essay on genesis and exodus

8/17/2019 Essay on genesis and Exodus

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While God as depicted in Genesis and Exodus is uncaring toward the plight of humans,

Jesus shows compassion and great care for humanity throughout the Gospel According to

Matthew. When faced with the physical, mental and emotional well being of humans, God is

unsympathetic and does not feel any compassion for them or their suffering. Jesus, however,

takes great pain in the suffering of humans and consistently shows them kindness and

compassion. God’s detached relationship with humans and Jesus’s compassion towards them

creates a clear dichotomy between The Gospel According to Matthew and the books of Exodus

and Genesis.

Evidence of Jesus’s compassionate nature is abundant throughout The Gospel According

to Matthew. One example is when Jesus sees the hunger of the crowd that has come to him on

the mountain. The text states, “Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have

compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing

to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way” (Book of

Matthew15:32). Jesus sees the crowd of sickly people whom he has healed and, because of his

compassion for them, he cannot bear to send them away hungry. Jesus has no objective in

feeding these people other than soothing their hunger. In this instance, it is evident that Jesus has

great compassion for humans. Another example of Jesus’s compassion is in the Book of

Matthew, 11:28 wherein Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy

burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle



and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy, and my burden is

light.” Once again, Jesus intends to aid the poor, ill and weary humans without ulterior motives.

While evidence of Jesus’s compassion is readily available throughout the Book of Matthew,

God’s neglect is equally evident in the books of Genesis and Exodus. An example of God’s

apathy toward the wellbeing of humankind is seen early on in Genesis, where God says, “ ‘I will

blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and

creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them” (6:7). God sees that

humankind is wicked, and instead of showing compassion toward them, decides to wipe them

from the Earth instead. God does not care for the wellbeing of humans, and so he does not feel

guilty in deciding to inflict pain and suffering on them by annihilating them from the Earth.

Other examples of God’s neglect occurs in Exodus, wherein God leaves his people without his

guidance on two occasions. The first instance is in the oppression of the Israelites, wherein the

Israelites suffer in slavery and turmoil for many years, until eventually, God remembers his

covenant with Abraham and returns to aid the Israelites. The text describes the event, stating,

“The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help

rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob” (Exodus 2:23). While God does eventually honor his covenant with Abraham,

he does so after having all but forgotten the humans and their suffering. The second instance of

God’s neglect in Exodus is in the episode of the Golden Calf, wherein the Israelites feel the need

to create a new God and worship an idol of it, due to God’s prolonged absence.

It could be argued that God does feel compassion for humans, in the case of Sodom and

Gomorrah, for example. When Asked by Abraham in Genesis 18:23, “Will you indeed sweep



away the righteous with the wicked,” God replies, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy

[Sodom]” (Genesis 18:32). In this instance, God shows compassion for those who are faithful to

him, and gives Abraham his word that he will not kill the righteous humans who live amongst

the wicked.

Despite rare evidence to the contrary, it is made clear throughout Genesis and Exodus

that God is unsympathetic and uncaring toward humans, while Jesus shows great empathy and

compassion towards them throughout the Gospel According to Matthew.

essay on genesis and exodus

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