Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif

by Bryan D. Estelle

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2018

Overview

Israel’s exodus from Egypt is the Bible’s enduring emblem of deliverance. It is the archetypal anvil on which the scriptural language of deliverance is shaped. More than just an epic moment, the exodus shapes the telling of Israel’s and the church’s gospel. From the blasting furnace of Egypt, imagery pours forth. In the Song of Moses Yahweh overcomes the Egyptian army, sending them plummeting to the bottom of the sea.

But the exodus motif continues as God leads Israel through the wilderness, marches to Sinai and on the Zion. It fires the psalmist’s poetry and inspires Isaiah’s second-exodus rhapsodies. As it pulses through the veins of the New Testament, the Gospel writers hear exodus resonances from Jesus’ birth to the gates of Jerusalem. Paul casts Christ’s deliverance in exodus imagery, and the Apocalypse reverberates with exodus themes.

In Echoes of Exodus, Bryan Estelle traces the motif as it weaves through the canon of Scripture. Wedding literary readings with biblical-theological insights, he helps us weigh again what we know and recognize anew what we have not seen. More than that, he introduces us to the study of quotation, allusion, and echo, providing a firm theoretical basis for hermeneutical practice and understanding.

Echoes of Exodus is a guide for students and biblical theologians, and a resource for preachers and teachers of the Word.

Key Features

• Follows the continuing thread of the exodus motif in the Old Testament and New Testament
• Connects the events of Exodus to biblical interpretation
• Demonstrates how exodus themes relate to the person and work of Christ

Contents

• Hermeneutical Foundations
• The Past Is Prologue: Creation and Exodus
• The Exodus Motif: A Paradigm of Evocation
• The Psalms and the Exodus Motif
• Isaiah’s Rhapsody
• Exile and Post-exile: The Second Exodus Revisited
• Jesus as the New Exodus in Mark and Matthew
• The Exodus Motif in Luke–Acts
• The Exodus Motif in Paul
• The Exodus Motif in 1 Peter
• The Exodus Motif in Revelation: Redemption, Judgment, and Inheritance
• Conclusion

Top Highlights

“The main point, however, is that a covenantal family is living in the midst of the common-grace city of man.” (Page 76)

“Mark has his own agenda and underscores the wilderness as a place of covenant making.^{20” (Page 212)}

“The primary reason Scripture uses allusions, however, has to do with typology” (Page 20)

“The end point (or telos) of creation is a summons to worship” (Page 68)

“Therefore, since the Song of the Sea seems to have an internal structure that serves as a microcosm of the whole book of Exodus, it only makes sense to take our cue from the Scriptures themselves as to what constitutes the exodus motif—namely, both the deliverance from the enemies of Israel in Egypt and the wilderness wanderings as described in the Sinai pilgrimage, which culminate in the arrival at the foot of the mountain of God.⁵⁵ The wilderness wanderings do not play a minor role in the whole exodus complex. They are crucial for understanding the story and theology of the book of Exodus.” (Page 102)

Endorsements

Informed by classic Reformed theology and the most modern methods, Bryan Estelle presents what may be the most careful and extensive study of the exodus available. His study is a model of an intertextual and biblical theological study of a theme in Scripture, and not just any theme, but one of crucial importance to understanding the message of salvation in the gospel. I recommend this book to all serious students of the Bible and to pastors who want to preach in a way that honors the coherence of Scripture.

—Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

In this work one finds a mature reflection of the importance of the exodus paradigm throughout Scripture that is sensitive to both diachronic and synchronic concerns in locating this paradigm within the wider biblical-theological landscape. Readers of this volume will not only appreciate the insights this study generates in the reading of particular biblical books and individual passages, they will also be rewarded by the guidance this volume provides in navigating through numerous contested issues in contemporary biblical scholarship. As such, both introductory and advanced students will benefit from this study.

—David W. Pao, professor of New Testament and chair of the New Testament department, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Estelle deftly guides the reader, from Genesis through Revelation, to a central teaching of the Bible—the exodus of the Israelites and the unrivaled rule of God. Drawing from a well of primary and secondary sources, this well-written volume is carefully researched and hermeneutically sensitive. Most of all, this book gazes at Christ’s work in delivering his people from the slavery of sin and leading them through the waters of redemption. Certainly recommended!

—Benjamin L. Gladd, associate professor of New Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Echoes of Exodus: Tracing a Biblical Motif
• Author: Bryan D. Estelle
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2018
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. Exodus › Theology; Exodus, The › Biblical teaching; Intertextuality in the Bible; Exodus, The › Typology
• ISBNs: 9780830882267, 9780830851683, 083088226X, 0830851682
• Resource ID: LLS:ECHOESOFEXODUS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:36:02Z

About Bryan D. Estelle

Dr. Estelle is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He has taught at Westminster Seminary California since 2000. Previously, he was a pastor in an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation in Maryland and was involved in planting a church in Oregon for the Presbyterian Church in America. He lectured in Hebrew at The Catholic University between 1997 and 2000. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association. He is the author of Salvation through Judgment and Mercy: The Gospel According to Jonah. He has contributed essays to Covenant, Justification, and Pastoral Ministry: Essays by the Faculty of Westminster Seminary California, The Law is not of Faith: Essays on Works and Grace in the Mosaic Covenant (contributor and co-editor), and But Let A Man Examine Himself: A Biblical and Confessional Critique of Paedocommunion. He has also contributed articles and reviews to The Biblical Historian, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Maarav, Modern Reformation, New Horizons, Ordained Servant, and Westminster Theological Journal. Dr. Estelle and his wife, Lisa, have two sons and one daughter. He and his family enjoy outdoor pursuits.