A study of Exodus
So I recently finished reading the Book of Exodus. Why Exodus? Simply because almost everyone I was listening to at the time, their sermon’s were from the book of Exodus, they encouraged listeners to study the book of Exodus or reference scriptures they gave for those listening to them to study was from the Book of Exodus. So I thought it would be a good idea for me to read and study the entire Book of Exodus. I’m glad that I did! I completed this study using the King James Version (KJV) & New Living Translation (NLT) Bibles as well as, The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
I pray that my personal Bible study will bring insight and clarity to you and encourage you to do your own study of the Book of Exodus.
What things can you add to this discussion? I can’t wait to read your responses.
Until next time.
AMG
Fast Facts:
Exodus was written by Moses (thanks GSBC for teaching me this)
The main character is Moses
The name Moses means, "I lifted him out of the water."
Here are my takeaways
There was more than one Pharaoh
This really shocked me! I know, don't judge me, lol. Maybe I should have known this but I didn’t. It didn't click, that rulership of Egypt changed overtime until I read Exodus 1:8. I was like what?! Pharaoh died. I guess it's like I (maybe you too) just thought Pharaoh was Pharaoh...like Pharaoh was actually someones name. Are you following me? Pharaoh was the title given to each of the Kings of Egypt. Each King actually had his own "real name." Though they are not given in the Bible (if you know them let me know) I spoke with a close friend and he encouraged me to consider reading scholarly works done by those who study the Bible and the Bible times indepth.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the Pharaoh's I came across in the Book of Exodus.
Pharaoh #1: (the King of Egypt at the beginning of Exodus, he was not the very first Pharaoh mentioned in the Bible): *find out more about this Pharaoh in the Book of Genesis*
King of Egypt in the time of Joseph.
The King Joseph intercepted dreams for
The King that gave Joseph an Egyptian name (Gen. 41:45)
The King that put Joseph in charge of the entire land of Egypt
Pharaoh #2:
First mentioned in Exodus 1:8
Was jealous that the Israelites were outnumbering the Egyptians
Didn’t know about the relationship that Pharaoh #1 (as listed here) had with Joseph
Ordered the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah & Puah to kill all of the Hebrew male babies
Ordered for all newborn Hebrew males to be thrown in the Nile River
Pharaoh #3:
The King that wanted to kill Moses for killing an Egyptian
Pharaoh #4: (we know that this was not Pharaoh #3 because of Exodus 4:19)
King when Moses returned back to Egypt after fleeing to Midian
The King that had all of the plagues happen under his reign
The King that God hardened his heart
The King that refused to let the Israelites go
Moses’ father married his aunt (Exodus 6:20)
Yeah, you read that correctly. However, we must realize that during those times, this was not out of the ordinary. Moses’ father whose name was Amram married his father’s sister whose name was Jochebed. Together, Amram & Jochebed had Moses & his brother Aaron.
A lingering question: Scripture states that Miriam was Aarons sister in Exodus 15:20 and doesn’t mention her also being Moses’ sister. However, in further study outside of the book of Exodus, I found reference that Miriam was also the sister of Moses (Numbers 26:59). Why was Miriam not mentioned to also be Moses’ sister in Exodus 15:20? I understand why Miriam was not mentioned in Exodus 6:20 because there only the sons of each clan of the Levites was listed.
Aaron did most of the wonders not Moses
I don’t think I ever paid attention to who did the wonders/miraculous works mentioned in the book of Exodus before. With God’s instructions and Moses being the “middle-man” between God and Aaron, Aaron preformed several miraculous wonders (the rod turning into a serpent, the water in the Nile River turning into blood, the plague of frogs and the plague of gnats). Moses did participate when it came to the plague of festering boils.
The tabernacle had to be a mobile structure
Did anyone else think that while reading all of the chapters on the how to build the tabernacle, what to include in it and all of that stuff that the tabernacle was a stationary structure? Well, I sure did until I got to the very last chapter and it finally clicked, that the children of Israel were not yet in the land that God had promised them so why would God instruct them to build a stationary tabernacle in a place where they were not going to live forever.
There were many more things that opened my eyes while studying the Book of Exodus. However, I'm not going to state everything here, I want you to open up your Bible and do your own study, 2 Timothy 2:15.
Heres a snippet of some of the things that occurred in the book of Exodus:
midwives told to kill the Hebrew male babies
baby Moses born and then rescued
Moses killed an Egyptian
the burning bush
Moses felt inadequate
Aaron helped Moses with many things
many plagues on Egypt
Israelites leave Egypt
Passover
Israelites leave Egypt
parting of the Red Sea
Israelites complain a lot
water from a rock
Yahweh-Nissi mentioned for the first time
the Lord appears on Mount Sinai
the Ten Commandments
righteous alters
Israelites given rules regarding several things such as proper treatment of others, property, sex, widows & orphans, loans etc.
the building of the tabernacle and everything included in it
the making of anointing oil
the consecration of Aaron and his sons
Remember that Moses and Aaron were not young men when they were carrying out all of the things that God instructed them to do. Moses was 80 and Aaron was 83 years old. This should encourage you that it doesn’t matter how old you are or where you are in your life right now, if God wants to use you He can. All you have to do is submit yourself to Him, and allow Him to direct your path.