As previously explained, I've enrolled in the University of Notre Dame's Satellite Theological Education Program (STEP) to pursue their Certificate in Doctrine and am currently taking my second of the required courses: The Doctrine of Salvation in Jesus Christ. This week's topic is The Theme of Salvation in the Old Testament. In this post, I'm posting my responses the week's assignment questions
- Reflect on Exodus 3:1-17:
- Why is it significant that God heard “the cry of the Israelites” and willed to liberate them?
- What did their liberation (salvation) consist of?
As a Christian and Catholic, I see this passage as a metaphor for the salvation we experience in Christ.
God did not abandon the Hebrews during their captivity in Egypt. “After the fall, [God] buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing.” (Catechism para. 55.)
Their salvation consisted of God's initiative in offering the Hebrews a way of surviving the 10th plague, the Hebrew's free choice to respond and their participation in the salvific process by putting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes, and God's resulting grace in causing the angel of death to pass over their homes.
The process of unmerited grace calling the Hebrews to take action followed by the Hebrew's freely chosen decision to accept that offer, followed by liberation echoes the Catholic beliefs that salvation is a process that begins with God's gratuitous and supernatural grace, man's cooperation in his salvation, and the resulting justification and sanctification.
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