Exodus 19 – Some of the interesting observations made by the Schocken translator in his introduction to chapters 19-24 include the following: the mountain serves as a bridge between heaven and earth [Augustine would run with this image in his sermons]—and only Moses is permitted to ascend it.

Mt. Sinai itself never became a holy site for the Israelites.  The…

Exodus 18 – Moses’s father-in-law, Jethro (AKA Reuel) brings Zipporah, Moses’ wife, and their two sons, Gershom/Sojourner There and Eliezer/God’s Help, to Moses at the mountain of God, and he rejoices to hear all that the Lord has done.  The Schocken Bible points out that the wilderness or “trek” narratives, Exodus and Numbers, have six stations or stops between Egypt and Sinai, and then six again from Sinai to the Promised Land.  Here they…

Exodus 17 – The people in the desert are thirsty and again they complain to Moses.  Again, they belabor Moses with their complaints about the things they lack as “free” men. “Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me” (17:4).

God instructs Moses to take his staff, “the one [he] used when [he] struck the water of the Nile” (17:5) and to strike a rock at Horeb, near Mt. Sinai so that water will come out of…

Exodus 16 – The Israelites take the “long way around” to Canaan, through the Wilderness of Shur, around the western coast of the Sinai Peninsula through Marah and Elim, then to the Wilderness of Sin - see the map if you are as unfamiliar with this territory as I was: http://www.wall-maps.com/bible/232783-over.htm - you have to love the internet. 

Here they begin to grumble: “Would that we had died at…

Exodus 15 – There follows here Moses’ famous “Song at the Sea” which the Schocken Bible editors aptly say, “provides a natural boundary in the book of Exodus. It sets off the Egypt traditions from those of Sinai and the wilderness, and brings to a spectacular close the sage of liberation.”

“So YHWH delivered Israel on that day from the hand of Egypt; Israel saw Egypt dead by the shore of the sea, and Israel saw the great hand that…

Exodus 14  - Pharaoh decides to pursue the people and overtake them encamped by the Sea.  “As Pharaoh drew near, the Children of Israel lifted up their eyes: . . . They were exceedingly afraid. And the Children of Israel cried out to YHWH” (14:10). The people start blaming Moses for putting them in this predicament (14:11).  “What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave…

Exodus 13 – The requirements of observing this pilgrimage-festival are outlined.  The importance of the memory for their children is stressed.  So, ways of actually putting the memory on their bodies—the phylacteries worn on the body—are stressed.  Schocken’s note draws a parallel to the place in Song of Songs where it says, “Set me as a seal upon your heart . . .upon your arm” (Song 8:6).  The first-born (males) of every womb are dedicated to the Lord too (redeemed is the word they…

Exodus 12:29-51 - Death hits in the middle of the night (12:12:29). Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron, and they are told to leave.  They “asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth” (12:34-35=36).

Not counting children there are 600,000—a crowd of mixed ancestry (12:38) with…

Exodus 12:1-28 – The passage starts as an instructional on how the event shall be celebrated throughout Jewish history. The actual event begins around verse 21.

Here is the instructional: The month of Passover shall be reckoned the first month of the year for Jews.  On the tenth day of this month, every family must get a lamb (or join with a neighbor and get one)—sheep or goat—keep it till the fourteenth and then slaughter it in the evening. …

Exodus 10 – The Lord says that the obstinacy of the Pharaoh and his servants is designed to make the signs and wonders of the Lord more glorious and memorable (10:1). The next plague, the eighth, is locusts. By now Pharaoh’s servants are begging him to let the Hebrews go. “’How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the Lord their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?’” (10:7)

Pharaoh “caves” to his unhappy officials and…

Exodus 9 – God tells Moses to tell the Pharaoh that he must “Let my people go so they can worship me. If you refuse to hold them and refuse to let them go, the hand of the Lord will strike all you livestock—your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats—with a deadly plague” (9:2-3). The livestock of the Hebrews will not be touched.

Pharaoh doesn’t yield, so the Lord sends this fifth plague. Still the Pharaoh is not convinced.

Then the…

Exodus 8 – The plague of frogs is brought about by Aaron stretching out the staff over the streams, canals and pools of Egypt.  The Egyptian magicians match him in this one too.  Pharaoh at first tells them he will let the people go, but he reneges (8:11).

Then Aaron stretches out his staff and turns dust into gnats – the third plague.  This the magicians cannot match, but Pharaoh is not moved.

Then the Lord tells Moses to threaten swarms…

Exodus 6 – God assures Moses that He will punish Pharaoh. He repeats to Moses the essence of his promises: that through his appearances to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He established a covenant which He is now acting upon – He will rescue His people from their slavery; He will take them as His own.  And the people “will know that I, the Lord am [their] God when I free [them] from the labor of the Egyptians and bring [them] into the land which I swore [to give their ancestors]”…

Exodus 5 - Then they go together – Moses and Aaron - to ask Pharaoh to let them go “hold a festival [“hag”] for me in the desert” [“hag” in Hebrew is related to hajj in Arabic].

Pharaoh wants to know “Who is YHWH, that I should hearken to his voice” (5:2). Pharaoh accuses them of just being lazy and looking for an excuse to get out of doing the work he wants them to do. Instead of letting them go, he increases their…

Exodus 3 – “One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro . . . He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush . . . Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up” (3:1-2).

Moses goes over to the bush and tries to find out what is happening, and God speaks to him “out of the midst of the bush” (3:4), calling…

Exodus

Introduction: We turn here from the origins of the earth’s peoples—nations, races and clans—to the origins of the Jewish people religiously and politically.  While we have no “outside”—extra-biblical—sources to weigh historical information against, the [historically/culturally] experiential impact of the exodus memory/story is impossible to set aside. 

The memory/story, which is recounted here, is not only reality-orienting for the Jewish people,…

Job 40 – Now God asks Job for some reply. And Job is brought low. “See, I am of small worth; what can I answer You? I clap my hand to my mouth” (40:4).

And God responds to him: “Gird your loins like a man; I will ask, and you will inform Me. Will you prove me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (40:7-9).

The powers of man are second only to those of…

Job 38 – Finally God speaks out of the tempest, the whirlwind:

“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them” (38:2-3).

He is speaking to Job but really through Job to all of us: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?” (38:4) In a way, God speaks the very same arguments Elihu spoke, but the difference is He is speaking directly and…

Job 36 – Elihu speaks again. He speaks to “justify my Maker” (36:3) as a “man of sound opinions” (36:4).  He, like the other “friends” refuses to let Job imply that God is not a God of justice or a God who cares for the poor. These are opinions all who love God will defend. The “fates” that men endure are fates that flow from God’s justice, he says. “If they will serve obediently, they shall spend their days in happiness. . . but if they are not obedient, they shall perish by…

Job 34 – Elihu continues: The reason God gives us is meant to weigh arguments so that we can decide what is just and unjust. Job has declared that he is right and that God has deprived him of justice (34:5). But while he differs somewhat in how he thinks he’s come to truth, he essentially agrees that God does “repay people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve” (34:11).

“If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life…