The story of the Red Sea as a theological framework of interpretation

Abstract

The exodus motif is widely agreed to be one of the central frameworks illustrating the salvational acts of God in both the Old and New Testaments. According to the Old Testament, the exodus motif was, to Israel, the paradigm of redemptive historical renewal. For this reason, the exodus motif provided the typological expression for all future hope of salvation and served as a theological paradigm to be used by Old and New Testament authors. In this article, the exodus theme in the Book of Revelation, chapters 12 to 13, is discussed in the following order: (1) Christ�s crucif xion and resurrection as the archetypal exodus; (2) the chronological fulf llment of the exodus theme in the Bible; and (3) the exodus theme in Revelation 12 to 13. To investigate the exodus theme in Revelation 12 to 13, the intertextual interpretation, as based on the redemptive historical interpretation, will be highlighted.�

Keywords

• Red Sea
• interpretation
• theological framework
• exodus motif
• salvational acts of God