Page 35 - Advanced OT Survey Student Textbook

‘departure.’ The title is a logical one in that Israel’s Exodus from Egypt is the dominant theme of the
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book.”

The book of Exodus is dividing in three major divisions and has 40 chapters. Chapters 1-11 focus on the
bondage of Israelites in Egypt, the slavery, Moses’ calling and the 10 Plagues. Chapters 12-18 focus on
God’s miraculous redemption of the Israelites from Egypt into the wilderness. Chapters 19-40 focus on
God’s revelation of His self to His promised people through the Covenant and the Law.

Chapters 1-11 focus on the bondage of Israelites in Egypt and God’s judgment on Egypt

When God made a covenant with Abraham, he also spoke to him in a dream about what would happen
to his descendants in Egypt. Scripture records in Genesis 15:14-15, “The Lord said to him, know for
certain that for four hundred years, your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and
that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves;
afterwards they will come out with great possessions. You will however, go to the ancestors in peace and
be buried at a good old age.” This verse summarizes exactly what happens in the first 15 Chapters of
Exodus.

The Israelites had increased in Egypt and had been there for four hundred years. A Pharaoh who did not
know Joseph came along and enslaved them. They cried out to the God of their forefathers, Abraham,

33 Ibid.
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