Discover the impressive Book of Exodus in 3 minutes

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Hi there,

Reading the book of Exodus, and the Bible, in general, can be somewhat overwhelming. Lots and lots of chapters, tiny font size, Shakespearean English, incomprehensible parables, an ancient lifestyle to which us moderners struggle to relate to… All these may make Bible study somewhat unappealing.

Trust me, these are excellent tools the evil one uses to keep us from the blessings found in the Word of God. I hope these few lines will create and/or revive in you the feeling of excitement you get from studying the Holy Scriptures.

This is meant to be a 3 minutes summary, so without further ado let’s dive into the book of Exodus.

Prior to the book of Exodus

In Genesis, following Adam’s fall, God spelled out his rescue plan consisting of saving the whole earth and all of humanity. For that He made a promise to a man, Abraham, telling him that his abundant offspring would be a blessing to all peoples of the earth and will be representatives of God to them all (Genesis 17:4-8, 22:18). This promise was passed down from father to son, all the way to Abraham’s grandson Jacob, renamed Israel, who led his family of about 70 out of the land God rightfully gave them, to another land, Egypt, so that they may escape famine and prosper therein.

A summary of the book

The exodus

400 years later, these 70 people had blossomed into a nation of about 600 000 men (women and children were excluded from the count) and were known as the Israelites. Unfortunately, they didn’t prosper as they expected, but were considered invaders and were ill-treated by the Egyptian authorities.

The Book of Exodus picks up from there, introducing the reader to Moses, who was called upon by God to liberate the Israelites from Pharaoh’s evil grip by making them move out of Egypt. He did this through a series of miracles that demonstrated the Lord’s power to Pharaoh, as well as to the Israelite leaders, and this even echoed to all surrounding nations. Through this, God established His name high above the other gods and kings who were worshipped at this time period, and most importantly, He conquered the hearts of the Israelites who accepted Him as their own Lord once and for all (Exodus 15:1-21).

The tabernacle

On moving out of Egypt, the Israelites settled at the foot of Mt Sinai where God asked them to enter into a covenant with Him – a treaty with certain terms and conditions – in order that they become the priestly nation promised in Genesis to the rest of the world. They quickly agreed to the terms (Exodus 19:8) but refused to enter into close communion with God, terrified by His might (Exodus 20:18-19), which reminds us of the similar reaction by Adam and Eve who became afraid of God, after the Man-God relationship in the garden of Eden was broken, and seemingly clearly not resolved.

Determined to be with them anyway, God decided to leave Heaven and dwell literally in the middle of them in their camp. He gave Moses a blueprint of the tabernacle which was a miniature, portable version of Heaven, to be His house, just to find out that the Israelites had already broken the first two terms of the covenant: to love the Lord only and not to worship any graven image (Exodus 20:1-5).

Terribly grieved, God poured His heart to Moses, who listened to Him and faithfully interceded on behalf of his brethren.

Finally, God forgave them and maintained His decision to live among them. But as a result of their unfaithfulness, no one was able to get into the tabernacle to meet with God, not even Moses (Exodus 40:35). They dwelled right at the corner of God’s glory but due to their unrighteousness, sadly, could not get any closer.

Now the question is: what happens next? Will the Israelites ever enter God’s presence and do what is expected of them? This is what leads to the next book, Leviticus.

Takeaway

From a key verse in Exodus, we are able to see God’s character in the midst of opposition. It says “God, the Lord, a God of mercy and grace, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and endlessly patient—abounding in love, so deeply true and faithful—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. Yet does not leave the guilty unpunished” – Exodus 34:6-7. Let’s see how these apply:

God has this exact same character today. You benefit from all this daily, in fact with an added advantage because you are part of an even better covenant than theirs, as God doesn’t dwell by you, but in you.

Amen !