Read an Excerpt

Key Concepts
¦ The law is part of God's revelation of himself;
giving it is an act of grace.
¦ God's presence comes on his terms and in his time.
¦ Deliverance is God's business.
¦ 'Then you will know that I am the LORD your
God.'
Key Terms
Exodus--When God delivers the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and brings them to the land he promised them.
Plagues--Ten acts of judgment against Egypt to persuade the Egyptians to let the Israelites leave.
Passover--The commemoration of the tenth plague when God punished the Egyptians with death of their firstborn sons but spared the Israelites.
Decalogue--Another name for the Ten Commandments---the central laws that God gave to Moses on stone tablets.
Election--God's choice of individuals or groups to serve as his people in relationship with him.
I AM--The name God gives himself at the burning bush. It is from the same verb ('to be') as the name 'Yahweh' and identifies God not only as the one who is but also as the one who 'causes to be.'
Burning Bush--The place where God revealed himself to Moses, identified himself, and explained his plan and
Moses's role in it.
Pharaoh--The title of the supreme ruler of Egypt. No name is given in Exodus, so we do not know which pharaoh let the Israelites leave.
Tabernacle--The portable tent sanctuary constructed by Israel according to God's instructions.
Ark of the Covenant--A chest made of wood overlaid with gold that contained important signs of God's favor,
including the stone tablets of the covenant. It was the most sacred object of Israel, as it represented the footstool of the invisible throne of the invisible God. The cherubim adorning the cover were guardians of the throne of God.
Holy of Holies--The central area of the sanctuary where the ark was kept and where God's presence dwelt. The only access was by the high priest once a year.
Dr. James C. Martin
_Replica of the ark of the covenant.
Exodus
Purpose
When Exodus opens, the Israelites are near the end of their time in Egypt.They had spent more than four centuries in Egypt and had become slaves in a foreign land. God is nowhere in evidence.Their covenant with
God appears to be in disarray. They no longer enjoy the benefits of having connections in high places as when they first arrived, and with no land of their own,their survival is in jeopardy.When Pharaoh orders their baby boys to be cast into the Nile
River, one mother creatively does so using a basket of reeds to protect her son.
Pharaoh's daughter finds him afloat, names him Moses, and raises him as her own.
We are not told the extent to which
Moses was aware of the plight of his people as he was growing up. But when he saw an
Egyptian beating one of the Israelite slaves,
he killed the Egyptian. Fleeing for his life,
he took refuge in the wilderness among the people of Midian, where he met a tribal chieftain (Jethro), met the woman who would become his wife (Jethro's daughter
Zipporah), and met his God. Seeing a bush ablaze but not consumed, Moses went to investigate and received the commission
God had been preparing him to take up all his life---as the deliverer of Israel.
The purpose of Exodus is to explain how God revealed his presence and his power to his chosen people through the plagues and in their deliverance from
Egypt. Just as in Genesis God overcame obstacles in establishing Abraham's family as his chosen people, in Exodus he overcomes obstacles that prevented him from dwelling in the midst of his people.
God guided and protected the
Israelites through the wilderness and provided for them.At Sinai he told them how they needed to live so that his presence could dwell among them.Through the law,
they learned how they were to honor and imitate his holiness. He told them how to build the tabernacle and how the priesthood was to prepare so that God could take up residence with them. God had chosen the Israelites to be his people and he intended to reveal himself to them and to the world by living in their midst.
People to Know
Moses
Aaron
Miriam
Jethro
Zipporah
_The Israelites passed through the Sinai Mountains on their way to the Promised Land.
Dr. James C. Martin
KEY VERSES:
Ex. 3:14: 'I AM WHO I AM.'
Ex. 14:31: 'The Israelites saw the great power the
LORD displayed.'
Ex. 19:5--6: 'If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession.'
Ex. 40:34--35: 'The glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.'
Pithom
Rameses
Succoth
Lake Timpsah
Bitter Lakes
G u l f o f S u e z
G u l f o f A q a b a
M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a
G O S H E N
Mt. Sinai
NIle R.
Jordan R.
Dead
Sea
Jerusalem
Key Teachings about God
¦ God demonstrates his power for his people and the world to see.
¦ God desires to live among his people.
¦ God delivers his people, and his ability to do so is without limit.
¦ God expects obedience from his people.
¦ God does not leave his people to guess what he expects of them.
¦ God chooses certain individuals and groups for special work.
_FROM EGYPT TO MOUNT SINAI
--500
0 - sea level
(in meters)
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
2005 Zondervan