Bible Reading Group: Week 3 ~ Bread for Beggars

This week’s reading is Exodus, chapters 1-20. Here are a number of things to keep in mind as we make our way out of Egypt up to Mt. Sinai:

1. Much debate has gone on as to the date for the Exodus. In I Kings 6:1, we are told that King Solomon began building the temple in Jerusalem 480 years after the Israelites came out of Egypt. Historians are pretty well agreed that this took place in 966 B.C., giving us a date of 1,446 B.C. for the exodus. This pastor has chosen this approximate date as the time for the events described in this book.

2. Since we last heard from the family of Jacob, the Israelite community has grown from a family of about 70 people to a nation estimated at 2 million. The story begins more or less with the birth of Moses. By this point, Israel had lived in Egypt some 350 years. During that time, much has happened. We are told that “a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt” (1:8). In about 1,650 B.C., Egypt was invaded from the north by the Hyksos, a semitic tribe. The last Hyksos king was expelled from Egypt a century later in about 1,550 B.C. The next line of Pharaohs were not familiar with how the family of Joseph had aided the Egyptians centuries earlier. Fear of the growing Israelite population seized them and eventually the Egyptians forced them into slavery. According to this reckoning, it was the Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty that factor into the story of Exodus.

3. Pay attention to the transformation of Moses. Although he grew up in the courts of Pharaoh, he was very much aware of his Israelite lineage. Then one day (2:11) we find out he went out to be amongst his people, where he killed an Egyptian who was beating one of the Hebrews. The early Christian Stephen (Acts 7) reports that this incident happened when Moses was 40 years old. He also adds further insight into Moses’ motives: “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not” (Acts 7:25). Moses thought he could force God’s hand through a sinful act. God had other plans in mind. By the time Moses is set to return to Egypt some 40 years later, that self-confidence was gone, replaced by a humility that relied on God. Moses was so humble that God even later inspired him to write that he was more humble than anyone else on the earth (Numbers 12:3).

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5. Pay attention to the mood, attitude, and faith of Israel as they are led out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai. In many ways, they reveal just how much they are little children spiritually and how they need order and structure as a fledgling society. God was about to provide that structure through the Mosaic Law, which will include a very detailed way of how God wanted to be worshipped. As we go through the period of the Exodus into the occupation of their new homeland in the book of Joshua, we will see Israel’s spiritual growth.

6. People often wish that God would step in and intervene in their lives and solve their problems. Here is an actual period in history where God did that. What did that get him? More grumbling and complaining. It never gave him their hearts and loyalty, which is what he wants more than anything else. Philip Yancey, in his book “The Jesus I never Knew” talks about what Ivan Karamazov in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” called “the miracle of restraint”. “I believe God insists on such restraint because no pyrotechnic displays of omnipotence will achieve the response he desires. Although power can force obedience, only love can summon a response of love, which is the one thing God wants from us and the reason he created us…God’s nature is self-giving; he bases his appeal on sacrificial love” (p. 78). When we are tempted to expect God to step into our lives and solve our problems with miracles, remember how well that worked in the past.

7. Notice the scene as Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:11,16-19): thunder and lightning, a thick, black cloud, a loud trumpet blast that grew in intensity, billowing smoke and fire, and an earthquake. Very scary stuff! Add to that Israel’s behavior up to this point, what might we have expected God to say? Probably a fierce reprimand. At least, that is what they deserved to hear. But before God gave them his 10 Commandments, he said, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” He reminded them of his mercy and goodness, and used that as the basis for their obedience. Their obedience to the Law was primarily to be gospel-motivated.