Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Exodus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God’s Identity and Power
Redemption and Deliverance
The Covenant
Mediators and the Priesthood
Summary
Analysis
On the third new moon after the Israelites’ departure from Egypt, they enter the wilderness of Sinai. They camp in front of the mountain there. The LORD calls to Moses from the mountain. Moses must tell the Israelites that because the LORD delivered them from the Egyptians, they must obey God and keep his covenant. Then the Israelites will be God’s “treasured possession,” “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” After hearing these things, the people swear that they will do everything the LORD tells them. The LORD says that he will come to the people in a dense cloud so that they’ll hear what he says to Moses and will trust Moses’s leadership.
The second half of Exodus—chapters 19 through 40—focus on events at Mount Sinai and the revealing of God’s law to Moses. In Chapter 3, God told Moses that the people would worship him at Mount Horeb (also called Mount Sinai) in the wilderness. Now they reach their goal. But first, God invites Israel to enter his covenant—meaning that because God has delivered them, they will obey him and live in a holy way, like priests (or representatives of God’s holiness). However, God himself is so overwhelmingly holy that Moses must stand between God and the people, and God can’t be directly seen (hence his appearance in cloud form).
Themes
The LORD tells Moses to consecrate the people. This means that the people must wash their clothes; in three days the LORD will descend upon Mount Sinai in their sight. Therefore, the people must not touch the mountain; anyone who does will be put to death. So Moses consecrates the people, also warning them to abstain from sex for the next three days.
Later in Exodus, God will give Moses instructions for building the tabernacle where God will be worshiped. By requiring the people to be “consecrated” (made holy), God teaches them that he demands holiness in personal behavior and reverence for his presence—things the people will have to learn before the tabernacle is in their midst. In the Hebrew Bible, just because an activity makes a person ritually impure (like sex) doesn’t mean that action is considered to be morally wrong—something that’s explained further in the next book (Leviticus).
Themes
On the morning of the third day, the people hear thunder and lightning and see a thick cloud on the mountain. There’s a loud trumpet blast. Then Moses brings the people to the foot of Mount Sinai to meet God. The mountain, shrouded with smoke, shakes violently, and God addresses Moses in the thunder. The LORD summons Moses to the top of the mountain and tells him to bring Aaron up too, and to warn the people not to try to break through the smoke to see God. Moses does these things.
The sights and sounds coming from the mountain signify God’s presence; they are meant to instill fear in the people, reminding them that God is untouchably holy and must not be casually approached. In fact, a mediator is required to stand between the people and God, which is why only Moses and his spokesman Aaron can draw closer to God.
Themes
