Page 7 - FLIP BOOK TOPICS (A)

ACTIVITY OF GOD

The Miraculous Character:

The Book of Exodus is as a matter of fact from its first to its last page filled with miraculous
stories; but in this characteristic these contents agree perfectly with the whole history of
redemption. In this immediate and harmonious activity of God, for the purpose of
establishing a chosen people, all these miracles find their purpose and explanation, and this
again is only in harmony with other periods of sacred history. The reason is self-explanatory
when these miracles are found grouped at the turning- points in this history, as is the case
also in the critical age of Elijah and Elisha, and in the experiences and achievements of
"Jonah," so significant for the universality of the Biblical religion. Above all is this true in the
ministry of Jesus Christ; and also again in His return to judgment. And in the same way, too,
we find this at the beginning of Israel as a nation (see my article in Murray’s Dictionary).
Compare in this respect the rapid numerical growth of the nation, the miracles, the plagues, in
the presence of Pharaoh, the passage through the Red Sea, the miraculous preservation of the
people in the desert, the many appearances of God to Moses, to the people, to the elders, the
protection afforded by the cloud, the providential direction of the people of Israel and of the
Egyptians, and of individual persons (Moses and Pharaoh). The fact that the author himself
knows that Israel without the special care and protection of God could not have survived in
the desert is in complete harmony with his knowledge of the geographical situation already
mentioned.