Introduction to Old Testament Studies Part 5

Exodus

The word Exodus means Departure

The Exodus event is the Central redemptive act of the OT. The Primary event of the Old Testament. The Exodus makes Israel a nation.

Who is the Main Character of Exodus?

As we read this book we must keep in mind that God is the central character.

Hyksos

Exodus 1:8 LEB

And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

Joseph came to Egypt during the Hyksos reign. Hyksos means “Foreigner”. The Time period for the Hyksos would be about 1720-1570 BC. The Hyksos reign was overthrown by the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, 1570-1310. The Exodus event would have happened in the 19th Egyptian Dynasty, 1310-1200 BC

NINETEENTH DYNASTY

Ramesses I (Menpehtyre) 1295 - 1294

Seti I (Menmaatre) 1394 - 1279

Ramesses II (Usermaatresetepenre) 1279 - 1213

Merenptah (Baenrehotephirmaat) 1213 - 1203

Amenmesse (Menmire) 1203 - 1200

Seti II (Userkheperuresetepenre) 1200 - 1194

Siptah (Akhenresetepenre) 1194 - 1188

Tausert (Sitremeritamun) 1185-1187

Exodus event is not mentioned in other historical writings. It could be considered to embarrassing or to Insignificant. People argue about which Ramesses the Bible are working together.

Moses

Moses is a figure used by God to accomplish the divine will. Pharaoh stated that there were too many Hebrews. Kill all the boys as they are born but let the girls live. Through them into the Nile.

Born of the Levi tribe, Priestly tribe, Moses was hidden for three months, but when he could be hidden no more he was placed in the Nile.

To be drawn out by Pharaoh’s Daughter. Moses means to “draw out” in Hebrew. In Egyptian “Son of ?” Egyptian verb ms/msi (“to give birth”) or the related noun ms (“child,” “son”) Amenmesse (“Amun is the one who bore him”). Ahmose (“the moon god is born”) and Thutmose (“Thoth is born”) as the suffix -mose. In the Greek forms of the names, the verb ms becomes -mosis: Amosis and Thutmosis. The name Ramesses follows a similar pattern: Re-mes-su  (“Re is the one who bore him”).

The name Moshesh (water drawer) could have intentionally been chosen following a contemporary Mesopotamian “hero infant exposure” tale that depicts its infant hero (Sargon of Akkad) taken from the water by a “water drawer.” Which the Princess may have known.

Whatever the case its a great name for him that will deliver the Israelites.

Moses was educated in Pharaoh’s court as a house servant. He probably was never a “prince of Egypt”, because of the end of the Hyksos rule. He was still a Hebrew and knew it.

That knowledge is what lead him down a path of anger where he kills an Egyptian and flees to the land of Midian

Midian

Falls in love with the Median high priest daughter.

Jethro (Reuel) - Father in Law

Zipporah (Tweeter) - Wife

Gersham (stranger) - Son. The word Ger means stranger or immigrant.

Exodus 3-4 The Call of Moses

Moses is looking for a lost sheep. Moses has a Theophany, an Appearance of God. In the form of a Burning bush.

Exodus 3:1–6 LEB

And Moses was a shepherd with the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west of the desert, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed. And Moses said, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here I am.” And he said, “You must not come near to here. Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face because he was afraid of looking at God.

God will call Moses to go to Egypt and deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey.

5 times tries to get out of his call

Who Me. God’s Response, Doesn’t matter who you are but who I am

Who are you. I am YHWH, I am that I am, I cause to be who I cause to be, This is God as the creator. I will be who I will Be. Asking his name is Moses way of trying to get control over God. There is power in the name

What Can I do. None of these signs convince pharaoh. They are to show Moses what God can do. Staff turns to a snake. Hand turns leprous

What Can I say. Exodus 4:10-17. Not what you can say but what God says through Moses.

Send Someone Else. This is what Moses was asking the whole time. I will give you Aaron your brother the Levite. Moses will speak through him. Here is an interesting argument that we can’t really answer is throughout the exodus event is Aaron speaking when it says Moses or did Moses just start talking when he actually said, I will go?

Moses does go back to Egypt

Exodus 5 LEB

1 And afterward, Moses and Aaron went, and they said to Pharaoh, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a festival for me in the desert.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to his voice to release Israel? I do not know Yahweh, and also I will not release Israel.” 3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day journey into the desert, and let us sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest he strike us with plague or with sword.” 4 And the king of Egypt said, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people from their work? Go to your forced labor!” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you want to stop them from their forced labor.” 6 And on that day Pharaoh commanded the slave drivers over the people and his foremen, saying, 7 “You must no longer give straw to the people to make the bricks like before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of the bricks that they were making before you must require of them. You must not reduce from it, because they are lazy. Therefore they are crying out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the work be heavier on the men so that they will do it and not pay attention to words of deception.” 10 And the slave drivers of the people and their foremen went out, and they spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 You go, get straw for yourselves from whatever you find because not a thing is being reduced from your work.’ ” 12 And the people spread out in all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for the straw. 13 And the slave drivers were insisting, saying, “Finish your work for each day on its day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten by men who were saying, “Why have you not completed your portion of brickmaking as before, both yesterday and today?” 15 And the foremen of the Israelites came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 Straw is not being given to your servants, but they are saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ and, look, your servants are being beaten, but it is the fault of your people.” 17 And he said, “You are lazy, lazy! Therefore you are saying, ‘Let us go; let us sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 And now go, work, but straw will not be given to you, and you must give the full quota of bricks.” 19 And the foremen of the Israelites saw they were in trouble with the saying, “You will not reduce from your bricks for each day on its day.” 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them when they were going out from Pharaoh. 21 And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants so as to put a sword into their hand to kill us.” 22 And Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why ever did you send me? 23 And from the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble to this people, and you have certainly not delivered your people.”

Pharaoh reject Yahweh’s Authority and Makes Israel’s Trouble Worse

When Moses first gets there

Verse 6 - Don’t Give them any Straw. means now they have to go get their own straw before they can make the bricks before they build adding to their work.

What are they building?

Buildings in ancient Egypt were constructed from either stone or mudbrick. Temples were generally built with stone that was meant to last throughout the ages. Palaces, on the other hand, were built for comfort out of mudbrick, which was cool in the day and warm at night. Each type of construction was considered specialized labor; in other words, people who did one did not do the other.

Contrary to popular perception, the Bible does not claim that the pyramids were built by the Israelites. Most pyramids, and certainly the famous Giza pyramids of the Old Kingdom period, were built hundreds of years before the time of Abraham. Furthermore, archaeological sources reveal that the pyramids were built by native Egyptians who specialized in stone brick construction.

Papyrus Anastasi IV (12.5–6) expresses one Egyptian soldier’s frustration over a lack of skilled labor and supplies: “I am residing at Qenqen-en-ta, without provision, and neither men to make bricks nor straw are in the region.” That the Israelites were primarily brickmakers as opposed to builders is apparent when the narrative shifts to the Israelite supervisors. Exodus 5:14-19 repeatedly mentions that the Israelites had a daily quota of bricks that they were required to make.

We know from Papyrus Anastasi III (3.1–2) that the Egyptians set quotas for brickmakers: “Likewise, people are making bricks … they are making their quota of bricks daily.” Brickmaking was a labor specialization normative for slaves in ancient Egypt. In the tomb of Rekhmire, dating to the 15th century B.C.E. (Egypt’s 18th Dynasty), Levantine Asiatic and Nubian slaves were depicted making bricks.

Without straw, Israelite efforts to meet their quotas were hampered. This gave the Egyptian taskmasters pretense to beat the slaves. Note that in Exodus 5:14 the supervisors were beaten first and then questioned. This interrogation technique—where the suspects were beaten before questioning—was used with the tomb robbery incidents that took place during the reign of Ramesses IX.

In the Egyptian mind-set, one could guarantee that questions would be answered truthfully only after a severe beating. Papyrus BM 10052 (15.21–23) recorded several of these interrogations, for example, “Examination. The foreigner Ahautinūfer son of Nehk was presented. He said, ‘Far be it from me, far be it from me.’ He was examined with the stick and found innocent.” From Papyrus Amherst (3.6–7), we know these beatings could be severe: “They were examined by beating with a stick, and their feet and hands were twisted.”

Exodus 1:11 alludes to the Israelites building Egyptian storage cities: “So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.”

These storage cities are not simply coterminous with Pithom and Rameses since these two cities had a variety of buildings that included stone temples. In other words, Pithom and Rameses cannot properly be described as “storage” cities, and thus the verse likely refers to structures within these cities—probably a series of mudbrick depots attached to the temples used to store vast quantities of food.

That the Bible refers to these structures as “cities” instead of merely “buildings” is likely a consequence of the magnitude of these projects. The area that these depots covered sometimes exceeded the area taken up by the temple itself. Examples of storage depots can be found surrounding several mortuary temples, for example, the Ramesseum.

The reason why the temples needed such storage depots was because Egypt had a barter economy that did not use money. Any temple cult only lasted as long as there was food to make offerings and feed priests. Storing food for offerings was essential for a temple to continue operating. Many of the temples in Egypt could not rely upon state support once the king died, and this was especially true of royal mortuary temples.

When the king died, work on most royal building projects and the collection of food for offerings simply stopped; for example, the reliefs on the Processional Colonnade at Luxor Temple started under Tutankhamun were never completed as originally planned because of the death of the king. This is in contrast to the major institutional temples that acted as administrative centers, such as Karnak Temple, which were supported through perpetual land grants and had a constant supply of offerings. The storage cities ensured a constant supply of offerings for a king’s mortuary and special interest cults following his death.

Given these circumstances, Pharaoh’s command forcing the Israelites to build these storage depots was more than just slavery. It was a command to make Yahweh’s chosen people labor in service to gods other than Yahweh.

Exodus 7:14–11:10 LEB

And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is insensitive; he refuses to release the people. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile, and you must take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. And you must say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Release my people that they may serve me in the desert, and, look, you have not listened until now.” Thus says Yahweh, “By this you will know that I am Yahweh. Look, I am about to strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood. And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile.” ’ ” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch your hand out over the waters of Egypt and over their rivers, over their canals, and over their pools and over all of their reservoirs of water, so that they become blood,’ and blood will be in all the land of Egypt and in vessels of wood and of stone.” And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh had commanded, and he raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all of the water that was in the Nile was changed to blood. And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, and the Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did likewise with their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Pharaoh turned and went to his house, and this also he did not take to heart. And all of the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they were unable to drink from the water of the Nile. And seven days passed after Yahweh struck the Nile. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Release my people so that they may serve me.” And if you are refusing to release, look, I am going to plague all of your territory with frogs. And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and onto your bed and into the house of your servants and among your people and into your ovens and into your kneading troughs. And the frogs will go up against you and against your people and against all of your servants.’ ” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.’ ” And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs went up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did likewise with their secret arts, and they brought up frogs over the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to Yahweh, and let him remove the frogs from me and from my people, and let me release the people so that they can sacrifice to Yahweh.” And Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and for your servants and for your people to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses? They will be left only in the Nile.” And he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word so that you will know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. And the frogs will depart from you and from your house and from your servants. They will be left only in the Nile.” And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to Yahweh over the matter of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died from the houses, from the courtyards, and from the fields. And they piled them in countless heaps, and the land stank. And Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he made his heart insensitive, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’ ” And he did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and he struck the dust of the land, and it became gnats on the humans and on the animals; all of the dust of the land became gnats in all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring out the gnats, but they were not able, and the gnats were on the humans and on the animals. And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God.” But the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Start early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Release my people so that they may serve me.” But if you are not about to release my people, look, I am about to send out flies among you and among your servants and among your people and in your houses; and the houses of Egypt will fill up with the flies and also the ground that they are on. But on that day I will distinguish the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, by there not being flies there, so that you will know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the land. And I will put a distinction between my people and your people; this sign will be tomorrow.’ ” And Yahweh did so, and a severe swarm of flies came to the house of Pharaoh and the house of his servants and in all the land of Egypt; the land was ruined because of the flies. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and he said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.” And Moses said, “To do so is not right, because we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God a thing detestable to the Egyptians. Look, if we sacrifice before their eyes the thing detestable to the Egyptians, will they not stone us? We will go a journey of three days into the desert, and we will sacrifice to Yahweh our God according to what he says to us.” And Pharaoh said, “I myself will release you, and you will sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the desert. Only surely you must not go far. Pray for me.” And Moses said, “Look, I am going out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh so that the flies depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh again deceive us by not releasing the people to sacrifice to Yahweh.” And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to Yahweh. And Yahweh did according to the word of Moses and removed the flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one was left. And Pharaoh made his heart insensitive also this time, and he did not release the people. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people so that they may serve me.” But if you are refusing to release and you still are keeping hold of them, look, the hand of Yahweh is about to be present with a very severe plague on your livestock that are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the cattle, and on the sheep and goats. But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and not a thing will die from all that belongs to the Israelites.’ ” And Yahweh set an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” And Yahweh did this thing the next day; all the livestock of Egypt died, but from the livestock of the Israelites not one died. And Pharaoh sent to check, and it turned out not even one from the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh’s heart was insensitive, and he did not release the people. And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take for yourselves full handfuls of soot from a smelting furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens before the eyes of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become on humans and on animals a skin sore sprouting blisters in all the land of Egypt.” And they took the soot of the smelting furnace, and they stood before Pharaoh, and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens, and it became skin sores sprouting blisters on humans and on animals. And the magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the skin sores, for the skin sores were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Start early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Look, he is going out to the water, and you must say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people so that they may serve me. For at this time I am sending all of my plagues to you personally and among your servants and among your people so that you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For now I could have stretched out my hand, and I could have struck you and your people with the plague, and you would have perished from the earth. But for the sake of this I have caused you to stand—for the sake of showing you my strength and in order to proclaim my name in all the earth. Still you are behaving haughtily to my people by not releasing them. Look, about this time tomorrow, I am going to cause very severe hail to rain, the like of which has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. And now send word; bring into safety your livestock and all that belongs to you in the field. The hail will come down on every human and animal that is found in the field and not gathered into the house, and they will die.” ’ ” Anyone from the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of Yahweh caused his servants and livestock to flee to the houses. But whoever did not give regard to the word of Yahweh abandoned his servants and his livestock in the field. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand to the heavens, and let there be hail in all the land of Egypt, on human and on animal and on all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt.” And Moses stretched out his staff to the heavens, and Yahweh gave thunder and hail, and fire went to the earth, and Yahweh caused hail to rain on the land of Egypt. And there was hail, and fire was flashing back and forth in the midst of the very severe hail, the like of which was not in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. And the hail struck in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from human to animal, and the hail struck all the vegetation of the field and smashed every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail. And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. Pray to Yahweh. The thunder of God and hail are enough, and I will release you, and you will no longer have to stay.” And Moses said to him, “At my leaving the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will stop, and the hail will be no more, so that you will know that the earth belongs to Yahweh. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the presence of Yahweh God.” And the flax and the barley were struck, because the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, because they are late-ripening. And Moses went from Pharaoh out of the city, and he spread his hands to Yahweh, and the thunder and the hail stopped, and rain did not pour on the earth. And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder stopped, and he again sinned and made his heart insensitive, he and his servants. And Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not release the Israelites, as Yahweh had said by the agency of Moses. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart insensitive and the heart of his servants in order to put these signs of mine in his midst, so that you will tell in the ears of your child and your grandchild that I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and so that you will tell about my signs that I have done among them, and so you will know that I am Yahweh.” And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘Until when will you refuse to submit before me? Release my people so that they may serve me. But if you are refusing to release my people, look, I am about to bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. And they will cover the surface of the land, and no one will be able to see the land, and they will eat the remainder of what is left—what is left over for you from the hail—and they will eat every sprouting tree belonging to you from the field. And your houses will be full, and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all Egypt, something that your fathers and your grandfathers never saw from the day they were on the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. And the servants of Pharaoh said to him, “Until when will this be a snare for us? Release the men so that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” And Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Serve Yahweh your God. Who are the ones going? And Moses said, “With our young and with our old we will go; with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and goats and with our cattle we will go because it is the feast of Yahweh for us.” And he said to them, “Let Yahweh be thus with you as soon as I release you and your dependents. See that evil is before your faces. No indeed; just the men go and serve Yahweh, since this is what you are seeking.” And he drove them out from the presence of Pharaoh. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt with the locusts so that they may come up over the land of Egypt, and let them eat all the vegetation of the land, all that the hail left behind.” And Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh drove an east wind into the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind had brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and they settled in all the territory of Egypt, very severe. Before it there were not locusts like them, nor will there be after it. And they covered the surface of all the land, and the land was dark with them, and they ate all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left, and no green was left in the trees nor in the vegetation of the field in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh hurried to call Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. And now forgive my sin surely this time, and pray to Yahweh your God so that he may only remove from me this death.” And he went out from Pharaoh, and he prayed to Yahweh. And Yahweh turned a very strong west wind and lifted up the locusts and thrust them into the Red Sea, and not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt and so that a person can feel darkness.” And Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens, and there was darkness of night in all the land of Egypt for three days. No one could see his brother, and because of it no one could move from where they were for three days, but there was light for the Israelites in their dwellings. And Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only your sheep and goats and your cattle must be left behind. Your dependents may also go with you.” And Moses said, “Even if you yourself put into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings and we offer them to Yahweh our God, our livestock must also go with us. Not a hoof can be left because we must take from them to serve Yahweh our God. And we will not know with what we are to serve Yahweh until we come there.” And Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them. And Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me. Be careful not to see my face again, because on the day of your seeing my face you will die.” And Moses said, “That is right. I will not again see your face.” And Yahweh said to Moses, “Still one plague I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterward he will release you from here. At the moment of his releasing, he will certainly drive you completely out from here. Speak in the ears of the people, and let them ask, a man from his neighbor and a woman from her neighbor, for objects of silver and objects of gold.” And Yahweh gave the people favor in the eyes of Egypt. Also the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of the servants of Pharaoh and in the eyes of the people. And Moses said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘About the middle of the night I will go out through the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave woman who is behind the pair of millstones and every firstborn animal. And there will be a great cry of distress in all the land of Egypt, the like of which has not been nor will be again. But against all the Israelites, from a man to an animal, a dog will not even bark, so that you will know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ And all of these your servants will come down to me and bow to me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who are at your feet.’ And afterward I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may multiply in the land of Egypt.” And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.

10 Plagues

God uses nature to his purpose. God causes everything in Hebrew Mindset

Four purposes of plagues

Demonstrate the sovereignty of God

Glorifies the one true God, the God of the Israelites

Break Pharaoh

To deliver the Hebrew people

Miracle

Anything that Demonstrates the power of God, And Strengthens the faith of the believer.

10 Plagues

Handout

Nile River turns to Blood - If you want a natural reasoning, there is a Natural red Algae occurs in the river. Khnum, Creator of water and life. Hapi, Nile god. Osiris, Nile is his blood Stream. Blood that was poured over the gods would have defiled them and further insulted the deities.

Frogs - Heket, Goddess of Childbirth, Symbol is a frog, Woman with a frog’s head

Gnats (Mosquitoes) (Lice) - Begins to move Pharaoh but not enough. Kepher, god of beetles and flies. Arguably Kepher is the Scarab. Is it a god Or does it just represent resurrection? But insects are the instruments of the gods

Flies - Kepher?

Death of Livestock - Apis, The bull god. Hathor, Mother and sky goddess, Symbol is the cow

Boils - (Israelites are not affected). Imhotep (physician God) & Thoth (Magic and healing). When Moses tossed into the air handfuls of soot from a furnace to launch the plague. His actions linked the suffering of the Egyptians to the slavery of the Israelites. Furnace or brick kiln was the symbol of Israel’s bondage.

Hailstorm (Flax and Barley crops) - Seth, God of wind and storms. Nut, Sky goddess

Locusts - Isis, Goddess of life. Min, God of fertility and vegetation and protector of the crop. Seth, God of crop.

Darkness - The Sun deities: Amon-Ra, Atum, Horus, Re

Death of the first born - First born are most valuable. Pharaoh himself seen as the incarnation of Horus living in Egypt He was known as The great god, lord of heaven. Osiris, Judge of the dead Patron deity of the Pharaoh

Passover

Exodus 12:1–28 LEB

And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month will be the beginning of months; it will be for you the first of the months of the year. Speak to all the community of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month, they will each take for themselves a lamb for the family, a lamb for the household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, he and the neighbor nearest to his house will take one according to the number of persons; you will count out portions of the lamb according to how much each one can eat. The lamb for you must be a male, without defect, in its first year; you will take it from the sheep or from the goats. “You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and all the assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter it at twilight. And they will take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel on the houses in which they eat it. And they will eat the meat on this night; they will eat it fire-roasted and with unleavened bread on bitter herbs. You must not eat any of it raw or boiled, boiled in the water, but rather roasted with fire, its head with its legs and with its inner parts. And you must not leave any of it until morning; anything left from it until morning you must burn in the fire. And this is how you will eat it—with your waists fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you will eat it in haste. It is Yahweh’s Passover. “And I will go through the land of Egypt during this night, and I will strike all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and I will do punishments among all of the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh. And the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and I will see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there will not be a destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt. “And this day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a religious feast for Yahweh throughout your generations; you will celebrate it as a lasting statute. You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. Surely on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses, because anyone who eats food with yeast from the first day until the seventh day—that person will be cut off from Israel. It will be for you on the first day a holy assembly and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work will be done on them; only what is eaten by every person, it alone will be prepared for you. “And you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought out your divisions from the land of Egypt, and you will keep this day for your generations as a lasting statute. On the first day, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you will eat unleavened bread until the evening of the twenty-first day of the month. For seven days yeast must not be found in your houses, because anyone eating food with yeast will be cut off from the community of Israel—whether an alien or a native of the land. You will eat no food with yeast; in all of your dwellings you will eat unleavened bread.” And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and he said to them, “Select and take for yourselves sheep for your clans and slaughter the Passover sacrifice. And take a bunch of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. And you will not go out, anyone from the doorway of his house, until morning. And Yahweh will go through to strike Egypt, and he will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike you. “And you will keep this event as a rule for you and for your children forever. And when you come into the land that Yahweh will give to you, as he said, you will keep this religious custom. And when your children say to you, ‘What is this religious custom for you?’ you will say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice for Yahweh, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck Egypt; and he delivered our houses.’ ” And the people knelt down and they worshiped. And the Israelites went, and they did as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron; so they did.

Passover, this is Still an important festival. Blood placed on the door seal, and the angel of death would Passover. God’s final deliverance

After the exodus this meal is taken to celebrate the momentous event and was given a new interpretation. Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Hebrews did not have enough time to let the bread rise before the left Egypt thus Unleavened bread.

The Exodus Event

How many?

Exodus 12:37 LEB

And the Israelites set out from Rameses to Succoth; the men were about six hundred thousand on foot, besides dependents.

600,000 Men this would be 2-3 million people

Eleph - 1000 in Hebrew. can also mean ox, unit, clan. Which means it could be 600 Units which would be about 6000 soldiers which means 25000 to 30,000 people.

The Trip

God guides them with a pillar of fire at night and a cloud during the day. as they travel. Pharaoh changes his mind, And sends his army out after them. God blocks their path and parts the reed sea through Moses

Yam Suph - Sea of Reeds

Possible locations

Gulf of Suez

The Bitter Lakes

Lake Menzaleh

Lake Sirbonis

The people cross through on dry land. Once all the Hebrews are through the waters come back and destroy the army.

Trouble in Sinai desert

Find stagnate water at Marah. Marah means bitter. Moses threw the bark or leaves of a desert shrub into the water to make it drinkable

Food

God supplies the people with Manna. Which means “What is it” and Quail

Water

Moses will strike the rock and it produces water

Mount Sinai

With God’s deliverance they go to Sinai

Traditional location (Horeb) Jebel Musa

Jebel Hilal

Land Midian

Midianites are associated with e Sinai peninsula

No decisive location

Amalekite Raid

Exodus 17:8–16 LEB

And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I will be standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God will be in my hand.” And Joshua did as Moses had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail. But the hands of Moses were heavy, and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it; Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on each side, and his hands were steady until sundown. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the scroll and recite it in the hearing of Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.” And Moses built an altar, and he called its name Yahweh Is My Banner. And he said, “Because a hand was against the throne of Yah, a war will be for Yahweh with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Amalekite Raid

As long as Moses holds his hands up the Israelite win. Moses has two people hold his arms up until sunset and the battle ends. Joshua is introduced here.

Why is Joshua important?

He will replace Moses after he dies

Division of Responsibilities

Exodus 18 LEB

And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, his people, that Yahweh had brought Israel out from Egypt. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah the wife of Moses after her sending away, and her two sons—the one whose name was Gershom, for he had said, “I have been an alien in a foreign land,” and the one whose name was Eliezer, for “the God of my father was my help, and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.” And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came and his sons and his wife to Moses, to the desert where he was camping there at the mountain of God. And he said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you and your wife and her two sons with her.” And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and he bowed, and he kissed him, and they each asked about the other’s welfare, and they came into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt on account of Israel, all the hardship that had found them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good that Yahweh had done for Israel when he delivered them from the hand of Egypt. And Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh—who has delivered the people from under the hand of Egypt. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods, even in the matter where they the Egyptians dealt arrogantly against the Israelites.” And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God. And the next day, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening. And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he was doing for the people, and he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting alone and all the people are standing by you from morning until evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to seek God. When they have an issue, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make known God’s rule and his instructions.” And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Surely you will wear out, both you and this people who are with you, because the thing is too difficult for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now listen to my voice; I will advise you, and may God be with you. You be for the people before God, and you bring the issues to God. And you warn them of the rules and the instructions, and you make known to them the way in which they must walk and the work that they must do. And you will select from all the people men of ability, fearers of God, trustworthy men, haters of dishonest gain, and you will appoint such men over them as commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, and commanders of tens. And let them judge the people all the time, and every major issue they will bring to you, and every minor issue they will judge themselves. And so lighten it for yourself, and they will bear it with you. If you will do this thing and God will command you, then you will be able to endure, and also each of the people will go to his home in peace.” And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and he did all that he had said. And Moses chose men of ability from all Israel, and he appointed them as heads over the people, as commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, and commanders of tens. And they judged the people all the time; the difficult issues they would bring to Moses, and every minor issue they would judge themselves. And Moses let his father-in-law go, and he went to his land.

Moses father –in-law’s advice

Proposes delegation so that Moses doesn’t have to do everything. Make groups of 1000, 100, 50, 10. A Leader would be responsible for handling all the problems that arose in his group. If he could not then he would consult the leader of the larger group. This allows Moses to devote time to interceding with God for the people, And teaching God’s Laws

God makes a covenant with Israel

Exodus 19 LEB

1 In the third month after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert. 2 They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 And Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you will say to the house of Jacob and you will tell the Israelites, 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and I brought you to me. 5 And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, for all the earth is mine, 6 but you, you will belong to me as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.” 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. 8 And all the people together answered and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.” And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. 9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Look, I am going to come to you in a thick cloud in order that the people will hear when I speak with you and will also trust in you forever.” And Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. 10 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes, 11 and they must be prepared for the third day, because on the third day, Yahweh will go down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. 12 And you must set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Guard yourselves against going up to the mountain and touching its edge. Anyone touching the mountain will certainly be put to death. 13 Not a hand will touch it, because he will certainly be stoned or certainly be shot; whether an animal or a man, he will not live.’ At the blowing of the ram’s horn they may go up to the mountain.” 14 And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near to a woman.” 16 And on the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain and a very loud ram’s horn sound, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And the sound of the ram’s horn became louder and louder, and Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice. 20 And Yahweh went down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to see and many from them fall. 22 And even the priests who come near Yahweh must consecrate themselves, lest Yahweh break out against them.” 23 And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people are not able to go up to Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ” 24 And Yahweh said to him, “Go, go down, and come up, you and Aaron with you and the priests, but the people must not break through to go up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.” 25 And Moses went down to the people, and he told them.

God makes a covenant with Israel Verses 5-6

The Mosaic Covenant

My Treasured Possession

Kingdom of Priest

A holy Nation

1 Peter 2:9 LEB

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

Peter speaks of Christians

At Mount Sinai

They spend 2 years at Mt. Sinai, Exodus 19- Numbers 10:10

Exodus 20:3 LEB

3 “There shall be for you no other gods before me.

What it means to be the people of God. Have no other God’s be for me

10 Commandments

You Shall have no other gods before me

A god is anything that has priority over God

What we worship

You shall not make for yourself a graven image

We cannot fully know God

He has made an image of himself

mankind

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in Vain

Vain

to make it nothing

Christians

little Christ

How we act effects God’s name

Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy

Holy

To keep Separate

Honor your father and mother

Bring glory to the family name

Not just obey

You shall not murder

Destroy the image of God

disrespecting God

You shall not commit adultery

All sexual relationships

Destroys the family

You shall not steal

You shall not bear false witness

Lie

specifically lie it court

You shall not covet

To desire

Destructive desire

If you can keep this one then you can keep them all

Divisions of the Ten Commandments

4 deal with our relationship with God

3 deal with our relationship with each other

3 deal with our community relationships

May be in order of importance

Lo

Strongest negative, Not a suggestion, Eight negative commands

Hebrew law

Apodictic Law

Absolute Law

Do not do

Casuistic Law

Case Law

deal with Crime and Punishment

Jesus and the Ten

Jesus condenses the ten commandments into two.

Matthew 22:37–39 LEB

37 And he said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Jesus here is actually quoting from two verses in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and Leviticus 19:18

Covenant Code

Exodus 20:22–23:33 LEB

22 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the Israelites, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens. 23 You will not make alongside me gods of silver, and gods of gold you will not make for yourselves. 24 An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25 And if you make an altar of stones for me, you will not build them as hewn stone, because if you use your chisel on it, you have defiled it. 26 You will not go up with steps onto my altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it.’ 1 “And these are the regulations that you will set before them. 2 ‘If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the slave will go out single. 5 But if the slave explicitly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,” 6 his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever. 7 “ ‘And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. 8 If she does not please her master who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. 9 And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. 10 If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. 11 And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver paid for her. 12 “ ‘Whoever strikes someone and he dies will surely be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait and it was an accident, I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man schemes against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you will take him from my altar to die. 15 And whoever strikes his father or his mother will surely be put to death. 16 “ ‘And whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death. 17 “ ‘And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death. 18 “ ‘And if men quarrel and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist and he does not die, but he is confined to bed, 19 if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity toward his full recovery.” 20 And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. 21 Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money. 22 “ ‘And if men fight and they injure a pregnant woman, and her children go out and there is not serious injury, he will surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands concerning him and as the judges determine. 23 And if there is serious injury, you will give life in place of life, 24 eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth, hand in place of hand, foot in place of foot, 25 burn in place of burn, wound in place of wound, bruise in place of bruise. 26 “ ‘And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. 27 And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth. 28 “ ‘And if an ox gores a man or a woman and he dies, the ox will surely be stoned, and its meat will not be eaten, and the owner of the ox is innocent. 29 But if it was a goring ox before and its owner was warned and did not restrain it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox will be stoned, and the owner also will be put to death. 30 If a ransom is set on him, he will pay the redemption money for his life according to all that is set on him. 31 If it gores a son or it gores a daughter, according to this regulation it shall be done to him. 32 If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he will give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox will be stoned. 33 “ ‘If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and he does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit will pay restitution; he will pay silver to its owner, but the dead animal will be for him. 35 And if a man’s ox injures the ox of his neighbor and it dies, they will sell the living ox and divide the money, and they will also divide the dead one. 36 Or if it was known that it was a goring ox before and its owner did not restrain it, he will surely make restitution, an ox in place of the ox, and the dead one will be for him. 1 “ ‘If a man steals an ox or small livestock and slaughters it or sells it, he will make restitution with five cattle in place of the ox and with four sheep or goats in place of the small livestock. 2 “ ‘If a thief is found in the act of breaking in and he is struck and he dies, there is not bloodguilt for him. 3 (If the sun has risen over him, there is bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If he does not have enough, he will be sold for his theft. 4 If indeed the stolen item is found in his possession alive, from ox to donkey to small livestock, he will make double restitution. 5 “ ‘If a man grazes his livestock in a field or a vineyard and he releases his livestock and it grazes in the field of another, he will make restitution from the best of his field and the best of his vineyard. 6 “ ‘If a fire is started and finds thorn bushes and a stack of sheaves or the standing grain or the field is consumed, the one who started the fire will surely make restitution. 7 “ ‘If a man gives to his neighbor money or objects to watch over and it is stolen from the house of the man, if the thief is found, he will make double restitution. 8 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house will be brought to the sanctuary to learn whether or not he reached out his hand to his neighbor’s possession. 9 Concerning every account of transgression—concerning an ox, concerning a donkey, concerning small livestock, concerning clothing, concerning all lost property—where someone says, “This belongs to me,” the matter of the two of them will come to God; whomever God declares guilty will make double restitution to his neighbor. 10 “ ‘If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or small livestock or any beast to watch over and it dies or is injured or is captured when there is no one who sees, 11 the oath of Yahweh will be between the two of them concerning whether or not he has reached out his hand to his neighbor’s possession, and its owner will accept this, and he will not make restitution. 12 But if indeed it was stolen from him, he will make restitution to its owner. 13 If indeed it was torn to pieces, he will bring it as evidence—the mangled carcass; he will not make restitution. 14 “ ‘If a man borrows from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he will make restitution. 15 If its owner was with it, he will not make restitution; if it was hired, it came with its hiring fee. 16 “ ‘If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and he lies with her, he surely will give her bride price to have her as his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he will weigh out money according to the bride price for the virgin. 18 “ ‘You will not let a witch live. 19 “ ‘Anyone lying with an animal will surely be put to death. 20 “ ‘Whoever sacrifices to the gods—not to Yahweh, to him alone—will be destroyed. 21 “ ‘You will not mistreat an alien, and you will not oppress him, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 22 “ ‘You will not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you indeed afflict him, yes, if he cries out at all to me, I will certainly hear his cry of distress. 24 And I will become angry, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans. 25 “ ‘If you lend money to my people, to the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not charge him interest. 26 If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, 27 because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I am gracious. 28 “ ‘You will not curse God, and you will not curse a leader among your people. 29 “ ‘You will not delay the fullness of your harvest and the juice from your press; you will give me the firstborn of your sons. 30 You will do likewise for your ox and for your sheep and goats; seven days it will be with its mother; on the eighth, you will give it to me. 31 And you will be men of holiness for me; and you will not eat meat from a carcass mangled in the field; you will throw it to the dog. 1 “ ‘You will not spread a false report. Do not lift your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2 You will not follow a majority for evil, and you will not testify concerning a legal dispute to turn aside after a majority to pervert justice. 3 You will not be partial to a powerless person in his legal dispute. 4 “ ‘If you come upon the ox of your enemy or his donkey going astray, you will certainly bring it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of your enemy lying down under its burden, you will refrain from abandoning him. You will surely arrange it with him. 6 “ ‘You will not pervert the justice of your poor in his legal dispute. 7 You will stay far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, because I will not declare the wicked righteous. 8 And you will not take a bribe, because the bribe makes the sighted blind and ruins the words of the righteous. 9 And you will not oppress an alien; you yourselves know the feelings of the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 10 “ ‘And six years you will sow your land and gather its yield. 11 But the seventh you will let it rest and leave it fallow, and the poor of your people will eat, and their remainder the animals of the field will eat. You will do likewise for your vineyard and for your olive trees. 12 “ ‘Six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you will stop so that your ox and your donkey will rest and the son of your slave woman and the alien will be refreshed. 13 “ ‘And you will be attentive to all that I have said to you, and you will not profess the name of other gods; it will not be heard in your mouth. 14 “ ‘Three times in the year you will hold a festival for me. 15 You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you at the appointed time, the month of Abib, because in it you came out from Egypt, and no one will appear before me empty-handed. 16 And you will keep the Feast of Harvest, with the firstfruits of your work, what you sow in the field. And you will keep the Feast of Harvest Gathering when the year goes out, when you gather your work from the field. 17 Three times in the year all your men will appear before the Lord Yahweh. 18 “ ‘You will not sacrifice the blood of my sacrifice together with food with yeast, and you will not leave the fat of my feast overnight until morning. 19 “ ‘The best of the firstfruits of your land you will bring to the house of Yahweh your God. “ ‘You will not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 20 “ ‘Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23 When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, I will wipe them out. 24 “ ‘You will not bow to their gods, and you will not serve them, and you will not act according to their actions, because you will utterly demolish them, and you will utterly break their stone pillars. 25 And you will serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from among you. 26 There will be no one suffering miscarriage or infertile in your land. I will make full the number of your days. 27 “ ‘I will release my terror before you, and I will throw into confusion all the people against whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their back to you. 28 And I will send the hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a desolation and the wild animals multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you are fruitful and take possession of the land. 31 “ ‘And I will set your boundary from the Red Sea and up to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. 32 You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods. 33 They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.’ ”

Covenant Code

This is the Law of God and the oldest Israelite code. It is a collection of Criminal and Religious laws. That are based on the Ten Commandments. it is recommencement of the code of Hammurabi an older law code.

The Priestly Code

Exodus 25:1 - Numbers 10:10

Over the two year period that they are at Sinai God will through Moses write the Priestly Code that will include the entire book of Leviticus. it is a code or set of laws that is concerned primarily with proper worship.

Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 25 LEB

1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and let them bring to me a contribution. You will receive my contribution from every man whose heart prompts him. 3 And this is the contribution that you will receive from them—gold and silver and bronze, 4 blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen and goat hair, 5 and red-dyed ram skins, and fine leather, and acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones and stones for mountings on the ephod and the breast piece. 8 And make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in the midst of them, 9 according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its equipment—and so you will do. 10 “And they will make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And you will overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you will overlay it, and you will make on it a gold molding all around. 12 And you will cast for it four gold rings, and you will put them on its four feet, with two rings on its one side and two rings on its second side. 13 And you will make poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with gold. 14 And you will put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark with them. 15 In the rings of the ark will be the poles; they will not be removed from it. 16 And you will put into the ark the testimony that I will give to you. 17 “And you will make an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18 And you will make two cherubim of gold; you will make them of hammered work at the two ends of the atonement cover. 19 And make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end of the atonement cover; you will make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 And the cherubim will be with outspread wings above, covering with their wings over the atonement cover and facing each other; the faces of the cherubim will be toward the atonement cover. 21 And you will put the atonement cover above onto the ark, and into the ark you will put the testimony that I will give you. 22 And I will meet you there, and I will speak with you from over the atonement cover, from between the two cherubim that are to be on the ark of the testimony—all that I will command you to the Israelites. 23 “And you will make a table of acacia wood, two cubits its length and a cubit its width and a cubit and a half its height. 24 And you will overlay it with pure gold, and you will make for it a gold molding all around. 25 And you will make for it a handbreadth rim all around, and you will make a gold molding for its rim all around. 26 And you will make four gold rings for it, and you will put the rings on the four corners where its four legs are. 27 The rings will be near the rim as holders for poles to carry the table. 28 And you will make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and the table will be carried with them. 29 And you will make its plates and its ladles and its pitchers and its bowls with which libations will be poured; of pure gold you will make them. 30 And you will put on the table the bread of presence to be before me continually. 31 “And you will make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand will be made of hammered work—its base and its branch, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms will be from it. 32 And six branches will be going out from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its second side. 33 Three almond-flower cups will be on the one branch with a bud and a blossom, and three almond-flower cups will be on the one branch with a bud and a blossom—likewise for the six branches going out from the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand will be four almond-flower cups, with its buds and its blossoms. 35 And a bud will be under the two branches that come from it, and a bud under the two branches from it, and a bud under the two branches from it, likewise for the six branches coming out from the lampstand. 36 Their buds and their branches will be from it, all of it one piece of pure gold hammered work. 37 And you will make its seven lamps, and its lamps will be set up, and it will give light in the space in front of it. 38 And its snuffers and its fire pans will be pure gold. 39 It will be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these pieces of equipment. 40 And see and make all according to their pattern, which you were shown in the mountain.

Ark of the covenant represents the thrown of God. God’s feet rest on the ark. It is a symbol of God’s presence in the midst of the people of God.

Within the Ark

10 Commandments

Manna

Staff of Aaron - Moses Brother

Qur'an

Their prophet said to them, "The sign of his kingship is that the Ark of the Covenant will be restored to you, bringing assurances from your Lord, and relics left by the people of Moses and the people of Aaron. It will be carried by the angels. This should be a convincing sign for you, if you are really believers." 002:248

According to some Muslim scholars,

 the Ark of the Covenant does not have a religious basis in Islam and Islam does not give it any special significance

while others believe that it will be found by Mahdi near the end of times and Inside there will be relics left by the people of Moses and the people of Aaron. They might be the scepters of Moses and Aaron, plates of Torah and Aaron's turban.

The Tabernacle

Exodus 26–27 LEB

1 “And the tabernacle you will make with ten curtains; you will make them of finely twisted linen and blue and purple and crimson yarns, with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman. 2 The length of the one curtain will be twenty-eight cubits, and the width will be four cubits for the one curtain; one measure will be for all the curtains. 3 Five curtains will be joined to one another, and five curtains joined to one another. 4 And you will make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain, at the end in the set; and you will do so on the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 5 You will make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you will make fifty loops on the end of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops are to be opposite to one another. 6 And you will make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle will be one. 7 “And you will make curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you will make them eleven curtains. 8 The length of the one curtain will be thirty cubits, and the width will be four cubits for the one curtain; one measure will be for the eleven curtains. 9 And you will join five curtains together and six curtains together, and you will fold double the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 10 And you will make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain at the end of the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set. 11 And you will make fifty bronze clasps, and you will put the clasps in the loops and join the tent, so that it will be one. 12 “And the surplus in the curtains of the tent will be an overhang; the surplus half curtain will hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 And a cubit from one side and a cubit from the other side in the surplus in the length of the curtains of the tent will be hung over the sides of the tabernacle equally to cover it. 14 “And you will make a covering for the tent of red-dyed ram skins and a covering of fine leather to go above. 15 “And you will make the frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood as uprights. 16 The length of the frame will be ten cubits, and the width of the one frame will be one and a half cubits. 17 You will make two pegs for the one frame for joining each to another and likewise for all the frames of the tabernacle. 18 And you will make the frames for the tabernacle with twenty frames for the south side. 19 And you will make forty silver bases under the twenty frames, with two bases under the one frame for its two pegs and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs. 20 And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there will be twenty frames 21 and their forty silver bases, with two bases under the one frame and two bases under the next frame. 22 “And for the rear of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames. 23 And you will make two frames for the tabernacle corners at the rear. 24 They will be double at the bottom, and they will be completely together on its top to the one ring; it will be likewise for the two of them; they will be for the two corners. 25 And there will be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, with two bases under the one frame and two bases under the next frame. 26 “You will make five bars of acacia wood for the frames on the one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the side of the tabernacle at the rear on the west. 28 And the bar in the middle, in the midst of the frames will run from end to end. 29 And you will overlay the frames with gold, and you will make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and you will overlay the bars with gold. 30 And you will erect the tabernacle according to its plan, which you have been shown on the mountain. 31 “And you will make a curtain of blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen, the work of a skilled craftsman; he will make it with cherubim. 32 And you will put it on four acacia pillars overlaid with gold with their gold hooks on four silver bases. 33 And you will put the curtain under the clasps, and you will bring the ark of the testimony there inside the curtain, and the curtain will separate for you between the holy and the most holy place. 34 And you will put the atonement cover on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. 35 And you will place the table outside the curtain and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, and you will put the table on the north side. 36 “And you will make for the entrance of the tent a screen of blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. 37 And you will make for the screen five acacia pillars, and you will overlay them with gold with their gold hooks, and you will cast for them five bronze bases. 1 “And you will make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar will be square, and its height will be three cubits. 2 And you will make its horns on its four corners; its horns will be of one piece with it, and you will overlay it with bronze. 3 And you will make its pots for removing its fat-soaked ashes and its shovels and its sprinkling bowls and its forks and its fire pans; you will make all its equipment with bronze. 4 And you will make for it a grating, a work of bronze network, and you will make on the network four bronze rings on its four ends. 5 And you will put it under the ledge of the altar, below, and the network will be up to the middle of the altar. 6 And you will make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you will overlay them with bronze. 7 And the poles will be put into the rings, and the poles will be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8 You will make it hollow with boards. As it was shown you on the mountain, so they will do. 9 “You will make the courtyard of the tabernacle; for the south side will be hangings for the courtyard of finely twisted linen, one hundred cubits long for the one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty bases will be bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands will be silver. 11 And likewise for the north side along the length will be hangings one hundred cubits long; and its twenty pillars and their bases will be bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands will be silver. 12 And the width of the courtyard for the west side will be hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars and their ten bases. 13 And the width of the courtyard for the east side, toward sunrise, will be fifty cubits. 14 And hangings for the shoulder will be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three bases. 15 And fifteen cubits of hangings will be for the second shoulder with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 And for the gate of the courtyard there will be a screen of twenty cubits of blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer; with their four pillars and their four bases. 17 “All the pillars of the courtyard all around will be banded with silver, and their hooks will be silver, and their bases will be bronze. 18 The length of the courtyard will be one hundred cubits and the width fifty cubits and the height five cubits, of finely twisted linen, with their bronze bases. 19 Bronze will be for all the equipment of the tabernacle in all its service and all its pegs and all the pegs of the courtyard. 20 “And you will command the Israelites, and they will bring to you pure, beaten olive oil for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of assembly outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons will arrange it, from evening until morning, before Yahweh as a lasting statute throughout their generations from the Israelites.

Tabernacle

Tent like structure that Represents God’s Constant presence with the people

Inside:

Holy of holies

ark is kept

Holy place

priest carried out meetings

contained

Table of Shew-bread

Bread of the presence

Refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present on a specially dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God.

Represents 12 Tribes

Golden Lamp stand

Altar of Incense

This tabernacle is a remaking of the Garden of Eden

The Golden Calf

Exodus 32 LEB

1 And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, “Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 And Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me.” 3 And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. 4 And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 5 And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” 6 And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel. 7 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. 8 They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ” 9 And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 10 And now leave me alone so that my anger may blaze against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation.” 11 And Moses implored Yahweh his God, and he said, “Why, Yahweh, should your anger blaze against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning the disaster for your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had threatened to do to his people. 15 And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; on the front and on the back they were written. 16 And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 17 And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, “A sound of war is in the camp.” 18 But he said, “There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing.” 19 And as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and Moses became angry, and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. 20 And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the Israelites drink. 21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” 22 And Aaron said, “Let not my lord become angry. You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil. 23 And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.” 25 And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among their enemies. 26 And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell. 29 And Moses said, “You are ordained today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.” 30 And the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. 32 And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” 33 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. 34 And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin.” 35 And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.

Moses us up on the mountain receiving the word of God. Aaron, Moses brother is in charge. The people ask Aaron to make an idol for them to worship. They aren’t wanting to worship other gods they want an image of YHWH not understanding that they were to be the image. They are coming out of Egypt where the gods all have images and in the land they are heading like wise.

Aaron will make for them a golden calf. Not really clear as to why they will choose a golden calf but there it is.

God tells Moses to Go down in Verse 7, Go down your people. Will God actually disown the people. Moses comes down and sees them and Throws down the ten commandments and breaks them

Exodus 33 LEB

1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ 2 And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, 3 Go to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way.” 4 And the people heard this troubling word, and they mourned, and they each did not put their ornaments on themselves. 5 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if one moment I were to go up among you, I would destroy you. And now take down your ornaments from on you, and I will decide what I will do to you.” 6 And the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward. 7 And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp far from the camp, and he called it the tent of assembly, and all seeking Yahweh would go out to the tent of assembly, which was outside the camp. 8 And at the going out of Moses to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the opening of his tent, and gaze after Moses until his entering the tent. 9 And at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. 10 And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. 11 And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent. 12 And Moses said to Yahweh, “See, you are saying to me, ‘Take this people up.’ But you have not let me know whom you will send with me, and you yourself have said, ‘I know you by name, and you also have found favor in my eyes.’ 13 And now if I have found favor in your eyes, make known to me, please, your way, and so I may know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence is not going, do not bring us up from here. 16 And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And so we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the ground.” 17 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Also I will do this thing that you have spoken, because you have found favor in my eyes and I have known you by name.” 18 And he said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” 20 But he said, “You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live.” 21 And Yahweh said, “There is a place with me, and you will stand on the rock. 22 And when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock’s crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over. 23 And I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be visible.”

Moses gives and intercessory prayer. Moses is a precursor for Jesus and the Covenant is renewed

Exodus 34:6–7 LEB

6 And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations.”

A lot can be said about this passage but want to point it out because they’re actually so important that they’re referenced and re-quoted over twenty more times within the Bible itself.

The first section are attributes of God are really lovely. and the second section is about judgement.

It actually begs the question:

Is God merciful or vengeful?

This is the first time God describes his character.

When the people make idols for themselves God is hurt and angry. and he warns Moses that this betrayal will keep on happening. God is ready to call it quits.

Moses brings up God’s promise to rescue his people.

and thus we see the tension between God’s mercy and his Justice.

The statement opens like this: “a God compassionate and gracious.”

In Hebrew, this line has three words that rhyme, el rakhum vekhanun. And the line, “overflowing with loyal-love and faithfulness,” matches the first, as it also has three Hebrew words, rab khesed ve-’emet.

Each of those lines have two attributes of God, and they surround a fifth attribute, that God is “slow to anger.”

Then comes the second half. God maintains loyal love for thousands. And how is he going to remain loyal to people who keep rebelling against him? By forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

But God’s forgiveness doesn’t mean people can just do whatever they want.

God’s mercy is balanced. “Yet he won’t declare innocent the guilty. He’ll bring the iniquities of the fathers upon the children and grandchildren, to the third and the fourth.”

The third and the fourth what?

It’s referring to generations of people who repeat their ancestors’ rebellion against God; they’ll get what they deserve. But notice this small number of generations contrasts that massive number up above.

God’s loyal love to thousands.

God’s forgiveness of iniquity in this line is contrasted with his justice on iniquity in this line.

All those lines are surrounding a central line here about God’s justice. “He will not declare innocent the guilty.” So while God is slow to anger, he is also just.

This is the tension that these two sentences are exploring. How does a faithful and loyal God deal with such a rebellious people? This is the challenge God faces in this story, and it’s the same challenge he faces in the whole biblical story as he works to rescue the world through this family.

Establishment of the cult

Exodus 35-40

Establishment of the cult. Cult, organized religious worship through other people. Not occult.