Exodus Through the Lens of Trauma
- Richard Lawrence
- Apr 1, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 14
The Importance of the Tabernacle
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This paper was from an undergraduate class on Torah / Penteteuch taken at Seattle Pacific University in the Spring of 2022. In lieu of a final exam each student was to write a 30 page fully document on the subject of their choice. Mine ended up at almost 100 pages and I was encouraged by the professor to publish it for the wider Christian audience. Due to its length I have provided an abstract, separated the online copy into three parts and provided a PDF copy of the full paper for download.
Abstract
The Exodus narrative tells the story of the nation of Israel being delivered by God from a 400 year long Egyptian slavery and a subsequent 40 years of wandering as they moved toward the land that God promised them.
This God a establishes a unique “covenant” relationship with the nation in which He promises to care and provide for the them if they will only “Obey My voice and keep My covenant” (Exodus 19:3-8). The agreement was straight forward and yet as we read the Exodus narrative “obey” was the one thing that they seemed unable or unwilling to do (Psalm 81:11). The entire first generation, except for Caleb, Joshua and their families died ignobly in the wilderness.
This paper attempts to answer the “why” question of Israel’s failure by viewing it through the lens of trauma. It asserts that they experienced numerous life-threatening traumas which impacted their responsiveness to God and that the three elements of God’s presence, God’s Law and God’s Tabernacle may have been intended to function as means of addressing their traumas with healing and recovery.
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