exodus part 2 begins today!

Our reading plan in Exodus resumes today, with Exodus Part 2: The Plagues, the Passover, and the Parting of the Sea (chapters 5-15). Part 2 will run for six weeks, concluding on Good Friday, March 29.

The opening letter below appears in the print version of this reading guide.  We include it here. (Today’s scripture reading can be found after the MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19 header below.)

THE BOOK OF EXODUS IS ABOUT THE FORMATION OF A PEOPLE INTO A NATION.

The account begins with the people (descendants of Abraham, called the children of Israel) enslaved in Egypt. In Part 1 (chapters 1-4), we read of how God was faithful to His promises to Abraham and declared His intention to deliver His people from slavery and then lead them into the Promised Land. Part 1 then recounts how the Lord prepared Moses—a man with a unique background as a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s own household—to be the man God would use to lead the exodus of the God's people from Egypt.

In Part 2, we will read of the showdown between the Lord and Pharaoh: the Ten Plagues and then the famous moment of the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army.

WHY DOES IT TAKE TEN PLAGUES?

It’s clear that this isn’t a fair fight—the gods of Egypt (better to say “demons”) are no match for the Lord of all Creation. So:
- Why does it take Ten Plagues?
- Why doesn’t the Lord just deliver the Israelites immediately?
- Why the protracted contest?

THE REASON WHY IT TAKES TEN PLAGUES

Exodus is about the formation of Israel as a people, and the formation of Moses as a leader.

What we will learn as we read along is that the Lord is using the Ten Plagues to accomplish three things:

Objective #1

Reveal His identity as the God of Creation to Israel, Pharaoh, Egypt, and the nations.

Objective #2

Get the people out of Egypt. This is accomplished by chapter 15 and the account of the Red Sea’s parting. (The harder task is to get the Egypt out of the people, a task which will take the rest of the book.)

Objective #3

Make Moses into the leader of Israel.

As we read along, pay attention to how each thing that happens helps realize those three objectives.

HOW THIS READING PLAN WORKS

Remember, consistency is more important than intensity!
That is, don’t try and read the whole Bible in one sitting—rather, pace yourself and make a commitment to be consistent. To that end, the readings are parceled-out on weekdays only—if you get behind, catch up each weekend. Each day I’ve written brief commentary to help you get something out of your reading; the commentary is NOT the point, the Bible is the point. If the commentary helps you, great! If it doesn’t, no worries—just skip it.

THE PROCESS IS THE POINT
I asked above the obvious question: Since the battle between the Lord and

Pharaoh isn’t a fair fight, why does it take Ten Plagues for the exodus to happen?

Spoiler: the Lord is using the process to teach the people. In other words: The process is the point.

That’s true for our own lives as well. My prayer is that the process of reading through this second section of Exodus as we make our way to Easter will be part of God’s preparation of each of us, too.

Let’s GO.

Monday, February 19

Exodus 5:1-5

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”

The battle begins.

Exodus chapters 1-4 (what we are calling Exodus Part 1) is about the background and preparation of Moses to be the man the Lord will use to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. The preparations being complete, the battle can begin.

And immediately as it begins, it begins to go badly! Pharaoh—quite reasonably, if you think about it—demands to know who this “LORD” is who is ordering him to let the Hebrews go: “Who is the Lord?” [5:2]. Remember that one of the Lord’s objectives with the exodus is to teach the nations about who He is; in effect, the Lord will use the exodus to provide an answer to Pharaoh’s question.

It’s interesting to think that the same opportunity is available to us today— difficulty and challenge can be an opportunity we can use to tell people about the Lord.

How can you use the moments in front of you today to make the Lord’s name and character more better-known?

P.S. Note that the goal of the exodus is worship (v.1). In fact, that’s the purpose of freedom everywhere—that people might be free to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.