Editing Book of Exodus (section)

== Themes ==
[[File:David Roberts-IsraelitesLeavingEgypt 1828.jpg|thumb|300px|''Departure of the Israelites'' by [[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]] (1829)]]

=== Salvation ===
Biblical scholars describe the Bible's theologically motivated history writing as "[[salvation history]]", meaning a history of God's saving actions that give identity to Israel – the promise of offspring and land to the ancestors, [[the Exodus]] from Egypt (in which God saves Israel from slavery), the wilderness wandering, the revelation at Sinai, and the hope for the future life in the [[Promised Land]].<ref name="Dozeman">Dozeman, p. 9.</ref>

=== Theophany ===
A [[theophany]] is a manifestation (appearance) of a god – in the Bible, an appearance of the God of Israel, accompanied by storms – the earth trembles, the mountains quake, the heavens pour rain, thunder peals, and lightning flashes.<ref>Dozeman, p. 4.</ref> The theophany in Exodus begins "the third day" from their arrival at Sinai in chapter 19: Yahweh and the people meet at the mountain, God appears in the storm and converses with Moses, giving him the [[Ten Commandments]] while the people listen. Therefore, theophany is a public experience of divine law.<ref>Dozeman, p. 427.</ref>

The second half of Exodus marks the point at which, and describes the process through which, God's theophany becomes a permanent presence for Israel via the [[Tabernacle]]. That so much of the book (chapters 25–31, 35–40) describes the plans of the Tabernacle demonstrates the importance it played in the perception of [[Second Temple Judaism]] at the time of the text's redaction by the Priestly writers: the Tabernacle is the place where God is physically present, where, through the priesthood, Israel could be in direct, literal communion with him.<ref>Dempster, p. 107.</ref>

=== Covenant ===
[[File:The Crossing of The Red Sea.jpg|thumb|300px|''Crossing of the Red Sea'', [[Nicolas Poussin]]]]
The heart of Exodus is the [[Mosaic covenant|Sinaitic covenant]].<ref>Wenham, p. 29.</ref> A covenant is a legal document binding two parties to take on certain obligations towards each other.<ref>Meyers, p. 148.</ref> There are several covenants in the Bible, and in each case, they exhibit at least some of the elements in real-life treaties of the ancient Middle East: a preamble, historical prologue, stipulations, deposition and reading, list of witnesses, blessings, and curses, and ratification by animal sacrifice.<ref>Meyers, pp. 149–150.</ref> Biblical covenants, in contrast to Eastern covenants in general, are between a god, Yahweh, and a people, Israel, instead of between a strong ruler and a weaker vassal.<ref>Meyers, p. 150.</ref>

=== Election of Israel ===
God elects Israel for salvation because the "sons of Israel" are "the firstborn sons" of the God of Israel, descended through Shem and Abraham to the chosen line of [[Jacob]] whose name is changed to Israel. The goal of the divine plan in Exodus is a return to humanity's state in [[Garden of Eden|Eden]] so that God can dwell with the Israelites as he had with [[Adam and Eve]] through the Ark and Tabernacle, which together form a model of the universe; in later [[Abrahamic religion]]s Israel becomes the guardian of God's plan for humanity, to bring "God's creation blessing to mankind" begun in Adam.<ref>Dempster, p. 100.</ref>