The book of Exodus is the second book in the bible in the Old Testament and covers the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt to escape slavery. In this specific chapter of the book, I will be giving a deep dive into the concepts and interpreting what the text says into what I have learned in my Religious Studies course so far, verse by verse for the next few blog posts.

The first two verses specifically talk about where they are in their journey of liberation from Egypt into the wilderness to their ultimate goal of the promised land. They are on their 1st day of the third month of escaping Egypt and decide to camp in the Desert of Sinai in front of what is known as “the mountain”.

The 3rd verse says that Moses goes to seek God and the Lord calls him up from the mountain, meaning that this is an example of axis Mundi, as it is God’s mountain where he can talk to normal people like Moses. God asks Moses to deliver a message to the descendants of Jacob and the people of Israel, which we know are one and the same as the descendants of Jacob are known as Israelites and are later then referred to as Israel. The definition of a prophet is someone who interacts with a divine figure as they tell them to deliver a message for them, and since God is asking Moses to deliver a message for him, this means that Moses is a prophet of God.

The 4th verse has God reminding Moses of what he has seen him do as he says, “how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself”.The metaphor with an eagles’ wings shows that it is strong and safe. This also helps imply that God was not geographically based as he was able to keep his influence on Moses from Egypt to the mountain where they are now. Lastly, it helps imply that God was not omnipresent as he had to bring the people to him.

The 5th and 6th verses finish the Lord’s message for Moses to deliver to the Israelites his covenant (a sacred mutual agreement) that he makes with Moses. The Lord says that if he obeys this covenant, he will establish a special connection with the people of Israel, making them his “treasured possession”. He further explains this to Moses saying, “for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The meaning of this is more explicit as priests are used to help connect people with the Lord, meaning that Israel would play an essential role in his plan. This again shows that he is not geographically bounded as if the whole world is his, as he has a more wide reach impact than just a certain area. He is also again described to be non-omnipresent as he asks Moses to deliver the message to them rather than himself.