Exodus

My wonderful little book of knowledge gives us this information about the book of Exodus:



The theme of Exodus is the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, in fulfillment of the promise made by God in Genesis 15:13-14. The book records the birth of the nation of Israel, the giving of the law, and the origin of ritual worship.



Exodus begins where Genesis left off; with the relocation of Jacob and his descendants to Egypt, in fulfillment of Genesis 15:13a. But in fulfillment of Genesis 15:13b, the Israelites are soon enslaved and oppressed by the Egyptians. The rest of the book begins to fulfill Genesis 15:14, 16--the exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. The majority of Exodus concentrates on the eighty-one years between the birth of Moses and the setting up of the tabernacle.



The name Yahweh first appears in chapter 3. God proclaims that He has "come down"--that He is specially present on Earth to deliver His people from bondage and lead them into the bountiful land of promise.



Israel breaks the first two commandments when the people build the golden calf and worship it as their god. Though God responds with judgement, He still reveals His character as Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God who forgives the repentant but judges the unrepentant. This compassion is one of the most important revelations about the character of Yahweh, and is repeated throughout scripture until it culminates the the coming of Jesus in John 1:14. (p.13-14)



This is one of the reasons that I love reading the Bible chronologically. As we read, we see how God has "progressively revealed Himself in word and action" throughout history. Good stuff!