God responds by first turning Pharaoh’s evil plot upside-down. Pharaoh has so redefined good and evil according to his own interests that murder of innocent children becomes “good.” Egypt has become worse than Babylon, and Israel cries out for help against this new form of evil. This Pharaoh is the worst character in the Bible so far, and his kingdom epitomizes humanity’s rebellion against God. It’s bad, but it gets worse when he orders that all Israelite boys be drowned in the Nile River. Pharaoh attempts to destroy the Israelites by brutally enslaving them and using them in hard physical labor. So, just as in Genesis, humanity rebels against God. He thinks this growing Israelite immigrant group is a threat to his power. The new Pharaoh, however, does not see Israel as a blessing. When humanity forfeited God’s blessing through sin and rebellion, God’s response was to choose Abraham’s family as the vehicle through which he would restore his blessing to the world. 1:28), which reminds us of the bigger story so far. This phrase is a deliberate echo of the blessing God gave humanity back in the garden (Gen.

For now, we will focus on the first half, in which centuries have passed and the Israelites “were fruitful and multiplied and filled the land” (Exod. The book also has a second half that takes place at the foot of Mount Sinai. So the family lived and grew in Egypt as a safe haven for many years.Īfter a few hundred years, the story of Exodus begins.The word “exodus” refers to the major event that takes place in the first half of the book, Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Abraham’s grandson Jacob and his family of seventy made their way down to Egypt, where Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, had been elevated to second in command over Egypt.

Exodus is the second book of the Bible, and it picks up the biblical storyline right where Genesis left off.

Exodus to a brave new world pdf