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THE EXODUS
Readings for Session 8, From Creation to Captivity
Read the material below and the handout that we will review in class.
Memorise Exodus 3:14
We are now finished Genesis and the first two eras of the Old Testament –
the Creation and Patriarchal Eras. We looked at mankind before the Flood,
then narrowed our focus upon one man, Abraham, who slowly but surely
fathered a blessed nation through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob, who
was later renamed Israel. Jacob’s family of 70 settled in Goshen, Egypt, and
430 years later, his descendants left as an ethnic nation of 2-4 million
people.
In this session, we begin to look at the Exodus Era which extends through
the other four books of the Pentateuch: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy. We will spend four sessions here before we enter the
Promised Land. The four key men in this era are Moses, Aaron, Joshua and
Caleb. Here we will learn about a river of blood, a backed up sea, and a
poisonous brook. We will see a golden calf, a talking donkey, and a bronze
snake. We will read of a burning bush on a mountain, and a burning cloud
in the sky.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 2
Exodus embraces about 430 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob in
Egypt in 1875 BC to the setting up of the Tabernacle in the wilderness in
1445 BC. Exodus 12:40-41 states that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430
years, and Genesis 15:13 states that the oppression lasted for about 400
years (40 and 400 are numbers of God’s testing). Acts 13 mentions 450
years of hardship.
Multiplication; Not Just Addition: Exodus 1:7 states that the children of
Israel multiplied over the years, a sign of God’s blessing throughout the Old
Testament. Genesis 12:37 states that, after leaving Egypt, there were
600,000 men (over age 20), plus women and children and others who were
called a “mixed multitude.” Thus, the total number was easily more that 2
million.
Three centuries had gone by. During that time, and perhaps due to mobs
coming to Egypt from Palestine during the famine, Egypt was overrun by
Semitic rulers from Palestine and northern Mesopotamia now known as the
Hyksos (“rulers of other lands”).
As is often the case when a new king comes to the throne, subject nations
tested his resolve by declaring that they were no longer subject to Egypt.
Thutmose III then showed them his steel for the next 30 years. He is
compared with Napoleon, but unlike Napoleon, he never lost a battle. He
conducted sixteen successful campaigns in Palestine, Syria and Ethiopia.
You can be sure that as a New Kingdom Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who
was subjugating every nation around him, Thutmose III would have no
respect for the historical Joseph (Genesis 1:8). He would further see the
Israelites, along with any other Palestinian people, as a threat since they
might align themselves with an invading enemy
like the Hyksos to overthrow Egypt again. He also
liked to build. So, he used the Hebrews as slave
labor to build the two cities that later became
known as Pithom and Rameses under Pharaoh
Rameses of the 19th Dynasty.
her maids fetch it, and she paid the Hebrew mother to nurse her own son!
The princess named him “Moses” - drawn from the water.
Young Moses: The Bible doesn’t indicate that Moses was given equal
status with his Egyptian relatives or that his Hebrew identity was hidden, as
the movies sometimes portray. Acts 7:22 states: “And Moses was learned in
all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
Hebrews 11:24-25 adds: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.”
How did these choices affect Moses’ “upward mobility” in Egypt? Have you
ever had to suffer because you identified yourself with God’s people, God’s
Word or doing the right thing?
At this point in history, God was known to the Hebrews as “He Who Has No
Name.” Remember that “God” is a title of deity; it is not God’s name.
Moses knew that if he told people he had spoken with God, their first
question would be, “Oh? What is His name?” God therefore gave Moses His
name – I AM (the eternally self-existent One, the uncaused Cause, literally “I
am because I am”).
The answer God gave to Moses was four Hebrew letters – YHWH. The four
letters are called the Tetragrammaton. Although Yahweh is the best
pronunciation, the Hebrew scribes used the vowels in the Hebrew word
“lord” (Adonai) to form the word Jehovah.
God’s name gives us a characteristic that only God can have – he is totally
and eternally self-existent. No created thing can say that. People exist
because parents gave birth to them; things exist because of a creator. The
Hebrews had such reverence for this name that from then on they merely
called Him “The Name.” When Jesus showed His disciples how to pray, He
said “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” – not just a reference
to His name, but to God Himself.
Genesis 3:13-4:17 makes it possible for us to gain great insight into Moses'
feelings about God's promises to his forefathers and about his own life.
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 7
In the process of time, the Pharaoh who wanted to kill Moses died. The only
Pharaoh to live more than 30 years during this time (@1479-1425 BC) was
Thutmose III.
Romans 8:28 says that God is orchestrating all things for our good. Not all
things are good, but together they work for good. As a general rule, God
has chosen to give each of us the ability to choose – to choose good or evil.
He will not stop human evil, but he can use it for good.
Eventually God “heard.” Exodus 2:24-25 tells us four things that God did:
God heard, God remembered, God saw, and God knew. God is an eternal
spirit. Romans 11:33 says that his ways are past finding out. Thus, God
often expresses himself in human ways in the Scriptures – his eyes search
the earth, his hand is not too short to save, etc. These are called
“anthropomorphisms.” When God “remembered” his covenant with
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 8
God again sent Moses in to Pharaoh and told Moses He would harden
Pharaoh’s heart to judge Egypt and its gods, and to show His power (7:3). In
all of these plagues, the Israelites were protected while the Egyptians and
their property were destroyed. God normally protects His children from His
own wrath, but not necessarily the wrath of man. During the Great
Tribulation, believers will incur the wrath of the antichrist but be spared
God’s wrath.
God graciously let Moses know before he came to Egypt that this would
happen, so as to prepare Moses for the stubborn reaction and to keep his
heart steady as the conflict between God and Pharaoh intensified.
“And when I see the blood, I will pass over you” said
the Lord, and the Death Angel took the lives of the
firstborn in Egypt that dreadful night, even Pharaoh’s own son (12:29-30).
Isaiah 37:36 records the Death Angel taking the lives of 185,000 men in the
attacking Assyrian army in one night.
Following the Pillar of Cloud and Fire: Pharaoh called for Moses and
said the Hebrews should leave; Egyptians gave them anything they wanted
as long as they left (12:33-36). Several million people in orderly ranks
marched southeast along the wilderness of
the Red Sea. Per his instructions, Israel took
Joseph’s mummified body with them.
Genesis 13:21-22 tells us that they were
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 10
guided by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night – must have
been an awesome sight!
At various times throughout the Bible, God gave a visible and luminous
indication of His presence. The Shekinah Glory of the Lord, both light and
cloud, filled the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle for the first time in Exodus
40:34-35. The Lord was present in a similar way at the dedication of the
Temple in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. His glory also surrounded the Bethlehem
shepherds in Luke 2:9.
The millions followed Moses down into the dry bed and took all night to
cross. Come dawn, the cloud lifted and Pharaoh and his army followed into
the sea bed; the wind let up, and the waves came in drowning them. The
Jews view this Exodus as the single greatest event in
Jewish history.
neck of which is now known as the Gulf of Suez). The Hebrew phrase is yam
sup, meaning “the sea of the end,” used to refer to the farthest body of
water they knew. It is not the “Reed Sea” as some scholars try to argue.
The Bitter Lakes of today were known by the same name back then.
Regardless of where they crossed, the sea bed had to be dry enough to get
a hoard of millions through in one night, and yet have enough water nearby
to come crushing in and drown Pharaoh’s army.
13 “your”)
Verses A prophecy about what will happen in the future, given the Lord’s track
14-18 record in the past.
The sickening waters of Marah were enough to make them forget all of the
miracles of the past few weeks. They didn’t pray to God; they grumbled to
their leaders. God showed Moses a log/tree. Perhaps the change in water
was a miracle, or perhaps, as the Arabs claim, certain thorn bushes can
counteract the sickening levels of minerals in the water. Still, God showed
them the answer!
TEST #3 – No Food: The food starts to run low. Again Israel grumbles and
starts pining for Egypt – a direct slap in God’s face. In the morning, God
sent both a provision and a test wrapped up in little wafers: “manna” –
literally “what is it?” They were to gather each day so much as they
needed, on average about an omer or 2 liters. Anything more would rot by
From Creation To Captivity, Session 8 – CMI Student Reading 13
morning. On Friday, they would be more so that they would not have to
gather on the Sabbath. At night, quail was blown in to provide them with
meat.
Israel ate manna for forty years (17:35). Why didn’t God just
make goat and beef cattle appear in the desert? Why did
God send this gift of food from heaven in exact portions
with all these restrictions?
• To develop their daily dependence on Him
• To show them His faithful provision
• To test them and to see if they would obey
TEST #4 – Water From The Rock: Our greatest natural desire is to be the
God of our own life so that we can control everything and everyone and
thereby experience happiness. We get angry, sad or frustrated when that
doesn’t happen … unless we give up on being God.
Many people are their own God, but they believe there is some kind of
supernatural being in heaven. When the
going gets tough, they instinctively try to get
the supernatural God to fix things, and to
increase the incentive, they say, “If you really
exist, you’ll do X. Prove to me you exist by
doing X.” This makes God into a subservient
genie-of-the-lamp. This is called “testing
God.” God hates it and normally refuses to
act.
Today, Wadi Refayid (see photo) is a little stream that flows in this area
except in the dry season. When Israel came it was dry. Moses, as he often
did, went to Jehovah – these were God’s people, not his. Moses and the
elders (leaders of each tribe) went ahead. Moses’ rod was the symbol of
God’s authority. He struck the rock once, and from it waters flowed that
brought life. Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. The rock that Moses struck was a
symbol of whom? What did Jesus say about himself and water in John 4:4-
15?
Here we are introduced to Joshua for the first time. He is a military man
who will (40 years later) succeed Moses as Israel’s leader when they go into
to conquer Canaan. His name – Hoshea – means “Jehovah is salvation.”
Moses takes “the rod of God” (the symbol of God’s authority) on top of an
overlooking mountain and holds it up … as long as he could (try to hold out
a small book for 2 minutes). The Bible doesn’t say that this encouraged the
troops, nor that Moses prayed while holding it up. Stretching to God was an
appeal to Him (as a child would do) for victory. Aaron and Hur helped Moses
hold up his arms. What does that teach us about spiritual leadership?
Jethro’s suggestion – use broad leadership! What were the qualifications for
the men who would act as judges? In verse 23, Jethro gave wise counsel –
use this idea if it’s alright with God. Apparently it was, and Israel used the
plan from then on.