Does Exodus bring images of Cecil B. De Mill’s Oscar winner to your mind? (Our children probably think of the Dreamwork’s production of Prince of Egypt.) The true Exodus is much more important than even the best film can convey. Still, reading the book of Exodus, even in the modern translations, is quite a task. How can you be sure you have heard God’s message when it is a struggle to decipher the words themselves?
Fr. Shamon, author or Genesis the book of Origins, and the priest I would most like to have over for coffee, has written a gem of a book to help us understand Exodus. Exodus Road to Freedom not only helps us to understand the words but helps open us to the message God contained in it. Fr. Shamon needs only sixty pages to give a thorough and understandable explanation of the book of Exodus. The ten chapters cover the enslavement of the Hebrews, Moses, the plagues, the journey to Sinai, the tabernacle, priest’s vestments and the covenant. An appendix explains the similarities between the old testament Sacrifice of Yom Kipper and that of the Cross. Eleven illustrations including the furnishing of God’s dwelling, the Tabernacle, add to the thoroughness of the text.
In Genesis the Book of Origins, Fr. Shamon explained the patriarch Joseph rose to a position of authority under a Hyskos pharaoh, a foreign conqueror. Exodus states that there came a pharaoh who knew not Joseph. Fr. Shamon, in Exodus Road to Freedom, explains who this pharaoh was. Ahmose I was the Egyptian pharaoh who came to power by vanquishing the Hyskos rulers. Tutmose III, ruling eighty-five years after Ahmose I, revoked the privilege status of the Hebrews. Fr. Shamon’s explanation of the Hebrew enslavement in the context of history makes the scriptures more understandable. I was completely fascinated by Fr. Shamon’s handling of the ten plagues. He explains the first nine plagues were familiar natural occurrences in the Nile Valley. The miracle was that they occurred exactly when Moses called for them and in a more severe form than usual. The tenth plague and it’s consequences, were a just punishment from God since Egypt had decades of unrequited labor to pay for,
.In chapter seven, Fr. Shamon clears up a question that evangelizing protestant ask most Catholics. Why are the Ten Commandments numbered differently by Catholics than by Jews and Protestants? The answer is quite simple. Catholics accept the numbering found in Deuteronomy 5:6-21 while the Jews prefer the listing from Exodus 20:2-17. The reason for preferring different versions is really fascinating (and good to know when confronted by evangelizing protestant) but you will need to read the book to find out why.
Fr. Shamon’s book shows the two main themes of the book of Exodus: Grace and Mercy. Even to this day God gives us Grace and when we reject Him, He still extends His Divine Mercy to us. Fr. Shamon’s Exodus Road to Freedom will help you truly understand Exodus. It is a wonderful book that helps open our hearts to God’s message.
It is available from:
Resources Connections to History
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website: http://www.rchistory.com/
email: orders@rchistory.com