A 30,000 Foot View of Exodus

Stories from Exodus are familiar and even embedded in our culture through movies like Charlton Heston's The Ten Commandments and Disney's The Prince of Egypt. The plagues, parting of the Red Sea, and the Ten Commandments are a few of the famous vignettes that are a part of a much bigger story you may not have considered before. 

If we take these scenes alone, they likely lead you to believe that the story of Exodus is simply about being freed from slavery. But when we look at the book as a whole, it is really about finding the right master to serve.

Genesis ended with Joseph and his family settling in Egypt. Several generations later, the Israelites had grown into a people so massive that the Pharaoh came to fear them.

The result?

Pharaoh forced the Israelites into harsh, bitter service as slaves to build storehouses - miskanot in Hebrew - for surplus resources.

God heard the Israelites' cry and delivered them from Pharaoh so they could worship Him. It is worth noting that in Hebrew, the words for "worship" and "to serve as a slave" are the same.

After Israel's rescue, God formed them into His covenant people through a special revelation at Mount Sinai. Here, God gave Israel instructions on how to love and serve Him.

By the end of Exodus, Israel built God a tabernacle - mishkan in Hebrew - to access His presence and be in relationship with Him. 

(Note the intentional word play between work and worship and between storehouses and tabernacle)

Exodus shows us that freedom is not pure independence, but service to the right master.

Tips:

• Look for Patterns: This includes themes such as service, sacrifice, community, and God’s presence. But also pay attention to repetition in key words or phrases as you read. When do they show up, and when does the repetition cycle break?

• Look for God in the Text: Watch how He shows up, notice what happens when He is absent.

• Read Carefully: It is easy to skip over familiar narratives. Read slowly, notice things that are in the text, or maybe things you always thought were there that actually aren't.

• Keep Jesus in Mind: Everything in this book points to our need for a Savior and to God’s grace to cross the divide and bring us back into His presence.

Tidbits:

• The Hebrew name of the book is “Shemot”, pronounced “Sh-eh-mot", which means “Names”. This comes from the first line of the book, which reads “These are the names…”

• Exodus never uses the term “The Ten Plagues.” Scripture refers to them as “Signs and Wonders,” and there are more than 10!

• Exodus never uses the term “The Ten Commandments," instead, they are called “The Ten Words".

• Moses is the author of all five books of the Torah. Moses, being raised in Pharaoh's household, would have been highly educated and uniquely qualified to write these incredible works!

An outline of the book of Exodus:

1. Serving Pharaoh

   1. Oppression in Egypt (Exodus 1)

   2. Moses’ Birth and Call (Exodus 2–6)

   3. Confronting Pharaoh (Exodus 7–11)

   
   

2. Delivered from Pharaoh 

   1. The Passover and Departure (Exodus 12–13)

   2. Crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14)

   3. The Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1–21)

   
   

3. Becoming God’s Servants

   1. God Provides in the Wilderness (Exodus 15:22–17:7)

   2. Victory Over Israel’s Enemies (Exodus 17:8–16)

   3. God’s Revelation at Sinai (Exodus 19–24)

   4. Golden Calf (Exodus 32–34)

   5. Instructions for the Tabernacle (Exodus 25–31)

   6. Preparation for God’s Presence (Exodus 35–39)

   7. God Presence in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40)