Reading Exodus is important to understanding themes in the New Testiment.
There are three main themes
1. see God's plans begin to unfold (prophesies and promises kept)
2. population explosion
3. persecution of God's people
Exodus begins with the word "and", which indicates an ongoing story and that history isn't just endless random events. There is a point to everything that happens.
11 important elements in Judeo-Christian understanding of history.
- all humanity stems from Adam
- Adam and Eve were made in the image of God. We can expect greatness from mankind.
- original sin (the fall of man) which describes the loss of relationship with God (rebellion) and is also passed down to all humanity, which brings about great evil/suffering. (Man has no way to fix themselves since sin is within all of us.)
- what can be done? God has a plan to save us from ourselves
- God sovereignly choose a specfic people to bring this savior
- the Lord is involved in history with His blessings and judgments
- history will end as we know it. The Messiah will return and a new story will start
- our faith is connected to actual historical events
- our understanding of God's will grounded in revelation. He gives us a record of His deeds and His prophets help explain them and foretell His plans so we can see there is a purpose in how history unfolds.
- so often we are tempted to doubt God's power to keep His promises and follow through with His plan, but when we look back we can see how He works to guide us in a way to bring about His promises.
