This second book of the law, and second book in the Christian Bible chronicles the life of a man named Moses from the time he is a young chap to the time he is an old codger. The book is so named because at its heart is the exit or escape of the Israelites, who find themselves enslaved at the end of Genesis.

A very basic summary of the book is as follows:

I. Moses is born to a Hebrew family in Egypt after the Egyptian Pharaoh had decreed that all male Hebrew children be put to death. Tough break for Moses, who then found himself in a homemade basket being battered by the violent currents of the world's longest river. He arrives safely on the other side of the Nile and is taken into the Pharaoh's court.

II. Rather than being killed, Moses is raised as royalty and has a nice cushy job in the palace. He repays his rescuers by flying into a fit of rage and killing an Egyptian guard after he sees him beating one of the Hebrew slaves.

III. Moses is of course exiled, and spends a good bit of time wandering the desert before finding a wife and starting a family.

IV. Moses has a close encounter of the seventh kind when he sees a burning bush that is technically not burning but simply on fire. To cause further confusion, the bush speaks, identifying itself as God and commanding Moses to set His people free.

V. After a bit of arguing with the Almighty Creator of All That Is and All That Ever Shall Be, Moses trots back through the desert to Egypt and demands that Pharaoh set the Hebrews free. Being that the Egyptian economy rests on the back of the slaves, this message is not terribly well received.

VI. Next we have the plagues, which are the glee of children everywhere, and provide adequate cause for adults to feel that God can be quite cruel. Locusts, frogs, bloody water, and death of all the first-born in Egypt are among the punishments handed down to persuade Pharaoh to set an enslaved people free.

VII. The Hebrew people make their triumphant escape, crossing the Red Sea on dry land, while Pharaoh's armies drown attempting to reclaim their freshly emancipated slaves.

VIII. Wandering. God sends Moses and the Israelites/Hebrews on the scenic route, on foot to reach the promised land. This leisurely stroll through one of creation's driest and harshest climates takes about 40 years give or take a couple of years. The book of Exodus ends with the Israelites still wandering.