Exodus (Book 2)

After Joseph's generation dies off, the population of the Hebrews, 'Tribes of Israel" (the sons of Jacob/Israel in Genesis 49:28) grew, even outnumbering the Egyptians. Terrified of their capacity and ability to overtake the Egyptians, the Pharoah enslaves the Hebrews, and made their lives rigorous and bitter. The population continued to grow, so the Pharoah ordered two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah to end the lives of any newborn Hebrew males. They honored God and did not obey the order, which led to the continuous growth of the Hebrew population.

Two descendants of the tribe of Levi produced a baby boy. The woman kept him until he was three months, and created an enclosure to float the baby on water. The older sister watched over the child, and fortunately, the Pharoah's daughter was taking a bath in the river at that time. She discovered the child, later adopting him and naming him Moses. Moses as an adult, knows he is a Hebrew and kills an Egyptian he sees hurting another Hebrew. Playing privileged peacemaker, he intervenes in a conflict between two Hebrews. They do not appreciate this, and mock him, referencing the murder of the Egyptian from the day before. This is actually a great help to Moses, who becomes afraid of the consequences and flees to Midian, giving him a head start to escape consequences. Pharoah finds out and seeks Moses' death. The chapter ends with the Children of Israel suffering and God hearing it. The Pharoah that sought Moses' life dies. Moses has a wife and son now

An angel of God gets Moses' attention with a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire. God speaks to Moses and tells him that he will be the one to lead the enslaved children of Israel (Israelites) to the land promised to their ancestors. Moses doubts his ability to persuade the elders of Israel because he is not the best speaker. Moses asks God what His name is. God informs Moses that the king of Egypt will have to be forced to let the Israelites go.

Chapter 3 ends with Moses doubting his ability to communicate God's message to powerful leaders. Chapter 4 continues that conversation. God empowers Moses to demonstrate three signs or supernatural demonstrations to help convince the elders of Israel that God is making the request for the children of Israel to go into the wilderness to worship for three days. Again, he doubts his ability because he is not a confident speaker. Aaron is appointed to assist Moses with speaking to the king of Egypt. Moses stopped at a lodge while travelling with his family. An indecipherable incident causes a disagreement with God. God's anger is quelled by Moses' wife circumcising their son, touching Moses' feet with the foreskin, and declaring him her bridegroom.

Aaron and Moses tell Pharaoh that God commanded them to go into the wilderness for three days to honor Him. Pharaoh tells them he does not know this God and will not let the enslaved go to worship. This incident distracted the Israelites from work. Pharaoh decides that the enslaved must be idle if they are making these sorts of requests. He enacts a new rule that the enslaved must find their own straw to form bricks instead of the slavedrivers organizing the tools. He expects the same yield of production, and believes the Israelites are conspiring together to go worship their God. Remember, Exodus 1 verse 10...the reason for enslavement was that the Egyptian king felt threatened by the capacity of the Israelites because of their large number.

The chapter begins with Moses' conversation with God. He is doubtful because he followed God's directions, and things get even worse for his people. We find out that Aaron has four children and one grandchild. Aaron and Moses' parents were nephew and aunt.

The chapter begins with Moses doubting himself as a speaker. God reemphasizes that He will speak directly to Moses, and that Moses will communicate the message to Aaron. Aaron will perform the speaking role, and they will work as a unit to confront Pharoah. Moses and Aaron are unemployed, non-wealthy octogenarians, Aaron being slightly older. They perform the snake miracle, and Pharoah's magicians replicate the feat. Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not listen. They were empowered to turn the drinking water in Egypt to blood. Pharaoh's magicians were able to replicate that as well, which reduced the significance to Pharaoh. He still would not let the Hebrews leave for three days.

Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go, and warns him that a plague of frogs would come next. Pharaoh's heart is hardened and he refuses. The magicians are able to replicate this feat. Once the plague is in full effect, Pharaoh asks Moses to take it away. Then the plague of lice descends upon the Egyptians. The magicians are unable to replicate this. They acknowledge that this is the true God. The lice affects all Egyptians and their animals. Ironically, this is not bad enough to make Pharoah ask Moses to take the plague away. The plague of flies makes Pharoah ask Moses to intercede and take the flies away. The magicians are not noted as having attempted to replicate this feat. God makes the distinction between Israel and Egypt, saying Israel will not be affected. Pharaoh rescinds the agreement to let the Hebrews leave for three days.

Pharoah is warned that the livestock will be plagued if the Israelites are not allowed to go. When it happened, Pharaoh still did not adhere to God's request. Then the Egyptians were plagued with festering boils. Next, a destructive hailstorm. Still Pharoah did not believe. Goshen, the country where the Israelites were dwelling since the days of Joseph was unaffected.

God has hardened Pharoah's heart. The locusts are the next plague that causes a disturbance. Pharoah agrees to only allow the able bodied men to leave, and that is not the terms of conditions God required. When Pharaoh refuses to listen to God, the next incident is three days of darkness. Pharoah agrees to allow the people to leave, but requires that the animals stay behind. This still does not meet God's request. Pharaoh tells Moses and Aaron they are dead if Pharoah ever sees their faces again. Moses agrees.