The book of Exodus is thought to have been written by Moses and deals with actual events in his lifetime. The word Exodus in Greek literally means 'out' and 'way' similar to the latin word exit which means 'way out'. The Hebrew title for the book is 'these are the names'. Exodus is basically a liberation story of how God brought the hebrews out of captivity as slaves in Egypt to begin their journey to the promised land. The book is full of great epic stories with magic like qualities many of which are well known. Moses was the great leader who took them out of the land which signaled the beginning of their history as a nation. It was also the beginning of Israel discovering the nature of the one true God in contrast to the lands around who worshiped multiple Gods and idols. They learned that their God was ultimately all powerful, the creator of the universe. God as well as having a formal name El Shaddai gave the nation his personal name Yahweh so that Israel could enter into a more intimate relationship with him. The name also means 'to be' or 'always'. So the creator of the universe redeems and chooses a people to fulfill his purposes, they are to be a light for the world.
The first part of Exodus is the story of how they got out of Egypt the second part has a more legal feel as they receive laws which instruct them as to how they are to live. See how they are liberated first before the need to keep the laws which is to be an expression of their gratitude. We see a mirror thing happening in the new testament where we are liberated by Jesus’s death first, then by his love we are motivated and inspired to keep his laws. The Israelite's receive the law at Mount Sinai and a covenant is formed between them and God in the way of a wedding ceremony. It is thought that 2.5 million slaves left Egypt who then spent 40 years in the wilderness. In Egypt the Israelite's had to endure forced labour and tough working conditions and in order to control the birth of Hebrew baby boys, Pharaoh had them thrown to the crocodiles in the River Nile. Moses would have died this way after being hidden among the bulrushes but was found by the royal princess and brought up at court and given a university education, but his time in the corridors of power were shortened when he lost his temper and killed a slave driver and had to flee into the dessert to tend sheep where he remained for 40 years.
It is here where Moses encounters God through the burning bush where God asks Moses to bring his people out of Egypt and despite a number of Moses’s excuses God provides the answers to each of his protestations and sends his brother Aaron to go with him. Pharaoh of course refuses to release the Hebrew slaves. It seems harsh that God should then bring ten plagues on the people of Egypt but Pharaoh is reminded that each plague relates to an Egyptian God. The plagues get worse yet Pharaoh and his people refuse to respond to Moses’s warnings. The final plague of killing the first born mirror’s what the Egyptians had done to the Israelite’s. As protection from harm by the Egyptians the Jews were to paint the blood of the sacrificial ram over their doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over leaving the Jewish children unharmed. This is the event that Jewish people still celebrate today at Passover.
In all these things God is showing that he is more ultimate and more powerful than all the Egyptian Gods put together. Led by Moses the Jews left Egypt that very night and headed for Mount Sinai, as they camped God sent a cloud to keep them hidden. Now being chased by the Egyptians the Red sea divides to allow the Israelite's to cross, this interestingly happened on the third day after the Passover lamb was killed. This mirrors the resurrection of Jesus which also happened on the third day after his crucifixion. The Egyptians are then drowned as they pursue the Jews. The Israelite's who are to wander for 40 years are sustained by God in the dessert by manna, quails and fresh water. Exodus draws parallels between the liberation of Jews from slavery and our liberation in Jesus from slavery to sin and death.
Exodus then moves from their liberation to the giving of laws and commandments. God makes a covenant much like a marriage with his people, firstly the ten commandments, then laws for the community followed by rules for worshiping. The book outlines 613 rules and regulations to live right by God, many very practical for people living a nomadic dessert life. Many legal systems across the world base their laws on the ten commandments. The ten commandments are based on respect, respect for God, his name and his day. Respect for people, family life, marriage, property, a person’s reputation and for life itself.
Other principles establish that we are responsible for our own actions and that in order to preserve justice the commands either reform us, deter us from sin or ensure we pay the price for wrongdoing. The punishments are harsh, capital punishment is applied to 18 laws as no prisons were available but there was also an elaborate system of compensation for other offences. This system was based upon the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We are able to contrast this approach with that of the new testament where Jesus has taken the punishment for our sin. He has paid the price.
Having given the Law God then decides he wants to live among his people in the tabernacle along with the ark of the covenant. There were many rituals around the tabernacle, disciplines to practice holiness and respect for the Lord. As Moses was receiving the law on the 50th day after the Passover lamb was killed, the people asked Aaron if they could worship a God they could see, so Aaron helped them melt down some Gold to make a bull calf they could worship. The Israelites were impatient and began grumbling and worshiping false idols so soon after God had given his law. Moses insists that the ringleaders are punished and 3,000 die as a result. Interestingly in the new testament fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus the holy spirit came and saved 3,000 people. God guided the Israelite's by a cloud of smoke and the light of glory through their wanderings in the dessert. The Israelite's needed these laws to instill the discipline needed to be a holy people.
The book of Exodus is still relevant to us today because we too are to be a liberated people and although we no longer live under the law of Moses but the Grace of our lord Jesus, there are still many parallels in the New testament. Jesus is the bread of life just as manna was the bread of life in the dessert, Jesus is the rock from which Moses drew the water, Jesus is the sacrifice for our sin rather than the Passover lamb. Luke talks about the Exodus being accomplished in Jerusalem where Jesus was soon to be crucified, Jesus also came and dwelt among his people as God had done in the tabernacle. The Israelite's were baptized into the red sea whilst Christians are baptized in Christ by the holy spirit. The Lords supper replaces the Passover meal which still represents the bread (body) and wine (blood). We no longer need the temple or holy of hollies to meet God because Jesus as the new temple indwells in us and us in him. The holy spirit writes the law on our hearts rather than on tablets of stone and is with us in much the same way as God was with the Israelite's in the dessert. The sacrifice of a lamb for sin in the old testament points to Christs sacrifice for our sin. Despite its seeming harshness many threads and themes run through the book of Exodus that are fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
Summary and References: Unlocking the bible- David Pawson The Bible book by book- Cris Rogers