Infanticide (1:15-22)
Pharaoh saw that the Israelites were increasing in population, so he ordered that all Israelite baby boys be killed.
The midwives “feared God” and did not kill the baby boys.
Pharaoh questioned them and they lied to him.
God blessed the midwives.
Pharaoh eventually sent his soldiers from house to house to kill all of the Israelite baby boys.
The babies were thrown into the Nile River as an offering to that deity.
The Birth of Moses (2:1-10)
Moses was born during this time of distress.
His parents hid him for three months.
Eventually, his mother took him down to the Nile River, but instead of throwing him in she put him in a water-proof basket and hid him among the reeds.
His sister Miriam watched over him.
Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the river nearby and found the basket with the baby inside.
She wanted to keep the baby and sent Miriam to find someone to nurse him for her.
Miriam got her mom, and Moses stayed with his family for awhile before Pharaoh’s daughter came and took him to live with her.
She named the baby “Moses” and he grew up in the Egyptian palace.
“Moses” is an Egyptian name.
It comes from “mose,” meaning “is born.”
“Rameses” is the same as “Ra is born.”
It seems strange that the man who would become leader of the Israelites would have an Egyptian name.
Moses Flees to Midian (2:11-25)
When Moses was forty years old, he decided he wanted to identify with his own people and do what he could to free them.
One day he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite, so he killed the Egyptian and hid the body.
The next day he saw two Israelites fighting with each other and he tried to stop them.
They retorted, “Are you going to kill us like you killed the Egyptian?”
Pharaoh found out about what Moses did and tried to kill him.
Moses fled Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian.
In Midian, Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite priest.
They had two sons.
Moses lived as a shepherd in Midian for forty years.
The Burning Bush (3:1-22)
God spoke to him from the flames, telling him that he had heard the oppression of His people in Egypt, and so now he was going to send Moses to lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey
Signs for Moses (4:1-17)
Moses made all kinds of excuses about why God should not send him back to Egypt:
Moses: “I’m nobody.”
God: “I will be with you.”
Moses: “I don’t even know your name.”
God: “Tell them 'I AM WHO I AM.' The One Who Is has sent you. This is my Name forever."
Moses: “What if they don’t believe me?”
God: “I will perform signs through you.”
Moses: “What if they don’t listen to me?”
God: “I will perform more signs through you.”
Moses: “I’m not a good speaker.”
God: “Who gave man his mouth? …Is it not I?”
Moses: “Please send someone else.”
God: “I will send your brother Aaron with you.”
Moses Returns to Egypt (4:18-31)
Moses tells his father-in-law Jethro about what God had told him.
Moses packs up his wife and kids and heads towards Egypt.
Here, the text says “The LORD met him and was about to kill him.”
Zipporah performs a circumcision on Moses’ son and places the foreskin on Moses’ feet.
She says, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
The LORD decides to “let him alone.”
Huh?
We're not really sure what in the world is going on in this passage. It's kind of weird.
Later, Moses met up with Aaron and they went together to the elders of the Israelites in Egypt and performed miraculous signs for them.
“Bricks without Straw” (5:1-21)
Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh and said:
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go…’”
Pharaoh said:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”
Pharaoh told everyone to get back to work.
Pharaoh also took away the straw that the people used to make bricks.
The Israelites were beaten if they didn’t make enough bricks during the day.
Pharaoh accused them of being lazy.
The Israelites became angry with Moses and Aaron for making the situation worse.
God Promises Deliverance (5:22-7:7)
Moses began to question God.
God reassured Moses that he would keep his promise to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses told this to the Israelites, but they didn’t listen to him.
God sent Moses back to Pharaoh.
Moses made more excuses:
“Not even the Israelites listen to me, so why would Pharaoh?”
“I have faltering lips.”
God says to Moses, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.”
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake (7:8-13)
God sent Moses and Aaron back to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh demanded a sign from them.
God told Aaron to throw his staff on the floor.
When Aaron did this, the staff turned into a snake.
Pharaoh brought in his magicians and they caused their own staffs to become snakes as well.
Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
Pharaoh’s “heart became hard” and he would not listen to them.
The War of the Gods (7:14-11:10)
God sends a set of ten plagues on the Egyptians. Each one of those plagues can be seen as a direct slap in the face to the different gods of the Egyptians, showing that the God of the Hebrews was much more powerful than any of them. With the coming of each plague, Pharaoh decides to let the Hebrews go; but every time the plague subsides, he changes his mind... so God sends another plague.
Nile turns to Blood
Hapi, god of the Nile is rendered powerless.
However, Pharaoh's magicians could do the same thing.
Frogs overflow the Nile
Heket, frog-headed goddess of fertility and water, is rendered powerless.
However, Pharaoh's magicians could do the same thing.
Dust turns to Gnats
Geb, god of earth, Khepri, beetle-headed god of creation, and Thoth, god of magic are all rendered powerless.
The magicians failed to make any miracles this time.
Flies everywhere
Khepri, beetle-headed god of creation, is rendered powerless.
God begins to distinguish between Egypt and Israel, and doesn't allow the plagues to harm the Israelites.
Livestock dies
Bat, the cow-headed goddess, and the bull-cult gods Apis, Buchis, and Mneuis are all rendered powerless.
At this point the text says that “Pharaoh hardened his heart” and still would not let the Israelites go.
Boils all over skin
Isis, goddess of medicine, and Sekhmet, lion-headed deity of plagues, are rendered powerless.
Now the text says “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” But this is already after Pharaoh had hardened his own heart.
Giant Hailstones
Nut, the sky goddess, and Seth, god of chaos and thunder, are rendered powerless.
Locusts devour everything green
Senehem, possibly locust-headed god of protection from pestilence, is rendered powerless.
Darkness
Horus, the sky-god, and Ra, god of the sun/right eye of Horus, are rendered powerless.
Death of the first born
Pharaoh himself (who was worshiped as a god), Min, god of reproduction, and Anubis, dog-headed god of embalming, are all rendered powerless here.
The Passover (12:1-30)
God told the Israelites to kill a lamb and mark their doors with its blood.
When the angel of death saw the blood on the doors, he would “pass over” the house.
The death of the lamb pointed back to God’s promise to Abraham.
The death of the lamb also pointed forward to the death of Christ.
This event came to be known as the Passover celebration, or Pesach.
The New Testament refers to Christ as “our Passover lamb,” because He died in our place.
Jesus was crucified during the week of the Passover celebration.
God gave specific instructions on how the Israelites were to celebrate the Passover from year to year.
The various elements of the meal serve as symbols of how God rescued, and continues to rescue, His people.
Examples:
The Maror (often made with horseradish) is a bitter dish, reminding them of the bitterness of their hardships.
The Charoseth (often made with raisins, honey, and nuts) is a sweet dish, reminding them of the sweetness of God's salvation.
The Exodus (12:31-13:22)
Pharaoh told Moses to immediately take his people out of Egypt.
They left that very night.
Through these ten plagues, God had defeated every last one of the Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh.
The Israelites left Egypt so quickly that they didn’t have time for their bread to rise... which is how the tradition of eating Matzah (a Jewish flat bread) began.
The Egyptians took off their jewelry and gave it to the Israelites as they were leaving.
Some Egyptians even joined with the Israelites and left with them.
Crossing the Red Sea (14:1-31)
The Israelites made camp by the Red Sea.
Pharaoh changed his mind again and pursued them in order to kill them.
God Himself fought against Pharaoh. He appears as smoke and fire to give darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Hebrews. He also sends His "wind" to divide the Red Sea so the Israelites can cross over to safety. He then lures Pharaoh into this trap, only to crush Pharaoh and his army with the waters of chaos.
The Song of Moses and Miriam (15:1-21)
Exodus 15 is a song attributed to Moses and Miriam after God had destroyed Pharaoh’s army.
The text of this song is likely much older than the texts of the rest of the Exodus story.
The ancient Israelite understanding of this event was that God was making Israel into a new creation.
The Red Sea, like all seas in the Old testament, serves as a symbol of chaos and death.
When God parts the sea, He does so with His “wind” or “Spirit,” (Hebrew: Ru’ach) bringing order to chaos.
God condemns all other gods, represented by Pharaoh and his army, to be lost forever in the chaos, but He brings his people through to the other side - out of death and into a new life.
Exodus 15 is a song attributed to Moses and Miriam after God had destroyed Pharaoh’s army.
The text of this song is likely much older than the texts of the rest of the Exodus story.
The ancient Israelite understanding of this event was that God was making Israel into a new creation.
The Red Sea, like all seas in the Old testament, serves as a symbol of chaos and death.
When God parts the sea, He does so with His “wind” or “Spirit,” (Hebrew: Ru’ach) bringing order to chaos.
God condemns all other gods, represented by Pharaoh and his army, to be lost forever in the chaos, but He brings his people through to the other side - out of death and into a new life.
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