The Life of Moses

Exodus – Outline 1:1-2:25The Setting: Growth and Oppression of Israel in Egypt 3:1-6:27The Call and Commissioning of Moses 6:28-15:21The Miraculous Deliverance from Bondage 15:22-18:27The Journey to Mount Sinai 19:1-24:11The Covenant at Sinai 24:12-31:18Instructions Regarding the Tabernacle 32:1-34:35Rebellion, Covenant Breaking, Covenant Renewal 35:1-39:43The Construction of the Tabernacle and Its Furnishings 40:1-38The Tabernacle is Set Up and the Glory Descends Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 34-42

Saved or Swamped by the Hand of God

Faith or Nostalgia? – Exodus 13:17-22 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”…(Exodus 13:19)

Faith or Nostalgia? – Exodus 13:17-22 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” … (Genesis 50:25)

Who Would Lead? By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night…(Exodus 13:21)

Peter Enns- N.I.V. Application Commentary Trusting on very old promises…leads to very sure faith…intergenerational faith… We may scuttle the past…and live in a vacuum…excessively focused on the present… We may worship the past…and idolatrously over focus on it…and like Joseph’s bones…continually carry relics around with us…

Faith or Fear? – Exodus 14:1-29 Verse 1-9 Pharaoh’s Perspective

Pharaoh’s Perspective – 14:1-9 He was not steeped in Egypt’s history… His tutors and governors had been unwise in not reminding him… He had departed from the divine right of Kings…in the ancient world…where…the King is the…best born…the best brought up…the best read…the best experienced…the largest mined and the noblest hearted man in all the land…and always be grounded in wisdom, truth and justice…

Terrence Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation Commentary The hardening by God does not violate Pharaoh’s intention…it simply intensifies it…

The People’s Perspective – 14:10- Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” … (Exodus 13:11-12)

Walter Brueggemann New Interpreter’s Commentary It is difficult to sustain a revolution, because one loses the benefits of the old system, well before there are any tangible benefits from what is promised…

Moses Perspective Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

God Acts! – 14:15-29) Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on… (Exodus 14:15)

Confession He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”…(Exodus 14:25)

God Wins! The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived…(Exodus 14:28)

Conclusion - Our God Saves! 14:30-31

Peter Enns The application of the Exodus theme in our lives today could not be more central…The sea through which the church has passed has remained parted since the coming of Christ and will not go ‘back to its place’ (Exodus 14:27) until our world comes to an end…The meaning of the Exodus for Christians today, therefore, is to be understood in light of our relationship to Christ…the new Moses…