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CHAPTER 2 – Exodus: 1589 B.C.-1444 B.C.

Exodus is the second book of the Bible and is a part of the Pentateuch, the name given to the first five books of the Bible. The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible comes from the opening words of the Hebrew text, we’elleh shemoth, which is translated “and these are the names.” The English title, “Exodus,” meaning “exit,” “departure,” or “going out” comes to us from the Septuagint (LXX).

Authorship

Exodus was written by Moses. Exactly when he started to write Exodus is not known, but it must have been after 1445 B.C. It is probable that Moses finished writing Exodus in 1444 B.C.

Summary and Analysis

The book of Exodus continues the story of the book of Genesis. In Genesis we find Jacob’s (Israel’s) family welcomed into Egypt to which they had migrated. However, Exodus begins with the account of the Egyptians many years later making slaves of the “children [descendants] of Israel [of Jacob]” (Genesis 32:32), “the Israelites.” Exodus 9:7.

Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, decrees that all of the Israelites’ male children are to be killed. However, the Israelite baby, Moses, is saved from death by Pharaoh’s daughter who adopts him as her son. Moses is raised as an heir to the Egyptian throne.

When Moses is about 40 years old, he kills an Egyptian in an attempt to begin freeing His people, Israel, from slavery. As a result, he loses favour with Pharaoh and so Moses flees from Egypt to a land called Midian. There in Midian, Moses kept sheep, got married and had two sons.

After 40 years in Midian, God called Moses to go back to Egypt and to tell the Pharaoh to let Israel go free. Pharaoh rejects Moses’ request and so God sends ten plagues upon the land of Egypt.

The night of the tenth and last plague, Israel obeyed God’s instructions and celebrated their first Passover and prepared themselves to leave Egypt. God declared that this month, when the Passover was first celebrated, would be, from that time forward, the first month of the year to Israel.

The tenth plague sent by God was the death of all the firstborn persons and animals in Egypt, except for those of the Israelites. As a result, Pharaoh sent the Israelites away from Egypt in haste. This was in 1445 B.C.

Not long after this, Pharaoh changes his mind about letting the Israelites go and he chases after the departing Israelites. But God rescues Israel from the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea so that Israel was able to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians following after Israel into the path through the Red Sea were drowned when God caused the waters of the Red Sea to come together again.

Under God’s leadership through their visible leader, Moses, Israel travels through the wilderness. Then Israel complains about hunger and thirst and God gives them manna (food prepared by angels that fell from heaven to the earth) and water to drink in the wilderness.

God also rebukes Israel for violating “the seventh day [of the week], which is the sabbath” (Exodus 16:26) and which is the day God had set apart at Creation as a holy day.

Having arrived at Mount Sinai, Israel hears God speak the “ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28) to them in an audible voice and God Himself wrote these ten commandments on two tables of stone. Israel then enters into a covenant with God to obey His commandments.

God then institutes three yearly feasts to be kept by all Israel. These were (1) “the feast of the passover” (Exodus 34:25) with its accompanying “feast of unleavened bread” (Exodus 23:15), (2) “the feast of harvest” (Exodus 23:16), and (3) “the feast of ingathering.” Exodus 23:16.

God next gives Moses detailed instructions for building a sanctuary where God may dwell among Israel. God also gave instructions for making garments for the priests who would be Moses’ brother, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, and instructions for the consecration ceremony of the priests. In addition, God gives Israel statutes and laws, which amplified the ten commandments by spelling out how to keep these commandments under certain circumstances.

Shortly after this, Israel breaks their covenant with God by worshipping an idol which they had made. Nevertheless, when Moses intercedes for Israel with God, God forgives them and renews the covenant with Israel.

The people of Israel then willingly offer more than enough for the construction of the sanctuary. So, Israel obediently builds and raises up the sanctuary according to God’s specifications after almost a year at Mount Sinai. The sanctuary was set up on the first day of the first month of 1444 B.C.

Themes

• God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt in 1445 B.C.
• The covenant between God and Israel.
• Satan at work to cause Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to make slaves of the people of Israel and to kill all the male children of the Israelites. Thus, Satan attempted to thwart God’s plan that Christ would be born as a baby boy and an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Satan at work to lead Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in unbelief and bold opposition to God so that He would not let Israel go free.
• Satan at work to lead Israel in unbelief and distrust of God.
• Israel designated by God to be “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.“ Exodus 19:6.
• The establishment of the priesthood of Aaron and his sons by God.
• The sanctuary built by Israel made after the pattern which God showed Moses. It was the place where God dwelt among the people of Israel and where God met with Israel’s leader, Moses.
• God’s statutes and laws.
• The seventh-day Sabbath as a holy rest day, as a sign that God is the Creator, and that it is God alone who makes Israel holy.
• The daily offerings in the sanctuary in the mornings and in the evenings.
• The setting apart of the tribe of Levi, who were the descendants of Jacob’s son named Levi, because they did not participate in the idolatrous worship of the Israelites.
• Moses wrote all that God spoke to him in a book.
• Hebrew, that is, Israelite, slaves allowed to go free after six years of service.
• God giving manna to Israel as food in an effort to turn them back to His original diet for humanity.

God as Revealed in the Book

• God’s overruling providence.
• God is in control of the size of the world’s population.
• When God blesses anyone, no one can reverse it.
• God can appear in any form that He chooses.
• God desires to be the One who chooses the world’s leaders.
• God seeks those whom, as God’s messengers, He can teach what to say to the world.
• God is in control of nature.
• God determines the lifespan of an individual, in that, they only die whenever God chooses.
• God is able to feed the world.
• God’s holy day, the seventh-day Sabbath, remains unchanged since Creation.
• God institutes special days to be observed by all humanity in the way that He specifies.
• God is the One who specifies what is right and what is wrong.
• God is willing to forgive sin despite humanity’s repeated unfaithfulness to Him.
• God desires to dwell among the human race, thus restoring to humanity face-to-face communion with Him because He takes pleasure in them.

Connections with the Rest of the Bible

Literal Israel was a symbol, that is, a type, of “the Israel of God.” Galatians 6:16. This invisible “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) is known only by God “for thou [God], even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men [of all humanity].” 1 Kings 8:39.

They are those among humanity who have been justified by God. These are they who have allowed God to “put enmity” (Genesis 3:15) in their hearts for sin and who have, therefore, been forgiven of their sins by God. “So all [the] Israel [of God] shall be saved” (Romans 11:26) from eternal death (annihilation).

The “ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28) are “God’s law” (Nehemiah 10:29) and “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Romans 7:12. Therefore, the law is a transcript of the character of God who is “a God of truth and without iniquity [without sin], just and right is he.” Deuteronomy 32:4.

“The law prophesied” (Matthew 11:13) what humanity could become through “the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17), which is the enmity against sin placed in the individual’s heart by God. This “gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17) was made sure by the death of Christ “for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.

The gift is the righteous character which Christ manifested in His life on earth. The gift of enmity against sin was promised to Adam and Eve, and they and all who lived before the birth of Christ in human flesh looked forward by faith to the actual death of Christ for sins. But when Christ died and rose from the dead to life again, the promise which is the prophecy of His death, was fulfilled. Since then, all who have lived look backward by faith to the death of Christ.

Now when “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3) he received “the gift of righteousness.” Romans 5:17. That is, Abraham believed the gospel and, therefore, he was justified by his faith in the promises of God.

“God is love” (1 John 4:8) in that He has a character of love. This love is displayed by the righteousness of Christ. So, the law states that humanity must have a character of love in order to be saved by God from eternal death. This is what God said to Abraham when “God…preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Galatians 3:8.

All humanity then, in anticipation of eternal life, can say to God, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied…with thy likeness [with having a character of love like God’s].” Psalm 17:15. For only those who become like God in character will be saved to eternal life.

Moses wrote down the instructions God gave him in a book which the Bible describes variously as “the book of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7), “the book of the law of Moses” (Joshua 8:31), “the book of the law” (Joshua 8:34), “the book of Moses” (Ezra 6:18), and “the book of the law of God.” Nehemiah 8:18.

God reveals the work of Satan in humanity. For God says of all humanity, “Ye [have] walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:2.

So, God says, “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. Here God indicates that every human being is in bondage to Satan in that they do Satan’s will. This is true of every human being unless they are “delivered from the bondage of corruption [by God] into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Romans 8:21.

God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt is a symbol, a type, of Christ’s deliverance of humanity from the bondage of sin. It is this deliverance that is the goal of the gospel, God’s plan of salvation, His plan of saving humanity from eternal death (annihilation).

The foundation of the gospel is “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20) between God and Christ. This was the understanding which Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had that their salvation depended on the promise of the death of Christ, and that only God could make a human being holy.

Israel through lacking an understanding of the everlasting covenant, said to God, “All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood [of cows], and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” Exodus 24:7, 8.

Thus, Israel entered into a covenant with God based on their own promises and their own works. Not long afterwards Israel broke their covenant with God by worshipping an idol which they had made. This proved that the good intentions of humanity are insufficient to make them holy, to make them righteous. Only through God’s intervention can any person be “transformed” (Romans 12:2) from sin to holiness.

So, “finding fault with them [Israel], he [God] saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord [God], when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” Hebrews 8:8. “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.” Hebrews 8:13. Thus, the covenant which Israel made with God is known as the “old covenant,” which covenant Israel broke.

The new covenant is called “new” because it was confirmed, made sure, by the shed blood of Christ after Israel’s first covenant, the old covenant. This new covenant is really the same as the “everlasting covenant.” Hebrews 13:20.

God said to Israel, “The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:16, 17.

Thus, the seventh-day Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel that God is “the Creator.” Isaiah 40:28. Likewise, the Sabbath is a perpetual sign to “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) that God is the Creator.

God also said to Israel, “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it [keep it holy], as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.” Deuteronomy 5:12. “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence [from there] through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:15.

So, we see that the seventh-day Sabbath was a memorial between God and Israel of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Similarly, the Sabbath is a perpetual sign to “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) that God through Christ is their Deliverer from the bondage of sin. In other words, it is God alone who makes any person holy.

Jesus Christ died on a Friday “and that day was the preparation [day], and the sabbath drew on [was coming].” Luke 23:54. On Friday they “beheld the sepulchre [tomb], and how his [Jesus Christ’s] body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:55, 56.

“Now upon the first day of the week [on Sunday], very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre [tomb], bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre [tomb].” Luke 24:1, 2. Note then that the seventh-day Sabbath starts at sunset on Fridays and ends at sunset on Saturdays.

“And they entered in [to the tomb], and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:3. Then two angels told them, “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6) from the dead and is alive again. The seventh-day sabbath then is a memorial to the whole world, and especially to “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) of the day when Jesus Christ rested in the tomb having made secure the everlasting covenant.

God says to all humanity, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his [God’s] rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:9, 10. Here God means a spiritual rest of which the seventh day, “the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD” (Exodus 16:23) and which God calls “my holy day” (Isaiah 58:13), is a sign.

What is spiritual rest? An example of spiritual rest is that of “Abraham [who] believed God, and it was counted [ascribed] unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3. Abraham did not seek by his own works to be justified, instead he rested on God’s promises to bring about his “justification.” Romans 4:25. Spiritual rest then is a state of confidence and trust in God and an associated peace of mind regarding one’s salvation, one’s saving from eternal death by God.

In practice, the seventh-day Sabbath is a taste of heaven on earth and God intends this holy day to be welcomed and observed with joy. It is a special time set aside each week for holy fellowship with God, and so God says, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD [God], honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD [God]; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father [of the Israel of God]: for the mouth of the LORD [God] hath spoken it.” Isaiah 58:13, 14.

That is, the seventh-day Sabbath is the high point of the week and it in no way takes away from our duty to worship God every day. For God’s people “do always those things that please him [God]” (John 8:29) when “they seek me [God] daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: [when] they ask of me the ordinances of justice; [and] they take delight in approaching to God.” Isaiah 58:2.

The sanctuary which Israel built was “a worldly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1) in that it was located on earth. But there exists another sanctuary which is “the temple of God…in heaven.” Revelation 11:19. This sanctuary in heaven is “the true tabernacle, which the Lord [God] pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:2.

The earthly sanctuary then was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary which is the great original. For “Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle [on earth]…See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed [shown] to thee in the mount [mountain].” Hebrews 8:5.

In many ways the things of the sanctuary were a symbol, a type, of Christ. For example, Israel was to “bring…[to the sanctuary] pure oil olive [olive oil] beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.” Exodus 27:20. Thus spoke “Jesus [Christ symbolically of Himself]…saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of [eternal] life.” John 8:12. Light and darkness in the Bible represent truth and error, respectively.

Another symbol, type, of Christ was given in God’s command that “Aaron shall burn thereon [on the Altar of Incense] sweet incense every morning…and…at even [evening].” Exodus 30:7, 8. Thus, God prophesied that “the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints [the justified], ascended up before God out of the angel’s [Christ’s] hand.” Revelation 8:4.

The smoke of the incense, ascending to God with the prayers of the saints, represented the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, His intercession, His perfect righteousness which through faith is ascribed to the saints, all of which can alone make the worship of sinful people acceptable to God.

Yet another symbol, type, of Christ was given in God’s command to the priests, Aaron and his sons, that “thou shalt set upon the table shewbread [showbread] before me alway.” Exodus 25:30. This “bread of the presence” which was ever before the face of God was an acknowledgement of humanity’s dependence on God for both temporal and spiritual food, which could be received from God only by the mediation of Christ.

Both the “manna” (Exodus 16:15) and the showbread pointed to Christ, the “living bread” (John 6:51), who “is…entered… into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Hebrews 9:24.

Here also Christ is “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8) in contrast with Satan who is “the bread of wickedness.” Proverbs 4:17.

So, Christ said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51.

Christ then “the living bread” (John 6:51) causes those who eat this bread to “serve…[God] in sincerity and in truth.” Joshua 24:14. These are they who “have purified…[their] souls in obeying the truth through the [Holy] Spirit unto unfeigned [sincere] love of the brethren [of fellow saints].” 1 Peter 1:22.

Of such persons, God says, “They shall be mine, saith the LORD [God] of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Malachi 3:17. In other words, God will spare such persons from eternal death and will instead grant them everlasting life.

Now God declared Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. For God said to Israel through Moses, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments…Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Deuteronomy 4:5, 6.

Israel was to say of themselves, “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh [near] unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” Deuteronomy 4:7. For God said, “What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” Deuteronomy 4:8. So, Israel was to attract the other nations to God by their holiness. Therefore, Israel was to grow in number until they embraced the whole world.

Similarly, God says of the Israel of God, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9. The Israel of God then is to make God attractive to the rest of the world and thus lead people to God.

As priests, if any stranger, that is, any foreigner, was a guest among ancient Israel and they desired to keep the Passover, all their males were first to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel, and then they could be allowed to keep it. Israel then would, by this means, teach the gospel to the foreigner, in that, the foreigner would come to have faith in salvation through Christ.

Likewise, the Israel of God is to preach the gospel and “he that believeth and is baptized [is immersed in water then brought up out of the water in a public ceremony of consecration to God] shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. Symbolically, this means that sincere believers “are circumcised with the circumcision made without [human] hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh [the sinful nature] by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ.” Colossians 2:11.

Those though who falsely profess themselves to be believers in Christ are not, symbolically, circumcised “by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ.” Colossians 2:11.

God speaks to the Israel of God, saying, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the [Holy] Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.

Thus, God desires not just to dwell among the Israel of God which is made up of those who are holy, just as God had indicated His desire to dwell among ancient Israel, but also to dwell in the Israel of God. Now God dwells in a person when they have God’s character of love.

God takes pleasure in such persons for “the LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear [have reverence for] him, in those that hope in his mercy.” Psalm 147:11. These persons “they shall see his face.” Revelation 22:4. That is, face-to-face communion with God shall be restored to them.

Spiritual Applications

Pray to God sincerely and ask God to help you to do His will, believing that God will help you, and thus you will be enabled to make the spiritual applications noted below:

• Believe in the gospel of Christ.
• Obey God’s ten commandments and resist the temptations of Satan to sin.
• Allow God to lead you in your life.
• Trust God to provide all your needs, both physical and spiritual.
• Welcome and rejoice in God’s presence with you in your life.
• Give freewill offerings to God for His cause on earth.

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