Introduction: We turn here from the
origins of the earth’s peoples—nations, races and clans—to the origins of the
Jewish people religiously and politically. While we have no “outside”—extra-biblical—sources to weigh
historical information against, the [historically/culturally] experiential
impact of the exodus memory/story is impossible to set aside.
The
memory/story, which is recounted here, is not only reality-orienting for the
Jewish people, it is the basis of all they were to become—their corporate sense
of commitment, their sense of themselves as a people—their culture, outlook and
direction. Schocken editors point
out a number of words and ideas that find their origins here:
·
Service
(servitude, serving gods, serving God)
·
God’s
glory and power
·
Knowing
God by his actions in history and His deep knowledge of us—our sufferings and
needs
·
Seeing
·
Being
distinct and separate
·
Rebellion
against rightful leadership and against God
·
Covenant
·
Modes
of God’s presence—in fire, cloud, manna, law
·
Desert
experience/travel as purifying
·
Purification
generally
·
The
journey from slavery to freedom
·
An
ordered, law-oriented freedom
Moses’
childhood experiences foreshadow those of the entire people.
Exodus 1 – The family of Jacob is
recounted, the number coming into Egypt at the time of the famine in Canaan is
said to have been 70 (a number expressing perfection). Over time, however, the
numbers increase dramatically. They are located, to the east of the Nile, in an
area that must have caused concern to the Egyptians. Egypt was a nation
protected from invasion pretty much on all sides: the Mediterranean Sea to
their north and deserts and mountains to their west, east and south. It seems
to make sense that the Pharaoh would have some concern that an unfriendly
“foreign” people to his east might be lured into alliance with some invading
force. “The Egyptians came to fear the Israelites and made their lives
miserable by forcing them into cruel slavery. They made them work on their
building projects and in their fields, and they had no pity on them” (1:13-16).
Pharaoh
tries to enlist the aid of midwives who worked among the Hebrews to kill off
some of their young – the boys. But the midwives are “God-fearing” (attracted
by the religion of the Hebrews), and refuse to obey this order. Finally the
Pharaoh sends out an order to “all his people,” saying “Take very newborn
Hebrew boy and throw him into the Nile, but let all the girls live” (1:22).
Exodus 2 - Moses’ mother puts him
in a “little ark of papyrus” (the ark as symbol of salvation is here
introduced), and puts it in the reeds (foreshadowing Moses’ later passage),
stationing Moses’ sister near enough to observe it. One of pharaoh’s daughters finds it and takes pity on him,
sending her maid to find a nurse—Miriam steps out and suggests her own mother.
He is returned to pharaoh’s daughter when he is weaned and grows up in the
court. Brilliant strategy!
He
knows he is a Hebrew and when he is grown, he feels for their burdens. He even kills an Egyptian man he sees
mistreating a Hebrew man (2:11).
The next day he again goes out and tries to break up a fight between two
Hebrew men and learns that they know what he has done; they also berate him for
his interference: “Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?” (2:14 - a
lot of irony there). So Moses has
to flee. He goes to Midian and
like his ancestors before him meets his wife-to-be by a well. She is the daughter of a priest of
Midian, Jethro/Reuel (depends on the account), and this has given rise to
theories that maybe Moses learned aspects of the religion practiced by him.
Reuel’s daughter’s name is Zipporah.
They have a son, Gershom. God hears the cry of his people in Egypt.
Exodus 3 – Moses notices a bush burning with a flame that does not
consume it and turns aside to see it.
God speaks to him “out of the midst of the bush” (3:4), calling his name
and telling him he is standing on holy ground. God tells him he, YHWH has “seen the affliction of my people. . .their cry I have heard. . [and] indeed, I have known their sufferings! So I have come down to rescue it. . .”
(Schocken Bible – 3:7-8). I like
the way that this is translated.
He says He is sending Moses to bring them out, but Moses questions God’s
plan. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh. . .?” (3:11) Moses asks God what name he should call
YHWH, and he is told “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” [I will be-there howsoever I will
be-there is how Schocken translates it, saying the syntax is difficult] The
English simply says, “I am who am.”
Exodus 4 – Moses worries that
the people will not trust him - as well he might in light of Ex.2:14 where he
is challenged by a man who thinks he’s trying to throw his weight around. YHWH
gives him the staff to perform great deeds with - it turns into a snake. Then Moses begs off the job because he
can’t speak well (4:10). You would not
guess this from the Moses we meet in Deuteronomy. God tells Moses he will “be-there with your mouth” (4:12);
He will tell Moses what to say He
will also send Aaron to speak for Moses.
Moses
returns to Jethro/Reuel, and he is given permission to leave with his sons and
wife, taking them on a donkey. YHWH tells Moses to refer to his people
Israel as “my son, my firstborn,” (4:22) and tells him to tell Pharaoh to let
them go to serve YHWH. Moses narrowly
escapes death on the journey “at the night-camp”. God goes to Aaron and tells
him to meet his brother in the desert (4:27). That must have been something considering Moses had grown up
separated from him. It must also
have been indispensable to have Aaron as a go-between between the people of
Israel and Moses, for he is a stranger to them really.
Exodus 5 - Then they go
together to ask Pharaoh to let them go “hold-a-pilgrimage festival” [“hag” in
Hebrew is related to hajj in Arabic] in the wilderness. Pharaoh wants to know
“Who is YHWH, that I should hearken to his voice” (5:2). Pharaoh accuses them
of just being lazy and looking for an excuse to get out of doing the work he
wants them to do. Instead of letting them go, he increases their workload—they
must now gather their own straw for the brick-building they are doing. The “foremen” [Jews working to
supervise the work] accuse Moses and Aaron of just giving the pharaoh an excuse
to punish them and make their lives miserable. And even Moses seems to have
doubts about the mission he believes God has sent him on. He complains to God
that the mission He has sent him on has only made things worse, and that they
need God to DO something to help deliver his people.
Exodus 6 – God assures Moses
that He will punish Pharaoh. He repeats to Moses the essence of his promises:
that through his appearances to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He established a
covenant which He is now acting upon – He will rescue His people from their
slavery; He will take them as His own.
And the people “will know that I, the Lord am [their] God when I free
[them] from the labor of the Egyptians and bring [them] into the land which I
swore [to give their ancestors]” (6:7-8). God tells Moses again to go speak His
word to Pharaoh and Moses gets a little into God’s “face” (6:12), saying that
even the sons of Israel (the foremen) would not listen to him, why should
Pharaoh.
The
people have trouble believing in Moses “because of their dejection and hard
slavery” (6:9). This may well be the reason Moses was
delivered from slavery early in his life—see 1:14. God knew that he had to have a man not crushed by experience.
God
tells Moses again to go speak His word to Pharaoh and Moses gets a little into
God’s “face” (6:12), saying that even the sons of Israel (the foremen?) would
not listen to him, why should Pharaoh. This line is repeated at the end of the
chapter, so it must have been important.
Genealogies
of Moses and Aaron are given (6:14-27) perhaps to emphasize the legitimacy of
their ties to the people, as descendants of Levi.
Exodus 7 – God tells Moses
that He will make Moses “as a god for Pharaoh” with Aaron serving as his
prophet or go-between. He also
tells his that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart so he will resist letting God’s people
go.
Moses’
age is said to be 80 when he confronts Pharaoh and his brother Aaron is 83
[multiple of 40 plus 3—‘perfect’ numbers]. I have trouble believing this is
meant at all to be historically accurate – if indeed anything in the narrative
reflects history as we think of it.
Moses
will be given magical powers – a difficult part of the narrative for that
Quaker part of me that shares early Friends’ disdain of such things. It is
helpful to me to remember that much in the narrative is probably metaphor and
not promoting a belief in magic. Moses is competing here with sorcerers and
magicians and he will outshine them all. Still, God will harden Pharaoh’s
heart. God will have to beat Egypt down with a series of plagues:
The first “blow” or
plague—the
waters of the Nile will change to blood (7:17-21). It will “reek” and the fish
in it will die. The blow lasts
seven days but pharaoh’s “magicians” can do this one too. The second blow—frogs—is threatened.
The
note in my Jerusalem Bible says that in the plagues narrative all the
traditions are combined: the “Priestly Tradition,” the “Yahwistic,” and the
“Elohistic.” There are variation is the number of plagues recounted in the
different versions, but all three have the last plague. We will go into the whole
series next time.
Exodus 8 – The plague of frogs
is brought about by Aaron stretching out the staff over the streams, canals and
pools of Egypt. The Egyptian
magicians match him in this one too.
Pharaoh at first tells them he will
let the people go, but he reneges (8:11).
Then
Aaron stretches out his staff and turns dust into gnats – the third plague.
This the magicians cannot match, but Pharaoh is not moved.
Then
the Lord tells Moses to threaten swarms of flies as the fourth plague—but he promises he will not afflict the people in
Goshen, thus distinguishing between them and the Egyptians for the first time. Pharaoh is willing to let them sacrifice to
their God in Egypt, but not in the wilderness outside of Egypt. Moses insists
they must go on a journey of three days—to be out from under the strictures
against such worship in Egypt. Pharaoh promises but again reneges (8:28).
Exodus 9 – The fifth plague - the Lord brings about a
severe pestilence among the livestock of Egypt, but the Pharaoh is not
convinced. The Lord tells Moses to take soot from a furnace and scatter it
toward the sky so that it turns into a fine dust, a dust that will cause boils
on man and beast – the sixth plague. These boils also afflict the Egyptian
magicians. Still Pharaoh is unmoved. Then the hail hits – the seventh plague, but again to no
effect.
Exodus 10 – The Lord says that
the obstinacy of the Pharaoh and his servants is designed to make the signs and
wonders of the Lord more glorious and memorable (10:1). The next plague, the eighth, is locusts. By now Pharaoh’s
servants are begging him to let the Hebrews go. So Pharaoh tries to limit the number who go. He especially does not want to let the
children go, just the men. So at
dawn, the east wind brings locusts, covering the land “till it was black with
them” (10:15). Again the Pharaoh seems to cave to God’s power. The locusts are
swept away by a west wind, and blown into the Sea of Reeds. Schocken sees the references in these
verses as foreshadowing of the mysterious deliverance the people of Israel will
experience via this same passage, also with the aid of fierce winds—see
Exod.14:21.
The
next plague, the ninth, is a
“darkness [so] intense. . .that one can feel it” (10:21), a darkness that lasts for three days. This time Pharaoh says everyone may go,
but cattle and other livestock must remain. Moses refuses these terms. Pharaoh sends him away.
Exodus 11 – The final plague,
the tenth, will cause Pharaoh to
drive them out. At midnight, the
Lord will go forth through Egypt and every first-born will die—not only of man
but of beast as well. Moses is
really angry when he leaves Pharaoh’s presence (11:8).
Exodus 12 – The month of
Passover shall be reckoned the first month of the year for Jews. On the tenth, every family must get a
lamb (or join with a neighbor and get one)—sheep or goat—keep it till the
fourteenth and then slaughter it in the evening. Some of its blood shall be applied to the doorposts and
lintel of every house partaking of that lamb, and that night they shall roast
it whole and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
They
must eat it dressed to escape.
This Passover shall be celebrated “with pilgrimage” as a perpetual
institution. A period of seven days is added (from fourteenth day to twenty-first)
on which no unleavened bread shall be eaten and with sacred assemblies on the
first and seventh days of the observance (12:15-16). The rite is an occasion
for children to be instructed in the history of their people.
Death
hits in the middle of the night (12:12:29). Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and
they are told to leave. Not
counting children there are 600,000—a crowd of mixed ancestry (12:38) with
livestock. We are told that 430
years had been the full term of their presence in Egypt.
Ancient
Christian Commentary volume on Exodus for
12:43-51 – on the regulations for Passover: foreigners are forbidden to
partake, but slaves who have been circumcised are part of the people.
Chrysostom and Augustus saw Christ’s crucifixion in the verses about how no
bone of the sacrificial lamb could be broken
Exodus 13 – The requirements of
observing this pilgrimage-festival are outlined. The importance of the memory for their children is
stressed. So, ways of actually
putting the memory on their bodies—the phylacteries worn on the body—are
stressed. Schocken’s note draws a
parallel to the place in Song of Songs where it says, “Set me as a seal upon
your heart. . .upon your arm” (Song, 8:6). The first-born (males) of every womb are dedicated to the Lord
too (redeemed is the word they use).
The
Jews are not led directly to the land of the Philistines—a route that is not
that long. God worries that the
warfare they would face that way would discourage them and make them want to go
back to Egypt. So they “swing
about by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds” (13:18). It is not the Red Sea, a translation
that is ancient, but rather “suf” or End Sea. Schocken suggests perhaps a kind of mythological sea at the
end of the world, but he admits no one knows. They have Joseph’s bones with them, it says. They camp at
Etam at the edge of the wilderness.
God “goes before them, by day in a column of cloud, to lead them the
way, by night in a column of fire, to give light to them, to (be able to) go by
day and by night (Schocken 21).
Cassiodorus saw the
waters of baptism in the waters crossed here. They are mixed with the blood at
the crucifixion.
Exodus 14 - Pharaoh decides to pursue the people
and overtake them encamped by the Sea.
And the people are filled with fear, blaming Moses for putting them in
this predicament (14:11). Moses
tries to comfort them, telling them not to be afraid: “YHWH will make war for
you, and you—be still!” YHWH, in
turn tells Moses that they should march forward and that he should hold high
his staff so that the waters will split (14:16). The column of cloud is both before and behind them. Then Moses stretches his hand out again
and YHWH causes the sea to go back and a “fierce east wind [blew] all night,
splitting the waters and making the sea into firm-ground. The chariots follow, but they “drive
with heaviness.” The Egyptian camp
becomes panicked, and then Moses stretches out his hand and the waters return
at dawn “The angel of God, who had
been leading Israel’s camp, now moved and went around behind them” (14:9).
Christ
is present with us on our entire journey – guarding us front and rear.
14:10-20 – Ancient commentators made a great deal out of the line,
“Why do you cry to me?” There is no text that affirms any real cry, but all the
“Fathers” point to the fact that God hears the cries of the heart (Origen and
Jerome both), Basil thinks God also hears the cry of the blood of those who are
just and the silent longings of man (Cassiodorus).
Exodus 15 – The hymn (canticle—song
used in liturgy) of Moses:
I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously
triumphant;
Horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
In your
mercy you led the people you redeemed;
in your strength you guided them to your
holy dwelling.
And
you brought them in and planted them on
the mountain of your
inheritance—the
place where you made
your seat,
O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your
hands established.
Miriam,
Aaron’s (and Moses’s) sister is called a prophetess (15:20), but here she
dances and sings this exultant song. They are led to the desert of Shur, to
Marah, where the water is so bitter they cannot drink it. The people grumble,
but the Lord helps Moses to sweeten the water.
Schocken
points out that here the journey begins with complaints about the water, just
as the exodus stage itself starts with a pollution of Egyptian waters. Here rules and regulations are drawn up
for the people to follow. They
move on to Elim, a large oasis and camp there. Schocken again points out
something interesting. The whole exchange between Pharaoh and
Moses can be seen as an argument about who shall be king—the powerful earthly
ruler, pharaoh of Egypt, or the Lord of the universe—and here the choice is
definitively made. The Lord is
king, “magnificent in power” (15:6), “my savior” (15:2), “magnificent in
holiness. . .terrible in renown, worker of wonders” (15:11), “Let YHWH be king
for the ages, eternity”(18). This hymn is the celebration of that revolution in sovereignty. He also
points out the way the entire Moses story is framed by Miriam’s presence—hence
she is depicted as a prophetess. Here is a verse from the Schocken
translation—a beauty.
You led in your faithfulness
Your people redeemed,
Guided (them) in your fierce-might
To your holy pasture (15:13).
The
wilderness narratives follow – they represent the process by which spiritual
maturity is to be arrived at (Schocken).
There are three desert themes: grumbling/rebellion; the hostility of the
surrounding nations; and working out a scheme of government and law. The process cannot be achieved in a
single generation. He points out that here again as in the
Abraham narrative, despite the promise of much fertility there is not a single
birth story recorded in the wilderness—the process here is one of preparation
for entry into the promised land where child-bearing, planting and productivity
will be central.
15:22-27 – At Marah and Elim, when they ask what they shall drink,
the Lord shows them a tree and throws it in the water to sweeten it. Tertullian
saw the wood of the cross in this wood.
Exodus 16 – The Israelites take
the “long way around” to Canaan,
through
the Wilderness of Shur, around the western coast of the Sinai Peninsula through
Marah and Elim, then to the Wilderness of Sin - see the map if you are as
unfamiliar with this territory as I was: http://www.wall-maps.com/bible/232783-over.htm
- you have to love the internet.
Here they begin to grumble: “Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand
in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!” It
is interesting here that we are shown that the desire for freedom in man is not unequivocal. We want our security as well, even the
uncomfortable certainties we can get in a system that basically uses us. The Lord gives his people nourishment –
quails and manna - from heaven, but it is not something they can store away or
build up a supply of; it is fundamentally food that is received day to day, and
they need to trust a lot in the provider. Right now they are thinking the
slavery they knew in Egypt is better than the freedom they are promised at the
end of this hard journey.
This is the kind of guidance and presence God gave us in the
garden, the guidance that came from his daily presence. But we did not like that kind of
guidance. We wanted a “knowledge of good and evil” that would make us
independent of God to a degree --a system to go by. And though God wants us close and listening day by day, He
will work with us. He will
ultimately give his people a Law to go by, a list of rules. But is it what He really thinks is best?
I don’t think so.
Some
attention is also given to the holiness of the Sabbath—some manna may be set
aside safely for the Sabbath rest. And Moses also puts a little manna in an urn
to keep, to show those who will come after them what they lived on for forty
years. Communication of the salvation story to future generations will be key.
Exodus 17 – The people in the
desert are thirsty and again complain to Moses. God instructs Moses to strike a rock at Horeb, near Mt.
Sinai with his staff so that water will come out of it. Moses does this, but the place is a
place of quarrelling and rebelliousness.
There is also the conflict with the Amalekites. Aaron and Hur hold up
Moses’ arm with his staff to bring victory to the Israelites, and to Joshua who
is their military leader. The conflict and hostility with the Amalekites will
go through the OT as a continual theme—perhaps they are a kind of type of the
outside hostile forces that plague the people of God in the wilderness. The
people are not sure any more that God is in their midst. If you have ever
doubted the presence and power of God, if you have ever felt torn about whether
you should trust in the Lord and in those sent to draw you to Him, you will
relate at some level to this story.
Exodus 18 – Moses’s
father-in-law, Jethro (AKA Reuel) brings Zipporah, Moses’ wife, and their two
sons to Moses at the mountain of God, and he rejoices to hear all that the Lord
has done. The Schocken Bible [a
modern Jewish translation of the Torah by Everett Fox] points out that the
wilderness or “trek” narratives
(Exodus and Numbers) have six stations or stops between Egypt and Sinai,
and then six again from Sinai to the Promised Land. Here they are at the midpoint of the journey. It is Jethro who notices that Moses really
needs help in the work he is doing, judging the people’s disputes and advising
them on what it is the Lord wants of them. He suggests, “You will become worn out, yes, worn out, . .
.for this matter is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone” (18:18). He
tells him “you are to have the vision (to select) from all the people men of
caliber, holding God in awe, men of truth, hating gain,” and these men you
should set over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens “so that they may judge
the people at all times” (18:21-22). So, the introduction of law into the lives
of the migrating people of God, will bring a degree of political organization
as well as moral leadership.
Exodus 19 – Some of the
interesting observations made by the Schocken translator in his introduction to
chapters 19-24 include the following: the
mountain serves as a bridge between heaven and earth [Augustine would run
with this image in his sermons]—and only Moses is permitted to ascend it. Mt.
Sinai itself never became a holy site for the Israelites. The only other story that is located
here is one with Elijah (1 Kings 19) and it tries to show the relationship
between the two prophets. The
Midrash notices that the events on Sinai resemble the conclusion of a marriage
ceremony (“rescue—courting—wedding w/stipulations—home planning—infidelity—reconciliation--moving
in.” p. 360), not the first or the last image of marriage as a “type” of the
relationship between God and his people.
A
new covenant will be entered into here. It differs from the two described in
Genesis—Noah (Gen 9) and Abraham
(Gen 15, 17) where human beings are more passive recipients of God’s
promises. Exodus introduces the idea of mutuality and conditionality.
Arriving
at the wilderness of Sinai, Moses goes up to meet with God, and God addresses
him thus: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, how I bore you on
eagles’ wings and brought you to me.
So now, if you will hearken,
yes, hearken to my voice and keep my
covenant, you shall be to me a special-treasure from among all peoples. Indeed, all the earth is mine, but you,
you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (19:4-6). He comes
down and speaks to the elders.
They arrange a time for the people to assemble before YHWH at the base
of the mountain. No one is to approach the mountain and everyone is to make
themselves clean and holy (19:10).
When they assemble the mountain smokes and the shofar sounds.
Exodus 20 – The Ten “Words” or
Commandments: Schocken points out
that they are unusual in that no penalties are attached for breaking them as in
the more detailed regulations.
They are the framework against which the more detailed infractions can
be understood. The order differs
for Jews as it does for Catholics and Protestants. The following is the Jewish division:
·
I
am YHWH “who brought you out from the land of Egypt. . .
·
You
shall have no other gods before me. . .
·
You
shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
·
Remember
the Sabbath. . .
·
Honor
your father and mother
·
You
shall not murder
·
You
shall not commit adultery
·
You
shall not steal
·
You
shall not bear false witness. . .
·
You
shall not covet. . .
Catholics
and Protestants take the first as an introductory passage and not a
commandment. Then Protestants
divide the second; Catholics divide the covet commandment.
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