Exodus

Exodus, the second book of the Bible, continues the history of the Hebrew people started in Genesis. Starting at the death of the twelve sons of Jacob, it chronicles their time of slavery to the Egyptians to their deliverance and Exodus at the hands of Moses to their wandering in the desert during which time God gives them laws that will be formative in their creation as a nation. These are all crucial because they lay the foundation for events and situations that Jesus later fulfills.

Towards the beginning of the book, a verse stuck out to me; it was Exodus 6:9 that reads, “So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they paid no heed to Moses because of their faintheartedness and cruel bondage.” At this point, the children of Israel are still slaves to Pharaoh and Moses has just come to let them know that their God has sent him to be their deliverer. They are all excited at first and praise God. However, once Moses has gone to Pharaoh to demand their release and Pharaoh refuses, the Hebrews work load increases because Pharaoh is afraid that they’ll try to run away. Now the people are afraid and do not want to follow Moses, and subsequently their God.

This verse seemed significant because, to me, this was the attitude of the people during the whole book of Exodus. God would come and perform wonders for them and they would in turn praise his greatness and grace. Then, when things got difficult, they became fainthearted and no longer trusted that the greatness that they had once praised would be enough to sustain them. Their bondage remained though they were free from the Egyptians. No matter what Moses said or did in the name of the Lord, it never seemed enough to totally convince them of God’s ultimate authority over all the earth and whatever circumstance they might find themselves.