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How Did The Weak Become Strong

Decent Essays

The Weak Become Strong, Prompt 1
Mark Anderson

The first two books in the Bible, Genesis and Exodus, tell of the chosen people of God from man’s creation to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. God’s chosen people, the Israelites, can be traced back to Adam, the first man. At his creation, Adam is weak. However, he grows strong, and fathers all people. A similar theme of the weak becoming strong can be found throughout Genesis and Exodus. Joseph, one of the first Israelites, comes to age as a slave in Egypt, but later ascends into a position of power. Joseph uses his power to help the Israelites grow from 12 men into a prosperous nation. Finally, Moses leads the now enslaved nation of Israel out of Egypt to settle their own land. Genesis …show more content…

Adam begins as childish and ignorant. Adam and Eve “were both naked… and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). At this point both Adam and Eve are ignorant of the knowledge of good and evil, and exist as simple beings completely reliant on God, much like the beasts of the earth. However, Adam and Eve soon eat of the fruit that God has forbidden, and become aware of their nakedness and “sewed fig leaves together” (Genesis 3:7) to clothe themselves. Eating of the forbidden fruit opened Adam and Eve’s eyes. Now aware of good and evil, Adam and Eve have progressed from their previous state. The new awareness shows the forward progress of Adam and Eve from beings scarcely different from common animals to thinking, knowledgeable humans. God realizes that Adam disobeyed His law, and God punishes Adam to farm the earth for sustenance and “in sorrow… eat of it” (Genesis 3:17). Before Adam’s disobedience, the first man was able to roam the Garden of Eden freely, and could eat of all the fruit and produce within the garden. However, after being exiled from the Garden, Adam must work the earth to provide for both himself and Eve. Adam evolves from being completely reliant on God’s bounty to toiling to sustain own existence. Such an evolution shows how Adam went from a weak creature relying on others, to being a strong individual having to provide for himself and his family. Furthermore, God Himself acknowledges the evolution of …show more content…

The new pharaoh of Egypt grew wary of the ever growing number of Israelites. In order to stop any possible uprising, the pharaoh enslaved the Israelites, forcing them into “hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick” (Exodus 1:14). After enslaving the Israelites, the pharaoh decreed that all male children born to Israeli women were to be killed. Moses, a prince of Egypt and secretly an Israeli by birth, attempted to free the Israelites by talking to the pharaoh. After all attempts at negotiation fail, Moses leads the Israelites on a mass exodus from Egypt. Upon reaching the Red Sea, “Moses stretched out his hands over the sea… and the waters were divided” (Exodus 14:21) allowing the Israelites passage through the sea. The Egyptians pursue, and “the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:27). Thus the Israelites escape bondage and destroy the superior Egyptian army. The Israelites move from being a weak nation, in servitude to the powerful Egyptians, to one that, with the help of God, evades and destroys the Egyptian army. God’s chosen people grow in strength and move towards occupying their own

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