While in the land of Egypt, the seventy people of Israel began to grow in number and in power over the course of four hundred years. The people of Egypt forgot Joseph. The new pharaoh saw the number and strength of the Israelites and feared that they would one day overpower Egypt; therefore, he began to treat them harshly, making them slaves. When that didn’t work, he commanded all their male children to be slaughtered or tossed into the Nile River. Moses’s birth mother was cunning and made a basket for her son before putting him into the Nile. His sister followed him and when Pharaoh’s daughter found him, she offered to help her find a nursing mother. Moses was raised from his youth as a Hebrew but became an Egyptian by adoption. This would lead to an identity crisis for Moses. Was he a Hebrew or an Egyptian? Who was he?
When he was older, Moses murdered an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. When he tried to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrews, they said “Who made you commander and judge over us?” This was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Yet Moses realized his sin was known and he fled to Midian. He dwelt in Midian for a time, was married and bore children. It was in Midian that he met Yahweh, the God of his ancestors. Yahweh sent him as a rescuer of the Hebrews, yet Moses questioned God, “Who am I to do this?” God basically said to him, “It doesn’t matter who you are. It matters who I am” and demonstrated His power to Moses.
Upon his return to Egypt, Moses meets up with his brother Aaron and they both request of Pharaoh to allow all the people and animals of Israel to depart to make sacrifices to God in the desert, but Pharaoh refuses. This leads to the ten plagues of Egypt, ultimately resulting in the death of every firstborn male in Egypt and the release of the people of Israel from slavery. There also is established a new calendar for Israel, the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Over the course of the plagues, the people of Egypt began to realize the power of the God of the Hebrews and feared Him; however, they did not believe in Him.
However, Pharaoh regretted allowing the Hebrews to leave. He chased after them with his army, surrounding them next to the Red Sea. God parted the waters for Israel to pass to the other side while standing between the Israelites and the Egyptians as a black cloud. When the Egyptians tried to pass through, God destroyed every one of them. The people of Israel saw this, feared God and believed in Him. They sang a song acknowledging Yahweh as their God.
As they followed God in the wilderness, God provided for them clean water, manna, and quail. He gave them the Sabbath and the ten commandments by which to live. This would make them His special kingdom of priests. Moses sat down to become judge over the Israelites, but Jethro helped him to establish a hierarchy of judges. This fulfilled the foreshadowing of the question posed in chapter two. Moses also resolved his identity crisis in Yahweh. He no longer asked, “Who am I?” as questioning his own worthiness, but asked, “Who am I?” to show his role in everything, noting that it was God who was in charge, not Moses.
When Joseph had died, a new king of Egypt forced the Hebrews into slavery because he was afraid of them. He commanded all the boy babies were to be tossed into the Nile River. But Moses’s mother was cunning. She made a little boat to keep Moses safe. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and adopted him as her child. He was raised in the palace, but when he was older, he killed an Egyptian and fled to Midian. In Midian, he met God. God sent him to free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. God sent ten plagues on Egypt. The last plague was the death of all the first-born boys of Egypt. Therefore, the Hebrews celebrate Passover; because God passed over their houses. None of the firstborn Hebrews died. When Pharaoh saw this, he sent the Hebrews away, but then he changed his mind and went after them with his army. God stood between the Hebrews and the Egyptian army and parted the Red Sea for the Hebrews to cross, but the Egyptian army was all drowned. God led the people of Israel through the desert, providing for them food and water. He told them He would make them a nation of priests. He gave them the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments.
Throughout the opening story of Exodus, Moses had an identity problem. He didn’t know who he was. Was he an Egyptian or a Hebrew? This problem was evident when God wanted to send him to Egypt to free God’s people. He kept asking God, why me? What makes me special? God tells him that it’s not him that is special, but God makes him special. He won’t do this in his own power, but in the power of God. He later acknowledges before the people of Israel that if they complain against Moses, they are really complaining against God. I often want to try to live in my own power, but I am not enough. I must set aside my pride and allow God to work in and through me instead of trying to do everything myself.
Joel McReynolds 
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