EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY 77
strike a rock with his staff, from
which fresh water gushes. This
continued divine intervention
saves the Israelites, and shows
the benevolence of God.Significance of the Exodus
The Exodus is at the very heart
of Judaism, but its message of
freedom has also inspired many
non-Jewish groups, from earlyProtestant settlers fleeing
persecution in post-Reformation
Europe to 20th-century African
Americans striving for civil rights.
There is little archaeological
evidence to support the Exodus
as historical fact, but the largely
accepted wisdom is that the event
occurred sometime around the
m id-13 0 0 s bce and that Moses
himself wrote the book that records
it. In Exodus 34:27, God tells Moses
“Write down these words ...” and
Jesus, in Mark 12:26, quotes from
Exodus as the “Book of Moses.”
God uses Moses as His
instrument to rescue His chosen
people not just from slavery but
from a polytheistic society. The
Exodus story shows God’s power,
His love for His people, and how He
encourages and rewards trust and
faith. Preceding events anticipate
it and subsequent events refer
back to it. Matthew 2:15 in the New
Testament alludes to Jesus as the
new Israel, come out of Egypt. ■Miriam
After the crossing of the Red
Sea, Miriam, an older sister of
Aaron and Moses—by three
and six years respectively—
leads the Israelite women in
celebrating, shaking timbrels
(tambourines), singing, and
dancing (15:20). Referred to as
a prophetess in this episode
in Exodus, she plays a crucial
role in Moses’s life and is also
mentioned in Numbers 12,
Numbers 20:1, Deuteronomy
24:9, and Micah 6:4.
When Pharaoh orders the
murder of all firstborn male
Israelite children, it is Miriam
who watches over Moses in
the basket hidden in the reed
beds of the Nile River. When
Pharaoh’s daughter discovers
the baby, Miriam offers to
find a nurse for him and
secretly enlists the help of
his mother and her own
mother. Later in the Bible,
however, Aaron and Miriam
rebel against Moses. God
punishes Miriam with leprosy,
but then heals her after seven
days. True to her story, the
name Miriam means either
“beloved” or “bitter.”Moses
is given the
power to part
the sea.God sends
manna from
heaven as food.God’s miracles prove He cares for
and will deliver His people.The people
are able to draw
water from rocks.The Israelites suffer in the desert.The Lord looked down from
the pillar of fire and cloud
at the Egyptian army and
threw it into confusion.
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