Exodus 1–2: On Moses and the Ark—And Tracking Aslan on the Move (Bible Talk, Ep. 21)
Genesis ends with Joseph’s bones in a box in the belly of the beast. Exodus begins with Israel being fruitful and multiplying under the harsh rule of a Pharaoh who knows neither Joseph nor his God. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 1–2.
SHOW NOTES
1:01 / As we enter Exodus, Alex wants Jim and Sam to expand on the importance of knowing that the first five books of the Bible are one fivefold book with one human author. In other words, Moses wants us to see the connections within the books.
5:13 / Exodus begins with a scene that sounds like Genesis 1:28. Israel is “fruitful and multiplying.” However, a king arose who “did not know Joseph.” What should we make of this ominous opening?
8:15 / Pharoah sees the multiplying Israelites as a threat to his kingdom. What does he do about it?
10:46 / Sam points out an ironic twist in the first two chapters: “What pharaoh is doing here is setting in motion a sequence of events that will bring about the very thing he is trying to stop from happening.”
12:11 / Why does Pharaoh go after the male babies? Because they could rise and become warriors against Pharaoh’s kingdom.
13:40 / What does it mean that the midwives “fear God”?
19:10 / An unnamed baby boy is born and hidden by his mother. Then he’s placed in a basket by the river while his sister anxiously watches and goes back to her mother. Ultimately, both the baby and the sister endup in Pharaoh’s palace. What’s going on here?
25:09 / Sam explains how women play a prominent role in Exodus.
26:16 / Alex asks, “If Moses grew up in an Egyptian palace, how does he know he is a Hebrew?”
28:06 / Moses kills an Egyptian. Is this righteous or unrighteous? Sam says that Moses is a deliverer and, by avenging the Hebrew, God is preparing him for the ultimate deliverance.
31:24 / Moses then sojourns to Midian . . . for decades! Sam encourages those who think God is not doing anything in their life by pointing them to the first 80 years of Moses’ life.
35:48 / Moses writes a beautiful conclusion to Exodus 2. God has heard Israel’s cries. And as Sam notes, “Asian is on the move.” What are we supposed to take away from this passage? Jim tells us it is a glorious image of God’s compassion and faithfulness.
RAPID-FIRE QUESTION
40:30 / Was it immoral for the midwives Shiphrah and Puah to lie to Pharaoh?
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Image: The Finding of Moses (1905), by Lawrence Alma-Tadema