The major message of this book is that Yahweh is the sovereign God who provides deliverance for people from the slavery in which they find themselves. Moses revealed God's methods of providing salvation in Exodus.
His method of dealing with the whole human race was to create a pattern in the nation of Israel of how glorious it can be to live under the government of Yahweh. His method of dealing with Israel was by revealing Himself in power and glory. God intended this revelation to produce the double reaction of obedience and worship in the Israelites. God's method of dealing with individuals was by providing opportunities to obey and experience blessing or to disobey and experience chastisement.
God's purposes as revealed in Exodus are continually moving forward. People's actions such as disobedience, apostasy, and rebellion affect God's purposes, but they never frustrate them. Man's actions in Exodus fail apart from God's grace. This fact demonstrates that in both his nature and practice man is a congenital sinner.
God's grace in choosing Israel and blessing her with deliverance, adoption, and His abiding presence stands out clearly in Exodus, especially in view of Israel's ingratitude and rebelliousness.
"Exodus contains some of the richest, foundational theology of all the books in the OT. Preeminently, it lays the foundations for a theology of God's revelation of his person, his redemption, his law, and his worship. It also initiates the great institution of the priesthood and the role of the prophet and formalizes the covenant relationship between God and his people."549
"With Yahweh's Presence promised, then demonstrated, then given to Israel in theophany at Sinai, the first half of Exodus ends. The second half of the book is preoccupied with response to that Presence, in life, in covenant, in worship, and even in disobedience. The largest part of that second half has to do with the communication to Israel of the reality of that Presence, through a series of set-apart places, set-apart objects and set-apart acts, all of them intimately connected, in one way or another, with Yahweh's Presence."550
