Exodus: Introductory Thoughts
In the book of Exodus, God rescues God’s people from bondage in Egypt and delivers them into God’s own presence from which God’s people serve as a community of ambassadors to the nations and for all Creation by embodying and reflecting the very ethos of God.
Thus, the book of Exodus presents two foundational narratives for God’s people. One is the story of the deliverance from Egypt. The second is God’s encounter with God’s people at Sinai. If the first narrative focuses on the salvation of God’s people, the second focuses on the sanctification of God’s people into the nation that God called them to be. If the total force of Exodus is to be experienced, the reader must engage fully with both of these narratives as they are forged together and serve a greater purpose.
When read as a whole, the book of Exodus creates and unleashes the people of God to serve as a missional people who embody the character and ethos of God to and for the nations and all creation. Thus the book of Exodus is the story of God creating a people governed by God’s original dreams and purposes for humanity as whole (Gen 1:26-31): mission, holiness, and community.
© 2007 Brian D. Russell