Out of Slavery

1. Out of Slavery Bible Literacy Chapter 3

2. The descendants of Jacob are now known as the Israelites. • Trouble is on the horizon. (Exodus 1:8-12) • The great themes of Exodus: • Oppression • Exile • Liberation • The journey home

3. Exodus is a “march toward a goal, a moral progress, a transformation.” • The journey from Egypt to Canaan is the journey from bondage to the Promised Land.

4. Moses and the Israelite’s delivery from bondage has been remembered by people struggling for freedom in many times and places. • American revolutionaries saw America as “God’s new Israel” and attacked King George III as a “British Pharaoh.” • The slaves and abolitionists of America before the Civil Wars described their conditions in Exodus terms. • As well did the holocaust victims under Nazi rule.

5. Moses • Moses emerged as one of the Israealites’ greatest leaders and prophets. • However, his survival as a child was miraculous. (Read Exodus 2). • Moses was raised as an Egyptian but associated with his own people as well. • After killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave, Moses fled Egypt for the surrounding wilderness.

6. Moses, continued. • Moses rescued seven daughters of the priest of Midian and was welcomed into Jethro’s house. Jethro gave Moses one of his daughters as a wife. (Exodus 2:11-21 Which daughter did Moses marry?) • Moses went from being a prince of Egypt to herding the sheep of Midian.

7. The Burning Bush • Moses received a call from God in the form of a burning bush. • God called Moses by name and instructed him to take off his sandals out of respect for holy ground. • God identified himself as the “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” • Exodus 3:1-8 What does God want to do for the Israelites? • How is the land he wants to give them described?

8. The Burning Bush, continued. • God’s call to Moses made him one of the great prophets. • Prophet-one who speaks for God • God allowed Aaron to act as Moses’ speaker.

9. Pharaoh’s Hardened Heart • God warned Moses, “I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” • A heard-hearted man is one who does not allow his softer, warmer emotions to affect his actions; he is not open to compassion, love, or wonder. • How did Pharaoh respond when Moses and Aaron demanded that he “Let my people go”?

10. The Ten Plagues of Egypt • Rivers ran with blood. • Frogs infested the land. • Gnats swarmed over Egypt. • Flies swarmed. • A deadly disease struck the Egyptian’s livestock. • Festering boils tortured people and animals alike. • Huge clumps of hail killed beasts and people. • Locusts devoured the crops the hail had spared. • A thick darkness descended on Egypt for three days. • The Passover-Read Exodus 12

11. The Passover-Exodus 12 • What was the tenth plague? • How were the Israelites to prepare for it? • When did the plague strike? • What instructions did God give the Israelites? • What were the results of the plague?

12. The Passover, continued. • Today, Jews around the world continue to commemorate the passage out of Egypt with the yearly festival of Pesach, or Passover with a meal known as Seder consisting of symbolic foods. • The memorial meal of Pesach has entered the Christian tradition, too, because the New Testament describes the last supper of Jesus and his disciples, before Jesus’ crucifixion, as a Passover meal.

13. Parting the Red Sea • As the Israelites left Egypt, God’s presence accompanied them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. • Pharaoh sent troops, horses, and chariots after them to drag them back into captivity. • How did God intervene? Exodus 14:13-14, 21-22 • Safe on the other side, the Israelites watched as the water returned and devoured Pharaoh’s pursuing army.