rules for worship, and laws to change the family into a nation. When Moses delays on the mountain, the people begin worshipping a golden calf, bringing a plague upon themselves. Moses returns to restore order, and Exodus ends with the people continuing their journey to the "promise land" of Canaan, following God's "pillar of cloud" by day and "pillar of fire" by night.

*Quotable:
God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (3:14)

Thus saith the LORD, Let me people go. (8:1)

When I see the blood, I will pass over you. (12:13)

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (20:3)

*Unique and Unusual:
God told the Israelites to celebrate the "Passover" with a special meal of bread made without yeast (12:14-15). Three thousand years later, Jewish people still commemorate the event.

*So What?: 

The story of redemption is on clear display in Exodus as God rescues His people from their slavery in Egypt. In the same way, Jesus breaks out bonds of sin (Hebrews 2:14-15).