Peggy Cobb
Intro to the Old Testament
Professor John Holk
The Exodus Event and its Significance
The following quote sums up the significance of the Exodus Event: “The exodus was the most important salvation event of the Old Testament. God rescued his people from Egyptian bondage by miraculous and extraordinary means. The crossing of the Sea is the climactic moment of their rescue [see Exodus 14]. They had no human means to escape Egypt, but God himself provided the way out. We should not be surprised that the significance of such an important event reverberates through the rest of the Old Testament and into the New Testament (Tremper Longman III, How to Read Exodus [Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2009], 145).”
Two great religions come from the Bible, which is from the word biblos which means book in Greek. The Old Testament has Judaism and in the New Testament we have Christianity. The Bible, while telling a story from beginning to end, explains the beliefs of the founders and early followers of the religions. Historical evidence such as written documents or archaeological remains, offer very few traces of the story in the Old Testament and none whatsoever of the New Testament events. Jewish Bibles are thought to have been written beginning in the 10th century BC, and by that time the Hebrews have settled in Canaan or Palestine. However, it is also believed that some events could go back to the 18th century BC; and many parts it is presumed the scribes are just writing down the messages or testimonies that were verbally transmitted.
The Torah, which is the first five books and considered the holiest part of the Bible for Jews, means ‘instruction’ or’ law’ in Hebrew. These books are sometimes called the Pentateuch by non-Jewish people, which mean ‘five scrolls’ in Greek. The first book of the Torah is Genesis and begins with a story of the