Part 2 of the Book of Exodus begins with a call-back to the first moments of creation.

The God of Israel challenges the Egyptian obsession with fertility by overwhelming them with a plague of over-fertile frogs.

The God of Israel defeats Pharaoh’s magicians, and makes a clear distinction between God’s people and Pharaoh’s people.

As God and Pharaoh go head-to-head over ownership of Israel, Pharaoh begins to discover that the worst thing God can do to a person is let them have exactly what they think they want.

As God continues to turn up the intensity of his judgements on Pharaoh, he explains further what he is planning to accomplish through these acts.

As the Lord drives Pharaoh to drive the Egyptian nation to the brink of starvation, gradually a new hope for the Egyptian people begins to emerge.

The third cycle of judgement ends in darkness. Having completed the uncreation process, God prepares Egypt for his last act in the great drama.

Before the final judgement begins, God commissions Moses to build a new ark of salvation — but in a strange new form.

The choice God has been preparing for the peoples of Egypt is finally revealed: will they stay back and die, or will they follow Moses and live?

As the exodus from Egypt gets underway, God pauses to explain the last few centuries of symbolism to his people, so they will know better how to trust as they follow him into the wilderness.