Bible: Exodus

Impact

The core ideas of the book of Exodus are also the core ideas of Judaism and Christianity, so it is not surprising that this book has had a formative influence on the shaping of both religious traditions. Three concepts in particular, which are crucial to the Exodus narrative, permeate the thinking of Christians and Jews: covenant, divine law, and redemption.

A covenant is a contract entered into by two or more parties that carries with it a set of reciprocal obligations. Biblical covenants, and particularly covenants between God and the Israelites, are characterized by privileges bestowed by God on the Israelite nation and responsibilities that the Israelites take upon themselves in gratitude for God’s generosity. Chief among those responsibilities is obedience to God’s will and a steadfast refusal to worship any other deity. Thus, in Exodus 19:8, when the Israelites are told by YHWH that they are to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” they respond by saying “We will do everything the Lord [YHWH] has said,” thereby confirming the covenant relationship that will define them and their purpose in history from that time forward. However differently Christians and Jews have interpreted this concept historically, the idea that those who enter into a relationship with God are bound by that relationship is common to both religious cultures.

As for the concept of divine law, that idea is writ large on the pages of the book of Exodus, where a complex body of legislation appears, regulating almost every aspect of human life. These laws, and in particular the Ten Commandments, are regarded as especially binding because they come from God and because they represent the obligatory part of the covenant relationship. To reject God’s commandments, biblical writers felt, was to reject God himself, while fulfillment of his commandments was the primary purpose of human life and the principal obligation of those who had entered into a covenant relationship with God. These laws, the book of Exodus insists, are not human inventions but rather expressions of the divine will that may not be altered or set aside.

Finally, the idea of redemption presupposes something to be redeemed from, and in Exodus that something is slavery. Clearly, the Israelites are incapable of releasing themselves from enslavement to Pharaoh, and some form of divine intercession is needed if they are ever to regain their freedom. That intercession takes the form, first, of a series of plagues that gradually destroy Pharaoh’s will to resist their (and God’s) demands and, second, of the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea as it pursues the fleeing Israelites. These acts of divine rescue then become paradigmatic for later biblical writers who see God’s hand in every act of liberation, not just from slavery or conquest but also from sin. Integral to both Christian and Jewish thought, then, is the belief that the God who has created the world also governs it and periodically acts to save those who call upon him, especially those who are faithful to their covenanted relationship with him.