CRF – Exodus 5: The Theme of Exodus
“Can anyone tell me the Big Idea of the book of Exodus?”
You’ve heard me say that phrase for several weeks now. And what is the Big Idea of Exodus? Serve Yahweh, Creator and Redeemer, who dwells among us.
We have seen various aspects of this theme already coming together, even though we are only an eighth of the way through the book. The word “serve” is a major part of chapter 5. One of the elements of that chapter I did not get to in this week’s sermon was the amount of times the root word “serve/servants” comes up in the chapter: 7x in verses 9-21 (translated in ESV as “work” in vss 9, 10, 18 and “servants” in vss 15, 16 [2x], 21. The word “work” in vs 13 is from a different root). We have seen the emphasis on “Yahweh” in chapter 3, and I pointed out in chapter 1 the callbacks to the Creation narrative. We have begun to see God as a Redeemer, calling His people out of Egypt, and the last phrase, “who dwells among us” will come into sharp focus at the end of the book, when we reach the Tabernacle.
It took quite a bit of wrestling to reach this Big Idea, or major theme, of the book of Exodus. My struggle was to make sure the theme reflected every section of the book. Most people functionally act as if the book ends at chapter 20. The Law (chs 21-24) is brushed under the carpet of the 10 Commandments and the Tabernacle (chs 25-31, 35-40) is usually entirely ignored or summarized in one glossy sermon.
The problem is not just in the pulpit. Commentaries do the same thing. Peter Enns of the NIV Application Commentary series has written what I consider one of the best commentaries on the book of Exodus today (I don’t always agree with his theology, especially in his other works, but I can’t deny his ability to see connections and draw out theological themes that most others don’t address). His commentary is 602 pages long, and only about 9% of it (56 pages) is devoted to the 13 chapters of the Tabernacle (which amounts to roughly a third of Exodus!).
And that might be one of the better examples.
Brevard Childs’ commentary on Exodus, arguably one of the best theological/critical works on the book, devotes a scant 8.5% of his book on the Tabernacle chapters. Terence Fretheim, author of the Interpretation series commentary on Exodus, which bills itself “A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching,” devotes only 20 pages of his 320 volume to the Tabernacle. That’s 6.25%! No wonder preachers don’t preach the subject.
I am getting off track. My point is simply that when we consider the message of the book of Exodus, we must consider the book in its entirety. Does the theme we think reflects the book relate to the entire book or only the more commonly known narrative sections?
For instance, Duane A. Garrett’s (excellent) commentary claims “the major theological theme and a central motif of the exodus story [is] the people of God face persecution in this world” (147). That might be a central motif, but it is not the major theological theme. How does persecution relate to the latter half of Exodus? It doesn’t. It might be an accurate and comprehensive theme if Exodus ended at chapter 20.
In the same vein, Terry Muck, the general editor for Enns’ commentary, argues the underlying theme of the story is “leaving an unacceptable situation in search of a better one” (13). This won’t do for the same reasons.
Surprisingly, even though he all but ignores the latter half of the book in his commentary, Fretheim gets close to the central theme by boiling it down to one word: worship (20). This is similar to what I aim for in the first word of my Big Idea (“Serve” – it comes from the same root as “worship” in many cases). Jewish scholar Nahum Sarna argues for the central theme as God’s redemption of His people from Egyptian bondage (JPS Torah Commentary, xii). He argues this based on the usage of this theme from over 120 other passages of Scripture in the OT that refer to Exodus. This theme is okay as well, as long as we keep in mind that the Covenant Code (the common term for the law given in chapters 21-23) and the Tabernacle are both related to and founded upon that redemption. I still think it leans too heavily on the side of the Egyptian bondage, though.
I admit: this Cutting Room Floor entry was a bit more rant and soapbox than it was pastoral or scholarly digging into God’s Word. But I do believe it is important to emphasize the point that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching (2 Tim 3:16-4:5). Which means when we consider the message of the individual books in God’s Word, we cannot allow only the attractive passages to speak. We must allow our thoughts of God to be shaped by the entirety of the message He gave to His prophets.
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