Bible Study: Exodus 1-4

By ben | January 28, 2020 |

Getting Going 

1. Your mental pictures of this story of Israel’s slavery in Egypt and the raising up of Moses as a deliverer:

Getting Clear

2. Our Mental Map:

Plot:

Gen 1 to Ex 40 as a complete narrative: a story about being expelled from God’s presence in Eden and then finally being brought back into his presence through the tabernacle— paradise lost, and then regained. 

To get a sense of the plot of the book you need to know two key word plays; 

  1. From slavery to worship—abad; (this is reversing the “service” of Adam in the garden (2:15)—joyful worship; to toil outside of the garden in 3:23;  Key verse: 1:13-14 (7x’s) 
  2. “Building” miskan— building storehouses for Pharaoh to building a tabernacle for God; 

The Major Themes: 

  1. The Knowledge of YHWH
  2. The Presence of YHWH 

3-fold pattern (The pattern for worship) 

  1. (Out) Redeemed out through the waters of Judgment; (1-15) 
  2. (Up) Up to the mountain (15-24) 
  3. (In) For life in God’s presence (25-40) 

Getting Personal 

3. We know that God always works for the good of those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28), so we know that God intended to

use even this cruel time of slavery for good in his people’s lives. What are some ways you can think of that God used their suffering in Egypt for good?

4. Put yourselves in the shoes of some of the people in this story. What drives you, and what is your life like? Let’s quickly throw out one-word or one-sentence answers for each of these people and situations: Moses’s parents, Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses living in Pharaoh’s house knowing he’s a Hebrew, Hebrew slaves who know Moses is Hebrew, Moses as a shepherd over the sheep of his father-in-law.

5. Moses’ Objections (3:11,13, 4:1, 4:10, 4:13) 

6. Christ Connections: 

7. We’ve seen in this story that real freedom is not just freedom from slavery to sin, but freedom to worship, freedom to take upon ourselves the yoke of Christ. Would several of you be willing to share briefly how you have experienced one or both of these things—freedom from bondage to sin and/or freedom to worship God by taking on the yoke of Christ?

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