Introduction to Exodus

Theme

The overarching theme of Exodus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to the patriarchs that he would make their descendants a great nation. This is carried out despite the opposition of the greatest superpower in the ancient world of the time, Egypt, and despite the unbelief and disobedience of the people themselves. Exodus shows that the success of the exodus must be ascribed first to the power and character of God, who remembers his promises, punishes sin, and forgives the penitent. Second, it highlights both the faithfulness of Moses, who follows divine instructions exactly, and his prayerfulness. It is his prayer, e.g., that leads to victory over Amalek (17:8–16) and his intercession that persuades God to pardon the people after they had begun worshiping the golden calf (chs. 32–34).

Purpose, Occasion, and Background

Exodus is the second book in the Pentateuch and picks up the narrative of Genesis by focusing on the time when the sons of Jacob (1:1–6) have grown into the people of Israel (1:8). The first half of the book records events that fulfill the promise to Abraham that his descendants would sojourn in a land that was not their own, be afflicted for 400 years, and then come out by the Lord’s hand with numerous possessions (Gen. 15:13–14). The narrative of Israel’s preservation in and exodus out of Egypt is sometimes referred to as being like a second creation account both because the vocabulary seems to evoke the first chapters of Genesis (see Ex. 1:7) and because it is through Abraham’s descendants that the Lord has promised to bless all nations and thus to restore his presence and purposes in the world (Gen. 12:1–3).

The second half of the book narrates the events surrounding the covenant being revealed, confirmed, broken, and renewed (Exodus 19; 24; 32–34; 35–40) and records the covenant instructions that the Lord revealed to Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai (chs. 20–23; 25–31). The instructions begin with the Ten Commandments (20:1–21) and include a lengthy section detailing the specifics for the construction of the tabernacle and its service (25:1–31:18). But this is not the totality of the Lord’s covenant instructions, which are recorded further in both Leviticus and Numbers before Israel finally leaves the region of Mount Sinai for the land of Canaan (Num. 10:11ff.).

Numbers describes how the generation who came out of Egypt ended up wandering in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan. Then the book of Deuteronomy records Moses’ reaffirmation of the covenant instructions recorded in Exodus through Numbers and appeals to the next generation who will enter the land to keep the commandments by fearing the Lord and walking in his ways (Deut. 8:6).

Key Themes

The events and instructions narrated in the book of Exodus are explicitly framed as the Lord remembering his covenant promises to Abraham (2:24; 3:6, 14–17; 6:2–8). The promises include land, numerous offspring, and blessing for both Abraham’s descendants and the nations (Gen. 12:1–3), which are rooted in the covenant relationship with the Lord: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you . . . and I will be their God” (Gen. 17:7–8). The covenant promises in Genesis were made with Abraham and reaffirmed with Isaac and Jacob. Exodus highlights the role that Moses fills as the covenant mediator through whom the Lord reveals his purposes to his people and sustains the covenant relationship. Each of these aspects will be described briefly in relation to key themes in Exodus.

1. Offspring. As was noted above, the Lord promised Abraham that he would have innumerable offspring (Gen. 15:5) who would also be afflicted for 400 years in a foreign land and come out with great possessions (Gen. 15:13). Through Joseph, the Lord brings 70 individuals into the land of Egypt (Ex. 1:1–6) who became numerous (1:7) even amid affliction (1:8–12) and were brought out of Egypt as a large multitude (12:37–38). Exodus also focuses on how the people of Israel are shown to be Abraham’s offspring, both in the faithful actions of some of its members (the midwives fear God not Pharaoh, 1:15–22) and particularly by the fact that the Lord repeatedly refers to them as “my people” in his words to Israel (3:7) and before Pharaoh (5:1). The Lord is indicating both to Pharaoh and to the people that, although they have been enslaved in Egypt for a long time, it is his covenant promise to them as Abraham’s offspring that truly governs their identity.

2. Land. The entrance into the land of Canaan is not realized within the events narrated in Exodus, but the promise of the land is held before Israel as a place of provision that is “flowing with milk and honey” (3:17) and also as a place they will inherit and where they will live as the Lord’s people (6:7–8). The promise of the land is significant for what Israel’s response in certain situations reveals about their understanding of both the Lord’s presence and his promise to bring them to Canaan. When the people are hungry after coming out of Egypt and wish they were back in slavery by the “meat pots” (16:3), the contrast between where they are headed and what they long for in Egypt shows that they have not yet taken to heart what the Lord’s deliverance is to signify for them. Their prospects in Canaan are declared to depend on their fidelity in serving the Lord alone (23:23–32), which the Israelites also have not taken fully to heart, as demonstrated by the incident of the golden calf before they ever set foot in Canaan (32:1–6).

3. Blessing. The Lord’s promise to bless all nations through Abraham looks forward to how Israel’s life is to mediate the presence of the Lord to the nations around them (they are to be “a kingdom of priests,” “a holy nation,” 19:6). Israel is to live before God in the world, obeying the covenant instructions that he will reveal to them (see Deut. 4:6–8). The events of the plagues and exodus present the opportunity for people back in Egypt and the surrounding nations to join the Lord’s people in response to what they have either experienced (thus Israel goes out a “mixed multitude,” Ex. 12:38) or what they have heard (e.g., Josh. 2:10). The “recognition formula” (see note on Ex. 7:5) includes the expectation that the Egyptians will know that Israel’s God is the true God (7:5; 14:4, 18).

4. Covenant mediator. A key theme of Exodus is that Moses is the one who is called by God to mediate between the Lord and his people. A key indicator of whether Israel will desire to live as the Lord’s people is seen in how they respond to Moses as the one who speaks on the Lord’s behalf. The story of Moses begins with his preservation at birth (2:1–10) and in Midian (2:11–22) but is highlighted through the Lord’s presence and speech in his call at the burning bush (3:1–4:17) and then in the fact that the Lord speaks to Moses alone in Egypt (e.g., 7:1), calls Moses alone up to Mount Sinai (19:20; 24:2), listens to Moses’ intercession on behalf of the people (32:11–14), speaks with Moses “face to face” (34:29–35), and has Moses oversee the assembling of the tabernacle (40:16–33) and the consecration of both it and the priests who will serve in it (40:9–15).

5. Covenant presence. The presence of the Lord is highlighted throughout the book of Exodus: he appears to Moses in the burning bush (3:1–4:17); he comes down on Mount Sinai in the sight of the people (19:16–20); he reveals himself to the leaders of Israel (24:9–11); he shows Moses his glory and declares his covenant character (34:1–10). Furthermore, a large part of the second half of the book focuses on the instructions for (25:1–31:17) and assembling of the tabernacle (35:1–40:33), in which the Lord promises to dwell among his people (29:43–46; 40:34–38). Just as the ground on which Moses stood at the burning bush was holy because of the Lord’s presence, so it is also his presence among his people that will make them holy. And in light of the covenant breach with the golden calf (32:1–6), Exodus ends with the lingering question of just how a sinful people will live with a holy God in her midst, which is a question that the instruction recorded in Leviticus will begin to address.

History of Salvation Summary

Within the story of man’s salvation, the book of Exodus describes a great forward step. The book of Genesis showed the plight of the human race and its need for salvation. The call of Abraham began the process of divine rescue. Then Jacob’s migration to Egypt seemed to put the plan aside. But in a most dramatic fashion Exodus shows the divine plan reactivated. Heaven-sent plagues force the Egyptians to let Israel go. Then, accompanied by the cloud of God’s presence, they travel toward the promised land of Canaan. Pausing en route at Mount Sinai, they hear God declare to them his laws and seal his covenant with them. Israel is already God’s people by virtue of the promises to Abraham; this covenant establishes the people as a theocracy, in which the covenant specifies the operations of the civil and social, as well as religious, aspects of Israel’s life. Despite their prompt disregard of their covenantal relationship in the worship of the golden calf, the covenant is renewed and the tabernacle is built, a pledge of God’s continuing presence with them. The book ends with the glory of God filling the tabernacle, ready to lead the people to the Promised Land.

The NT sees the OT exodus story as the pattern for the ministry and death of Christ. In him God “dwelt [lit., “tabernacled”] among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). Jesus sojourned in Egypt, and then came out, fulfilling the pattern of Israel (Matt. 2:15, using Hos. 11:1). At the Last Supper, a Passover meal (cf. Exodus 12–13), Jesus referred to “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20), echoing Moses’ words in Exodus 24:8. He also described his death as the exodus (esv, “departure”; Gk. exodos) that he would accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). As Jesus reenacted the exodus in his own life and death, so must his followers. Baptism into his death identifies the believer with the Israelites’ passage through the Red Sea, and partaking of his spiritual food and drink identifies the believer with their experiences in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:1–3). Finally, in heaven, believers shall sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb (Rev. 15:3; cf. Exodus 15).