"I am becoming increasingly convinced that Exo-dus is the Old Testament's greatest book. Not only does it expand on many of the themes and bring to fruition many of the promises of Genesis, but it also introduces us to the most profound meanings of the Lord's name, to the most basic summary of the Lord's law, to the divine instructions that brought into being the Lord's Tabernacle and priesthood, and to the divine initiative that established the Lord's covenant-the covenant that gives our Old Testa-ment its very name.

"But there is more. The book of Exodus tells us about the miraculous redemption of the Israelites from their Egyptian slavemasters. The story of Ex-odus is the story of how God redeemed His own."