The storyline of the Exodus, of a people fleeing from a humiliating slavery, suggests elements that are historically credible. In the Bible, the Exodus is frequently mentioned as the event that created the Israelite people and forged their bond with God, being described as such by the prophets Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The people gather at the foot of the mountain, and with thunder and lightning, fire and clouds of smoke, the sound of trumpets, and the trembling of the mountain, God appears on the peak, and the people see the cloud and hear the voice (or possibly sound) of God. A literary composition that is so impressive could suggest that writing a theological treatise was the full achievement. Moses did not write any of the Torah: It is very easy to confirm and to understand why the overwhelming majority of Biblical scholars today have determined that the "Books of Moses," the . The majority of modern scholars date the composition of the Torah to the Middle Persian Period. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. [61] Egyptologist Jan Assmann suggested that event, which would have taken place around 931 BCE, may be partially historical due to its association with the historical pharaoh Sheshonq I (the biblical Shishak). God assists the Israelite exodus by parting the sea and allowing the Israelites to pass through, before drowning Pharaoh's forces. These magicians are referred to in the Hebrew text as, "While there is a consensus among scholars that the Exodus did not take place in the manner described in the Bible, surprisingly most scholars agree that the narrative has a historical core, and that some of the highland settlers came, one way or another, from Egypt" "Archaeology does not really contribute to the debate over the historicity or even historical background of the Exodus itself, but if there was indeed such a group, it contributed the Exodus story to that of all Israel. [70], The revelation of God on Sinai appears to have originally been a tradition unrelated to the Exodus. Levy, Thomas E., Thomas Schneider, William H.C. Propp. This message is repeated about 100 times in the Tanakh. Exodus: Fact or fiction? These sources are now known as the Yahwist and the Priestly Source. Yahweh commands the Israelites to destroy the Midianites, and Moses and Phinehas take another census. [26] A covenant is a legal document binding two parties to take on certain obligations towards each other. Answer (1 of 20): Every answer given here is Moses during his lifetime. A. Author has 11K answers and 12.2M answer views 6 y Read | Why Did Cain Kill Abel in Bible? God gives Moses instructions for the construction of the tabernacle so that God may dwell permanently among his chosen people, along with instructions for the priestly vestments, the altar and its appurtenances, procedures for the ordination of priests, and the daily sacrifice offerings. See, However, the date of composition of the Song of the Sea -ostensibly celebrating the victory at the. Read | Degrees of Sin and Punishment in Hell. They begin by listening to Pharaoh and his laws and end by listening to God and his laws. Exodus begins in the Egyptian region called Goshen. So the literary structure looks like this. [83] Erich S. Gruen suggested that it may have been the Jews themselves that inserted themselves into Manetho's narrative, in which various negative actions from the point of view of the Egyptians, such as desecrating temples, are interpreted positively. [45] The expulsion of the Hyksos, a Semitic group that had conquered much of Egypt, by the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt is also frequently discussed as a potential historical parallel or origin for the story. The Israelites then journey with the prophet Moses to Mount Sinai, where Yahweh gives the 10 commandments and they enter into a covenant with Yahweh, who promises to make them a "holy nation, and a kingdom of priests" on condition of their faithfulness. Like the Israelites who left Egypt, all believers in Christ are redeemed and consecrated to God. [44] It is also possible that oppressive Egyptian rule of Canaan during the late second millennium BCE may have aided the adoption of the story of a small group of Egyptian refugees by the native Canaanites among the Israelites. [5] The Book of Exodus itself attempts to ground the event firmly in history, dating the exodus to the 2666th year after creation (Exodus 12:40-41), the construction of the tabernacle to year 2667 (Exodus 40:1-2, 17), stating that the Israelites dwelled in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41), and including place names such as Goshen (Gen. 46:28), Pithom, and Ramesses (Exod. [84] The earliest non-biblical account is that of Hecataeus of Abdera (c. 320 BCE), as preserved in the first century CE Jewish historian Josephus in his work Against Apion and in a variant version by the first-century BCE Greek historian Diodorus. (NIV), Read | Kingdom of God Folklore and Significance. [110] In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus reverses the direction of the Exodus by escaping from the Massacre of the Innocents committed by Herod the Great before himself returning from Egypt (Matt 2:13-15). Read | What is Mark of Cain in the Bible? "[86] Assmann suggested that the story has no single origin but rather combines numerous historical experiences, notably the Amarna and Hyksos periods, into a folk memory. Moses descends from the mountain with a transformed face; from that time onwards he must hide his face with a veil. The Israelites come to the oasis of Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam dies and the Israelites remain for forty years. [8][9], It tells a story of Israelite enslavement and eventual departure from Egypt, revelations at biblical Mount Sinai, and wanderings in the wilderness up to the borders of Canaan. [82], Writers in Greek and Latin during the Ptolemaic period (late 4th century BCElate 1st century BCE) record several Egyptian tales of the expulsion of a group of foreigners that were connected to the Exodus. When they arrive at Mt. In Exodus we witness God beginning to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [63] Pauline Viviano, however, concluded that neither the references to Jeroboam's calves in Hosea (Hosea 8:6 and 10:5) nor the frequent prohibitions of idol worship in the seventh-century southern prophet Jeremiah show any knowledge of a tradition of a golden calf having been created in Sinai. A history of being slaves is likely to bear elements of truth. Something like the story of Romulus and Remus is for Rome. Purpose of Writing: The word "exodus" means departure. Sinai, God leads his people in a pillar of fire and cloud that illumines their way. Then the Israelites depart from Mount Sinai.[19]. View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Exodus, which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses. Why was Exodus written? [11], The story of the Exodus is told in the first half of Exodus, with the remainder recounting the 1st year in the wilderness, and followed by a narrative of 39 more years in the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the last four of the first five books of the Bible (also called the Torah or Pentateuch). [17] After each plague Pharaoh allows the Israelites to worship Yahweh to remove the plague, then refuses to free them. As Chuck was talking, Christ was also talking to my heart. Through the Law, God says that all of life relates to God. What is the genre of Exodus? Many conversations, events, and geographical details could be known only by an eyewitness or participant. [20] The covenant is described in stages: at Exodus 24:38 the Israelites agree to abide by the "book of the covenant" that Moses has just read to them; shortly afterwards God writes the "words of the covenant" the Ten Commandments on stone tablets; and finally, as the people gather in Moab to cross into Canaan, the land God has promised them, Moses makes a new covenant between Yahweh and the Israelites "beside the covenant he made with them at Horeb" (Deuteronomy 29:1). D. Specifications for the Tabernacle, Exodus 25-31, and its construction, Exodus 35-40 Christians, like adherents to many other religions, have long fasted. The Israelites refuse to go to Canaan, so Yahweh manifests himself and declares that the generation that left Egypt will have to pass away before the Israelites can enter Canaan. There is evidence cited which states that "Moses usual procedure was to record events soon after they occurred in the form of historical annals." (The Open Bible:80) The key people in the lesson is Moses and Aaron. [95] It celebrates how God provided for the Israelites while they wandered in the desert without food or shelter. Finally, only with the help of the divine guidance of God and also the leadership, the people would be able to escape from this particular sin of slavery. View a list of Bible maps, excerpted from The Swindoll Study Bible. [32] The Bible did not mention the names of any of the pharaohs involved in the Exodus narrative, making it difficult for modern scholars to match Egyptian history and the biblical narrative. Yahweh establishes the Aaronic priesthood and various rules for ritual worship, among other laws. These letters were written with a familiarity of the areas or problems being discussed and with an apostolic tone of authority. Moses then addresses the Israelites for a final time on the banks of the Jordan River, reviewing their travels and giving them further laws. [71] Mark Walter Bartusch noted that the nehushtan is not mentioned at any prior point in Kings, and suggests that the brazen serpent was brought to Jerusalem from the Northern Kingdom after its destruction in 722 BCE. [6] Evidence in favor of historical traditions forming a background to the Exodus myth include the documented movements of small groups of Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples into and out of Egypt during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, some elements of Egyptian folklore and culture in the Exodus narrative,[41] and the names Moses, Aaron and Phinehas, which seem to have an Egyptian origin. [3] The majority position is that the biblical Exodus narrative has some historical basis, although there is little of historical worth in it. [11] Scholars posit that a small group of people of Egyptian origin may have joined the early Israelites, and then contributed their own Egyptian Exodus story to all of Israel. The Exodus is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah, namely Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. [19], The climax of the Exodus is the covenant (binding legal agreement) between God and the Israelites mediated by Moses at Sinai: Yahweh will protect the Israelites as his chosen people for all time, and the Israelites will keep Yahweh's laws and worship only him. Historical narrative, Exodus 1-19; 24; 32-34. If youd like to learn about this, see How to Begin a Relationship with God.. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of Yahweh, who has chosen them as his people. Exodus is a journey narrative like many of the great stories from The Odyssey, to the Aeneid, to The Divine Comedy, to Pilgrim's Progress, to Lord of the Rings. Updated: May 22nd, 2020. The overall theme of Exodus is redemptionhow God delivered the Israelites and made them His special people. [62] Russell and Frank Moore Cross argued that the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom may have believed that the calves at Bethel and Dan were made by Aaron. B: The midwives feared God. "[73] In addition, there is widespread agreement that the revelation of the law in Deuteronomy was originally separate from the Exodus:[74] the original version of Deuteronomy is generally dated to the 7th century BCE. All these are gathered together into one harmonious architecture, adorning the interior of Gods home. [85] Hecataeus tells how the Egyptians blamed a plague on foreigners and expelled them from the country, whereupon Moses, their leader, took them to Canaan. A group of Israelites led by Korah, son of Izhar, rebels against Moses, but Yahweh opens the earth and sends them living to Sheol. I am slow of speech and tongue., The LORD said to him, Who gave man his mouth? It contains various information that is considered to be of utmost religious importance. I (Yhwh) was the one that saved you (brought you out of Egypt) and therefore you owe me fealty. Exodus is a journey narrative like many of the great stories from The Odyssey, to the Aeneid, to The Divine Comedy, to Pilgrims Progress, to Lord of the Rings. . Jewish and Christian tradition viewed Moses as the author of Exodus and the entire Torah, but by the end of the 19th century the increasing awareness of discrepancies, inconsistencies, repetitions and other features of the Pentateuch had led scholars to abandon this idea. Thus, a span of around 40 years is considered to be the exact period in which this great book was written. Michael Graves calls Paul's discussion of the exodus in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 and his comparison of the early church in Corinth to the Israelites in the desert "[t]he two most significant NT passages touching on the exodus". [13] Some scholars such as Benjamin J. Noonan have pointed out that the presence of Egyptian cognates in the Exodus and wilderness traditions entered Hebrew during the Late Bronze Age, precisely when we would expect them to have been borrowed if the events of these narratives really occurred, challenging the assumption of a post-exilic tradition. To understand this scripture, we must first look at who the writer is. Moses comes down from the mountain and writes down God's words, and the people agree to keep them. Additionally, other biblical books refer to the law of Moses ( Joshua 1:7; 1 Kings 2:3), indicating that Exodus, which includes rules and regulations, was written by Moses. Chuck has a way of saying it the way it is! [27] There are several covenants in the Bible, and in each case they exhibit at least some of the elements in real-life treaties of the ancient Middle East: a preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, deposition and reading, list of witnesses, blessings and curses, and ratification by animal sacrifice. [19] In approximate round dates, the process which produced Exodus and the Pentateuch probably began around 600 BCE when existing oral and written traditions were brought together to form books recognizable as those we know, reaching their final form as unchangeable sacred texts around 400 BCE. Best Answer. The Gospel of John repeatedly calls Jesus the Passover lamb (John 1:29, 13:1, 19:36), something also found in 1 Peter (1 Pet 1:18-20), and 1 Corinthians (1 Cor 5:7-8). [56], The story may, therefore, have originated a few centuries earlier, perhaps in the 9th or 10th BCE, and there are signs that it took different forms in Israel, in the Transjordan region, and in the southern Kingdom of Judah before being unified in the Persian era. After He rescued them from slavery, God provided the Law, which gave instructions on how the people could be consecrated or made holy. C. Law, Exodus 20-23. Other than Moses' speeches in Deutoronomy, the Pentateuch is viewed as the dictated by God to Moses (and even the speeches, or portions thereof, are only included because God told Moses to put them in). [4], The English name Exodus comes from the Ancient Greek: , romanized:xodos, lit. The Israelites arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses's father-in-law Jethro visits Moses; at his suggestion, Moses appoints judges over Israel. Moses, in Midian, goes to Mount Horeb, where Yahweh appears in a burning bush and commands him to go to Egypt to free the Hebrew slaves and bring them to the promised land in Canaan. [77] Many theories have been advanced to explain the composition of the first five books of the Bible, but two have been especially influential. Pamela Barmash argued that the psalm is a polemic against the Northern Kingdom; as it fails to mention that kingdom's destruction in 722 BCE, she concluded that it must have been written before then. The earliest material in the book dates back to the first half of the first millennium BCE, but the Book of Exodus was not completed until the sixth-century-BCE Babylonian Exile. Moses goes up the mountain into the presence of God, who pronounces the Covenant Code of ritual and civil law and promises Canaan to them if they obey. The sea and allowing the Israelites while they wandered in the Bible the of! 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