Revised by Cameron B.R. Howard (5/24)
CovenantA covenant is a promise or agreement. In the Bible the promises made between God and God’s people are known as covenants; they state or imply a relationship of commitment and obedience.
At its core the covenant is the relationship between God and Israel: my people/your God, our God/your people. This relationship appears as early as the call of MosesProphet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai. and persists through the conflict with Pharaoh. While it is formalized at Sinai for Israel as a nation, its roots are in promises made to AbrahamGod promised that Abraham would become the father of a great nation, receive a land, and bring blessing to all nations., IsaacSon born to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of God’s promise., and Israel in the Book of Genesis.
Divine call, human objection
In several ways Moses objects to his call to bring Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3:7-4:17), and God overrides each objection. Dependent on God’s promise to be with him (3:12), Moses can challenge God’s action (5:22) and even reverse God’s decision (32:11-14). With equal directness, Moses is authorized to challenge his own people (17:2; 32:21-26).
Exclusive allegiance to God
For Israel there can be only one God. YHWH, who covenanted with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, brought them out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Other gods are to be completely avoided (23:23-33; 34:11-16). This may not yet be full-fledged monotheism, in the sense of a denial of the existence of other gods, because the other gods are an active threat to Israel’s allegiance to God and the blessings of the covenantal relationship. Nonetheless, Israel has one and only one God: YHWH, the LORD.
God acts, humans act
God does work through human agents, not just alone, as can be seen, for example, in the role of five women in preserving life in the first two chapters. But humans also resist God’s purposes, as can be seen in Pharaoh’s hardening his heart and Israel’s rebellion at Sinai. The doxology for deliverance from Egypt is addressed to God, not to human agents (15:1-18), and Israel’s future depends on God’s determination to be present among them (40:34-38).
God’s compassionate hearing
God heard Israel’s cry from the midst of Pharaoh’s oppression and God acted against Pharaoh and for Israel (2:23-25). In the laws given at Sinai, Israel is warned against oppressing the vulnerable members of its community lest God’s compassionate hearing of the cries of the oppressed lead God to act against Israel (22:21-27). God also heard Moses’ pleas, bringing about forgiveness for condemned Israel at Sinai (32:11-35).
Hardening the heart
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart; Pharaoh hardened his heart. Three different verbs are used in the Hebrew; God is the subject 10 times, Pharaoh the other 10. Quite apart from philosophical issues, the theme underscores God’s commitment to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, no matter what powerful forms of human resistance might occur.
I AM
Moses is to tell the Israelites that “I AM” has sent him to deliver them from slavery in Egypt (3:13-15). The longer version, “I AM WHO I AM” (3:14), is an attempt to formulate an etymology for the divine name YHWH. Both here and in 6:2-8, the divine name is connected to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and, later, to the act of bringing Israel out of Egypt (20:2).
Israel versus God
Israel’s capacity to challenge God’s intentions arcs across the Book of Exodus. The challenge to God manifests itself in challenges to Moses’ leadership before the plagues (5:20-21; 6:9), at the sea (14:10-12), in the wilderness (17:2), and at Sinai (32:1). In addition, despite many warnings not to go after other gods and make idols, Israel directly challenges God in the golden calf episode by forming an idolIdolatry is the worship of something other than the true God. An idol may be a cult image, an idea, or an object made of wood or stone. Ome of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits the worship of graven images or idols; this concern is… and ascribing to it their exodus from Egypt.
Murmuring
The murmuring after the exodus from Egypt does raise the specter of Israelite disobedience, but the need for water and manna was real. As Israel commences its new life in the journey through the wilderness, God responds and provides without punishment. In contrast, the complaints about food and water in the Book of Numbers are met with divine judgment.
Oppressed or oppressor?
Israel, once freed from oppression, is capable of replicating Pharaoh’s conduct within its community. Oppressing and abusing widows, orphans, resident aliens, and the poor will provoke God’s compassion for the plight of the oppressed (22:21-27). God will hear their cries and move against them just as God had earlier heard Israel’s cries and moved against Pharaoh (2:23-25).
Pharaoh versus God
The character of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, against all reason imposes self-defeating requirements on Israel and in direct opposition to God. Pharaoh is unmoved by the plight of his workers (5:15-18), in contrast to God who hears their groaning (2:23-25; 3:7-10). The test of wills between Moses and Pharaoh becomes a contest between God and Pharaoh over the destiny of Israel.
Promise
While God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery and God’s covenant-making at Sinai are central to Israel’s identity, the relationship did not start with these events. God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel ground God’s motivation to bring Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land (2:24). After Israel breaks the covenant in the golden calf episode, Moses successfully appeals to God to reestablish the relationship with the people brought out of Egypt on the basis of the prior promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (32:13; 33:1).
SabbathSabbath is a weekly day of rest, the seventh day, observed on Saturday in Judaism and on Sunday in Christianity. In the book of Genesis, God rested on the seventh day; in the Gospel accounts Jesus and his disciples are criticized by some for not…
The practice of sabbath as prescribed in the Book of Exodus is a place where spirituality and justice intersect. To abstain from work for a full day every week would have been a significant economic risk in the ancient context: a willingness to give up production and profit, whether on a farm or in the marketplace, for the sake of one’s commitment to God. As described in the Ten Commandments, the sabbath is a day for everyone in a householdA household is a living unit comprised of all the persons who live in one house. A household would embrace all the members of a family, including servants and slaves. In the book of Acts, stories are told of various persons and their households, like… to rest, including children, slaves, animals, and sojourners (Exodus 20:8-10). The rationale given for the sabbath in Exodus invokes the creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… story of Genesis 1, where God works to create the heavens and the earth for six days, then rests on the seventh day (20:11).
When the Ten Commandments are articulated again in Deuteronomy 5, the rationale given for sabbath is that “you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 5:15). Although the sabbath rationale in Exodus refers to God’s work at creation, the Exodus event just a few chapters earlier still looms large over the giving of the commandments there, just as it does in Deuteronomy. The commitment to the sabbath law shows a way of ordering life that prioritizes God’s rule rather than the tyranny of oppression or the seductions of the marketplace.
Slow to anger, abounding in steadfast loveThe steadfast love (hesed) of God is the assurance of God’s loving kindness, faithfulness, and mercy. This assurance rings throughout the Old Testament, and is affirmed more than 120 times in the Psalms. In some hymns of praise the response of the people was likely…
The Lord is described as a “God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love…yet by no means clearing the guilty” (34:6-7). In the Old Testament the existence of divine anger does not cause amazement; rather, what astonishes Israel is God’s forgiveness of iniquity, transgression, and sin. God abounds in steadfast love for thousands (!), not just a few. God’s self-disclosure in Exodus 34 reverberates throughout the Old Testament with continued amazement at the always surprising, but persistent faithfulness of God.
Stiff-necked people
In the aftermath of the golden calf episode Israel is called “stiff-necked.” While not identical, this characterization echoes Pharaoh’s hardheartedness. God has covenanted with a people no less problematic than others. God needs to forgive Israel and repeatedly renew the covenant in order for Israel to fulfill its God-given vocation to be a royal priesthood and a holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine nation.
Ten Commandments
The Commandments address Israel’s accountability to God and to each other. They are prefaced by God’s introduction: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (20:2). The Commandments restrain so that life might flourish; they should not become a new form of bondage.
Testing
On the journey from Egypt to Sinai, God twice tests Israel’s obedience (15:23-27; 16:4). Following the revelation of the Ten Commandments, Moses asserts that such testing was to put the fear of God into Israel so that it might not sin (20:20). Israel’s testing of God (17:2, 7), despite not being punished, is remembered negatively (17:7; Deuteronomy 6:16; 9:22; 33:8; PsalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. 95:8).
Who brought you out of Egypt?
As God’s agent, Moses was commissioned to bring Israel out of Egypt (3:10). God’s self-presentation is as the one “who brought you [Israel] out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (20:2), but, at Sinai, Israel attributes its exodus from Egypt to its own idol (32:4). In the aftermath, God attributes the act to Moses, and Moses in turn attributes it to God; Moses’ attribution prevails.
YHWH fights
Pharaoh fears the Israelites will become so prolific that they will join Egypt’s enemies to fight against them. As Israel fears the approaching Egyptians at the sea, Moses promises that God will fight for Israel (14:14), but, in sharp irony, it is the Egyptians who make the confession that God fights for Israel (14:25). The key question is not for whom Israel fights, but for whom God fights.
