Introduction It has captured the world’s imagination: ten dramatic plagues meant to chasten a recalcitrant pharaoh, walking through the bed of the Red Sea as on dry land, manna descending from heaven, fire and shaking that hits the holy mount. It was even the subject of a blockbuster movie called The Ten Commandments . Those who want to be ‘future-ready’ need a solid grounding in God’s Word. Understanding Exodus is fundamental for such grounding. May this article inspire you to go deeper into this great book and serve as a resource for further Bible study. Hebrew Name All these things - and more - are part of the great Bible book called Exodus. The name in the original Hebrew is we’elleh shemoth, ‘ And these are the names …’ which happen to be the very first words of the book. The name ‘Exodus’ comes from Greek, meaning ‘to go out, depart, or exit.’ Pentateuch Introduced Exodus is one of the five books of Moses, known as the Pentateuch (Greek for five volumes) or Torah in Hebrew...
We know the main story: On the 7th of October, 2023,Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, invading by land, sea, and air with 6,000 fighters. The statistics are 1,200 dead - the largest death toll of Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust. Another 251 were taken hostage. This was Day One of the current war. But we must remember that this was not the ‘beginning of the war;’ it’s the continuation of a conflict that started … you fill in the blanks. Did it start in 2023? Not really, on the 7th of October, Israel and Hamas had a ceasefire, which the latter broke. But by its very nature, a ceasefire means pausing a pre-existent conflict. So when did the war start? In 2023? 1987 (when Hamas was created)? 1967? 1948? Or did it start in the Biblical period between Israel and Amalek? The main point is that 7 October was the re-starting - not the beginning - of the current conflict. What is the scorecard? Israel is fighting a multi-front conflict. In some areas, there...