The original readers of Exodus would be
the Israelites. More specifically the generation of Israelites that would take
the promise land. As seen in the SourceView insight section Genesis was written
for the Israelites as a reminder of how “…God has rescued them from
oppression.” There are new festivals and laws spoken and God repeatedly tells
the Israelites to “tell your children from generation to generation!(Genesis
12:17, 13:8.)
The SourceView insights suggest “Moses
wrote it around 1440 BC.” I believe there is substantial evidence within the
book showing it was indeed Moses who authored Exodus. One example we see in
Genesis 1:10 reveals Moses was raised in Pharaohs house, therefore he was
educated and understood both Hebrew and Egyptian. I also believe Moses reveals
he is the author through intimate details of his time with the Lord. (Exodus 32:11)
when he is interceding for His people Israel reminding God of his promises and
character, and the intimacy of Moses’ interaction as God gives Moses a glimpse of him (Exodus 33:22.)
The main theme I see in Exodus is
obedience. God lays out his plan for a Tabernacle to be built.(Exodus 20-23) In
the end of the book the people of Israel have fulfilled all the requirements and
fully obeyed God.(Exodus 36-40) “Moses proceeded to do everything just as the
Lord had commanded him.”(Exodus 40:16) God is using the Tabernacle as a test of
the Israelites obedience and to build faith in the generation that will take
the promise land.
I think the primary reason Exodus was
written was to build the Israelites faith that God would provide everything
they needed. The original reader would have still been trying to break free
from the slave mindsets and we see them gravitating back to it. An example of
this is when God sends manna and tells them to take it for just one day but
some of them “didn’t listen and kept some for morning.”(Genesis 20:16) The authors’
motive would have been to encourage the Israelites that God will provide.
Exodus shows the nature of God when it
reveals his great holiness. God is warning Moses to make sure no person or
animal gets even c
Gods extensive plan to build the
tabernacle as a place for his people to communion with him foreshadows a new
covenant where we will be able to have the holy spirit living within us and we
will be a temple for God. Also, the events around Moses’ birth (Exodus 1:8-22) and
the events around Jesus’ birth are similar. We see in both cases that from this
God will raise up a savior for His chosen people a midst major persecution.
Through Genesis god has been
speaking to me about His grace. It is so endless and perfect! A story that
really speaks deeply of Gods grace is when Moses is up on the mountain speaking
with the Lord about the Tabernacle and how Aaron will be Gods’ priest.(Exodus 28:1)
At this same time Aaron is down leading the Israelites in corrupt worship to a
gold calf.(Exodus 32:5-7) In the end of the story though Aaron and his sons
minister to the people and become Priest. God has great grace for me, His
chosen daughter!
I think a message I see in
this book that would speak deeply to oppressed woman around the world is trusting
in Jesus. A beautiful picture of this can be found in the story of Moses’
mother. We don’t know her name, but see from her story that she was a woman of
great trust in the Lord. When she gave birth to Moses, Pharaoh ordered that
every Hebrew baby boy be killed (Exodus 1:22) She noticed Moses was a “special
baby”(Exodus 2:2) and kept him hidden for three months until she entrusted him
with the Lord. She put the baby in a basket among the reeds and released this
seemingly small thing to the Lord. God powerfully used her small sacrifice and
trust to spare Moses’ life and make him a great leader for the Israelites.
No comments:
Post a Comment