Kontakion

Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15 Central Verse : “Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt: I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” Exodus 3:7-8 NRSV Central Truth : This story in Exodus can be talked about in many ways. It could be used to talk about the original ‘call’ story and how every prophet after Moses, including Jesus, story tries to measure up to this. We could talk about how God decides to interact with the Israelite people, more to the point of why did he wait to interact and why did he choose Moses. We could even take my favorite topic, removing your shoes because you’re on holy ground. Or my second favorite topic, questions (like

Scripture: Exodus 1:8-2:10 Central Verse: “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Exodus 1:8 NRSV Central Truth: This begins a few weeks in Exodus so some background material is important. Author: Unknown, tradition has accredited it to Moses. Some portions may have been written by Moses but they have been compiled together by various authors over the years before they arrived at their final work. In biblical studies, there are four primary redactors of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the bible). Their abbreviations are JEPD. J stands for Jehovah tradition which is the southern kingdom of Israel’s history. E is Elohim which is the northern kingdom. In the Hebrew, these two redactors are identified by their usage of these names for God. While we translate Jehovah and Elohim as God, and Yahweh as GOD traditionally these groups used the names listed above. P stands for priestly tradition, usually if the text deals heavily with priest and what priest do i