Exodus: 1-40

Now that's what I'm talking about. We're finally getting into a little substance here! The book of Exodus begins with the Isrealites (the descendants of Abraham's grandson Jacob) being forced into slavery by the king of Egypt for being too...fertile. It ends with Moses and his followers, freed, setting up shop to worship the Lord without the slavemasters of Egypt.

Exodus is more complex than Genesis, so I'll do my best to keep my thoughts organized.

The Good:

Compared to Genesis, Exodus reads like an episode of the Care Bears - there is far less raping, pillaging, and murdering. There are still some pretty bad things happening, but the story is a good one, and would make for a good movie. We get to see the characters continue their journey, and, more importantly, we start to understand the point to the overall story. Exodus contains the creation and the delivery of the ten commandments, so we also have something useful to life beyond the context of the story. Exodus also explains the origin of some of the Jewish holidays, and it's always nice to get some historical context for things that still occur today.

The Bad:

My major issue with Exodus isn't the believability of the actual events (plagues, commandments from God, etc), but with the consistency and the motivations of God. I found myself wondering if the two books even refer to the same god. Details below.

General Thoughts:


   Favoritism: The Bible illustrates the most profound case of nepotism in history. In Genesis 6, God decides that humanity has descended into wickedness and he regrets creating them. He spares Noah and his family because he was a "righteous" man. Noah's three sons and their wives are saved on the ark, and go on to repopulate the world (Genesis 9). Then, in Genesis 12, God communicates with Abram directly (a descendant of one of Noah's sons) for apparently no reason, and then establishes a covenant with him in Genesis 17 promising success for him and his descendants. From this point on, it is Abraham and his family that seem to have the direct line to God, and anyone else is just standing in their way. Why would God create humanity, destroy it, and then choose one family from what was left to be his favorite? This is a large enough "plot hole" to distract from the goal at hand.


   The Same God?: In Genesis, God is very clear about his powers and his willingness to use them. He wipes out the entire world with a flood (Genesis 7), destroys entire cities (Genesis 19), and turns Lot's wife into a pillar of salt for disobeying him (Genesis 19). However, in Exodus, God sees his chosen people suffer under the chains of slavery for 430 years (Exodus 12). He doesn't free them. He doesn't destroy the leaders of Egypt that act against his wishes. He sends Moses to use "tricks" to convince Pharaoh to let the slaves go. With each plague, Pharaoh's response is the same: his magicians could accomplish the same things, so he doesn't believe that God's hand is present. So I have to ask - why the games? Why send Moses to convince Pharaoh? Why not communicate with Pharaoh directly, or just skip the whole deal and enact his will as per usual? Worse, in trying to convince Pharaoh, how many Egyptian citizens suffered needlessly for God to make a point he could have made just as simply otherwise? Why slaughter the firstborn sons of an entire people for the actions of their leaders? Further, what was the point of taking gold and silver from the people? Haven't they suffered enough?

   Creation vs. creation: Once Moses finally leads his people to their destination, the rest of the book consists of how best to worship the Lord.

Words used to describe the creation of the universe, the earth, its plants, animals, fish, birds, and its first human inhabitants: ~1,417

Words used to describe the design and building of God's first temple: ~8,440

Creating the world and immensely complex biological and ecological systems? Piece of cake - but those curtains and priestly robes are the tricky part!

   Suspicion: There are a few places in Exodus where my sense of caution is heightened because, as I put myself in the shoes of the people in the story, I feel like I'm being duped. This guy, Moses, heads up to the top of the mountain, expressly forbids anyone except his brother from joining him, and then comes back with a long list of laws I'm supposed to follow on penalty of death. Also, the creator of the heavens and earth suddenly has an interest in "atonement money" (Exodus 30).

Rating: 4/10

Good story, but if the world as we know it were to be destroyed and a new civilization were to one day discover the Bible, Exodus wouldn't add much value to their lives.

Open questions:

• Why would God create man in His (perfect) image, and then demand that we cut a piece of our penises off?
• Why is God obsessed with burnt animal offerings?
• Why does God need the people to put marks of blood on the houses so he will know to pass over them? How could God not know who lives where?