Genesis to Revelation: Exodus, Leviticus Participant Book: A Comprehensive Verse-by-Verse Exploration of the Bible

By Keith Schoville

Study the Books of Exodus and Leviticus, beginning with Moses’s story and ending with the priests and their duties. Some of the major ideas explored are: Passover and exodus, covenant laws, instructions carried out, worship and laws.

More than 3.5 million copies of the series have been sold.

This revision of the Abingdon classic Genesis to Revelation Series is a comprehensive, verse-by-verse, book-by-book study of the Bible based on the NIV. These studies help readers strengthen their understanding and appreciation of the Bible by enabling them to engage the Scripture on three levels:

What does the Bible say? Questions to consider while reading the passage for each session.
What does the passage mean? Unpacks key verses in the selected passage.
How does the Scripture relate to my life? Provides three major ideas that have meaning for our lives today. The meaning of the selected passages are made clear by considering such aspects as ancient customs, locations of places, and the meanings of words.


The meaning of the selected passages are made clear by considering such aspects as ancient customs, locations of places, and the meanings of words. The simple format makes the study easy to use. Includes maps and glossary with key pronunciation helps.
Updates will include:

New cover designs.
New interior designs.
Leader Guide per matching Participant Book (rather than multiple volumes in one book).
Updated to 2011 revision of the New International Version Translation (NIV).
Updated references to New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible.
Include biblical chapters on the contents page beside session lesson titles for at-a-glance overview of biblical structure.
Include larger divisions within the contents page to reflect macro-structure of each biblical book. Ex: Genesis 1-11; Genesis 12-50; Exodus 1-15; Exodus 16-40; Isaiah 1-39; Isaiah 40-66.


The simple format makes the study easy to use. Each volume is 13 sessions and has a separate leader guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: May 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781501855184

Keith Schoville

Keith Schoville has retired from the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. He has authored two volumes in the Genesis to Revelation series.

Book preview

1

THE STORY

OF MOSES

Exodus 1–5

DIMENSION ONE:

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Answer these questions by reading Exodus 1

1.What are the names of Jacob’s sons who go with him into Egypt? (Exodus 1:1-4)

2.Which of Jacob’s sons does not go with him into Egypt? Why? (Exodus 1:5)

3.What do the Egyptians force the people of Israel to do? (Exodus 1:11, 14)

4.Why do the Egyptians come to dread the people of Israel? (Exodus 1:12)

5.What command does the king of Egypt give to the Hebrew midwives? (Exodus 1:16)

6.Why do the midwives disobey the king of Egypt? (Exodus 1:17)

7.What command does the king of Egypt give to all his subjects? (Exodus 1:22)

Answer these questions by reading Exodus 2

8.To which tribe of the Israelites do the parents of the baby boy (Moses) belong? (Exodus 2:1-2)

9.How does the Levite woman attempt to save her son from death? (Exodus 2:3-4)

10.Who nurses the baby boy for Pharaoh’s daughter? (Exodus 2:8)

11.Why does Moses kill the Egyptian? (Exodus 2:11-12)

12.With what family does Moses dwell in Midian? (Exodus 2:16-21)

13.When God hears the groans of the people of Israel in their bondage, what does God do? (Exodus 2:24)

Answer these questions by reading Exodus 3

14.Where does Moses lead the flock he is shepherding? (Exodus 3:1)

15.What makes the burning bush seem like a strange sight to Moses? (Exodus 3:2-3)

16.How does God describe the relationship with Moses? (Exodus 3:6)

17.What name does God reveal to Moses at the place of the burning bush? (Exodus 3:14)

18.What are the Hebrews to take with them when they leave Egypt, and where are they to get it? (Exodus 3:22)

Answer these questions by reading Exodus 4

19.Moses wants proof that God has appeared to him. What three signs does God give him? (Exodus 4:2-9)

20.What excuse does Moses give God to avoid returning to Egypt? (Exodus 4:10-13)

21.Who is Aaron? (Exodus 4:14)

22.Who goes with Moses to Egypt? (Exodus 4:20)

23.What does Zipporah do when God threatens Moses on the way back to Egypt? (Exodus 4:24-26)

24.When Aaron speaks to the people of Israel, how do they respond? (Exodus 4:31)

Answer these questions by reading Exodus 5

25.What is Pharaoh’s response when Aaron and Moses ask him to let the people of Israel go? (Exodus 5:2)

26.How does Pharaoh further oppress the people of Israel after Aaron and Moses visit him? (Exodus 5:6-8)

27.With what charge does Moses confront God after Pharaoh increases the burdens of the people of Israel? (Exodus 5:22-23)

DIMENSION TWO:

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN?

In Exodus 1–5, we find an introductory section describing the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt (Chapter 1), an account of the birth and infancy of Moses (Chapter 2), God’s call of Moses (Chapters 3–4), and a narrative of the first encounter of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh (Chapter 5).

Exodus 1:5. Whereas this verse numbers Jacob’s descendants at seventy, in Acts 7:14 Stephen states that the number is seventy-five. Stephen bases his number on his reading of Exodus 1:5 in the Septuagint. The Septuagint is the Greek version of the Old Testament that was widely used in the early church. Stephen’s Jewish audience was well acquainted with the Septuagint and did not question his use of it.

Exodus 2:24-25. Verse 24 seems to imply that God had forgotten the people of Israel. But the Hebrew word translated here as remembered is better translated as paid attention to. The Jewish Publication Society translates verse 25 as follows: God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.*

Exodus 3:1. The Book of Exodus gives two names to the mountain of God—Horeb and Sinai. The Bible also contains two names for the mountain from which Moses looked over into the Promised Land—Mount Pisgah and Mount Nebo. (See Deuteronomy 34:1.) Sinai is the mountain of God to which Moses leads the Israelites after the Exodus. Sinai is also the mountain on which God gives Moses the Law. (See Exodus 19–24.) Elijah also made a journey to this holy mountain. (See 1 Kings 19:4-8.)

Exodus 3:13-15. The name of God in Hebrew is Yahweh. Most English Bibles translate this word as LORD. The name may mean he who is, which expresses the eternal nature of God, or he who causes to be, which emphasizes the creative and sustaining power of God.

Exodus 4:21. In this verse, the writer describes the power of the Lord. Yahweh’s realm extends beyond the band of Hebrews into Egypt. The writer emphasizes that God controls all—that nothing is beyond God’s power or grasp. The signs Moses performs call the Egyptians to a belief in the one God. However, the pharaoh chooses to resist. Pharaoh’s own obstinacy causes him to reject the signs, and so God hardens the pharaoh’s heart.

Exodus 4:24. Jewish commentators understand that Moses falls deathly ill. God is punishing him for his failure to circumcise his son. (See Genesis 17:14.) Zipporah apparently performs the rite because Moses is too sick to do so. Afterward, God leaves Moses alone. Perhaps the writer wants to make clear that Moses’ wife, a Midianite, wants her son to bear the mark of circumcision. Circumcision makes this child a son of Abraham, and thus a son of the covenant.

DIMENSION THREE:

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN TO ME?

Dimension Three provides four major ideas that have special meaning for our lives today.

Exodus 1:1-22—Dealing With Fear

Notice that Joseph meant nothing to the new pharaoh and his people; they do not know about Joseph. As humans, we fear what we do not know. We also tend to react defensively to the unknown. So Pharaoh fears for his security and that of his people. He tries to control what he considers to be a threat. Exodus tells us that Egypt was full of these Israelites. In this case it was the sheer number of these Israelites that threatened Pharaoh. Pharaoh uses economic measures against the threatening