Essay Sample on Jewish Studies

Introduction

The exodus is used to describe the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan and the encounters and challenges they faced on the way. The story of the exodus is spread in the bible over the five Pentateuch books and in the books, the slavery that they went through and how they broke the chains by a guide, Moses, anointed by God to guide the Israelites through the wilderness into the land that God had promised them, Canaan. All this was possible through a covenant that was between them and God that he was to protect them as long they obeyed him. The exodus is an inspirational story to many communities seeing how Israel after many years of slavery, it was finally able to break free with the help of God. Many countries in Africa, Asia, and the United States find the story as part of their role model for their way of life and that one day they will also break free from the chains of slavery during the era. It forms an integral part of the Judaism calendar, and it is a significant celebration for the Jewish. It is celebrated, and continuously, the young generation is reminded that the exodus is a considerable happening to their existence (Nicholson 11).

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Moses was the middleman between the Israelites and God. Moses was the one who communicated directly to God and straight to the Israelites, and this made him find his position at the top of the Israelite leadership. It is so sad to realize that despite his hard work in the delivery of Israelites from the bondage of slavery to the Promised Land, he saw the Promised Land but never arrived in Canaan. Moses was the son of a slave. However, he was raised like a son to the Pharaoh because, when Moses was born, there was a severe and alarming population increase in Egypt. The authorities saw it wise to prevent the Israelites from multiplying they decided to order the soldiers to kill all the newly born sons hence depriving one generation of male offsprings which will, in turn, reduce the population significantly. The mother to Moses saw it wise to rear her son instead not but increase his chances of survival. She put him in a carrier and sent his son down the river to a place where the pharaoh's daughter took a bath and simple as that. The pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses, and as fate was, the position of a nanny was advertised, and her mother took it to take care of her son but not to the knowledge of everybody. When Moses was of age, he killed a person and ran away from Egypt until such a time that he was called by God to go back to Egypt to save his people (Nicholson 30).

Tracing the exodus to the start, the story of Joseph and his several brothers is at the central point. The brothers sold Joseph to slavery in Egypt where he went, and God helped him to become one of the most influential people in Egyptian authority. Then a famine struck Canaan, and the inhabitants including the family of Joseph had to go to Egypt to look for food. It was at this point that they were able to reunite with Joseph although under mysterious circumstances. Joseph sought out to help his family and the Israelites at large, and because of his power in the administration of Egypt, he was able to secure permission and land from the then pharaoh to raise his family in Egypt. With time Joseph died, and the pharaoh who was aware of the Israelites also died. The administration changed while the population of Israelites in Egypt increased. When it was time for Ramses II to rule Egypt, he saw the rise in population and feared for his leadership that the Israelites were rising in numbers hence that meant more power, and they were likely to overthrow the pharaoh, so he had them subjected to slavery and hard labor (Nicholson 49).

Moses, on his return to Egypt to free the Egyptians as God had asked, he was granted miraculous powers that he was able to cause the ten famous plagues which include; water turning into blood, frogs appearing everywhere, lice upon the whole land of Egypt which created a lot of discomfort for people, gnats which were flies that were able to cause harm and pain to the animals and people, demise of livestock that the Egyptians owned, people were attacked with boils which were very painful but still the pharaoh did not let go of the Israelites, there were thunderstorms accompanied by hail together with fire followed by locusts that cause damage to all the plants and crops in Egypt. After this, there was complete darkness for three days and most importantly, the death of firstborns. The death of the firstborns is commonly known as the Passover, and this is what made the pharaoh to change his mind and let the Israelites depart from Egypt because his son died in the Passover. The Israelites were ready at this point to quit Egypt, and when the pharaoh agreed for them to leave, they carried their belongings and left. However, it was not long before the pharaoh changed his mind and sent soldiers on chariots and at this moment, the Israelites were nearing the red sea. Moses prayed to God to give them a way, and many had become afraid of seeing the Egyptian soldiers on their tails, and they were not ready to go back to slavery. God parted the red sea for them to go through it and when the Egyptians followed into the sea, the way closed and they all drowned. This was a manifestation of how powerful God is (Nicholson 52).

After the red sea incident, the Israelites had to choose either to pass through the territory of the powerful Philistine tribe or to take a roundabout through the wilderness. After consultations with Aaron, Moses decided that they make the way to the desert. The way through the wilderness was a wise decision, but it would take the Israelites a whole forty years to reach the Promised Land. In the desert, the Israelites faced many challenges including lack of food. God provided manna for them, and they were able to feed every one of them. At the wilderness, on Mount Sinai is where the Ten Commandments were brought to the Israelites, and the first time Moses was upset with the Israelites because they had begun worshiping a golden calf that they had formulated from their jewels since they lost faith in the one true God. He had to go back to the top of the mountain to ask for new tablets with the Ten Commandments. Some of the people, even after seeing what God was capable of, they continued to worship the golden calf, and God ordered Moses to separate the people who have had their faith in Him eroded from the people who still believed in him where they were stoned to death

The Israelites also faced a battle between the Amalekites. Moses had to hold up his hands up so that the Israelites could win the war. The war went on for long, and he prayed to God to make the sun to stop so that they could finish the fight. People had to come to hold up the hands of Moses because if Moses put his hands down, the Israelites were defeated but if he held his hands up high in the air, the Israelites won the war. The war began when the Amalekites provoked the Israelites, and God decided that the Amalekites had to depart the face of the earth hence face extermination. For the Amalekites, they stir the Israelites because where they had set their camp was the only place in the whole wilderness which had water and food hence it was an oasis, and they both wanted the sanctuary for themselves - the previous efforts that the Amalekites had put in place to try and prevent the Israelites from reaching the oasis, but they had all failed until they resorted to war. First of all, the Amalekites devastated the Israelites robbing them of their belongings with the aim of making them not to enter into the oasis (Nicholson 97).

Finally, the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land, but when they sent scouts to the Promised Land to view the terrain, the came back in shock and awe when they saw that the people who were inhabiting the Promised Land were gigantic if not giants. Out of the twelve spies that went to check the land for various features, ten of them said that the area was impossible for them to possess and this raised the cautiousness of the people, and in return, their fear made them not to believe in God even after the far he had brought them. Two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, still had their belief in God and they looked at the giants and the fortified cities and compared them to God, and they believed they were going to make it to the Promised Land. At long last, the Israelites were able to make it into the Promised Land after years of suffering in slavery in Egypt and forty more years in the wilderness (Nicholson 149).

Conclusion

The exodus is a landmark to many important happening in the ancient and modern communities. It shows that God is more powerful than any human being ever to exist. God reveals that when people follow his commandments and do as He wants, then he can protect them against anything that may come against them however big it is. It is also evident that as humans, we have many faults, and we are all prone to mistakes, but that should not keep us from giving up on the faith that we hold so dear to ourselves and most importantly believing in God. As the Israelites did, those who believed in God to the end had their reward and remained alive throughout but those who did not, died along since they started worshiping idols on the way to the Promised Land. God's laws and rules are not for breaking, and they are to be followed to the latter.

Work Cited

Nicholson, Ernest Wilson. Exodus and Sinai in history and tradition. Westminster John Knox Press, 1973.