What is the Book of Exodus all about?
Underlying the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt is the motif of God making Himself known. He comes not merely to rescue His people, but more importantly to reveal something of His glorious nature to them. From beginning to end, Exodus describes how God reveals Himself through both powerful supernatural events and spoken words. In Exodus God moves from being perceived as a distant deity to becoming a God who dwells in the midst of His people.
The experience of the Israelites is contrasted with that of Pharaoh who refuses to know the Lord: “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (5:2). Yet, while the Israelites were given every reason to believe in God because of all that they witnessed in Egypt and in the wilderness, even they were rebellious.
Having covenanted to worship God exclusively, they soon committed apostasy by fashioning a golden calf. While they fully deserved to be punished, God displayed grace, revealing to Moses something of His remarkable nature: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (34:6–7).
God’s own description of Himself would form one of the central statements of His nature in the Old Testament. Having displayed His awesome power in rescuing the Israelites from the king of Egypt and later destroying his army, the book of Exodus underlines the majesty of God in the description of the tabernacle that is constructed for His use. Manufactured from the finest of materials, including considerable quantities of gold, the tabernacle was meant to honor the King of Kings.
In addition to its description of the historical events by which Israel is delivered from slavery to become God’s people, Exodus also provides an important illustration of God’s saving work. The savior God redeems His chosen people from the powers of evil, judges those powers, and claims His people as His firstborn son, a holy nation of priests and kings among whom He dwells.
In addition to its description of the historical events by which Israel is delivered from slavery to become God’s people, Exodus also provides an important illustration of God’s saving work. The savior God redeems His chosen people from the powers of evil, judges those powers, and claims His people as His firstborn son, a holy nation of priests and kings among whom He dwells.
At the heart of this process is the Passover, an event by which the firstborn male Israelites are ransomed from death and set apart as holy to belong to God. Not only is God the Savior of His people, but He then invites them to accept Him as their King through the covenant at Mount Sinai. The pattern of divine victory over enemies, followed by the establishment of the divine dwelling place, is repeated in Christ’s first and second advents (e.g., Eph. 2:14–22; Rev. 20:11–22:5).
