Exodus & covenant
About this date: The biblical sequence is clear, but proposed absolute dates and historical reconstructions differ.
Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and other leaders connect the Exodus, Sinai covenant, wilderness, tabernacle, and entry into the land.
Historical context
Exodus through Joshua follows deliverance from Egypt, covenant at Sinai, wilderness leadership, tabernacle service, and entry into the land. Historical reconstructions and absolute dates remain debated.
Key points
- Exodus joins liberation with Passover, Sinai, covenant commands, and worship.
- Numbers and Deuteronomy portray testing, leadership, and covenant renewal.
- Joshua continues into the land, while settlement chronology remains debated.
Scripture
- Exodus 1–20 — Oppression, Moses' call, Passover, departure, and Sinai establish the cluster's central movement.
- Exodus 25–40 — Tabernacle instructions, the golden calf, covenant renewal, and construction frame worship.
- Numbers 13–14; 27 — The scouts' crisis and Joshua's commissioning connect testing to succession.
- Joshua 1–6; 24 — Joshua's commission, entry narratives, and covenant assembly frame the book.
Primary sources
Against rival creator-gods, Irenaeus writes:
Irenaeus connects Moses, the law, and the prophets to one Creator whom Christ names as Father.
the Maker of heaven and earth, whom also the prophets proclaimed — whom Christ, too, confesses as His Father
Passage context and translation
Irenaeus argues against Marcionite and other rival creator-gods by joining Moses's confession of the one God to Jesus's confession of the Father as Lord of heaven and earth.
Before the excerpt
Or shall it be (what is really the case)
After the excerpt
whom also the law announces, saying: Hear, O Israel; The Lord your God is one God?
Sources and further reading
- USCCB introduction to Exodus
Literary and historical introduction; not independent verification of every narrated event. - USCCB introduction to Joshua
Literary and historical introduction; not independent verification of every narrated event. - USCCB introduction to Numbers
Literary and historical introduction; not independent verification of every narrated event.