Session Four
Egypt: and Exodus: Exodus (Leviticus):
1700 – 1280 BC
Red (the Red Sea): God Leads Israel Out of Bondage
Desert Wanderings: Numbers (Deuteronomy):
1280 – 1240 BC:
Tan (color of the desert): Israel Must Learn to Trust God
God’s Love Story:
· Exodus
· He allowed the suffering of slavery for those who turned away from Him in betraying Joseph and his father, Jacob
(Exodus 1:1).
· He planned to send them a redeemer, Moses, who came in a basket on the water like Noah’s ark (1:10).
· He showed His love in revealing His name, Yahweh (I am) to Moses (3:14).
· He revealed to Moses that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who will keep the covenant that He promised.
· He had mercy on His suffering people and freed them from slavery.
· He inflicted punishment on their afflicters, the Egyptians, with ten plagues and showed that He is the only true God.
· He showed mercy in sparing the first born of the Israelites from death requiring the blood of the unblemished lamb (12:5) as a sign for the angel. Later on Jesus, the first born, unblemished Lamb of God, would offer His blood in sacrifice (12:6) for our redemption.
· He offered guidelines for the religious feast of the Passover (12:14) for the Israelites to celebrate and remember.
· He freed the Israelites by drowning the Egyptian pursuers in the Red Sea (14:28). The Israelites, once they had passed through the water, were free. Christians are free from Original Sin after Baptism in water.
· He provided liturgical chants: Horse and Rider…(15:1)
· He provided manna (16:4), food for the journey of liberation. Later on, Jesus would provide the Bread of Life.
· He provided water for the thirsty even when the Israelites grumbled (17:7)
· He showed His intention to make everyone part of the kingdom of priests (19:6).
· He gave His people the Ten Commandments (20:1), laws of the covenant, and practical rules of conduct such as the lex talionis and rules (21:23) for the Sabbath and jubilee year.
· He gave His people the Tabernacle (26:1), His dwelling place, and ways to worship including how to observe the Sabbath and special feasts (23:15): unleavened bread (Passover), grain harvest (Pentecost), fruit harvest (Booths). In this Tabernacle he was offering to renew the special relationship he had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He also gave details on making the ark of the covenant (25:10) to be kept in the tabernacle. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, would later be honored as the Ark of the Covenant.
· He gave His people a priesthood, the Levitical Priesthood (33:26), since by their actions (making and worshipping the golden calf) they could not all be part of the kingdom of priests, an offer renewed in the New Testament (1 Peter: 2:9).
· He purified His people to enter the Promised Land by having them wander in the desert for forty years (40:1).
· Summary: Exodus recounts the Egyptian oppression of Jacob’s ever-increasing descendants and their miraculous deliverance by God through Moses, who led them across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai where they entered into a covenant with the Lord. Covenantal laws and detailed prescriptions for the tabernacle (a portable sanctuary foreshadowing the Jerusalem Temple) and its service are followed by a dramatic episode of rebellion, repentance, and divine mercy. After the broken covenant is renewed, the tabernacle is constructed, and the cloud signifying God’s glorious presence descends to cover it.
God’s Love Story:
· Numbers
· He separated the tribes in preparation for entering the Promised Land (Numbers 2:34)
· He established order and ritual in the priesthood (7:1)
· He punished the greedy and the jealous (11:34)
· He favored Joshua (Lord Saves like Jesus) to lead his people unafraid of the Canaanites (13:16)
· He established authority among his priests—Aaron’s staff blooms (17:17)
· He provided healing from snakebites (21:4) with the bronze serpent. Jesus would provide salvation by His Cross.
· He punishes those who worship false gods (Baal) (25:1)
· The generation who had rejected the plans of Joshua and Caleb to enter the Promised Land and had decided to follow the fears of the other ten spies of Canaan would die in the desert. A new, purified generation, would trust in Him and follow Joshua and Caleb to battle the inhabitants of Canaan.
· Summary: Numbers continues the story of that journey begun in Exodus, and describes briefly the experiences of the Israelites for a period of thirty-eight years, from the end of their encampment at Sinai to their arrival at the border of the promised land. Numerous legal ordinances are interspersed in the account, making the book a combination of law and history.
Session Four Summary: Once again God shows His love for His people by delivering them from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus). He cares for their needs on their journey, provides rules for their behavior (Ten Commandments), and establishes guidelines for their worship (a tabernacle, priests, ways to worship). He freed them from slavery in Egypt so they could worship Him. After the broken covenant is renewed, the tabernacle is constructed, and the cloud signifying God’s glorious presence descends to cover it. In the desert (Numbers) God purifies His people to prepare them to enter the Promised Land. He taught Israel to walk in faith through forty years wandering in the desert. He challenges them to keep their part of the covenant by obeying Him, being loyal to Him, and loving Him. He will provide guidance for us when we are challenged with major changes in our lives and will always require obedience, loyalty, and love. As we finish reading the Pentateuch, we thank God for his merciful love in raising a very imperfect people into becoming a Holy Nation. We are challenged to teach our own children the lessons of the Pentateuch. We begin to realize that scripture was written for our instruction to give us hope (Romans 15:14). And we know from our reading the Word of God that He hears our cry. Moses, Aaron, Burning Bush, Ten Plagues, Passover, Exodus, Red Sea, Manna, Sinai, Desert, Golden Calf, Levitical Priesthood, Tabernacle, Shema: The Lord our God is One Lord.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1. He is God of One Holy Tribe. He is the God of Moses’ forefathers who promised a special place for the people and made a special covenant with them. By these words, God reassures Moses that his covenant promises will be fulfilled - that he has seen the plight of his people and is ready to make good on his Word.
2. The ten plagues (tests) show that this is the true God, the one God. The other gods are nothing. Every Egyptian god is without power, a false god.
3. He accomplishes this with the Passover (the name of the annual remembrance of this event) when the first-born sons of Egypt are slain and the first-born sons of Israel are passed over. According to God’s promise: “Seeing the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and not let the destroyer come into your houses to strike you down.” (Exodus 12:23)
4. The Sacrament of Baptism is prefigured by the crossing of the Red Sea. Those who are baptized are freed from sin like the children of Israel are freed from the enemy. After entering death-dealing water (Christ's death), they rise with him to new life and a new relationship with God.
5. The Ten Commandments free us from the false gods of (1) money, (2) pride, (3) work for its own sake, (4) total self-reliance, (5) power, (6) sex for its own sake, (7) materialism, (8) smooth talk, (9) lust, (10) vainglory. Answers will vary. False gods are anything that we put ahead of God. What do people put ahead of God when they skip Mass on Sunday?
6. God gives the people: a tabernacle (a place and a method of worship); a law (the Ten Commandments, rules of behavior); a priesthood (leadership to follow the guidelines of worship).
7. The tabernacle signifies the presence of God among the people and the restoration of a broken relationship.
8. God makes Israel wander for forty years in the desert because of the forty days the spies spent in the land but were unwilling to enter for fear of defeat. God wants to train them to live without the influence of Egypt and to bring up a new generation that can grow in trusting God. Forty years will allow time for them to learn to worship properly under the leadership of the priests, to follow the Law, and to become a Holy people ready to enter the promised land.
9. I Cor 10:11: These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Trust in God, not in yourself. Follow the law (10 Commandments): Love God (worship Him properly) and your neighbor. Do not follow the false gods of any pagan culture. Teach your children. Answers will vary.
· Leviticus: The name “Leviticus” was given to the third book of the Pentateuch by the ancient Greek translators because a good part of this book deals with concerns of the priests, who are of the tribe of Levi. God shows His love by teaching us to be holy, keeping ourselves in a state of legal purity, or external sanctity, as a sign of our intimate union with Him.
· Deuteronomy: The English title comes from the Greek word deuteronomion, meaning second law. This title is appropriate because the book replicates much of the legal content of the previous books, serving as a “second law.” It brings to a close the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch with a retrospective account of Israel’s past. God is merciful in providing guidelines for the Israelites as they enter the Promised Land. He challenges them to obey the Great Commandment (6:4): “…you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” He challenges to keep them to keep their part of the covenant by obeying Him, being loyal to Him, and loving Him. He will provide guidance for us when we are challenged with major changes in our lives and will always require obedience, loyalty, and love.
Next: Session Five
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