A Guide For the Perplexed: Exodus
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This is a presentation about the Book of Exodus primarily aimed at Eastern Christians.
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A Guide For the Perplexed: Exodus
- 1. A Guide for the Perplexed: Exodus Deacon Mark Koscinski St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church Hillsborough NJ March 15, 2015
- 2. WHY DO WE READ THE OT? St. Paul These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, ... - 1 Cor. 10:11,12 As Proof Texts Early Christian apologists also used the Old Testament as proof of the antiquity of the Christian religion
- 3. WHY DO WE READ EXODUS? Why do Christian read the Book of Exodus? We see the Face of Christ in the Old Testament. Foreshadowing of distinct features of Eastern Christianity 3
- 4. CHRIST IN EXODUS The Cross—Moses holding out his arms in the form of the cross during the battle with Amalek and the parting of seas. Baptism-coming up out of the water to new life. The Temple and ritual--Our churches resemble the Temple. In fact, they are called Temples. The proper reverence of sacred icons. Timeless law that we must obey.
- 5. WHAT DOES EXODUS MEAN? Exodus means departing or leaving The Israelites departed from Egypt, a place of slavery. Christians seek to depart from the slavery of sinning.
- 6. THE PENTATEUCH 1. Genesis –The Beginning 2. Exodus— Delivery from Slavery 3. Leviticus— Book of Laws 4. Numbers— The Wandering 5. Deuteronomy— Farewell discourse of Moses Was it really forty years in the desert? Forty is used in the Bible to mean a long time. For instance, it rained for forty days and forty nights; Jesus was in the desert for forty days, etc.
- 7. THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE COVER…. From the Creation Until Moses’ death Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land There is a Jewish tradition he was taken directly to heaven Which is why he appears with Elijah at the Transfiguration.
- 8. WHEN WAS THE EXODUS? No one is completely certain. Estimates are from 1500 BC to 1200 BC Important tidbit: Jews were given leeway in the practice of their religion since it was an ancient as the Roman religion. Rome was founded in 753 BC. The religion of the Jews predated even the Roman Republic and their false Gods.
- 9. WHEN DO BYZANTINE CHRISTIANS READ THE EXODUS? It is integral to the preparation for the Paschal season. Exodus is read during Holy Week. 9
- 10. EXODUS OUTLINE Ex. 1 Slavery of the Israelites A new pharaoh arises who hates the Israelites Ex. 2-4 • Moses (An Egyptian name) • A truly human figure He can be strong and weak Unsure of his speaking ability Sometimes angry, sometimes crafty
- 11. EXODUS OUTLINE Ex. 5-12 10 plagues 1st Passover and the Exodus Ex. 13-18 Journey from Egypt to Mt. Sinai Where is Mt. Sinai? There is a monastery on the traditional site But in truth, no one is quite sure The Monastery on Mt. Sinai is St. Catherine’s.
- 12. EXODUS OUTLINE Ex. 19-31 The Law given on Mt. Sinai The beginning of the nation of Israel Ex. 32 Idolatry (golden calf) and punishment Are there Ten Commandments? Actually, no. The first five books of the Bible have 613. In fact, there are two different versions of the Ten Commandments. Can you find them?
- 13. EXODUS OUTLINE Ex. 33-34 Regiving of the Law on Mt. Sinai Ex. 35-40 Moses instructs Israel Tabernacle constructed—the beginning of the Temple. Priestly robes and other ritual objects made The Ark of the Covenant was contained in a tent like structure. This was the Tabernacle. Later, Solomon built the Temple for it. Eventually, it disappeared, its whereabouts unknown
- 14. WHAT COMMANDS TO OBEY Obey timeless moral commands (mentioned in both the OT and NT and reaffirmed by Jesus and St. Paul) Obey other commands found only in the NT given by Jesus and the apostles) Don’t obey ritual OT commands (those not repeated in the NT such as circumcision, animal sacrifices, visiting Jerusalem three times each year, etc.)
- 15. FALSEHOOD OF IDOLATRY Many scholars believe the 10 plagues made one or more Egyptian gods lose face For instance, look at the Golden calf incident in Ex. 32 The plagues were designed to demonstrate the true power of the Israelite God.
- 16. SCIENCE SAYS… There are explanations for all of the plagues. The River Nile turned red occasionally due to contamination. It caused the frogs to leave the water. They died and insects began to feed on the frogs…. The miracle was not so much the event, but the TIMING. 16
- 17. MOSES AND ICONS The Ark of the Covenant Cherubim on the Ark Manna and his Staff The Tablets of the Commandments Images on the Curtain The Bronze Serpents 17
- 18. SPECIAL THANKS TO…. Thank you for your attendance and participation. Suggestions? Please write to koscinskim@moravian.edu 18
Editor's Notes
- The Great Jewish Scholar Maimonides wrote a treatise called a Guide for the Perplexed for those who wished to understand the Jewish faith. This presentation is designed to demonstrate the relevance of the Book of Exodus even today to all Christians, especially those of the Byzantine Christian churches.
- The first question we need to answer is why Christians read the OT at all. There are several reasons. The first is explained by St. Paul. The OT provides examples and warnings for us. Early Christians were often attacked because the religion was perceived of as being new. Innovation was not a good word in those days when speaking about religion. Christian apologists used the OT as proof Christianity was ancient. The heretic Marcion, who was almost elected Bishop of Rome proposed a canon of scripture that excluded the OT. He believed the God of the Old Testament was not the God of the NT. Marcion was defeated and the OT entered Christian Scripture.
- We as Byzantine Catholics read the OT in a unique way. We look to see the face of Christ in the OT. Of course, all Christians do this, but the Book of Exodus was in fact a distant foreshadowing of some distinct features of Byzantine Christian worship.
- There some major themes Byzantine Catholics take away from the Exodus. These themes are often found in prayer Icons. The first is the image of the Cross when Moses raises his hands to part the Red Sea and in battle with the Amalekites The image of Baptism is foreshadowed as the Israelites pass through the water and come up on the other side free from slavery. Churches and sacred icons are also foreshadowed. Finally, there are some timeless laws that we need to obey, such as the Ten Commandments.
- Lets put Exodus in some perspective. It is one of the five books of Moses, called the Pentateuch. This is the core of Jewish scripture. The last four are often considered together, as they deal with the history of Israel’s transit to its new homeland. The sixth book of the Bible is the Book of Joshua. It details the Israelite conquering of their new home.
- These books cover Creation –the book of Genesis– until the death of Moses. There is a Jewish tradition that Moses did not die, but he was taken directly to heaven, in a similar way that Enoch and Elias was. We see that in the Transfiguration, where Moses (representing the Law) and Elias (representing the Prophets) appeared with Jesus. At the time, the Jewish Bible had not yet crystallized. Today, Jewish scriptures are divided into the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Writings did not belong to the Jewish “canon” at that time but were obviously well-known. For instance, Jesus prayed using the psalms.
- To put some additional perspective on the Exodus, we see it happened at least five hundred years before the founding of Rome. This was a critical reason why the Romans gave the Jewish faith privileges. It was of such ancient pedigree. And another reason why we read the OT. Early Christians answered the question of if this so good, why is it so new? Christians would say, “look, it is not that new. Christ was prefigured in the OT.” Christians therefore adopted the OT, but as previously discussed, not without a fight.
- Another reason why we read the OT is that the people pictured there are so, well, human. Moses was an ordinary human with his own set of weaknesses chosen to do God’s work. Perhaps we should pay particular attention to this…..
- The second set of the Ten Commandments is found in Deuteronomy. In fact, there is no set version of the Ten Commandments even today. Compare and contrast the Catholic version to the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments. The substance is the same, but the numbering is different.
- While we know that certain commands were fulfilled by Jesus, we have to be careful about supercessionism—that is, the Jewish faith is inferior to Christianity or the Christian faith supersedes the Jewish Faith. That has been rejected by the Church. It breeds contempt for the Jewish faith. Jews are still still in Covenant. An example of a command given by Jesus not as explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments is “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself”
- This is particularly important to the Byzantine Church. Eastern Christians are often accused of worshipping icons. Icons are venerated, not worshipped. Only the Almighty is worthy of worship. Unfortunately, in Exodus 32, the Israelites worshipped the Golden Cow. This idol was the direct representation of an Egyptian God from whom they were just delivered, and definitely NOT what Eastern Christians do.
- Many scientists posit there was a positive correlation between the Nile turning red and the plagues that followed. The true miracle was the event and the timing of the event. When a manifestation of the power of God was needed to delivery the Israelites, it was occurred. The same thing of course happened at parting of the Red Sea. There have all kinds of theories about what natural phenomena could have caused the parting of the waters.. Again, when something miraculous happened, it occurred.
- We often do not see how many icons were described in the Book of Exodus. Let start with the Ark of the Covenant. In Byzantine hymnography, the Ark is thought to be the Theotokos. The Lord Himself was “contained” in the Ark. On top of the Ark were two cherubim. They of course were images, and we know Byzantine altars are often adorned with Angels. In fact, during the Divine Liturgy, we sing, “let us who mystically represent the Cherubim.” The Ark contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments—written by the very finger of the Lord---manna, and the staff of Moses as perpetual reminders to the Israelites that it was the strong hand of Yahweh that rescued them. They are all symbols, a type of icon. The images on the curtain of the Tabernacle could almost be thought of as a primitive icon screen. Later on, Moses raises bronze serpents in the desert so that the Israelites were healed when they were bitten by a plagues of snakes.