Week 6: Moses and the Exodus
Week 6: Moses and the Exodus
The book of Genesis ends with two deaths in Egyptian exile. First Jacob died and was taken back to Canaan to be buried in the cave of Machpelah, near Hebron, which Abraham had bought as a burial place for his relatives. Later Joseph died, also in Egypt, although with a double assurance, namely that in due course God would bring his people into the land of promise, and meanwhile that they would bring his bones to the family burial ground.
Now we move on and will spend this week following the career of Moses, Israel’s greatest leader after Abraham. It was Moses who secured the release of the Israelites from their oppression in Egypt, who led them across the Red Sea (or “the Sea of Reeds”) into safety, and who took them to Mount Sinai. Moses continued to lead the people during their forty years of wilderness wanderings. It was he who assembled them in the desert east of the Jordan, ready to cross over into the Promised Land, and who reminded them of their history, pleading with them to be faithful to the covenant. This story of Moses dominates four books of the Pentateuch—Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Finally, he died, having seen the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, though he was not permitted to enter it.
Sunday: A Cruel Oppression
Monday: The Call of Moses
Tuesday: The Challenge to Pharaoh
Wednesday: The Passover
Thursday: The Exodus from Egypt
Friday: The Blessings of Mount Sinai
Saturday: Wilderness Wanderings