Chapters 1-2
Key themes:
- The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly. The new Pharaoh sees them as threat, so he enslaves them, making them work in rigorous jobs. The Pharaoh then enacts a plan to weaken the Hebrews: kill the male newborns by casting them into the Nile.
- Moses is born and is adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter. After killing an Egyptian that was beating up a Hebrew, he flees Egypt, as the Pharaoh wanted to kill him. He ends up in Midian, where he marries a daughter of a priest and has a son named Gershom.
- The King of Egypt ,the Pharaoh, dies.
Allegorical sense:
- Ex 2:11-12 Moses frees a Hebrew getting beaten up by an Egyptian, just as he frees the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery. Just as Christ frees us from sin.
- Ex 2:14 Moses indeed becomes a prince and a judge over the Israelites. Type of Christ: Christ is the prince and judge over everyone.
Moral sense:
- Ex 1:21 Family and children are seen as rewards and blessings
- Ex 1:18-21 God/Natural Law is above the Civil Law. It is ok to disobey (maybe lie?) the civil law if it is against God/Natural law.
Chapter 3
Key theme:
- God appears to Moses as a burning bush, that is not consumed by the fire. The Lord calls him to liberate the Hebrews from the Egyptians, through God’s actions. The Lord foretells that the Pharaoh will refuse to liberate the Hebrews, and that God’s intervention will be necessary.
Literal sense:
- Ex 3:14 God reveals himself as “I AM WHO I AM”. God’s essence is existence, the necessary being who all others are contingent on.
Allegorical sense:
- Ex 3:2 The burning bush represents non-contingent nature: it doesn’t consume or need anything else to exist, He just exists, has always existed, and will always exist.
- Ex 3:2 (St Gregory of Nissa) The burning bush teaches the mystery of the Virgin Birth, doesn’t depend on natural causes (natural procreation, fuel) and doesn’t ”ruin” the means used to covey the Light of Divinity (the bush is kept intact, Mary’s virginity is kept intact).
Chapters 4-5
Key themes:
- To prove the Divine Revelation to Moses, the Lord gives signs for Moses to perform in front of the people, so that they believe him. Moses’ brother is the one who performs the sign, because Moses was afraid. Moses returns to Egypt, Aaron performs the signs and the people believed.
- Aaron and Moses beg Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go into the wilderness for three days to make a feast to make sacrifices to God. Pharaoh not only rejects, but deals more harshly with the them, making them work without the necessary materials, but with the same production quota.
Questions:
- What is happening in Ex 4:24-26??
Literal sense:
- The signs were: the rod that becomes a serpent and back (Ex 4:3), the hand that became leprous and healed (Ex 4:6), water of the Nile that turned into blood (Ex 4:9).
- Offerings/sacrifice were deemed abominable to the Egyptians, that were idolatrous and revered animals as living images of the gods.
- Ex 4:21 God foretells the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. The hardening of the heart of Pharaoh by God is a response to Pharaoh’s hardening his own heart first. God’s reaction is a removal of the gift of mercy after rejection by Pharaoh.
Moral sense:
- Ex 4:10 “I am not sufficient”, says Moses. Paul alludes to that passage (2 Cor 3:5) when he says the same about him, but he learns to accept his mission and allow the grace of God to compensate for his weaknesses. Learn to accept that God is and will be with you through all hardships and He will give you the necessary strength to survive the storm.
Chapters 6-7
Key themes:
- Aaron and Moses work a miracle in front of the Pharaoh so that he let Israel set free. The Pharaoh sees the miracles, but because of his hardened heart, he doesn’t listen to them.
- There is spiritual warfare and a battle against idolatry that is prevalent in Egypt.
Allegorical sense:
- The plagues bring death and destruction to Egypt, and theologically bring death and destruction to Egyptian’s idols, asserting YHWH’s supremacy over all creation as He is the one true God.
- The snake was an emblem of Egyptian power that represented the serpent goddess Wadjet. Aaron’s rod/serpent swallowing all the other serpents show God’s dominion.
Moral sense:
- When someone has a hardened heart, miracles can’t convert them.
Questions:
- Can demonic/spiritual powers manipulate nature? (Ex 7:11)
- Ex 7:22 How did the magicians “did the same” if all the water had already turned into blood?
Chapter 8
Key themes:
- Egypt is afflicted by the second, third, and fourth plagues (frogs, gnats, and flies). The Pharaoh agrees to let Israel go if the plagues stopped, but Pharaoh hardened his heart each time, not complying with his promise each time.
Chapter 9
Key themes:
- Fifth, sixth, seventh plagues (death to the livestock, outbreak of boils, hailstone storms). Pharaoh gives a insincere repentance, but as soon as the plagues stopped, he sinned again and continued to harden his heart.
- God could’ve already killed Pharaoh, but He lets he lives for divine purpose (His name being declared throughout all the earth, to show that Israel is His chosen people ?) (Ex 9:16)
Chapters 10-11
Key themes:
- Eight and ninth plagues (Locusts, Darkness) and warning of the final plague (death of the firstborn).
Allegorical sense:
- Ex 10:26 God defines how He wants to be worshipped. Divine Liturgy comes from Divine Revelation and not human will. Worship is done through sacrifice. In the New Covenant, worship is done through the Eucharist sacrifice, as commanded by Christ Himself “Do this in remembrance of me”. Exodus ; Leviticus ; Psalm ;
Chapter 12
Key themes:
- God institutes the Passover, whereby a lamb is sacrificed to God, eaten, and its blood passed on the doors of the house so that they are protected from the last plague (the death of the firstborn). The ritual is a memorial that is to be repeated every year.
Literal sense:
- God was justified in killing the first-born. We know this because:
- God is always just. Remember the promise to Abraham in Sodoma and Gomorrah, where the Lord would not destroy the city if there were just people there.
- God is the giver of life, so He is the one who decides who lives and who dies, this is a gift given to us that He can remove at His will.
- Retribution for the Egyptian killing of all male babies of Israel.
Allegorical sense: 5. The institution of the Passover prefigures the institution of the Eucharist. The lamb prefigures Christ, the lamb of God. The Passover saves Jews from the death of the last plague, while the Eucharist saves us from the death of sin and eternal punishment. The Passover redeems the Jews from slavery in Egypt, while Christ’s sacrifice redeems us from the the slavery of sin. 6. Ex 12:5 The Lamb of the sacrifice should be without “blemish”, just as Christ is a pure lamb of God to be sacrificed. 7. Ex 12:48 Prefigures the need for baptism as a requirement for the Eucharist. Also shows that “memorial” is not just a meal in honor or remembrance of, it is higher spiritual reality where the Passover event becomes present.
Moral sense: 8. Ex 12:36 As the Israelites plundered the spoils of Egypt and put them to better use, so believers should not fear to take what is useful and true from pagan learning for the benefit of Christian teaching (St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine 2, 40, 60).
Chapter 13-14
Key themes:
- The Egyptians, with their hardened hard, persecute the Israelites with their army. The Lord then works a miracle through Moses where he opens the Red Sea, allowing Israel to escape, and drowning the Egyptians behind them.
- The Israelites don’t trust in God’s providence, and think it would be better to be slaves in Egypt. (Ex 14:10-12)
Allegorical sense:
- The crossing of the Red Sea is a type of Baptism. St Paul says this in 1 Cor 10:1-2. They bring salvation through water and the power of God, and causes the demise of the enemy (Pharaoh, devil’s tyranny / original sin). The sons of Israel emerges from the sea with a new faith (Ex 14:31), just like Baptism infuses the virtue of faith.
Chapter 15-16
Key themes:
- The Israelites like to complain, distrust and disobey the commands given by God. God feeds Israel through Manna, a angelic “bread from heaven” that only last for one day.
Allegorical sense:
- Manna is a prefiguration of the Eucharist. Jesus talks about himself as the bread from heaven Jn 6:30-59, St Paul in 1 Cor 10:1-6 makes the allegorical connection between the crossing of the Red Sea and Manna to Baptism and the Eucharist.
Moral sense:
- Manna spoiling after a day teaches the people to rely on and trust the Providence.
- How many people prefer the slavery to sin than the uncomfortable process of breaking their chains to make them free?
Questions: 3. Ex 16:34 Aaron placed it before the stone tables of the law, but they have not received it yet…
Chapter 17
Key themes:
- The people continued to complain and murmur against Moses and the Lord, because they were without water. The Lord instructs Moses to use his rod to a strike a rock, and water comes out of it.
- Amalek fights Israel in Rephidim, and every time Moses has his hands up, Israel prevailed, but whenever he lowered it, Amalek prevailed. Aaron and Hur hold Moses’ arms up when he got tired, thus Israel won the battle.
Allegorical sense:
- Lifting the hands was a common posture for praying. Moses is an intercessor just like the saints are intercessors for us.
Moral sense:
- Our prayers can change and affect reality. (this is a big question to explore…)
Chapter 18
Key themes:
- Moses is visited by Jethro, his father-in-law, his sons and his wife.
- Moses takes heed of the counsel of Jethro and appoints fair and honest men to be rulers to Israel and to be judges on disputes of the people. Hard cases were brought to Moses, but small matters are dealt by the judges.
Moral sense:
- A good monarch knows how to delegate his responsibilities so that the process is more efficient and everyone is better off.
Chapter 19
Key themes:
- God proposes the Sinai covenant, where Israel is elected between the nations to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6). To adhere to the covenant, Israel must obey God, by adhering to the Decalogue and the Covenant Code.
Chapter 20
Key themes:
- God gives the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) to Israel.
Literal sense:
- The Decalogue is an expression of the universal law, that binds all people, in all ages, in all circumstances.
- It is, in other words, natural law, objective morality that God has graved in men’s heart.
- Fourteen commands are given, but Exodus sets the number of commandments at ten (Ex 34:28). There is two sets of different divisions: The Catholic-Lutheran, based on St Augustine and the Eastern Orthodoxy-Reformed, based on the Greek Fathers.
- Love of God - Love of Neighbor
- The Ten Commandments: TODO
Chapter 21
Key themes:
- God gives the Covenant Code, or ordinances. These are laws regarding the governance of the hebrew people. They are not universal laws that apply for everyone, but only in this specific society. In them, we see God not outright forbidding evil but constraining it, in an effort to steer Israel away from the brutish and barbaric practices of the ancient world.
- Laws concerning slavery, stealing, murder, physical assault, negligence and others.
- God establishes the law of retaliation (Ex 21:23-25): “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, …”. It is not an incentive for vengeance. Rather, it establishes that the punishment should be proportional to the crime committed.
Chapter 22
Key themes:
- God continues giving the laws for Israel, now, laws of restitution and social and religious laws. Compensation is due to whoever steals, destroys, or borrow and lose property. Prohibition on taking advantage of widows and orphans, the most vulnerable of the society (Ex 22:21-24). Sorcery, bestiality, and idolatry are severe crimes that merit the death penalty (Ex 22:18-20). Prohibition on charging interest when lending money to poor people (Ex 22:25).
Chapter 23
Key themes:
- God continues giving laws for Israel. He gives laws concerning justice, one may not pervert justice by: uttering a false report, joining with other people to do evil, being partial against poor people (on the basis of them being poor), refusing to help your enemy in a time of need, bribing the judge, oppressing the foreigner.
- God establishes three annual feasts: the feast of unleavened bread (Passover), the feast of harvest (first fruits, Pentecost), feast of ingathering (Tabernacles).
- God reaffirms the promise of giving Canaan to Israel, and sends an Angel to guide the people in the conquest. Upon entering the canaanites’ lands, the Israelites need to renounce their gods and “break their pillars” (renounce idolatry).
Questions:
- The origin and what do these feasts represent and maybe are allegorical to. (Passover is known).
Chapter 24
Key themes:
- Moses gives to the people the “ordinances” (the Covenant Code, that is, aside from the Decalogue, which the people had already heard to). Then sacrifice is made to the Lord, and blood is sprinkled on the altar and on the people to ratify the Covenant.
- Then, Moses goes up with Aaron, his sons (Nadab, Abihu) and seventy of the elders of Israel to the mountain, where they see God (a manifestation of God).
- Moses goes up into the mountain of God for 40 days. (where in Deuteronomy 9:9 we know that he was fasting)
Allegorical sense: 4. Blood of the sacrifice of the oxen ratified the Mosaic covenant, just as the blood of the Holy Sacrifice of Our Lord ratifies the New and Eternal Covenant (Mt 26:27-28). 5. The seventy-two are an allegory to the seventy-two disciples that Jesus send to proclaim the word. 6. Moses fasts for 40 days, just as Jesus fasts for 40 days in the desert.
Moral sense:
- Be faithful to God, as the people of Israel expressed they would be (not as they did after): (Ex 24:7) “All The LORD has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient”.
Chapter 25
Key themes:
- God gives instructions on how to build the sanctuary where He will dwell in. He gives instructions on how to build the Ark of the Covenant, that will have the Mercy Seat and will store the stone tablets of the Decalogue, the jar of Manna and the rod of Aron.
Allegorical sense:
- Manna itself is already a prefiguration the Eucharist. The Ark of the Covenant is a prefiguration to the modern Eucharistic Tabernacle present in Catholic Churches today. As with the consecrated hosts, God is truly present in a mysterious way in the Ark of the Covenant.
- The Ark of the Covenant is also a prefiguration of Mary, the place where by the mystery of incarnation God chose to dwell in.
Questions:
- What is the mercy seat?
- What is the bread of presence?
Chapter 26
Key themes:
- Instructions on how to build the tabernacle, a portable sanctuary with several different separate parts. It contains altars for sacrifice and incense, the Ark, and the Table of the Bread of Presence. The Ark of the Covenant is placed in the Most Holy Place.
Chapter 27
Key themes:
- Instructions on how to build the altar for burnt offerings, the court, and the oil for the lamp.
Access to the courtyard was open to all worshipers of Israel, priests and laymen.
Chapter 28
Key themes:
- Instruction of how to make the holy garments the priests shall use.
Literal sense:
- The Holy Garments of the priests are a reflection of God’s power and perfection. Their garments are made “for glory and for beauty” (Ex 28:2, Ex 28:40). Man is both body and spiritual, thus it is fitting that the holy things manifest God’s glory through material means with expensive, beautiful, and well-made objects and places that use gold, bronze, and fine linen. The Catholic Church continues with this rich tradition with beautiful liturgy, churches, works of art, sacred objects and garments that provide a multi-sensory experience to the faithful, and that serve as a “window to the heavens” that makes it easier to lift up their hearts to the sacred mysteries and contemplate God’s glory.
- The Holy Garments also de-emphasize the priest as an individual and serves as a uniform of the servant of the Lord.
- Ex 28:21 The breastplate with the twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel signifies the priesthood duty to represent the people before God. When the priest approaches God, he is not approaching as an individual, but a representative that carries his people in his heart.
Chapter 29
Key themes:
- Describes the rite of ordination of priests and the daily offerings / liturgy the priests do.
- God reveals that He will dwell in the tent of meeting. (Ex 29:45)
Allegorical sense: 3. In the rite of ordination, the priests are washed (prefiguration of baptism), clothed with priestly vestments (prefiguration of sacrament of ordination), anointed with oil (prefiguration of chrism), and do a series of offerings (prefiguration of eucharist). 4. The New Testament elevates the rite of ordination to a Sacrament.
Chapter 30
Key themes:
- God gives instructions on how to build the Altar of Incense, that stays inside the Holy Place, before the Most Holy Place.
- God institutes a annual tax of half a shekel for the maintenance of the tabernacle. Half a shekel for all men, rich and poor.
Allegorical sense:
- St Bede says that the two altars of the tabernacle represent the two covenants of salvation: The altar of animal sacrifice outside the sanctuary represents the Old Covenant with its fleshly worship and the altar of incense, inside the sanctuary, stands for the more interior and perfect worship of the New Covenant.
Chapter 31
Key themes:
- God appoints Bezalel of Judah to be chief architect and Oholiab of Dan to be his assistant, fills them with the Spirit of God giving them craftsmanship ability and intelligence to build the tabernacle.
- God gives Moses the Tables of the Covenant, two written stone tables with the Decalogue (although not explicitly said here).
Moral sense: 3. Engineering and artistical skills are spiritual gifts to be use in the service of our sanctification. 4. We need the graces of the Holy Spirit to be capable of doing the plan of God for our lives.
Chapter 32
Key themes:
- While Moses was up in the Mount Sinai, the people of Israel got tired of Moses and begged Aaron to make them “gods”. Aaron gets their gold and makes an idol, a golden calf, and an altar to make offerings to the god.
- Moses intercedes for Israel begging God to not destroy them, destroys the idol and gather those who wanted to be on the Lord’s side, which the Levites (sons of Levi) did.
- The Levites are ordered to kill their brothers, companions, and neighbors. They obey, and are ordained for the service of the Lord.
- God sends a plague as divine discipline for the sin of idolatry.
Literal sense:
- Aaron might have tried to make the idolatry and apostasy less worse by: only making one idol instead of multiple as the people asked and proclaiming a feast to the Lord (YHWH).
Allegorical sense:
- Moses acts a type of Christ in offering his own life to spare his people (Ex 32:32). This is similar to what St Paul contemplates in Rom 9:3.
Anagogical sense:
- Ex 32:33 God remembers the wicked and their deeds and will punish them in the after life.
References
Ex 12:48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
Ex 14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Ex 22:25 If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him.
Ex 24:8 “Behold the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”