Exodus

The exodus is a literal, historical account of God orchestrating miraculous and important events in the course of fulfilling His promises. The book was written by Moses, a fact every New Testament author and even Jesus Himself testified.

The events of the book took place in the 16th–15th centuries BC, and cover a little more than 215 years of time Moses relates the story as an eyewitness account of historical events. Throughout its history Israel has always considered the story to be historical fact. Later writers in scripture refer back to the story of Israel leaving Egypt, meeting the Lord at the mountain and entering the period of desert wandering as a literal account. Stephen in Acts 7 recounts the story of Israel including a literal Exodus. Jesus Himself spoke of God's appearance to Moses and the giving of the Law as a literal account.

A literal understanding of this book gives added power and significance to the prophetic pictures embedded into the storyline of Exodus. The Exodus story is incredibly rich in pictures of sin, redemption, baptism, the Kingdom and judgment. Exodus is especially rich in pictures of Christ and His redemptive work. Above all, the story of Exodus is a story of God's sovereignty to accomplish His purposes in and through the lives of men.

-Like any book of Scripture, a proper understanding of Exodus depends on our knowledge of scripture overall (and to some degree on our familiarity with ancient history and culture).