The Exodus story has something for everyone. There s violence and sex. There is even a set of instructions on building a tabernacle and ark of the covenant for you engineer types out there. But, mostly, the story images the human condition of bondage, and God s liberating power. The story begins with the Hebrew people as slaves in Egypt.
Life there is filled with oppression, injustice, poverty, and hunger.
They are forced to endure hard labor and long hours. God hears their cries and sends a liberator named Moses. The story then moves to the numerous plagues which God works through Moses. The final plague is one in which the angel of death passes over killing all first born males who are not of the Hebrew people. The people are finally let go by Pharaoh, miraculously cross the Red Sea, and leave slavery behind.