2. Exodus

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2. EXODUS

I. OUTLINE-BRIEF

1. Bondage. 1.

2. Birth of Moses. 2.

3. Call of Moses. 3.4.

4. Plagues. 5-11.

5. Passover. 12.

6. Red Sea. 13-15.

7. Wilderness. 16-18.

8. Sinai. 19-40.

II. OUTLINE-COMPLETE

1. Preamble. 1:1-22.

2. Preparation for Deliverance. 2:1-7:13.

3. God Reveals His Power. 7:14-18:27.

4. Sinai. 19:1-40:38.

A. The Covenant. 19:1-24:18.

B. The P Ordinances. 25:1-31:18.

C. Moses and the Covenant. 32:1-34:35.

D. Execution of Cult Ordinances. 35:1-40:33.

E. The Tabernacle. 40:34-38.

III. PURPOSE

1. Exodus means to the Old Testament what the Gospels mean to the New Testament.

2. To tell the story of Israel's departure from Egypt.

3. To reveal the power and purpose of Yahweh in the deliverance of his "chosen people."

4. To narrate the organization of the "multitude" into a social and religious community.

IV. AUTHORSHIP

1. Moses did not write Exodus. There were several authors and many editors, but as persons they are unknown.

2. In addition to our old friends, J, E, and P, we have a new contributor, D-representing the Deuteronomic cult.

V. HISTORY OF THE SOURCES

1. The book grows out of a wealth of well preserved oral traditions.

2. While both J and E run along throughout Exodus, they do a much better job of tying together the two narratives.

3. J and E cannot be as easily separated in Exodus as they were in Genesis.

4. The E document introduces Elohim in 3:5 and continues to use it throughout the book.

5. To J the holy mountain is Sinai; to E it is Horeb.

6. E calls Moses' father-in-law Jethro; J does not give his name in Exodus, but elsewhere calls him Hobab.

7. The lines separating J, E, and P are most clearly shown in the narration of the plagues.

A. J sends the plagues directly from God-though natural causes may play a part. Moses simply announces them. J also tells about the "east wind" at the Red Sea.

B. E exalts Moses-and his wonder rod. The Egyptians recognize Moses as a great leader.

C. P gives high honors to Aaron-the priesthood.

D. The Deuteronomic notes are not numerous.

8. Exodus's redactor did a good job in the conflation of the document.

VI. EXODUS AS A HISTORY OF ISRAEL

1. All authorities today accept Moses as a historic personality, regardless of any and all myths associated with his career.

2. The history of Egypt contains no record of the Hebrew exodus.

3. J begins his story with Moses killing the Egyptian overseer. E begins with the birth of Moses.

4. J says the Hebrews were "cattle breeders"; E makes them slaves or "pensioners."

5. E makes much of the miraculous power of Moses' rod; J blames everything on Pharaoh's "hardening his heart."

6. P is the only one telling the story of the tabernacle.

7. There is doubt about the Pharaoh of the exodus. Some think it was Rameses II, but it was most likely Seti I-the new king "who did not know Joseph."

8. J and P call the mountain Sinai. E and D call it Horeb.

Note: In general, Bible scholars are inclined to think the two names may possibly refer to the same mountain.

9. It is interesting to note that in the early Hebrew writings God is never spoken of as Father.

VII. THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT

1. The plagues were "God's great act of judgment." 7:4. This is the view of P.

2. The different strands sort out as follows:

A. J narrates seven-the fourth and fifth are wholly his.

B. P is present in five accounts, the third and sixth are wholly his. The first illustrates P's tendency to make it a real calamity.

C. Five are from E in part or in whole. The ninth is probably wholly his.

3. In P God always gives Moses the command: "Say to Aaron." 7:19. 8:5. Aaron then uses the rod.

4. In J Moses goes alone before Pharaoh. His demand: "Let my people go, that they may serve me."

5. In E Moses uses the rod. He ends a plague with: "and he did not let the children of Israel go."

6. These plagues may be symbolic rather than historic. Some of these conditions could have arisen from natural causes.

VIII. THE KENITES

1. They were a religious clan belonging to the Midianites. Jethro was their high priest.

2. They had a high civilization-varied vocations-metal workers, etc. They also had a well developed religion.

3. For the whole story of the Kenites see Urantia Book 96:0.2.

4. Moses had a good Egyptian education before he joined up with the Kenites. See Urantia Book, (1056.4) 96:4.2. He knew the "wisdom of the Egyptians." Acts 7:22.

5. The priest Jethro was also known as Reuel. 2:18.

6. Moses married Jethro's daughter, Zipporah, and had two sons. 18:3.

7. It was while tending Jethro's flocks that Moses had his experience of the "burning bush" and received Yahweh's commission to lead Israel out of bondage.

8. Moses was a stammerer and Aaron was assigned to serve as his spokesman.

9. It was Moses' shepherd's staff (rod) that became the wonder worker in Egypt.

10. Miriam, Moses' sister, criticized him for marrying an Ethiopian (Cushite).

IX. THE SINAI COVENANT

1. As Yahweh made a personal covenant with Abraham, so he now renews that covenant with the "children of Abraham" at Sinai.

2. They are not sure about the exact location of Sinai. Three different mountains have been designated.: The majority opinion locates it near the old Egyptian copper mines-where Count Tischendorf found the manuscript of Codex Sinaiticus in 1844 at the monastery of St. Catherine. This mount is about 5,000 feet above sea level. The region abounds with peaks 8,000 feet above sea level.

3. It was here at Sinai that the polyglot horde of Israel became a nation, a church, a partially civilized community.

4. The wilderness problem is: How could they spend so much time at Sinai and be camped so long at Kadesh?

5. Here Moses got the Ten Commandments. Here they fell to worshipping the "golden calf," and Moses, after breaking the tablet, had to get a second tablet.

6. Here they got the "ethical" Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17) to take the place of their former "ritual" Ten Commandments (34:10-26).

7. The vast body of laws given at Sinai is a part of the Sinai covenant.

8. There is a remote resemblance between the Hebrew Code and the Code of Hammurabi. In all probability both the Hebrew and the Hammurabi codes were founded on older Assyrian or Hittite codes.

9. Associated with Sinai are the stories of the manna and the quails, water from the rock, the war with Amalek, and the high point of Moses on the mountain.

X. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE

1. The latter part of Exodus is devoted to directions for making and operating the tabernacle.

2. At Shiloh and in Solomon's Temple, the ark had been the symbol of God's presence.

3. This whole story about the tabernacle seems to have originated with the priests during the exile.

4. It is a singular fact that the tabernacle is not mentioned in the Urantia Book.

5. The whole plan of the tabernacle is based on Solomon's Temple. Of course, it has been both the Hebrew and Christian view that Solomon's Temple was built after the plan of the olden tabernacle.

6. The priests did make one great change. They transferred the significance of the creation from the ark with its law and symbols of magic to the "mercy seat" above the ark.

7. Thus the worship was directed away from "legalism and works" to "faith and trust" in divine love and mercy.

8. This led to the "Day of Atonement" as the apex of the Jewish system of worship.

9. The concept of God was growing-Yahweh was becoming a transcendent Deity.

10. The P writers wanted to associate the covenant with Abraham rather than with Moses and Sinai, but the rabbis would not have it. And the rabbis won.

11. Usually, the struggle has been between the priests and the prophets.

12. Exodus is not a history. Its concern is not so much with the past as with the present.

13. The real purpose: To make Israel "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 19:6.

14. Exodus is one of the most complicated books in the Bible. When you read Exodus you are listening to many voices telling many stories at different times. You can try to make it all meaningful as you do your best to "put it together."

15. Learn how to find the nuggets in Exodus-not just the mistakes and complications.

16. The book may say that "the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart," but we know that later on they arrived at superior ideas of Deity-and the prophets presented a majestic and transcendent Father in heaven.

XI. SELECTED TEXTS

1. The new king. "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." 1:8.

2. Finding Moses. "Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river...She saw the basket among the reeds...When she opened it she saw the child." 2:5,6.

3. With Jethro. "And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah." 2:21.

4. The burning bush. "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed." 3:2.

5. I AM. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM."' 3:14.

6. Moses' stammering. "But Moses said...'I am not eloquent...I am slow of speech.'" 4:10.

7. Before Pharaoh. "Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" 5:1.

8. Hardening Pharaoh's heart. "'But I will harden Pharaoh's heart...Pharaoh will not listen to you.'" 7:3.

9. Moses' reputation. "The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt." 11:3.

10. The Passover. "'It is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land.'" 12:11,12.

11. Consecration of first-born. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Consecrate to me all the first-born...both of man and of beast.'" 13:1.

12. The pillar of cloud. "The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people." 13:22.

13. The salvation of the Lord. "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord...for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.'" 14:13.

14. Drying up the Red Sea. "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land." 14:21.

15. The manna. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day.'" 16:4.

16. Water from the rock. "'Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.'" 17:6.

17. The Ten Commandments. "Then God spoke all these words saying, 'I am the Lord your God...You shall have no other gods before me.'" 20:1-3.

18. Moses gets the law. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment.'" 24:12.

19. Moses on the mountain. "And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." 24:18.

20. The tabernacle. "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.'" 25:8.

21. The priesthood. "'And you shall put them upon Aaron your brother, and upon his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them that they may serve me as priests.'" 28:41.

22. God repents. "And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people." 32:14.

23. The tent of meeting. "Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp...and he called it the tent of meeting." 33:7.

24. Finished tabernacle. "Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished; and the people of Israel had done according to all that the Lord had commanded." 39:32.

25. The pillar of fire. "Throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel." 40:38.