1. Chapter 3 Exodus & the Covenant of Sinai
Historical basis for Hebrew slavery in Egypt
Hebrew alphabet was different from
Egyptian symbols
Original Hebrew word for God was “El”
“El” has been found in a mine dating to about
1,500 BCE in a mine in Egypt
The words were in Hebrew script in a prayer format
“El, save me” indicating slavery conditions
Historians believe the slaves lived, worked and
died in that mine

2. Where did the Jews live? Not all Jews worked in mines
Archaeologists have found a major Hebrew slave city near a major Egyptian city development site at the right timeframe for Exodus
Hebrew slaves were used to cut and move massive stones
The Egyptian city was Pi Ramses was located on a branch of the Nile where water does not flow today
Remains of Pi Ramses can still be seen today

3. Moses – Egyptian or Hebrew
What triggered Exodus?
Conditions for Hebrews in Egypt had changed in the 450 years from the death of Joseph
Israelites had gone from citizens to slaves
Then a Pharaoh issued an order that all Israelite males babies must be killed at birth
Moses – Egyptian or Hebrew
Biblical story of Moses, the reed basket and the Pharaoh's daughter to explain how he avoided Pharaoh’s order to kill all newborn Hebrew males

4. Moses continued Brought up in his own Hebrew house until an adult
Then introduced to the Egyptian court as a Royal Price – how?
Moses is aware of his Hebrew lineage
He sees an Egyptian overseer hurt a Hebrew slave and kills the Egyptian
Aware that his crime is know and that even his Royal status will not protect him flees to the Eastern desert, home of the nomadic Midians
Meets a priest, marries his daughter and settles down to be a shepherd

5. Meanwhile back in Egypt
Nothing improves for the Hebrew salves
They forget about their God by and large but continue to cry out to El for help
But their God has neither forgotten nor abandoned them
God appears to Moses in a burning bush not consumed by the flames and orders Moses to return to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free & take his brother Aaron along
Moses asks by what name he should refer to God and God reveals His sacred name Yahweh meaning “I am who am”

6. The Hebrews and Yahweh
The Hebrews in Egypt had degraded into small groups of families and tribes and had lost any cohesion they might have had before in terms of their overall identity as “Jews”
There is no evidence that Yahweh was a name for God among the Jews before Moses’ time
Those Hebrews who adopted Yahweh as God did so but do not seem to have recognized Him as their only God or as the universal God
Yahweh represented the unutterable mystery of God and instead they used the term Adonai, meaning “the Lord”

7. The Hebrews and Yahweh continued
Only later did Jews come to understand that Yahweh was the one and only God
Yahweh was not the cruel master other Gods had been but was caring and loving
There is no real mention of exactly how Moses introduced Yahweh to the Hebrews
There is no information on when the Hebrews dropped using the term EL and used Yahweh to represent their one God
Read Exodus 3:1-22 and 4:1-17 in class

8. The Hebrews and Yahweh continued
The Israelites are happy when Moses tells them that Yahweh has heard their prayer
But when Moses approaches Pharaoh he gets a cold reception to the idea of letting his slaves go free and accuses Moses of try to convince the slaves not to work, so Pharaoh doubles the salves’ workload!
So the slaves turn instead on Moses and tell him that Yahweh has not protected them and in fact has made their lot worse and wanted nothing more to do with Yahweh
So Yahweh promises to take action

9. The Hebrews and Yahweh continued
Read Exodus 4:27-31; 5:1-23; 6:1 in class
After 400 hundred years in slavery the Hebrews felt that they no longer knew their God
The Hebrews needed to be convinced of Yahweh’s protection by seeing or experiencing some miracles
But Yahweh still knew them
Before we start talking about the plagues God brought on Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let his people go, let’s read in class:

10. “I am who I am”
Might be expressed as “I am the One who is always present”
Hebrews out of respect would not utter the name of Yahweh out loud
Instead they substituted the title “Adonai,” meaning “The Lord,” the term they use even until this day
As mentioned before, Christian bibles have adopted the term “Lord” meaning “divine sovereignty”
Moses and Aaron deliver God’s message to the Hebrews who realize God had heard them

11. “Let My People Go”
When Pharaoh received that message we have to remember that he saw himself as a god and was unmoved
Pharaoh doubles the Hebrews work load and the Hebrews want no more to do with this Lord
God at that point promises to take action
The Hebrews need miracles to be convinced of their God’s promises after years as slaves
They no longer know their God, but He knows them

12. Plagues
That here may be a scientific explanation for the natural cause of each plague does not change the miraculous start, series, continuation and end of these plagues
Water turns to blood
Frogs overrun the land
Gnats or Lice
Flies torment the Egyptians
Livestock deceased (cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep)
Boils plague the people
Thunder and hail destroys the crops
Locusts eat what is left of the crop
Darkness covers the land for 3 days, and finally
Death for the first born of the people and animals of Egypt (for which there is no known scientific explanation known)

13. Let’s turn to our Bibles and read
in re The Plagues:
6:28-30
7:1-25
8:1-11
11:1-10
in re Pharaoh’s hard heart:
7:22-23
8:4-15
9:27-28
9:33-35
10:8-11
10:16

14. What was in Pharaoh’s Heart?
10 times the Bible says both that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and that he was naturally stubborn
Can both be true at the same time?
The human heart can be hardened by people flinging itself against something more powerful than themselves
And the Pharaoh seeing himself as a god probably did not want to give in to mere slaves
The Hebrews prepare for Passover so the angel of death will pass over their homes on the last plague