On the Mountain with God: Freedom and Community in Exodus

In this brief study of the book of Exodus, author Mark Hamilton seeks to capture its bold and timeless vision of human freedom, divine mercy, and responsible community for Christians today. The book of Exodus tells the story of Israel’s liberation from Egyptian bondage and its formation as a nation. It bears witness to God’s desire to fashion a people who can live sane and holy lives in community with each other and in harmony with God. Yet this reality is hard-won and always precarious. It requires that freed people live committed and responsible lives. To enable this, God makes covenants with people, not on the basis of their merits but as a way of helping them become meritorious. God gives freedom so that a people can become what they were intended to be all along: responsible, creative, life-giving men and women. So the story of the Exodus is not just a tale of a long-dead past, but the drama of a living present.