Leaving Egypt-God Fulfills His Promise

Exod 12:29-41

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.

32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.

33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:

36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.(KJV)

So Moses led the people of Israel out and with the blessing of the Egyptian people. They wanted them gone and if giving them everything they could would do it, they would give away everything they had, as they felt that it would be the only way to get rid of them and the curses that were coming upon them by the Israelite’s being there. As a matter of fact, by what is written, you can picture them being rushed out of town by the Egyptians, even escorted.

So now the people of Israel have left. No longer are they on Egyptian soil, but instead headed out in the direction of Succoth. Succoth seems to have been a southeastern direction from their main debarkation point which is where the cityor territory of Rameses was built. Remember, they had been living in Goshen which is in northern Egypt, so they had to have started gathering in Rameses before leaving as an entire group for the desert.

Now notice for one thing the number of men listed. Approximately 600,000. Now this does not count the women and children, but if you did, you would have 120,000 with the wives-you seldom saw unmarried men among these people-, plus 2 to 3 kids -which would be at least another 120,000 or maybe even 180,000. You add that all up and you get somewhere close to 2 million people leaving Egypt. Mind you, this was all of Egypt’s workforce. They had been the laborers of the country. They had been the slaves there, doing all the work. Suddenly Egypt is bereft of its economic base-its workers. And realizing the curses that were resulting from the people of Israel staying in Egypt because of their Pharaoh, the people really didn’t care. They just wanted these people gone. I am sure they figured that the Pharaoh would solve the economic crisis; after all he was a god in their eyes.

So here we have about 2 million people going out into the wilderness. And in the last 2 verses shown above, we learn that they had been in Egypt 430 years.

Now let’s go back to Genesis where God tells Abraham this would be happening.

Gen 15:13-16

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.(KJV)

God spoke this to Abram, (this was before the name change) telling him of this future event. Notice how long the people that would be Abraham’s descendants would be afflicted -400 years. Now I don’t know if God was being exact or general in his statement. I am thinking exact. Joseph was approximately 39 or 40 when his family moved into Egypt. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he were 40 at the time. For those of you who don’t know it, 40 is the number for testing. Remember Jesus was in the wilderness 40 days and nights, Moses was on Mt. Sinai twice -each time 40 days. There are other instances where the number 40 plays a part in testing. And I guarantee when Joseph saw his brothers coming into town looking to buy food, that was a testing time for him too, which he passed with flying colors. Here he is, about or exactly 40 years old, when he has the opportunity to truly all the way finish forgiving his brothers. I am sure that even as a baby he had experienced jealousy from his brothers.

Now, notice God says to Abram, the people will be afflicted 400 years. It was another 30 years later when Joseph’s dad died, and Joseph was likely retiring by that time too. As Jacob died about 30 years after his arrival, that left 400 more years for this group to be in Egypt. My guess is that from the time of Joseph’s retirement or at least Jacob’s death on, things started changing for the people of Israel. They still flourished but no doubt started coming under persecution, and perhaps even while Joseph was alive, the people were maybe being drafted into the Egyptian workforce. It is a possibility but by no means proven, that when Joseph became vice regent of the country, the country was still ruled by the Hyksos kings who were of semitic origin. The Hyksos dynasty was eventually driven out and there was a turnover of power back to all Egyptian rule and blood lines on the throne. Perhaps it was right after this time, that the king who had not known Joseph-probably now definitely retired-who started the affliction of the Israelis. It would make sense if those were the circumstances. For this would fit the 400 year assignment of affliction on the people that God announced to Abram would happen. What is even more amazing is that it was Moses’ generation that is the 4th generation. I really believe God made the generations extremely long lived for this purpose. Now mind you Moses is 80 years old when he has to go down to Egypt to get the people away from there, so his own generation was already on the elderly side. Aaron was already 83.

At any rate, more than 400 years before-at lest 550 years I am guessing(I have not stopped and calculated it)-God tells Abraham (Abram) that his descendants would be living in a foreign land in affliction for 400 years, and it would be in that 4th generation that they would return to the land God had promised Abraham’s descendants would inherit. That is almost ½ century of time before God brought about the fulfilment of that promise. Did God keep that promise? You bet! You know He did. Does God have His own timetable? You bet He does. How patient are you when someone promises you something? These descendants of Abraham all knew of God’s promise. It wasn’t a surprise to Moses when God had him writing Genesis, that God had made this promise to Abraham. It had been carried down by word of mouth all the way from Abraham down thru Moses’s generation. It might have even been written down before Moses was even born. Who knows, maybe even Abraham wrote it down in his diary. I am betting he had one. Regardless of whether it had been written or carried down by mouth, God made this promise to Abram that his descendants would not only be a multitude, but that they would experience a 400 year affliction and then return to the land promised to the descendants.

By the way, God also fulfilled His promise to Moses that He would bring the people out with a mighty hand. It just took 10 plagues to do it first.

Now let me ask you this. You look in the Bible and see all these prophecies, many still referring to the future which have not yet been fulfilled. You know God has said this. Are you going to believe Him or say that just cause it has not happened by now it won’t happen? Remember when Peter and the group asked Jesus about the timing of the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel to sovereignty-even over the nations- with Jesus being on the throne of the kingdom? Peter asks:

Acts 1:6

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?(KJV)

His reply:

Acts 1:7

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.(KJV)

Can you imagine what Peter might have thought-along with all the rest-if Jesus had said there needs to be about 2 or 3 thousand more years before this takes place-what his reaction might have been? He might have given up right then and there. Why?, because He was only just beginning to understand God’s plans and purposes. Jesus very wisely changed the subject after letting Peter know it was not for him to know the dates for the restoration. Instead, He gave Peter the more important information-that he and the rest would soon be receiving power from on High. Then Jesus ascends into heaven and the angels announce that Jesus will return the same way He left. These disciples, later known as the apostles, discover they have to wait for 10 more days. Do you know why? Because it was ordained that the church as a church would be born on the Day of First Fruits.

What is the significance of the Day of First Fruits? This was a harvest celebration of the first fruits of the field in the spring, and the day when bread that was leavened, not the unleavened, but leavened, was waved before the Lord in the temple. Leavened bread represents bread or people who are not totally free of sin, and there were 2 loaves. Both loaves represented people. One loaf represented the people of Israel, and the other loaf unbeknownst to the Jewish priests actually represented the Gentile nations. Both being waved before the Lord. Here is a comment from James:

James 1:18

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.(KJV)

Do you see the connection between that festival and the festival of First Fruits-Pentecost? This festival is one of many that point to Jesus and His work.

Another scripture:

Rev 14:4

4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.(KJV)

This bunch of first fruits were from the 144,000 listed in Revelation as standing on Mount Sion with Jesus. You can see from the scriptures that first fruits really represented people or were a symbol of people. And I am sure that the 2 loaves represents Jews and Gentiles, both being believing groups of people, yet people who had to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Well, back to Moses and Abraham. God made a promise which He kept. But He had to set up the stage first for all that was to happen. All promises He has ever made He has kept, and those which have yet to be kept will be Kept one day. Time is no problem for God. He has His own schedule and timetable and only He know what is the best timing for anything to happen. I believe it is very kind of God to let us know His promises, but we have to take these on faith knowing, not just believing, but KNOWING He is going to keep these promises. His Word is the same as "Done" as far as we should be concerned. Heb 11:6 Faith is the evidence of what you don’t yet see. It is the proof of that. It is made on a hope that can be relied on as if it were as solid as wood or rock.

As we go thru this material, I want you to realize that God had Moses operating on faith, and built the Law around this. And down through the ages, many of the people of Israel understood this, many did not.

The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus is the culmination of the promise to Abraham.

Gal 3:8

8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.(KJV)

And we have been because we have (those of us who are saved) received that blessing and continue to do so.

Today, I did not get into as much symbolism as I will be doing in future studies, but I did want to point out to you that the number 40 and 400 are both quite important in scripture. Today I wanted especially to point out from the material in Exodus12:29-41 the reality of God keeping His promises

Last week’s Bible Trivia Question: Who did the chief captain think Paul was? This particular captain who broke up the mob and took charge thought Paul was an Egyptian rebel who had led a force of 4000 murderers-obviously a terrorist leader of his day-against Roman rule. Can you imagine the glee he felt when he thought he had captured that Egyptian, and then the surprise that the fellow he had in tow had no connection whatsoever to the rebel? At any rate, he found himself talking in Greek to a Jewish fellow instead.

This week’s Bible Trivia Question: What was Paul’s request of the captain, now that he had the man’s attention?

That should cover it for today. God bless you and may you learn much from God’s Word and put as much as possible into practice. The Good News Lady

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem even more so now. "They shall prosper that love thee." Psalm 122:6 Pray also for wisdom for President Bush as enjoined us by I Timothy 2:1-03 and pray for our troops. Continue especially to pray God’s protection around our soldiers that are still in Iraq and other parts of the Arab world.