Exodus #2

Exodus tells how God rescues an enslaved people from Egypt, binds them to himself in covenant at Mount Sinai, and moves in to dwell among them — a founding story Israel returns to again and again.

Read Exodus in the King James Version →

Author and Date

Tradition attributes Exodus to Moses, who is depicted within the book as writing down the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:4; 34:27). The date of the exodus itself is disputed: an “early” date of about 1446 BC follows 1 Kings 6:1, while many scholars favour a 13th-century BC date, citing the store cities of Pithom and Rameses (Exodus 1:11). Critical scholars also propose that the text was assembled from several sources over a longer period.

Background and Audience

The book is addressed to Israel as a people, recalling the time when the descendants of Jacob had grown numerous in Egypt and were forced into labour under a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. It explains how the Lord’s covenant with Abraham led to their freedom and to their identity as his people.

Outline

• Chapters 1-2: Israel oppressed in Egypt; the birth of Moses and his flight to Midian
• Chapters 3-4: God calls Moses at the burning bush and reveals his name
• Chapters 5-11: Moses confronts Pharaoh and the ten plagues fall on Egypt
• Chapters 12-13: The Passover and the departure from Egypt
• Chapters 14-18: The crossing of the sea and the journey to Sinai
• Chapters 19-24: The covenant at Sinai, the Ten Commandments, and the laws of the covenant
• Chapters 25-31: Instructions for the tabernacle and the priesthood
• Chapters 32-34: The golden calf, Moses’ intercession, and renewal of the covenant
• Chapters 35-40: The tabernacle built and filled with the Lord’s glory

Key Themes

• Redemption: God acts to free his people
• The revelation of God’s name and character
• Covenant and law as the shape of a redeemed life
• God’s presence among his people, symbolised by the tabernacle
• Judgment on Pharaoh and Egypt’s gods, and mercy toward a rebellious Israel

Key Verses

• Exodus 3:14 — God’s self-revelation to Moses with the name “I AM”
• Exodus 12:13 — the blood as a sign on the houses, and the Lord passing over them
• Exodus 14:13-14 — Moses tells the people to stand still and see the Lord fight for them at the sea
• Exodus 20:1-17 — the Ten Commandments
• Exodus 34:6-7 — the Lord’s own description of himself as merciful, gracious, and forgiving, yet not clearing the guilty
• Exodus 40:34-35 — the glory of the Lord fills the finished tabernacle

How It Fits the Bible

Exodus follows Genesis by showing the promises to Abraham beginning to be fulfilled in a nation, and it introduces the Law that Leviticus develops. The Passover lamb and the deliverance from slavery become patterns the New Testament uses to describe Christ’s saving work.