Thursday, August 17, 2006

Exodus - Chapter 1

Exodus* 1


Exodus - the Book of Redemption


*Exodus: Greek for "departure" or "going out". The Hebrew name of the book is "Ve-eleh shemoth", which means "And these are the names" - or simply "shemoth" which simply means "names".



Outline:

MOSES THE DELIVERER - EXODUS 1-11

(Moses a type of Christ our Deliverer)

Exodus 1: Slavery in Egypt

Exodus 2: Moses birth to 40 in the Palace

Exodus 3: Call of Moses in Midian (age 40-80)

Exodus 4: Moses Announces Deliverance in Egypt

Exodus 5-11: Spiritual War with demonic "gods" of Egypt



DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT - EXODUS 12-14

(Passover a picture of Christ our Redeemer who delivers us by His Blood and Power)

Exodus 12: Passover , Tenth Plague, death of first born (Deliverance by Blood)

Exodus 13-14: Crossing of Red Sea , Destruction of Egyptian Army (Deliverance by Power)



EGYPT TO MOUNT SINAI - EXODUS 16-18

Exodus 15: Song of Moses - Song of the Redeemed

Exodus 15:23-26: Marah - Bitter waters sweetened by the tree

Exodus 15:27: Elim - Oasis

Exodus 16: Wilderness of Sin - Manna & Quail

Exodus 17:1-7: Smitten Rock - Thirst of Israel, ("that Rock was Christ" 1 Corinthians 10:4; Water of Life John 4:14; 7:38; Revelation 21:6)

Exodus 17:8-16: Amalekites Defeated - Intercession of Moses, Aaron, Hur, (Power of Prayer)

Exodus 18: Jethro, Priest of Midian - Moses' overwhelming administration, (world's wisdom vs. revelation)



OLD COVENANT LAW REVEALED - EXODUS 19-24

Key: Exodus 19:5-6; 20; Hebrews 12:18-24

Exodus 19: Israel's Preparation for Law

Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments

Exodus 21-23: Social Responsibilities of the Law

Exodus 24: Covenant Confirmed, Ratified



THE TABERNACLE - EXODUS 25-40

Exodus 24:12-18: Key: Exodus 25:8; 40:38 ; Moses on Mount Sinai during this time

Exodus 25-27: Tabernacle Contributions, Layout, Furniture

Exodus 28-29: Preparation, Consecration of Priests

Exodus 30-31: Tabernacle Layout Revisited

Exodus 32:1-6: Golden Calf, False Tabernacle/ Covenant Rejected Rebellion (Unbelief) Exodus 5:1-21; 6:12; 14:10-14; 15:22-27; 16; 17:1-7; 32; Numbers 14:22; Hebrews 4

Exodus 32:7 - 33:23: Moses' Intercession for Israel

Exodus 34: God Renews Covenant with Israel

Exodus 35 - 39: Construction of Tabernacle - (Key: Exodus 39:42-43)

Exodus 40: Dedication of Tabernacle - (Key: Exodus 40:35)


Source: www.geocities.com/genebrooks/exodus.html




PURPOSES FOR THE BOOK OF EXODUS



  1. To introduce Israel to her national beginnings by
    narrating the events which form the people and the
    nation and by instructing the people in the covenant
    relation and his ritual dwelling.

  2. To narrate the battle between YHWH and Egypt on behalf
    of his people to bring about their deliverance from
    slavery.

  3. To explain the readiness of the people to accept YHWH's
    revelations of the Law.

  4. To describe the impatience of the people awaiting
    YHWH's enthronement among the people according to his
    design.

  5. To present the new constitution under which Israel will
    relate to YHWH (the Mosaic Covenant).

  6. To connect the people under the God's promise to
    Abraham to the beginning of the theocratic kingdom
    under Moses.

  7. To reveal God as YHWH--the one who will keep his
    promises.

  8. To express the importance of maintaining covenant
    relationship with YHWH.



Source: www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=41



   Moses probably wrote Exodus and the rest of the Torah during Israel's forty years of wandering in the desert. Exodus is the sequel to Genesis. It is difficult to be dogmatic about the chronology of the patriarchal period. We will make an attempt that probably could be criticized by someone, but an attempt nonetheless. The Exodus occurred 144 years after Genesis 50 when Joseph died (1606 BC). Exodus 12:40-41 mentions a 430 year sojourn. This sojourn began with the beginning of Abraham's time in Canaan (1892 BC) to the Exodus (1462 BC). Israel had grown from 70 persons to a nation of two to three million, beginning the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). By 1580 BC, with the rise of a new Egyptian dynasty, Egyptian oppression began for Israel, but hard oppression, difficult slavery, and genocide of male babies began 1542 BC, about the time Moses was born.


Key Verse: Exodus 20:2: I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.


BIRTH OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL - Genesis is a family history. Exodus is a national history. Genesis is about the failure of human beings. Exodus is about the redemption of human beings. Exodus begins in gloom and ends in glory, starts in ruin and ends in redemption.


Source: www.geocities.com/genebrooks/exodus.html



(1)*These are the sons* of Jacob** who went with their father to Egypt, each with his family:


*sons: Literally, "the names of the sons".


**Jacob: Hebrew Israel


   Verse 1 actually begins with the Hebrew word waw, which means "and", connecting it right back to Genesis. Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy begin the same way. Moreover, the first 6 words in Hebrew are the very same in Genesis 46:8. There is no break in the five books of Moses. The words go right on. There are no titles. In fact the title of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is "Now these are the names of the sons of" which is actually the first line of Exodus.


Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus


   This verse continues on the narrative of Genesis. It takes up where Genesis left off, summarizing what has gone before in a few verses. Those who entered Egypt with Jacob were his eleven sons (excluding Joseph who was already in Egypt) and their ‘households’. The households would include servants and retainers. Thus they may well have numbered a few thousand. We can compare how Abraham’s household contained 318 fighting men (Genesis 14:14). All would be seen as ‘children of Israel’.


   Jacob had come back from Paddan Aram with considerable resources and probably many servants, and these had been joined with the family tribe of Abraham and Isaac. Thus they were at some stage fairly numerous. On the other hand famine may have reduced their numbers somewhat. But they would nevertheless be a strong group, not just a few semi-nomads.


Source: www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html


(2) Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,


(3) Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,


(4) Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.


(5) Joseph was already down in Egypt. In all, Jacob had seventy* direct descendants.


*seventy: Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version read seventy-five.


   The children of Israel had entered Egypt with just "seventy" people in all, but they would leave Egypt, some four hundred years later, with "about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children" (see Exodus 12:37). Such a growth in population over 400 years could have been achieved, according to my calculations, if there was an average of about four children per family (if we assume that families started having children at about an age of twenty). So, I would not call the growth of population miraculous, but certainly the Israelites were blessed by God to sustain such a population growth. What made the increase of the Israelites surprising was not so much the population growth rate, but that they did not intermingle with the Egyptians. Because of this, the Israelites were able to maintain their cultural identity over the 400 years. However, this maintenance of their cultural identity intimidated "a new king" who came to power. Source: www.scripturestudies.com/Vol9/I8/ot.html


(6) In time, Joseph and each of his brothers died, ending that generation.


(7) But their descendants had many children and grandchildren*. In fact, they multiplied so quickly that they soon filled the land.


*Children and grandchildren: Literally, they "swarmed".



(8) Then a new* king** came to the throne of Egypt*** who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.


*new: Not just "new" in the sense of another ruler, a descendant of the Pharaoh whom Joseph served, but one of a different kind, possibly of a different race and dynasty.


***came to the throne of Egypt: = "arose over Egypt" is a phrase that never means friendly, means to arrive against.


   Harpers Bible Dictionary says this about the Pharaohs of Egypt. ‘The king of Egypt was considered a god by his subjects. He was the embodiment of the royal falcon god Horus, and from at least the fifth dynasty (ca. 2494-2345 b.c.) on, he was looked upon as the son of the great sun god, Re. When he died, he became the god Osiris and joined the other divinities in the afterworld. Theoretically, all of the land of Egypt and its products belonged to the pharaoh (see Genesis 47:20), and his word was the law of the land.’



**king:

PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS:

A. Rameses II:

1. Scholars who hold to a late date of the Exodus (c.
1290-1225 BC) identify Rameses II (c. 1304-1237)
as the Pharaoh of the Exodus

2. In addition the name of the city in Exodus 1:11 is
Rameses

a. It is possible that Rameses II merely took
credit for the city and the biblical
reference was modernized

b. It is possible that the Ramasides was to be
identified with the Hyksos who oppressed
Israel and that the city was called Rameses
in their time

B. Amenhotep II (c. 1436-1410)

1. It is possible that Hatshepsut (1490-1469) may
have been the princess who reared Moses

2. Thutmose III (c. 1490-1436?) ruled as co-regent
with his stepmother until her death for 56 years.
This allows for the time when Moses was in exile
in Midian (cf. Acts 7:3; Exodus 2:23)

3. Amenhotep II (c. 1436-1410) may have been the
Pharaoh of the Exodus. Note that the Bible does
not say that he drowned but that he led a battle
to the water's edge.

4. The dream inscription of Tutmose IV (c. 1410-
1402?) may indicate that he was not originally
intended to be Pharaoh. Therefore, his brother
may have died in the plagues.


Source: www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=41

(9) He told his people, "These Israelites* are becoming a threat to us because there are so many of them.


*Israelites: ‘The children of Israel.’ This term is now gradually crystallizing to signify them as a people, but always contains within it the reminder of their ‘descent’ or close family connection with Jacob (Israel), who represented the fathers to whom the covenant promises were given. They were the ‘children’ of the covenants God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But this does not indicate that they were literally all descended directly from Jacob. They were ‘children’ in that they were members of his clan, and the expression incorporated all who joined the households. Source: www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html


   It was particularly true up in the Delta Area, the choicest land of Egypt, and, of course, the exact place an invading force would enter. You can see why the Egyptians were a bit nervous. Here is an enormous group of people (maybe as large a group as the Egyptians themselves) sitting right at the border of Egypt, well placed to join an invading army and take over Egypt. Source: www.pbc.org/library/files/html/14733_moses01.html


(10) We must find a way to put an end to this. If we don't and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape* from the country."


*escape from the country: This is probably the real reason behind his statement, the fear that they would leave the land. Semites were always moving in and out of the land in smaller numbers, but he looked on these as permanent residents and he did not want to lose them as a valuable source of slave labor. Once they had become too strong, who would be able to prevent them leaving?


   This serves to confirm that the children of Israel were well settled in Egypt and had at this time no intention of leaving. Although still aware of the covenant of God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they were neglecting the promises of that covenant, and ignoring the hints that had been given that they should eventually return to the promised land (Genesis 50:24-25). It would have been so simple for them to leave under the Hyksos had they retained the vision to settle in God’s promised land (Genesis 12:7 and often). But they had settled down and were even philandering with false gods. This whole situation is confirmed by Joshua 24:14 where there is reference to the ‘the gods your forefathers worshiped... in Egypt’. Source: www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html


(11) So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves and put brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down under heavy burdens. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom* and Rameses** as supply centers for the king.


*Pithom:
Egyptian: Pa-Tum, "house of Tum," the sun-god. It was probably the Patumos of the Greek historian Herodotus. It has now been satisfactorily identified with Tell-el-Maskhuta, about 12 miles west of Ismailia, and 20 east of Tel-el-Kebir, on the southern bank of the present Suez Canal. Here were discovered the ruins of grain-chambers, and other evidences to show that this was a great "store city." Its immense ruin-heaps show that it was built of bricks, and partly also of bricks without straw. Source: www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/pithom.html


   Contemporary Egyptian texts speak of the Egyptians employing the ‘Apiru in dragging the huge stones required for the construction of temples in different parts of Egypt. These would then be set in place under the supervision of Egyptian experts. These ‘Apiru probably included the children of Israel, the ‘Hebrews’ (1.15-16; 2.11-13), whom Egyptians would see as ‘Apiru ( see Hebrews ). We should note that the term ‘Hebrew’ is only used of Israel when seen in terms of their being foreigners. Source: www.geocities.com/genesiscommentary/exodus1.html


   Through Pharaoh’s stubborn persecution and hatred of the Israelites, we see the working of the one who has repeatedly stood against God’s people and will again in the future.


   God’s purpose for Egypt – We read in Genesis 15:13-16: Then the LORD told Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, and they will be oppressed as slaves for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (But you will die in peace, at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, when the sin of the Amorites has run its course."


   God allowed Israel’s bondage to increase because He was determined to judge Egypt for its years of repeated sin. Never forget that God’s judgement is always perfect! So likewise with us, one of the purposes that God can have in allowing our burden to increase is for judging the Egypt in our lives! Before being saved, God allows the burden of sin to increase so that when we come to Him we will acknowledge our worldly lives and leave those ways at the cross, where all sin was judged. Similarly, sometimes in our Christian lives the temptation of the world can lead to a new trial or bondage that God does not want in our lives. If we do not judge ourselves in these matters, God can allow us to be burnt so that through the judgement of this sin, we will not fall into the same trap again.


   This Genesis passage also shows why Israel would have to wait so long in Egypt - It says that Israel would have to wait the 400 years in Egypt until the sins of the Amorites reaches it full measure! Amazing! Even though God was going to give the Promised Land to Abraham’s descendants, the taking of that land would involve the deaths of many amongst the nations that currently inhabited that land. So God would not allow Israel to enter the land until the sin of those nations had reached a particular level – a level that then demanded their own judgement. Everything is perfect and in control with God!



   Why would God let such a change take place for His people? Why would he allow their lives to go from prosperity to bitterness? First, let us note that this affliction upon the children of Israel was foretold by the Lord to Abraham, many years before it happened: "Then the Lord said to [Abraham]: ‘Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years’" (Gen. 15:13).


   So now we ask, why would God promise trouble for us? Let us return to the case of the Israelites. Let us hear from a few eminent commentators on why the Israelites experienced persecution in Egypt (many of these may apply to our own situations): "1. That the Israelites should hate the impure manners and superstitions of Egypt. 2. That by this means they might be stirred up to pray to God for their deliverance, and to long for the land of Canaan. 3. That God might take just occasion to show his judgments upon Egypt. 4. That the Israelites also might be occasioned hereby more justly to shake off the Egyptians cruel yoke. 5. That God’s goodness and power might be seen, in supporting His people and increasing them even in the midst of their affliction. 6. That the Israelites remembering their cruel bondage in Egypt, should have no mind to go thither again" [Willet, on Ch. 1]. God allowed the persecution of the Israelites "to prepare Israel for their inheritance. The rough schooling they had in Egypt served to develop their muscles and toughen their sinews. Also their bitter lot in Egypt and their trials in the wilderness were calculated to make the land that flowed with milk and honey the more appreciated when it became theirs" [Pink, 11]. All of Joseph’s generation was gone (see vs. 6), so "the desire and the memory of the land of Canaan, which they had never seen, might have died out of the minds of their descendants, if they had not been forcibly aroused to seek after it" [Calvin, on vs. 6]. We can apply many of these same reasons to our own troubles. For instance, God will often send trouble our way in this world to make us long for our promised land.


Source: www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Gleanings_Exodus/exodus_02.htm


**Rameses: Many scholars assume that because this city was named Rameses, the Pharaoh had to be Rameses II, and hence that a late date for the exodus (and a late time for the sojourn in Egypt) is proved. But if the details of the context are taken as seriously as the mention of this name, this cannot be the case. If one grants for the sake of discussion that Rameses II was on the throne and oppressing Israel, it is necessary to note that Moses is not born yet. It would take about twenty or more years to build the city, then eighty more years before Moses appears before Pharaoh (Rameses), and then a couple of years for the plagues – this man would have been Pharaoh for over a hundred years. That is clearly not the case for the historical Rameses II. But even more determining is the fact that whoever the Pharaoh was for whom the Israelites built the treasure cities, he died before Moses began the plagues. The Bible says that when Moses grew up and killed the Egyptian, he fled from Pharaoh (whoever that was) and remained in exile until he heard that that Pharaoh had died. So this verse cannot be used for a date of the exodus in the days of Rameses, unless many other details in the chapters are ignored. If it is argued that Rameses was the Pharaoh of the oppression, then his successor would have been the Pharaoh of the exodus. Rameses reigned from 1304 b.c. until 1236 and then was succeeded by Merneptah. That would put the exodus far too late in time, for the Merneptah stela* refers to Israel as a settled nation in their land. One would have to say that the name Rameses in this chapter may either refer to an earlier king, or, more likely, reflect an updating in the narrative to name the city according to its later name (it was called something else when they built it, but later Rameses finished it and named it after himself [see B. Jacob, Exodus, 14]). For further discussion see G. L. Archer, “An 18th Dynasty Ramses,” JETS 17 (1974): 49-50; and C. F. Aling, “The Biblical City of Ramses,” JETS 25 (1982): 129-37. Furthermore, for vv. 11-14, see K. A. Kitchen, “From the Brick Fields of Egypt,” TynBul 27 (1976): 137-47.


Source: www.bible.org/netbible/exo1_notes.htm


*Merneptah stela: The Merneptah Stele (also known as the Israel Stele or Victory Stele of Merneptah) is the reverse of a stele originally erected by the Ancient Egyptian king Amenhotep III, but later inscribed by Merneptah. The stela was made to commemorate a victory in a campaign against the Labu and Meshwesh Libyans and their Sea People allies, but a short portion of the text is devoted to a campaign in the Levant. It stands some ten feet tall... It has gained some notoriety as the only Egyptian document generally accepted as mentioning "Israel", and it is the first known documentation of Israel. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Stela_of_Merneptah


(12) But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more quickly the Israelites multiplied! The Egyptians soon became alarmed


(13) and decided to make their slavery more bitter still.


(14) They were ruthless with the Israelites, forcing them to make bricks and mortar and to work long hours in the fields.


(15) Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:


   The named midwives may have been the ones who had overall charge of midwifery, not the only midwives. There would also be many experienced women who were not officially midwives but who fulfilled the task when necessary. There is no consensus among commentators as to whether they were Hebrew women or Egyptian women. Their names were Egyptian, and their dialogue with Pharaoh suggests that they were Egyptian. These two were in some way in charge of all of the midwives for the Israelites, for they were given the command by Pharaoh, and then they were called to account for the carrying out of the command. Shiphrah, which probably means "beauty" and Puah, which probably means "splendor." It is interesting. God's evaluation is very different from man's. There are all kinds of Pharaohs in the Old Testament, mighty conquerors, tremendous dynasties, but they are never named. Two midwives, on the other hand, go down forever in the Word of God by name


(16) "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, kill* all the boys as soon as they are born. Allow only the baby girls to live."


*kill: Another attempt by Satan to destroy the people through whom the One who would defeat him would come.


(17) But because the midwives* feared God, they refused to obey the king and allowed the boys to live, too.


*midwives: These midwives were risking their lives in tricking Pharaoh and in obeying God.


(18) Then the king called for the midwives. "Why have you done this?" he demanded. "Why have you allowed the boys to live?"


(19) "Sir," they told him, "the Hebrew women are very strong. They have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time! They are not slow in giving birth like Egyptian women."


   Is it right to lie? How about when Rahab hid the spies - Joshua chapter 2?


(20) So God blessed the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.


(21) And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.


   This shows God's judgment about abortion.


(22) Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Throw all the newborn Israelite boys into the Nile River. But you may spare the baby girls."


   This order must have been reversed later or there would not have been any children leaving Egypt. Moreover, if the Pharaoh used the men as slaves for his buildings, the order would have been counter-productive since he'd be decreasing the number of slaves who would grow up to do this work! Possibly, he hoped that with fewer men, the Israelite women would marry Egyptians and their culture would disappear. They were to be sacrificed to the Nile god. The evil one who worked through the pagan priests knew that the time for the deliverance of God's people was coming.



On-Line Sources:



Off-Line Sources:



  • American Heritage® Dictionary fourth Edition - 2003

  • The Exodus Revealed: Searching for the Red Sea Crossing - (2001), DVD, Studio: Questar, ASIN: B00005AUE2, available from Amazon.com

  • "The NIV Application Commentary - Exodus" – Peter Enns– Zondervan™

  • "The Ten Commandments" (1956 film) from Paramount Pictures, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston as Moses



This study is on line at: exodus-study.blogspot.com/2006/08/exodus-chapter-1.html

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