Exodus Part-1 

SONG LYRIC OF THE WEEK:

River, oh, river, flow gently for me

Such precious cargo you bear
Do you know somewhere he can live free?
River, deliver him there
Brother, you're safe now and safe may you stay
For I have a prayer just for you
Grow, baby brother, come back someday
Come and deliver us, too
Deliver us
Send a shepherd to shepherd us
And deliver us to the Promised Land
Deliver us to the Promised Land

The Prince of Egypt
1998

Exodus 1-18
Exodus is the second book of the Bible, and it picks up the biblical story­­line right where Genesis left off. Abraham’s grand­son Jacob and his family of seventy made their way down to Egypt, where Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, had been elevated to second in command over Egypt. 
So the family lived and grew in Egypt as a safe haven for many years. After a few hundred years, the story of Exodus begins. The word “exodus” refers to the major event that takes place in the first half of the book, Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The book also has a second half that takes place at the foot of Mount Sinai. For now, we will focus on the first half, in which centuries have passed and the Israelites “were fruitful and multiplied and filled the land”. 

Remember that this phrase is a deliberate echo of the blessing God gave humanity back in the garden which reminds us of the bigger story so far. When humanity forfeited God’s blessing through sin and rebellion, God’s response was to choose Abraham’s family as the vehicle through which he would restore his blessing to the world.

Exodus 1-4 (Enslavement)
The new Pharaoh, however, does not see Israel as a blessing. He thinks this growing Israelite immigrant group is a threat to his power. So, just as in Genesis, humanity rebels against God. Pharaoh attempts to destroy the Israelites by brutally enslaving them and using them in hard physical labor. It’s bad, but it gets worse when he orders that all Israelite boys be drowned in the Nile River.

This Pharaoh is the worst character in the Bible so far, and his kingdom epitomizes humanity’s rebellion against God. Pharaoh has so redefined good and evil according to his own interests that murder of innocent children becomes “good.” 

Note: In Genesis, a Pharaoh first gets upset with Abraham for being dishonest about Sarah being his wife.  And the another Pharaoh listens to reason as Joseph saves Egypt from starvation. So at one time Egypt was a different nation but wasn’t a horrible one.

Egypt has now become worse than Babylon, and Israel cries out for help against this new form of evil. God responds by first turning Pharaoh’s evil plot upside-down. An Israelite mother throws her boy into the Nile, protected inside a basket, and the child floats right into the Pharaoh’s own family. This boy is named Moses, and he eventually grows up to become the man God will use to defeat Pharaoh.

In the famous story of the burning bush, God appears to Moses and commissions him to go to Pharaoh and order him to release the Israelites. God says that he knows Pharaoh will resist. But God plans to bring his justice down upon Egypt in the form of plagues and harden Pharaoh’s heart.

The burning bush is one of the times that God describes his own purpose and being.  Moses ask God, who may I tell who sent me?, and God says, “I am who I am”.  

Remember that in Genesis Babylon and the Tower of Babel failed because they were full of people that want to “make a name for themselves”.  People want to be well known for victory and achievements that are great in their own eyes.  People want others to hear about theirs god’s names, and how impressive they are.  The God of Abraham refuses to give a proper name because he is a God of action, and creation. And action is what comes next. 

Exodus 5-15 (The Ten Plagues)
The confrontation between God and Pharaoh is the major focus in this narrative, but what does it mean that God will harden his heart? It is important to read this part of the story closely and in sequence. In Moses and Pharaoh’s first encounter, we are told simply that Pharaoh’s heart “grew hard,” without any implication that God caused it.

God proceeds to send the first set of five plagues, each one confronting Pharaoh and his gods. 

The Nile is turn the blood vs Hapi the god of the Nile

Frogs vs Heqet, goddess of birth with a frog head

Gnats vs Set, god of the desert

Flies vs a mix of Re and Sethmet, gods of the sun and disease

Death of livestock vs Hathor and Apis, gods with cow head over fertility

Boils vs Sethmet, god of disease

Hail vs Set also controlled storms

Locusts vs Osris, god of crops

Darkness vs Re, the sun god

Death,  Pharaoh’s son is lost.  Pharaoh is also considered a god king.

The list of gods are actually bigger because there are several gods that do similar things, but the idea is that the God of Abraham is in actual control. 

Each time, Moses offers a chance for Pharaoh to humble himself and let the people go. However, after each plague, we are told that Pharaoh either “hardened his heart,” or that his “heart grew hard.” He’s doing this of his own will. It’s only with the second set of five plagues that we begin to hear that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

The point is that even though God knew Pharaoh would resist his will, God still offered him many chances to do the right thing. Eventually Pharaoh’s evil reaches a point of no return, and even his advisors think he has lost his mind. It’s at that point that God takes over and bends Pharaoh’s evil to his own redemptive purposes. He lures Pharaoh into his own destruction and saves his people.

With the final plague, the night of Passover, God turns the tables on Pharaoh. Just as Pharaoh killed the sons of the Israelites, so God will kill the firstborn sons of Egypt. Unlike Pharaoh, however, God will provide a means of escape through the blood of a lamb.

The final plagues that takes the children of Egypt is indeed a brutal one. One that does not set will with a lot of readers and nonbelievers. I like to think that Egypt had to go through 9 plagues. I like to believe that anyone could have stop at any moment to recognized what is happening and release the Israelites. Anyone who became a believer could have also been saved by the blood of the lamb. Which is also the story of the rest of the Bible.

Here the story stops and introduces us to the annual Israelite ritual of Passover. On the night before Israel left Egypt, they sacrificed a young, spotless lamb and painted its blood on the doorframe of their house. When the divine plague came over Egypt, the houses covered with the blood of the lamb would be “passed over” and the sons spared. Every year since, the Israelites have reenacted this night to remember and celebrate God’s justice and mercy.

Because of his pride and rebellion, Pharaoh loses his son and is compelled to finally let the Israelites go free. The Israelite slaves make their escape from Egypt, but as soon as they leave, Pharaoh changes his mind. He gathers his army and chases after them for a final showdown, thinking that he will slaughter them by the waters of the sea. However, the Israelites run into the sea and discover they’re walking on dry ground that God has provided. But when Pharaoh pursues them, the waters surge around him, destroying him.

Again, the story begins with Pharaoh drowning Israelite children in a body of water but now story is flipped. Also remember that in Genesis God creates land out of water for us to live on.  Also the the flood of Noah.  An Ark full of Gods chosen seems very familiar to Moses floating down the river.

This part of the book of Exodus concludes with the first song of praise in the Bible, called “The Song of the Sea'. The final line declares that “the Lord reigns as king,” and the song retells in poetry what the God’s Kingdom is all about. God is on a mission to confront evil in his world, redeem those enslaved to evil, and bring them to the promised land where his divine presence will live among them. This is what it looks like when God becomes King over his people.

Exodus 16-18 (The Wilderness)
After the people sing their song, the story takes a surprising turn. The Israelites trek through the wilderness on their way to Mount Sinai and get really hungry and thirsty. In their distress, they start criticizing Moses and God for rescuing them from Egypt! Even though God graciously provides food and water for his people, these events cast a dark shadow. As readers, we wonder if it is possible that Israel’s heart is as hard as Pharaoh’s. We’re left with that haunting question as we turn to read about Israel’s experience at Mount Sinai.