Moses and the exodus
Let my people go
From a basket on the Nile to the view from Mount Nebo: how God sets his people free from slavery, leads them through the sea and gives his ten words at Sinai. What the Bible says, and what scholars ask about it, kept neatly apart.
Colour in the journey through the seaThree times forty years
Moses lived to a hundred and twenty: forty years a prince in Egypt, forty years a shepherd in Midian, forty years a leader in the wilderness. Walk through his life step by step.
Brought up at Pharaoh's court, 'instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians'.
On the run, married to Zipporah, keeping sheep in the wilderness.
He leads God's people out of Egypt and for forty years through the wilderness.
Step 1 of 13: Slaves in Egypt
Slaves in Egypt
Jacob's family had come to Egypt in the time of Joseph and had grown into a great people there. A new Pharaoh, 'who did not know Joseph', makes them slaves: making bricks and building cities. When they keep on growing, he orders every newborn boy to be thrown into the Nile.
God's people lived in Egypt. A harsh king made them work very hard. They cried out to God for help.
Exodus 1The ten plagues
Ten times God asks Pharaoh to let his people go. Choose a plague and read what happened.
Water turned to blood
Aaron strikes the water of the Nile with the staff. It turns to blood, the fish die, the river stinks and no one can drink its water any more.
The water of the great river turned red. No one could drink it any more.
Exodus 7:14–25- The magicians do the same.Exodus 7:22
Egypt and its gods
The Nile was the life of Egypt. Many interpreters point out that the Egyptians worshipped the flooding of the Nile as a god (Hapi).
What the Bible itself says: God executes judgement on 'all the gods of Egypt'.Exodus 12:12Numbers 33:4
The Passover table
The last night in Egypt. Choose what you see on and around the table: what does Exodus say about it, and how does it point to Jesus?
The lamb
A lamb without blemish, a year old, one for each household. None of its bones may be broken.
Every family had a lamb without a single spot. Later Jesus is called the Lamb of God.
Exodus 12:3–5, 46How it points to Jesus
John the Baptist points to Jesus: 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' At the cross not one of his bones is broken.
John 1:29The route through the wilderness
From Rameses through the sea to Sinai, Kadesh and Mount Nebo. Exactly where the sea and the mountain were, we do not know for sure: this is the traditional southern route.
Rameses
On the night of the Passover Israel sets out from Rameses.
Quick, let's go! The people leave Egypt.
Exodus 12:37–42The ten words
First God sets his people free, then he gives his commandments. The text is the same in every church, but churches count them differently. Choose a numbering and see how the numbers shift.
| Ref. · Orth. · Angl. | Cath. · Luth. | The word |
|---|---|---|
| – | – | I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.Exodus 20:2 |
| I | I | You shall have no other gods before me.Exodus 20:3 |
| II | I | You shall not make for yourself an image to bow down to it.Exodus 20:4–6 |
| III | II | You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.Exodus 20:7 |
| IV | III | Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.Exodus 20:8–11 |
| V | IV | Honour your father and your mother.Exodus 20:12 |
| VI | V | You shall not murder.Exodus 20:13 |
| VII | VI | You shall not commit adultery.Exodus 20:14 |
| VIII | VII | You shall not steal.Exodus 20:15 |
| IX | VIII | You shall not bear false witness.Exodus 20:16 |
| X | IX | You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.Exodus 20:17 |
| X | X | You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour.Exodus 20:17 |
- The Bible speaks of 'ten words' (Exodus 34:28), but does not number them itself. That is why churches count them differently, without a single word being different.
- Catholics and Lutherans follow Augustine: no other gods and no images together form the first commandment, and coveting is split in two. Lutherans follow the order of Exodus 20:17 (the house first), Catholics that of Deuteronomy 5:21 (the wife first).
- Reformed, Orthodox and Anglican Christians count the ban on images as the second commandment and coveting as one commandment. In Jewish tradition, 'I am the LORD your God' is itself the first word.
- The Bible says nothing about how the commandments were divided over the two stone tablets. Often the first tablet is taken to be about God and the second about our neighbour, just as Jesus sums up the law.
God gave ten words so that his people could live well: with God and with each other. Jesus put it like this: love God, and love one another.
How the New Testament reads it
Jesus and the apostles read the story of Moses as a story that points to Christ.
Moses in the line of faith: hidden as a baby, the treasures of Egypt left behind, the Passover kept, the sea crossed.
Hebrews 11:23–29The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17Moses promised 'a prophet like me'. In Jerusalem Peter says that Jesus is that prophet.
Acts 3:22Stephen retells the whole story of Moses before the Council in Jerusalem.
Acts 7:17–44Moses was faithful as a servant in God's house; Christ is faithful as the Son over that house.
Hebrews 3:1–6The cloud, the sea, the manna and the rock: 'These things took place as examples for us.'
1 Corinthians 10:1–11In the book of Revelation the redeemed sing 'the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb'.
Revelation 15:3
History and archaeology
When was the exodus, and what do we know outside the Bible? Scholars and traditions differ on this. Here is an honest account of what is certain and what is not.
When?
- c. 1446 BC
1 Kings 6:1 says the temple was built 480 years after the exodus. Counting back from Solomon brings you to the 15th century BC.
1 Kings 6:1 - c. 1270–1250 BC
Exodus 1:11 names the store city of Rameses. A city of that name (Pi-Ramesses) grew large under Ramesses II, in the 13th century BC. In that case 480 years would be a round number (twelve generations).
Exodus 1:11
Both dates have defenders, among believing and non-believing scholars alike. The Bible itself gives no year in our calendar.
Outside the Bible
No Egyptian text mentions the exodus. That says little: pharaohs rarely had their defeats recorded. The Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 BC) does already name a people 'Israel' in Canaan. How historical the story is in its details is something scholars disagree on strongly.
Which sea?
The Hebrew says yam suph, literally 'sea of reeds'. Some think of the lakes between Egypt and Sinai, others of the Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba. The Greek translation and the New Testament say 'Red Sea'.
Which mountain?
Since the fourth century, tradition has pointed to Jebel Musa (the 'mountain of Moses') in the south of Sinai; St Catherine's Monastery stands there. Other proposals lie in the north of Sinai or in Arabia. We do not know for certain.
Questions people ask
Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart?
Exodus says both: Pharaoh hardens his own heart (8:15, 8:32) and God hardens it (9:12). Many interpreters read it to mean that God leaves Pharaoh to the choice he had already made. Paul quotes it in Romans 9:17 to say that God uses even resistance to make his name known.
Were there really 600,000 men?
Exodus 12:37 speaks of 'about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children'. Together that would be more than two million people. Some interpreters read the Hebrew word eleph not as 'thousand' but as 'clan' or 'military unit', which gives a much smaller people. Others keep to the ordinary number. It remains an open question.
How long did Israel live in Egypt?
Exodus 12:40 says 430 years. The Greek translation (the Septuagint) also includes the time of the patriarchs in Canaan, and Paul counts 430 years from the promise to Abraham (Galatians 3:17). So there are two readings, both found in the church.
Why was Moses himself not allowed into the land?
At Meribah Moses struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it, and he did not give God the honour (Numbers 20:7–12). Even the greatest leader is not the one who brings the people in. Christians often see in this a pointer to Jesus, who does what the law could not (Hebrews 4:8, 7:19).
Did Moses write the five books himself?
The Bible says that Moses wrote things down (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:9), and Jesus speaks of 'the law of Moses'. The account of his own death (Deuteronomy 34) was clearly written by someone else. How much was added or reworked later is something scholars and traditions disagree on.
Colour it in!
Moses stretches out his hand and the water moves aside. Print the picture and colour in the water, the people and the little lamb.
Colour in the journey through the sea