Exodus 1 – Background on the Exodus

Exodus is named after the Greek phrase for the road out, which is an appropriate term for the events of the book. Ex 12:40 states that the time in Egypt was 430 years, but the precise dating of the events lends to two possibilities. The events can be dated in 1 Kings 6:1 to 480 years before the fourth year of…

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Exodus 2 – The Burning Bush

Moses sees a bush that is burning but not consumed. He hears a voice telling him to take off his shoes because it is a holy place. This is not because it is inherently holy, but because God is in this place. God tells Moses that He has seen His people’s suffering and that He will uses Moses to…

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Exodus 3 – Hardness of Heart

Moses asks Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go to sacrifice to God, but Pharaoh instead makes their work harder, as slaves are not to petition Pharaoh. The overseers see that the workload is too much but Pharaoh calls the workers idle, as they are asking for time to spend worshipping God.When Pharaoh refuses, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart initially to…

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Exodus 4 – More Serious Plagues

God continues to send plagues on the Egyptians, sending the plague of pestilence on the livestock, and then boils and hail, warning Pharaoh publicly with the plague of hail to shelter the livestock, but those who did not fear God did not shelter them. After that Moses warns of a plague of locusts which devastate the land, and Pharaoh’s…

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Exodus 5 – The Last Plague and the Passover

God tells Moses that He will bring one final plague. All the firstborn of the land will die. There is no more discussion about Pharaoh letting the Hebrews go. The time for negotiation is over, and now God will let both the Hebrews and the Egyptians recognize that He is God.The Hebrews will be saved from this plague…

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Exodus 6 – The Parting of the Sea

The Hebrews leave Egypt and the Lord is with them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. After the Hebrews leave Egypt, the Egyptians reflect on the fact that they have lost millions of people from the land, and pursue the Hebrews. They reach a sea, which is translated as the Red…

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Exodus 7 – God Provides for His People

The Hebrews have passed the Red Sea but they need water. When they happen upon a watering place, the water is bitter, and the people murmur. God shows Moses a tree, much as God shows the people the law, and the water becomes sweet. God uses this to test the people to see if they will now walk in…

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Exodus 8 – The Law Given at Sinai

Moses’ father-in-law Jethro hears that he has led the Israelites to freedom and seeks him out. Moses and Aaron eat a sacrificial meal with Jethro, a Midianite who offers sacrifice. This was before the Law was given. Jethro tells Moses to intercede for the people, to bring their cases to God, and to bring the law to them. Jethro…

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Exodus 9 – Various Laws

Exodus 21-23 forms what is known as the Book of the Covenant. This continues after the Ten Commandments with a discussion of the laws regarding slavery, as the Hebrews were just recently delivered from slavery. Slavery here should not be confused with the racial slavery that was common in Europe later. The laws on slavery describe the practice of this…

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Exodus 10 – Ratification of the Law

The laws of God are in many cases very practical and based on the environment that we are in. Strangers should be cared for and not abused by being thrown into the cold without a cloak or placed into debt. The escaped beasts of burden of a stranger should be returned to a stranger’s owner as well as it…

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