Exodus and Covenant
The relationship between God and
Israel
Brief Review of Exodus 1-3
The family of Jacob (Israel)
goes to Egypt to escape
famine at the end of Genesis
Exodus opens (1:1-7) with the
passing of generations and the
multiplication of the Israelites
The Egyptians fear their rising
power (1:8-9) and so increase
their workload (1:11), but it
does not work (1:12-13)
They then try genocide


Hebrew midwives – Shiprah
and Puah – do not cooperate
(1:18-19)
Killing of the male babies
takes its toll (1:22)
Moses survives (2:1-10) and is
called by God to lead the
people (3:1-4:23)
The Task of Moses
3:12 “….and this shall
be the sign for you
that it is I who sent
you: when you have
brought the people
out of Egypt, you shall
worship God on this
mountain.”
The place is Sinai
(also called Horeb)
Some Mapping
The Conflict
Exod 5:1-2 Afterward
Moses and Aaron went to
Pharaoh and said, “Thus
says the Lord, the God of
Israel, ‘Let my people go,
so that they may
celebrate a festival to me
in the wilderness.’” But
Pharaoh said, “Who is the
Lord, that I should heed
him and let Israel go? I
do not know the Lord ,
and I will not let Israel
go.”
Pharaoh does not
recognize the power of
this God
Israel not thrilled either –
already not crazy about
Moses and then their
workload is increased
(5:21)
Moses then complains to
God (5:22)
God’s Task
God must prove God’s-self
worthy to Pharaoh (Exod 6:1):
Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Now you shall see what I will do
to Pharaoh: Indeed, by a mighty
hand he will let them go; by a
mighty hand he will drive them out
of his land.”
God must also prove God’s-self
worthy to the Israelites (Exod
6:6-8):
…I am the Lord, and I will free you
from the burden of the Egyptians
and deliver you from slavery to
them. I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with mighty
acts of judgment. I will take you
as my people , and I will be your
God. You shall know that I am the
Lord your God, who has freed you
from the burdens of the Egyptians.
I will bring you into the land that I
swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob; I will give it to you for a
possession. I am the Lord.
Proofs of God’s Presence
Exod 7:1 You shall speak all that I
command you, and your brother
Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the
Israelites go out of his land. But I
will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I
will multiply my signs and wonders
in the land of Egypt. When
Pharaoh does not listen to you, I
will lay my hand upon Egypt and
bring my people the Israelites,
company by company, out of the
land of Egypt by great acts of
judgment. The Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I
stretch out my hand against Egypt
and bring the Israelites out from
among them.
Aaron’s rod can turn into a snake
– and that is supposed to be a
“wonder” that will impress the
Egyptians; but the sorcerers of
Pharaoh can do it, too. And even
though Aaron’s snake swallows all
others, Pharaoh does not budge.
(8:8-13)
Must turn now to 10 “plagues” or
proofs of God’s presence
1: Water to Blood
Erastus Salisbury Field
He Turned Their Waters into
Blood
Asks to let people go three
days into wilderness to
worship (7:16)
Gives a sign…..”By this you
shall know that I am the Lord”
(7:17)
Magicians could replicate the
act (7:22)
Pharaoh’s heart stayed
hardened (7: 22)
2: Frogs
Requests again for a
worship time (8:1)
Plague of frogs comes
over all the land (8:6)
Magicians replicate (8:7)
Pharaoh says take frogs
away and I will let the
people worship (8:8), but
reneges (8:15)
3: Gnats
No request, just a
sign; dust to gnats
(8:16)
Magicians cannot
replicate it (8:18)
Magicians say: “This
is the finger of God!”
(8:19)
4: Flies
Request for release
(8:20) to worship God
God sets apart Goshen
(territory of Israelites)
(8:22-23) Thus I will
make a distinction
between my people and
your people
Pharaoh seems to relent
(8:28), but does not once
the flies are gone (8:32)
5: Diseased Livestock
J.M.W. Turner
Request again (9:1)
All livestock of the
Egyptians struck
dead, but none of the
Israelites (9:6)
Pharaoh refuses to
act (9:7)
6: Boils
No request, just a
command (9:8) – soot to
dust to boils
Festering boils on
everything – human,
animals, magicians (9:1011)
THE LORD hardens
Pharaoh’s heart (9:12)
7: Thunder and Hail
Same request (9:13)
Rationale: vv 15-16 For by
now I could have stretched out
my hand and struck you and
your people with pestilence,
and you would have been cut
off from the earth. But this is
why I let you live: to show you
my power, and to make my
name resound through all the
earth.
Pharaoh still refuses to let
them go once the storm has
stopped
8: Locusts
Opens with hardening of Pharaoh’s
heart by God (10:1); “that I may show
these signs of mine among them, and
that you may tell your children and
your grandchildren how I have made
fools of the Egyptians and what signs I
have done among them – so that you
may know that I am the Lord.”
It is really all about the Israelites and
not the Egyptians or the Pharaoh
The officials plead with
Pharaoh to let them go (10:7 –
“How long shall this fellow be a
snare to us? Let the people
go, so that they may worship
the Lord their God; do you not
yet understand Egypt is
ruined?”)
Pharaoh says he will let them
go (v. 8), but will not let the
children go (vv 10-11)
The Lord hardens Pharaoh’s
heart again (v.20)
9: Darkness
No warning again – just a
three day darkness (9:21-23)
Pharaoh says they can all go,
but flocks stay (v 24). Moses
says they need flocks to make
sacrifices (vv 25-26)
The Lord hardens Pharaoh’s
heart again (v 27) and Pharaoh
dismisses Moses with a
warning (v 28 and the panel
next to this one)
10: Death of the Firstborn
Warning comes of it
with description in
chapter 11
Passover is instituted
in chapter 12
Plague strikes in
12:29-31
The Exodus occurs in
12:33-42
More Passover
regulations in the end
of chapter 12 and in
chapter 13
Exodus 12:4-8
Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: About midnight, I will
go out through the land of Egypt. Every firstborn in the
land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of the Pharaoh
who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave
who is behind the handmill, and all of the firstborn of the
livestock. Then there will be a loud cry throughout the
whole land of Egypt, such as had never been or ever will
be again. But not a dog shall growl at any of the
Israelites – not at people, not at animals – so that you
may know that the Lord makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel. Then all of these officials of yours shall
come down to me, and bow low to me, saying: ‘Leave
us, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will
leave.” And in hot anger, he left Pharaoh.
Death of Pharaoh’s Firstborn Son
Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema
Passover
Slaughter a lamb
Dip a brush in the blood
and touch the lintel of
your door and the
doorposts with it
When the Lord moves
through, blood will be
seen and the home will
be “passed over”
Unleavened bread and
roasted lamb are foods
for people on the move
It is done to remember
deliverance
Other Challenges
Crossing the Red Sea: 14:1112 “Was it because there were
no graves in Egypt that you
have taken us away to die in
the wilderness? What have
you done to us bringing us out
of Egypt? Is this not the very
thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let
us alone and let us serve the
Egyptians?’ For it would have
been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than to die in the
wilderness.”
V 13-14 Moses said to the
people. “Do not be afraid,
stand firm, and see the
deliverance that the Lord will
accomplish for you today; for
the Egyptians you see today
you shall never see again.
The Lord will fight for you, and
you only have to keep still.”
Some Images
And more challenges
Food, chapter 16
Water, chapter 17
Enemies, chapter 17
Finally at Sinai
19:3-6 Then Moses went up to God; the Lord
called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus
you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the
Israelites: You have seen what I did to the
Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings
and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if
you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you
shall be my treasured possession out of all the
peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but
you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a
holy nation.” These are the words you shall
speak to the Israelites.
Covenant
Hebrew word is tyrb
(berit) which means
‘bond’ or ‘fetter.’
Prologue
Stipulations
Blessings and Curses
Modeled on
suzerainty-vassal
treaty forms from the
ANE
It is a matter of choice
whether or not you
enter into such an
agreement; you are
not compelled
Moses gets the Law
Ten Words
(Compare Deuteronomy 5)
Ten Words is the form
– not commandment.
The expansions came
in later
Prologue: I am the
Lord your God who
brought you up out of
the land of Egypt
After they heard
them, the people
were afraid. Told
Moses: ‘You speak to
us, and we will listen;
but do not let God
speak to us, or we will
die.’
The Stipulations
No other gods before me
Do not murder
No idols
Do not commit adultery
No wrongful use of God’s
name
Do not steal
Remember the sabbath
Do not bear false witness
against your neighbor
Honor your father and
mother
Do not covert your
neighbor’s house, wife,
slaves, other belongings
10 Commandments Schematic
God (1-4)
Family (5)
Community (6-10)
Trouble
While Moses is still on the
mountain, the people
want to break the 1st two
commandments and get
Aaron to help (32:1)
God gets mad first, but
Moses joins in quickly (vv
7-14 and then 15-20)
Reiteration of the Law
Deuteronomy –
second law
Older material
combined with newer
and edited probably
first during Jeremiah’s
time and then again in
the post-exilic period
Shema – umv hear,
listen (with the idea of
‘obey’ built in
Central text of
Israelite and now
Jewish confession
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord
alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your strength. Keep these words that I am
commanding you today in your heart. Recite
them to your children and talk about them when
you are at home and when you are away, when
you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a
sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on
your forehead, and write them on the doorposts
of your house.
Some Thoughts
The initial focus is on God – who God is to the people who confess
and pray. The focus is on the ultimate power of that God
Contemplating the nature of God is required when speaking here
Jewish law requires a greater measure of concentration on the first
verse of the Shema than on the rest of the prayer. People commonly
close their eyes or cover them with the palm of their hand while
reciting it to eliminate every distraction and help them concentrate
on the meaning of the words. The final word, echad, should be
prolonged and emphasized. Often, the last letter of the first and last
words of the Shema verse are written in larger print in the siddur.
This is because these letters form the word "ed," witness, and
remind Jews of their duty to serve as witnesses to God's sovereignty
by leading exemplary lives. -- Shira Schoenberg
Heart, Soul, Strength
Heart – seat of the will
and the conscience. It is
not about emotion here, it
is about intellect, what
one determines to do.
Soul – not the spiritual
self, because remember
the body and the soul are
one in Hebrew. It is the
self, the person, one’s
being.
Strength – with all of
one’s resources; physical,
mental, emotional. You
love with everything you
have.
Keeping the Law
In one’s heart.


Not external to the self
Obligation is to your children

Deut 10:16 Circumcise the
foreskin of your heart, and do
not be stubborn any longer


Deut 30:6 Moreover, the Lord
your God will circumcise your
heart and the heart of your
descendents, so that you will
love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your
soul, in order that you may live
You must instruct your
children in the obligations – no
outside authority does it for
you
You must do it constantly.
Home is the center, but your
obligation does not cease
when you are away. And it is
an enterprise done night and
day.
Bind them as a sign on your hand
Tefillin shel yad
Small boxes (battim) with portions of the Torah -handwritten and in a special script -- are affixed to the
arm and then tied to the hand. It is done for morning
prayer and then removed. Boxes and straps are leather.
Fix them as an emblem on your
forehead
Tefillin shel rosh
Also leather box containing part of the torah
handwritten and then strapped on
Tefillin
Write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates
Box contains portion of
the torah handwritten
You put it on the doorpost
of the home
Kiss your fingers and
touch it when you go in
Typical to have a v on the
front
Mezzuzah (Mezuzah)
Message
There is no split
between secular and
sacred
Every aspect of your
life is lived in
response to God
The obligations of the
law (there are 613
mitzvot or
commandments) are
constant
Deut 30:11-14 (v 14:
No, the word is very
near to you; it is in
your mouth and in
your heart for you to
observe)
Why Israel is obligated
Deut 26:5-9 A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he
went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in
number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and
populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and
afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the
Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The
Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of signs and
wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us
this land, and land flowing with milk and honey.