Stroll through Scripture for September 29, 2024

Based on Exodus 12:1–13; 13:1–8

In many ways the Exodus story is an origin story for Israel. It tells of how the nation was formed as a people, what they overcame, and how they set out towards their future. Much like other founding myths, this story also carries a lot of myth in it. Let me clarify the term “myth.” Myth is an ancient story that tells of heroic acts, often involving the divine, that forms a foundational lens through which to see the world. Myth isn’t concerned with literal truth, but rather, myth conveys a truth about something or someone.

At the very beginning of chapter 12 we hear God speaking to Moses and Aaron declaring that “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.” (vs. 2). In other words, it’s a new beginning for Israel. It’s a sort of birthday for Israel.

Vs. 3- 13 is an instruction for Israelite households on what they are to do and how they are to prepare for what is about to happen. Again, throughout this, it is a type of birth narrative. The act of giving birth is messy. There is often blood. The way things were ends and something new begins. In this case, it’s a hurried birth. We hear God telling Moses and Aaron to tell the people to have their “loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly.” (vs. 11).

In many ways the Exodus does become a lens by which to look at the world. Later, Christians would come to see…