Take This Staff in Your Hand

Christians often struggle to hear God speak through the Bible. The problem in part is that sound principles and methods for interpreting the Bible are not known or practiced. Instead, everyone does what is right in their own eyes. In Ears to Hear: A Guide for the Interpretation of the Bible I provide principles, methods, and procedures for Christians as they seek to hear God speak through the Bible and communicate the message of the Bible to those who need a word from God. This guide supplements Ears to Hear by illustrating the principles, methods, and procedures introduced in that guide by practicing them on Exodus. This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive commentary on Exodus. Instead, this guide contains the results of my personal struggle to hear God speak through Exodus. The message of Exodus continues to be extremely relevant to the modern church and contemporary Christians. As Carpenter says, "Although Exodus was composed within and describes an intersection of history and the mighty acts of God in a specific time and space, it bursts its historical parameters and proclaims a message that is universal on both the historical and divine levels of reality" (Carpenter, Vol. 1, 29).