Exodus 3
Background to the Book of Exodus: This is the same as last week: to go direct to Context click above.
Historical: (History within the text) xxx
The Book of Exodus tells how God took pity on the Israelites, the means chosen to liberate
them from the Egyptians, and their consequent journeys in the wilderness. The story begins
after the Israelites have been in Egypt for several generations and a new Pharaoh comes to the
throne who is threatened by the number of foreigners (Israelites) in the land and takes hard
measures to subdue them and stop them multiplying. We read of the call of Moses by God, the
confrontations with the Pharaoh and his wise men, the subsequent release and flight of the
Israelites. The pivotal event was revelation of God to Moses and God giving the Law to the
people via Moses. (Put picture in here with link). The covenant set up here is conditional on the
people keeping their promises (Exod 19:5-8) - note the word "if" they do ... "then" you shall be
my people.
After the initial laws in Exodus 20-23 we read the story of the wooden ark in which the tablets
of stone (which have the Law written on them) are to be housed and carried. Great detail is
given about this Ark in Exod 25-27 before going into further detail about the priests who will
serve and the manner of the sacrifices. We read of the people's rebellion and Aaron's role in
building a golden calf to worship. Moses returns once more from one of his mountain trips and
castigates the people for their unfaithfulness. The Book of Exodus finishes with a further
account of the building of the ark which sounds rather repetitious of the first one. Within the
Book we are given the origins of such Festivals as Passover and Unleavened Bread.
Some people have tried to find evidence within the Egyptian chronicles that the Israelites were
present in Egypt in this period but the lack of written material from that era limits any
discoveries. What has been found in general terms is that foreigners did serve in Egyptian
households, there were building programmes using 'apiru' and foreigners did attain high
service in important households (Johnstone:17-27). Rather than trying to prove historical fact
as in the old Western idea of 'facts', it is better to understand the Book of Exodus as
'historiography', that is, the remembered history of the Israelite people which is crucial to their
identity as the people of God.
Literary Comments: xxxx The Book of Exodus is a mixture of very early oral material which has
come from different traditions and been joined together in the one book. The events are pivotal
to their faith and as we have four gospels telling us about Jesus Christ so the Jews have
different memories of the same events. We have four different gospels, but in Exodus the
traditions are all mixed in the same book which makes it difficult reading sometimes. For
example, in Exod 19 Moses goes up and down the mountain several times and one isn't sure if
he is up or down.
Some people have tried to identify some of the traditions within the Book: a tradition that uses
the name of Yahweh called 'J', another called 'E', the tradition written by the Priests called 'P'
and the very easily identified "D' tradition mainly found in the Book of Deuteronomy. It makes
sense that different communities as in the NT had different memories and emphases which had
become important to them and so when the Scriptures are committed to writing there is a
Background to the Book of Exodus: This is the same as last week: to go direct to Context click above.
Historical: (History within the text) xxx
The Book of Exodus tells how God took pity on the Israelites, the means chosen to liberate
them from the Egyptians, and their consequent journeys in the wilderness. The story begins
after the Israelites have been in Egypt for several generations and a new Pharaoh comes to the
throne who is threatened by the number of foreigners (Israelites) in the land and takes hard
measures to subdue them and stop them multiplying. We read of the call of Moses by God, the
confrontations with the Pharaoh and his wise men, the subsequent release and flight of the
Israelites. The pivotal event was revelation of God to Moses and God giving the Law to the
people via Moses. (Put picture in here with link). The covenant set up here is conditional on the
people keeping their promises (Exod 19:5-8) - note the word "if" they do ... "then" you shall be
my people.
After the initial laws in Exodus 20-23 we read the story of the wooden ark in which the tablets
of stone (which have the Law written on them) are to be housed and carried. Great detail is
given about this Ark in Exod 25-27 before going into further detail about the priests who will
serve and the manner of the sacrifices. We read of the people's rebellion and Aaron's role in
building a golden calf to worship. Moses returns once more from one of his mountain trips and
castigates the people for their unfaithfulness. The Book of Exodus finishes with a further
account of the building of the ark which sounds rather repetitious of the first one. Within the
Book we are given the origins of such Festivals as Passover and Unleavened Bread.
Some people have tried to find evidence within the Egyptian chronicles that the Israelites were
present in Egypt in this period but the lack of written material from that era limits any
discoveries. What has been found in general terms is that foreigners did serve in Egyptian
households, there were building programmes using 'apiru' and foreigners did attain high
service in important households (Johnstone:17-27). Rather than trying to prove historical fact
as in the old Western idea of 'facts', it is better to understand the Book of Exodus as
'historiography', that is, the remembered history of the Israelite people which is crucial to their
identity as the people of God.
Literary Comments: xxxx The Book of Exodus is a mixture of very early oral material which has
come from different traditions and been joined together in the one book. The events are pivotal
to their faith and as we have four gospels telling us about Jesus Christ so the Jews have
different memories of the same events. We have four different gospels, but in Exodus the
traditions are all mixed in the same book which makes it difficult reading sometimes. For
example, in Exod 19 Moses goes up and down the mountain several times and one isn't sure if
he is up or down.
Some people have tried to identify some of the traditions within the Book: a tradition that uses
the name of Yahweh called 'J', another called 'E', the tradition written by the Priests called 'P'
and the very easily identified "D' tradition mainly found in the Book of Deuteronomy. It makes
sense that different communities as in the NT had different memories and emphases which had
become important to them and so when the Scriptures are committed to writing there is a
