Home » Old Testament » Exodus »
Exodus 17:1-7
Proper 21A
As my colleague Scott Hoezee noted in an earlier Sermon Commentary on this text, a piece to which I’m deeply indebted for several of this piece’s ideas, at first glance this may seem like just another story of Israelite bellyaching to Moses about dragging them out of Egypt. It seems to reveal nothing new about…
Exodus 16:2-15
Proper 20A
Human memory can be remarkably pliable. It isn’t just illness or advancing age that can bend and twist it. Trauma too can do remarkable things to memory. Exodus 15 describes how God responds to God’s Israelite children’s grumbling about their lack of something to drink. At Marah and Elim God gives them refreshing water to…
Exodus 14:19-31
Proper 19A
Its narrator so packs Exodus 14 with pyrotechnics that it almost begs for an update to Cecil B. DeMille’s classic, The Ten Commandments. Yet it’s easy to focus so much on all of its light, sound and fury that even its preachers and teachers may lose sight of its ultimate author. The text the Lectionary…
Exodus 12:1-14
Proper 18A
Comments and Observations If you assign the average high school student to read the unabridged version of Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick and then ask the student about it, the odds are good that the first thing he or she will talk about will not be the story. At its core Moby Dick tells an…
Exodus 3:1-15
Proper 17A
“Does Jesus Care?” is a hymn grieving family members sometimes ask soloists to sing at funerals. They ask, “Does Jesus care when my heart is pained/ too deeply for mirth or song,/ as the burdens press, and the cares distress,/ and the way grows weary and long?” While the lyrics may seem a bit outdated…
Exodus 1:8-2:10
Proper 16A
Exodus 1 and 2 are full of both oppression and kindness, of resilience and intrigue. Yet their central figure seems to stay largely behind the scenes, much like the director of a play. However, that apparent absence makes this story a kind of metaphor for much of our own daily lives. Exodus 1 basically picks…
Exodus 17:1-7
Lent 3A
At first glance, Exodus 17 may seem like just another story of Israelite bellyaching about leaving Egypt. It appears to reveal nothing new about Israel or her journey toward the land of promise’s freedom. As you might expect of people traveling through a wilderness that has no fast food restaurants or rest areas, our text’s…
Exodus 24:12-18
Last Epiphany A
Perhaps few preachers and teachers will tackle Exodus 24 as a stand-alone passage, even on Transfiguration Sunday. That’s, however, at least somewhat regrettable. The Spirit has, after all, embedded at least a few gems into this passage. Exodus 24 functions as a kind of “swing chapter,” in the words of Old Testament scholar, Terrence Fretheim. …
Exodus 34:29-35
Last Epiphany C
To understand the end of Exodus 34, you need to catch up on two things: the immediate context of this chapter in Exodus and also what happened in the first 9 verses of this 34th chapter, the final effect of which you can read in the Lectionary selection of verses 29-35. First of all, then,…
Content related to Exodus