Exodus

Exodus means the leaving, and this book looks at the time when the Jews left Egypt. We see how God raises up Moses, a great leader, and brings his people out of Egypt and on the journey to the promised land. They receive the Law of God, and instructions on how to worship Him.

Moses

Found: Exodus chapter 1 - 4

Moses Born in Captivity (Exodus 1 - 2v9)

Jacob's family went into Egypt an stayed there. They married among themselves, not mixing with the Egyptians, and grew to be great in number. The Israelites became the slaves of the Egyptians and were in bondage for about 400 years. Pharaoh started to get worried about the Israelites. There were two million of them; enough to cause him problems if they rebelled; so Pharaoh attempted to keep the population down. He ordered that every baby Israelite boy was to be killed, and his soldiers carried out this command.

Two Israelites - Amram and Jochebed - had a son. They hid him from the soldiers for a few months, but eventually it became impossible. Miriam, the boy's sister, took him down to the Nile, laid him in a basket, and floated him off into the water. She waited to see what would happen.

After a while, Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe. She spied the basket and discovered the child. Not wanting any harm to come to it, she decided to keep it. Miriam appeared from hiding and offered the services of a Hebrew woman to look after the baby for a while. This meant that the boy, now named moses, was given back to his mother to be looked after.

Growing Up in the Palace (Exodus 2v10-25)

Moses grew for a few years in his parents' house and learned about his people and about the one true God. After a while, though, he was taken to the palace to be brought up as the princess's son. He grew and learned and became a mighty captain in Pharaoh's army, but was always troubled by the plight of his people. The Egyptians whipped them to keep them under control, and treated them very harshly

One day, Moses saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. Seeing that no one was watching, he struck the Egyptian such a blow that he killed him, and he buried him in the sand. The next day the Israelites confronted him. Moses grew afraid and ran away to the desert.

In the desert land, Moses helped out the daughters of a Midianite man. This man, Jethro, took Moses in and he married Jethro's daughter Zipporah. They had a son they called Gershom.

The Burning Bush (Exodus 3-4)

Moses looked after Jethro's sheep, which took him all over the desert. One time he was at Mount Horeb, and there he saw a strange sight. A bush was burning, but it wasn't consumed by the fire. Going closer to look, the Lord spoke to Moses from the bush and told him to take off his shoes, since he was standing on ground that was holy. Then God told Moses he was to go to Pharaoh and demand freedom for his people.

Moses had all sorts of excuses. He claimed weakness, but God said He would be his strength. Moses claimed the people would not believe the Lord had sent him, but God told him to say he came in the name of "I AM". Again Moses claimed the people would not believe God had sent him, and God gave him two signs. When he threw his staff down, it turned into a snake, and when he put his hand into his cloak, it came out leprous. If they didn't believe this, he was to take water from the river and it would turn into blood. Moses said he couldn't speak eloquently, but God said he would give him the words. Moses still wasn't happy, so God was angry at him and assigned his brother Aaron to be his spokesman.

Moses gathered his family and his belongings and returned to Egypt. There he spoke with the Israelites and they were convinced he came from God. Hearing that God cared for their plight, they worshiped the Lord.

The Ten Plagues

Found: Exodus chapter 5 - 13

Moses Talks to Pharaoh (Exodus 5 - 7v13)

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh as God had asked them. They talked to Pharaoh and asked him to let their people go. Pharaoh's heart was hard and he refused them. He made the Hebrews make bricks without providing straw, causing them to work harder to do the same tasks.

Moses went to Pharaoh again. To prove he was sent from God, he threw down his rod and it turned into a snake. Pharaoh got his magicians in and they also turned their rods into snakes, but Moses' snake ate up the other snakes. Despite this, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go.

The Ten Plagues (Exodus 7v14 - 13v22)

After Pharaoh refused Moses, God ordered Moses to make a plague occur. Then he went again to Pharaoh, who again refused. This happened ten times, with the following plagues:

Plague of blood
Plague of frogs
Plague of lice
Plague of flies
Disease of cattle
Plague of boils
Plague of thunder, hail and fire
Plague of locusts
Plague of darkness
Plague of firstborn

For the first nine plagues, the destruction in Egypt was terrible, yet each time Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. The last plague was the worst of all. God was going to destroy the firstborn male of every family, human and animal. The Hebrews were given special instructions on how to avoid this plague. They were to keep a lamb in their houses for three days. When the day before the plague was upon them, they were to gather up all their possessions and be ready to leave. They were to sacrifice the lambs, spread the blood of the lambs on the doorposts and lintels of their doors and eat the lamb for dinner, along with unleavened bread.

The day came and the Jews followed the instructions given by God. That night the angel of death passed through Egypt, killing the firstborn of every household, including Pharaoh's oldest son. The angel passed over the houses with blood on the doors, leaving them untouched. In the morning Pharaoh was very upset, and promised the Israelites they could go. They quickly gathered together all their things and headed off into the desert. There were over two million Jews that came out from Egypt.

The Red Sea

Found: Exodus chapter 14 - 15v21

Israel Faces the Red Sea (Exodus 14 - 15v21)

Moses led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt and into the wilderness. They were guided by God, in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When the pillar stopped, the people stopped; when the pillar moved, the people moved. Pharaoh had let them go, but he soon changed his mind, and sent his mighty army out after the Israelites. Meanwhile, the children of Israel came upon the Red Sea. There was no way out to the left or to the right, the Red Sea was before them and Pharaoh's army was behind them. The people didn't know what to do and started moaning at Moses.

Moses turned to the Lord in prayer and the Lord showed him what to do. The pillar of cloud moved behind them and confused the army chasing them. Moses stretched out his rod over the sea and a mighty wind blew, parting the sea and leaving a trail of dry land for the people to walk across. They hurried into the gap. It must have taken quite a while for 2 million people to cross the sea, but it wasn't until they were nearly across that Pharao's army came upon the sea and started along the path. They had problems though, with their chariot wheels becoming stuck in the sand.

When all the Israelites were across, Moses once more stretched his hand over the sea. The waters closed in and the whole of Pharaoh's army was drowned.

The Israelites were amazed at what God had done for them. They danced and sang praises to Him.

The Wilderness

Found: Exodus chapter 15v22 - 18

The People Thirst (Exodus 15v22-27)

After crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel continued to follow the pillars of cloud and fire. It wasn't long before they began to run short of water. They came to a place called Marah (meaning bitter) where there was water but the water was too bitter to drink. The people moaned at Moses again.

God told Moses to do a strange thing. He asked him to cut down a tree and throw it into the water. As soon as Moses did this, the water became sweet and good to drink.

Soon after, they came to a place called Elim, with its twelve wells and seventy palm trees. There they rested for a while.

The People Hunger (Exodus 16)

The people continued, and came to a place called the wilderness of Sin. There they moaned at Moses again, because they didn't have anything left to eat. God told Moses that that night they would eat meat, and the next morning bread, so they would know He was God.

That night, a flock of quails came by and the Jews caught them to eat. The next morning there was a strange substance on the ground, like bread. They didn't know what it was but called it manna. The manna appeared every morning, enough for everyone in the camp. Except on the Sabbath, when the people were to rest. To compensate this, there was twice as much manna on the day before the Sabbath.If the manna was kept beyond its intended time, it rotted and produced worms.

Aaron took a pot, and put some manna in it, and kept it as a sign of God's provision to them. The manna kept the Hebrews in food for the whole time they dwelt in the wilderness.

The People Thirst Again (Exodus 17v1-7)

The people continued, and again grew thirsty. Again they moaned at Moses, and again Moses prayed to God. God gave him instruction to strike a rock with his rod. When he did this, water flowed from the rock and the people had water to drink.

Attack of the Amalekites (Exodus 17v8-16)

The Amalekites lived in the desert and saw the children of Israel as easy pickings. They came and attacked the Israelites. Moses sent Joshua out to fight the Amalekites, while he went to the top of a hill. While Moses held his rod up to God, the Israelites were winning the battle; when his strength failed the Amalekites started to win. His brother and friend helped him to hold up his arm and the Amalekites were defeated.

The Ten Commandments

Found: Exodus chapter 19 - 34

Moses Called to the Mountain (Exodus 19)

The Israelites came to a place in the wilderness called Sinai. God called to Moses out of the mountain there and asked him to bring the people to the mountain. Three days later the Jews came to Mount Sinai. There was a cloud over the mountain and thunder and lightning coming from it. The people heard a very loud noise, like trumpets, and were afraid. The whole mountain trembled with the power of the Lord. The Lord called Moses up the mountain, and Moses went up to hear the Lord's commandments.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)

God gave Moses many commandments for the people, but most important were those known as the ten commandments. These were as follows:

Have no other Gods before God.
Do not worship idols.
Do not take the Lord's name in vain.
Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Honour your parents so you may live long.
Do not kill.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not steal.
Do not give false witness against your neighbour.
Do not covet your neighbour's property.

God wrote his commandments in two tablets of stone and Moses came down the mountain with them

The Golden Calf (Exodus 32-34)

While Moses was away, the people grew restless. They turned to Aaron, who asked them to donate all their jewellery. They gathered together all the gold they had and Aaron melted it and made a golden calf. The people worshipped this calf instead of the real God

Moses started down the mountain with the stone tablets. Joshua heard the noise from the camp and said there must be a war. Moses knew differently. This wasn't the noise of war but the noise of a party. The Israelites were singing and dancing and worshipping the calf. When Moses saw this, he cast down the stone tablets in anger and they broke. He took the calf, ground it up and made the Hebrews drink the gold dust in their water.

Moses again went up to the mountain. He received a new set of tablets and brought them down to the people. When he appeared in the camp, his face was shining from having talked with God and he had to put a veil over his face.

The Tabernacle

Found: Exodus chapter 25-40

God Gives Moses Instructions (Exodus 25-40)

While Moses was receiving instructions from God, he was told what was right and what was wrong in God's eyes. He was also told what to do when the people did wrong. This centred around a structure God instructed Moses to build, called the tabernacle.

The Brazen Altar

The brazen altar was the place where the animals were brought to be sacrificed and burnt. This was to pay for Israel's sins.

The Laver

The laver was a big basin made of brass. The priests used it to wash themselves on their approach to the tabernacle.

The Candlestick

The candlestick was kept forever lit and was the only light provided in the tabernacle.

The Table of Shewbread

The table was the place where the sacrifices were prepared. It also the various implements used in the preparation.

The Altar of Incense

The priests offered up sweet smelling incense to God on the altar of incense.

Ark of the Covenant

The ark of the covenant was the central piece of the tabernacle. It was kept in the holy of holies, where once a year the high priest came before the Lord. The ark's top, the mercy seat, was sprinkled with blood on this occasion. It was covered with gold, with two golden angels spreading their wings over it. The ark contained three objects:

The stone tablets with the law of God written on them.
The pot of manna Moses kept from the days in the wilderness.
Aaron's budding rod, which proved he was the rightful high priest when others objected.

The Israelites were given full instructions on what to sacrifice and when, the offerings to be made and how to go about them. The descendents of Levi were to be the priests in Israel, and the other tribes contributed to their upkeep.

When Moses came back to the people, they started to build the tabernacle and all its acoutrements. When they had built it, the pillar of cloud rested over the holy of holies. Whenever the Jews had to move, they packaged the various parts of the tabernacle up and carried them, in the order and the manner in which God had ordered.

The Israelites would use the tabernacle for many years, while travelling through the wilderness and when they got to the promised land. It was only when Solomon was made king that the tabernacle was replaced by a permanent temple.