--personal thoughts--
as we begin to be attentive to thoughts we have had and things we have pondered as we've been reading exodus, i want to open the blog with the visual that is recorded in 19:4, "you yourselves have seen what I did to the egyptians, and how i bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself." *this is so very beautiful.* He rescued them and carried them...as on eagles' wings. amazing....
overview: exodus opens with the explanation of how the israelites came to be in slavery. we see the king of egypt's fear of the people (as they had multiplied and become great) and his motivation to exercise authority over them, force their hard labors, and then ultimately to control their population through the horrific plan to kill the hebrew baby boys. we are introduced to moses through his mother's action to save him and his adoption by the pharoah's daughter. his move to midian in adulthood and marriage to zipporah is recorded in chapter 2. i want to note, at the end of chapter 2, the israelite's cry for help that had risen up to God. scripture says in verses 24 and 25,"God heard...and God remembered His covenant...and God took notice of them." God would use moses; chapter 3 records the Lord's appearance to him in the bush that was burning but not consumed. it records how moses was commissioned to go to egypt...and then, chapter 4 illustrates moses' hesitancy and how aaron was commissioned to go with him. very important to observe in this interaction is moses' fear, God's anger in their discourse because of moses' timidity/cowardice?...His concession to allow aaron to be a spokesman was very evidently in response to moses' fear. we see in chapter 5, an initial blowback of the pharaoh as he was first approached and israel's labor increased. chapter 6 records assurance that God gave to moses...that He was with him and would show up! verse 7: "...you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the egyptians." and verse 8: "...I am the Lord." and we see record of the sons of israel including reference to moses' lineage...his tribe, the levites, and his mother, jochebed. chapters 7-11 record God's great wonders as displayed in response to pharoah's hardened heart and resistance to God's demand that His people be freed. the plagues of egypt illustrated the sovereignty of God and His power. chapter 12 includes details of the passover lamb...the last plague...then, the feast of unleavened bread and following...the exodus. chapter 13 records God's instruction for the people to sanctify their firstborn and His visual leadership of them through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. we see the dividing of the red sea and the pursuit of pharoah's army and their destruction in chapter 14. chapter 15 records the israelites' song to the Lord in thanksgiving of their deliverance. verse 13: "in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed." we also see in chap 15 God's provision of water. manna is introduced in chapter 16...again, we see God's provision for them...and we see the observance of the sabbath in obedience. water is again provided as recorded in chapter 17. battle with the amalekites was also given reference in this chapter, and the Lord fought for them. chapter 18 records moses' visitation by his father-in-law, jethro, and his acknowledgment of God as Deliverer. jethro confessed, as recorded in verse 11, "now i know that the Lord is greater than all the gods." this is significant. we see that jethro counsels moses concerning his role as judge among the peoples and the delegation of his duties. chapter 19 is beyond-description-amazing, as we read here how God came down to moses and the people on mount sinai. incredible. and finally, chapter 20 records, of course, the law as given to moses through the ten commandments...on stone...His code for their living as His people.
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