Exodus Reflection Paper

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were seen as people who failed to listen to God’s commandments. Despite knowing beforehand that they would be punished for their disobedience, they still continued to commit sin. God tried to deter their misbehavior by promising them many blessings, but it worked to no avail. Due to the insubordination of the Israelites, He made sure that the promises He made to them would be withheld and that they would face consequences.

The readings of Exodus explain the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and how the covenant was renewed. The rejuvenation made Israel a nation and formed a relationship between god and his teachings. The nature of god’s presence reveals how the Israelites were authentic and productive with how they reproduced and how the land became filled with Israelites. The reality demonstrates how the new king of Egypt stated that, “The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are”(Exodus p. 16). This reality proposes how the Egyptians became resentful against the Israelites in order them to suffer brutal slavery and make life difficult for them with intense work and punishment. The texts in Exodus acknowledge the sacrifices Hebrew women had to make in order to live through nature and reality. It states “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives” (Exodus p. 16). Gods presence through nature and reality reveals how

The plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death caused the Pharaoh of Egypt to finally free the people of Israel. But the people of Israel leaving with Moses not only served as an effect of the plagues, but also as a cause for the death of the Pharaoh. Following their release, the Egyptian army pursued Moses and the Israelites and planned to enslave them once more. The army caught up to Moses when they were at the Red Sea, but God’s plan was not for the Israelites to return to slavery. He told Moses to raise his staff just as he had in Egypt several times, and when he did, the waters of the Red Sea dispersed and left a path for the Israelites to travel across in order to escape Pharaoh’s army. Continuing to chase after the Israelites, the Egyptians entered the Red Sea using the path created by God. But once each Israelite had safely crossed the sea, God let loose the waters, and all of the Egyptians trapped in the rushing waters drowned. By this final act of God, His power was made clear and the grace and love He has for His people was undoubtedly

Without devotion to God, violence and death would flourish in Israel. These factors would impede God’s blessings of security and life; thus, the Mosaic covenant demonstrates the continual faithfulness of God in the Old Testament. Finally, God is faithful to Israel during the people’s complaints in the desert. Rather than abandoning the nation for its faithlessness, God provides them will nourishment and protection during their journey. These acts further reinforce the faithfulness of God, even when his followers stray. In all, the Pentateuch demonstrates the theme of God’s faithfulness.

The Exodus story is a key event in regards to Israel’s history and the Old Testament. Exodus is often seen as the beginning for the Israelites in regards to their journey of faith. In Exodus it covers many events which includes Moses being called by God to lead the slaves, the escape of Egypt, wandering in the Sinai desert for forty years, establishing a covenant with God, receiving the Torah, and getting settled in the new land that they were called to. The Torah is known as the instruction from God that was given to Moses and then passed on to the Israel’s people. Passover is an event that has important significance still to this day. Jews still celebrate this event every year as a way to show the importance of passing through the life of

Moses threw down his staff and it immediately turned into a serpent. The Egyptian magicians did the same thing, but Moses serpent ate the other serpents. Nevertheless, pharaoh did not accede to Moses’ message of God “Let my people go”.

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. He led his flock to the far side of a mountain. Here, an angel appeared to him from within a bush that appeared to be on fire but was not burning. Then God called to Moses from the bush and told him to not come any closer because the ground on which he was standing was hallowed. Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. God then told Moses to liberate the Hebrews from Egypt. God told him what to say to the people and the pharaoh. Moses threw his staff on the ground and it becomes a snake, and he reached his hand into his coat and pulled out leprosy, he used these as signs to bear witness to the Lord.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to

Throughout Exodus, God constantly tries to instill fear in Pharaoh and the Egyptians in order to prove that he is the Almighty, powerful God. However, despite being the creator of the universe, it is not so easy for God to prove to his creations that he should be worshipped. When trying to free the Israelites from their enslavement by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, God struggles to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites. His difficulty in persuading Pharaoh causes him to cast ten plagues on the Egyptians to torture them until they become weak and decide to let the Israelites go. However, these plagues seem more like a cry out for people to notice him and acknowledge his power. God’s inability to control his own creations establishes his weakness

It has also been reported that Moses warned our King that G-d will smite Egypt. “Pharaoh promised to let the children of Israel go, but he always changed his mind the moment the affliction was removed” is what his main servant had said. “We have suffered water turning into blood, swarms of frogs, lice, wild animals running wild, painful boils, and death of domestic

Moses replied,“The Lord God of the Hebrews command that you let his people go so that they may serve Him. Now, Aaron will stretch his rod towards the cattle of Egypt and they will all die.”

In time, the people of Israel became disobedient; because of their disobedience, God allowed the Israelites to become entrapped in Egyptian bondage. After God, hearing their cries and freeing them from this bondage, the Israelites wandered in the desert moaning, groaning, and complaining. Their obedience became non-existent, which brought about the Mosaic Law given to

Understanding the dynamic concept of covenant permeates everything God says in His Word and everything He does in a believer’s life. The following word study will examine the text of Exodus 19:1-8. The text begins with an obscure and severely brutalized people who are saved from slavery and are on the verge of a new covenant between God and man. The word in study is the Hebrew word האמנה, translated “covenant.”

The angle of the Lord appears to Moses in a flaming bush. Moses sees the bush is burning however is not consumed (Exodus 3:2). “3 And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned’, Moses was confused as to why the bush was on fire, yet undestroyed (Exodus 3:4). God calls Moses, Moses responds to God (Exodus 3:5). Then in verse 5 God tells Moses, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground”(Exodus 3:5). In verse 6 God introduces himself by saying, ‘“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And [in response] Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God”(Exodus

As they always did, Israel cried out to God for help (v. 10). God replied and said that He had saved them numerous times before (v. 11-12). Despite this, they persisted in their disobedience