Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 13:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

STR 13:1 (Spring 2022) p. 109

Book Reviews

L. Michael Morales. Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2020. ix + 207 pp. Paperback. ISBN 978–0830855391. $19.80.

Exodus Old and New is an accessible, insightful, and gripping introduction to the exodus theme in Scripture. Michael Morales weaves together a keen understanding of the biblical text, theological sensitivity, and practical application as he unpacks this prominent biblical theme, often leaving the reader with a sense of wonder at the exodus-deliverances that YHWH accomplished in redemptive history.

In the Introduction Morales claims that the exodus theme (broadly defined) is the center of biblical theology. He has misjudged the center of biblical theology though. Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum make a convincing case that the Bible’s central theme is the advancement of God’s kingdom through his covenants (Kingdom through Covenant, 2012). In any event, in chapter 1, the author presents the subjects of creation, exile, and increasing alienation from God in Genesis 1–11 as the backdrop for the exodus theme in Scripture. According to Morales, YHWH is the God of exodus before the book of Exodus. He is the God of exodus in Genesis.

The author argues in chapter 2 that Abraham’s journeys prefigure the future deliverance of his descendants from Egyptian slavery (see Gen 12:1–20; 15:13–16; 22:1–19). He astutely identifies a prefiguring of the exodus in the Abraham narrative. However, this exodus theme in the Abraham narrative must not eclipse its primary themes of land, offspring, and blessing (as his treatment might imply). Chapter 3 deftly explains the purpose of the exodus as YHWH’s relational revelation of himself to his redeemed people. Moreover, Morales correctly argues that YHWH subjects the land of Egypt to a de-creation process with the ten plagues. He sends the land back into the primordial state of chaos that the entire earth knew before YHWH formed it into a habitable space for human and animal life. One might, however, quibble with the author’s unusual translation of Hebrew kabed as “strengthen” (Pharaoh’s heart) rather than the traditional English translation “harden.”

In chapter 4 he contends that Egypt symbolizes death in the biblical narrative and that Pharoah and the Egyptian army correspond to the ancient sea monsters in ancient Near East mythology. Both ideas seem reasonable. He proceeds to argue that “the Passover is the exodus” (p. 66)

STR 13:1 (Spring 2022) ...