I was just wandering...

Exodus

First impression: finding the context

What do you see in this book that tells you about the original reader?

   The original readers are the people of Israel and they have just been released from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:31). They are new believers in the sense that they have been in the land of the Egyptian gods for around 430 years and they have forgotten who the true God is (Exodus 3:13), and they don’t know how to obey Him anymore (Exodus 16:28,29). They are like kids who need to be retrained and rewired to be able to come back to God! They are very afraid of God, they even said to Moses “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!” (Exodus 20:19) I’m excited to see the evolution of their faith trough the next books of the Bible.

What do you see in this book that tells you about the author?

   Moses is the author of this book too (Exodus 17:14 / Exodus 24:3,4 / Exodus 34:27). We can tell that because throughout the whole book he is a key eye witness of many events. He even asks to see God’s “glorious presence” in Exodus 33:18. And God let’s Moses see him from behind (Exodus 33:23), however he warns him in the same verse “But my face will not be seen.” In the next few chapters we can also see that Moses spends two sets of 40 days each, up in mount Sinai with the Lord. I can also see that he is not good with words (Exodus 4:10) but probably he had very good memory, because he was able to remember all of God’s instructions for the construction of the altar and some other laws (Exodus Chapters 25-31). He was also an intercessor (Exodus 32:11-13).

What are the main themes, and repeated ideas in this book, and what is a one sentence summary of the “main idea”?

    I feel the main idea of the book is the redemption of the people of God by teaching them who He is and how to interact with Him better.

   God keeps helping them in their struggle because He wants to be with them. He gives them the commandments (Exodus 20:3-17) to be able to come closer. He wants to make them holy so He can come near them, because their separate them from Him.

What is the primary reason this book was written?

   The book was written as a reminder of how God redeemed the Israelites from slavery and brought them into a closer relationship with Him.

Theme tracing

What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

Redemptory: He brings Israel out of their slavery and restitutes their faith in Him

Almighty: He opened the Red sea for His people to cross (Exodus 14:15,16)

Powerful: People were really afraid of Him

Faithful: He remembered His covenant (Exodus 2:24)

What does this book show about God’s redemptive plan for mankind?

   The book foreshadows how Jesus will be persecuted as a baby and hid by His parents when it shows the exact same thing happening to baby Moses, who is the fulfillment of the prophesy for the Israelites back in slavery times (Exodus 2:1-3).

   He gave them laws (Exodus 20:3-17) to help them to be pure and aspire for holiness and a closer relationship with Him by eliminating sin.

   God also taught His people how to worship Him because He wanted to have a closer relationship with them. From the beginning of the book we see His need to bring them out of Egypt to take them to the “Promise Land” and in the process He tells them how to create a holy place for Him to dwell among them (Exodus chapters 25-31).

Personal application

 Is there a timeless truth, or maybe a specific verse, or perhaps the main idea of the book you are studying that is challenging you in your life?

   God is holy and He demands that we (at least) try to be holy to be able to be closer to Him. It challenges me to come closer to God daily.

   I’d also like to be as brave as Moses to ask to see God’s presence, and even more so, I’d love to hear God grant me such a thing like He did with Moses.

What area of your life is God encouraging you, convincing you or empowering you in through this book?

   I feel I should have more patience… by reading Exodus I can tell there are people who have a lot of patience, because waiting for 40 years to see the promise land is something big. However, the book shows me that while they waited some people wined as well. So, it gives me hope that even when I wine and stomp, God loves me and He is patient with me!

Point of passion

Whether it is a people group or a sphere of society, God’s word can speak into all areas of life. Share in a paragraph or two how the message of this book, or a truth from this book relates to your  point of passion, and how your ministry to this area can use the message from this book to share Christ in your passion.

   God promised to “rain down food from heaven” (Exodus 16:4). I wish that happened today in some very poor countries…

   This passage encourages me to wait on God’s provision for the Food Truck ministry, maybe one day, we will be able to rest from cooking because He’ll make rain food for us too…