The Exodus

Before I started Scripture in College I had never understood what the Exodus epic was all about and what actually happened, after attending all my lectures and listening attentively in class i now have a clear understanding of the book of Exodus. The significance of the Exodus event can hardly be overestimated, it is the heart of the Israel’s faith experience and of Israel’s identity as nation and as People of God. I have learnt that there has been a lot of debate about the nature of the account of the exodus. “There has never been any doubt about its significance either for ancient Israelite faith, or for the Jewish religious tradition.” (Drane, John. Introducing the old testament). It is a central part of modern Judaism, celebrated each year in the Passover Festival. (KEY THEMES) Although the nature of this account may be speculated it is certain that it is “impossible to find a single strand of the tradition which does not, in some shape or form, have a place for the deeply held conviction that in these events God has been directly at work on the people’s behalf”. (Drane, John. Introducing the old testament).
The Exodus event marked the beginning of history of Israel as people , the people were liberated from slavery by divine intervention and this had a huge impact on the people of Israel. It is to the event of the Exodus that Israel traces its unique relationship with the one God. “ I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, that place of slavery” (Ex 20:2)
The Torah was a very important book to the Jews, it was the book in which they recorded Yahweh’s disclosures and wrote commentaries on it. The Exodus was the most important event that was written into the Torah, it was an “incredible event in which God liberated an unorganised, enslaved people from the mightiest power of the age” (sig of Exodus). This was the first clear act by which Yahweh’s character was disclosed to them. The Jews believed that God was a direct party to