Exodus: God of Deliverance - Week One

I did this study a couple of years ago with a group of women, and I felt it was excellent and that I got a tremendous amount from it. I knew I would want to walk through it again, so here I am, in 2026, reading through this study again. Right now, I’m reading through it on my own, but I plan to do it again with a group.

*These are simply my personal notes and the things that stood out to me during this study. They are not the questions from the book itself. I highly encourage you to walk through the study on your own, as you’ll gain so much more by engaging with it firsthand. Jen Wilkin does an excellent job walking you through this study. Once you do, you can come back here and glean any other information I may have, or comment below on anything you would like to share. (I can’t guarantee everything is 100% correct. This is just my journey, so be sure to do your own research.)

4/10/2026

A few things that first stood out to me:

• The central theme of Exodus is Deliverance. Exodus = Going out

• There were about 400 years between Genesis and Exodus.

• Moses wrote the books of Genesis and Exodus.

• Moses was the author and the main character of Exodus. He was Israel's lawgiver, prophet, judge, spiritual father, and author.

• Exodus is written as a historical narrative. It was written to remind them that there is only one true God.

• Exodus was written during the time the Israelites were wandering in the desert for 40 years. (sometime between 1600-1400 BC)

• A family went into Egypt, and 400 years later, a nation emerged from Egypt. There were about 70 Israelites when they entered Egypt (some say about 75), but there were about 600,000 men (not including women and children) when they left Egypt during the Exodus.

  • This blew my mind. That is 4x the size of the city I live in, AND that is including women and children. It seems we are so divided as people on almost everything in this world. How did they get over 600,000 people to stay together, going the same direction, wandering in the desert?

Notes I got from the video:

• Studying Exodus will help give us context for the rest of the Bible.

• Exodus is the defining moment in the Old Testament.

• Moses knows the Israelites are sandwiched between Polytheistic Egypt (what they were leaving behind) and Polytheistic Canaan (what they were going to). He wanted to give them a message reminding them that there is only one true God.

  • Polytheistic = belief/worship of more than one God.

• The Bible names two midwives, but they may have just been the leaders (or bosses) as the Israelites may have needed many more midwives if they were reproducing as the Bible states.

Notes from my study:

The mood of Exodus in Chapter 1 is sad, depressing, and aggravating.