Exodus 12

Exodus 12:30-51

Exodus 12:35 — “they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment” - Comments - Where did the Egyptians obtain such wealth to give to the Israelites? During Joseph’s reign, four hundred years earlier, Egypt gained much of its wealth through his wisdom. This money was stored up for these four hundred years for the righteous. God used his servant, Joseph, to prepare the children for the expensive cost of the Exodus and the building of the Tabernacle. Exodus 3:21-22, “And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.” Exodus 11:2-3, “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.” Psalms 105:37, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.” Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.” Joseph even prophesied of the Exodus, for which he had been used by God to gather the wealth the Israelites gathered from the Egyptians for the Exodus. Note: Genesis 50:24-25, “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” Exodus 12:35-36 — Comments – God’s Principle of Giving and Receiving - God took the children of Israel out of bondage with silver and gold; for they had spoiled the Egyptians. It is important to note that the children of Israel brought the Lord an offering, a sacrificial lamb, prior to this gift of favour in the sight of the Egyptians. When we give, God gives back. The children of Israel were not indulging in covetousness, but rather, they were taking their wages from years of slavery. This transfer of the world’s wealth was declared by God to Moses at the burning bush, saying, “And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:21-22) A few months later, God would ask them to give of a willing heart for the building of the Tabernacle. God blessed the children of Israel in order that they might also learn to give willingly and abundantly. Exodus 25:1-2, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.” Israel’s receiving Egypt’s wealth and giving it to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness is an excellent example of 2 Corinthians 9:10, “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;” Exodus 12:37 — “And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses” – Word Study on “Rameses” - Strong tells us that the name “Rameses” “rah-mes-ace’” (ψַ ?ςְ ?ξְ ?ρֵ ?ρ) (H7486) means “child son of the sun.” PTW says it means, “child of the sun.” Comments - Rameses is first mentioned in Genesis 47:11 as the land where Israel and the seventy souls that Joseph brought into Egypt first settled, where it is called the best of the land of Egypt, perhaps referring to its fertility in the Nile River delta. According to Exodus 12:37 this was the home of the Israelites for their entire four hundred-year stay in the land of Egypt. In Exodus 1:11 the Israelites built a city called Raamses (ψַ ?ςַ ?ξְ ?ρֵֽ ?ρ) (H7486), spelled differently, but the same Hebrew word is used. Genesis 47:11, “And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.” Exodus 1:11, “Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.” Exodus 12:37 — Word Study on “to Succoth” – Strong and BDB say the name “Succoth” (ρֻ ?λּ ?εֹ ?ϊ) (H5523) means, “booths.” PTW says it means, “tents.” Exodus 12:37 — “about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children” - Comments - The question arises as to how seventy souls entered into Egypt and multiplied into six hundred thousand men. If we consider the fact that there were initially twelve sons born to Jacob, and according to the list found in Genesis 46:8-27 these twelve sons bore fifty-one sons that were brought into Egypt; and if we consider the fact the Israelites were in Egypt four (thirty) hundred years (Exodus 12:40-41, Acts 7:6), we can make an approximate calculation of their growth using mathematics to reach this large number of six hundred thousand men who came out of Egypt. We know that 12 sons of Jacob enter Egypt with their 51 sons. If we estimate that an average of four sons were born to of the twelve sons of Jacob, noting that they bore a total of fifty-one sons (51 sons / 12 sons = 4.25 sons), and if we say that approximately eight generations of children were born in Egypt since the average man would bear his sons by the age of fifty, then the calculations would look like this: First Generation: 51 sons x 4 sons = 204 sons after 50 yearsSecond Generation: 204 sons x 4 sons = 816 sons after 100 yearsThird Generation: 816 sons x 4 sons = 3,264 sons after 150 yearsFourth Generation: 3,264 sons x 4 sons = 13,056 sons after 200 yearsFifth Generation: 13,056 sons x 4 sons = 52,224 sons after 250 yearsSixth Generation: 52,224 sons x 4 sons = 208,896 sons after 300 yearsSeventh Generation: 208,896 sons x 4 sons = 835,584 sons after 350 yearsSeventh Generation: 835,584 sons x 4 sons = 3,342,336 sons after 400 yearsScholars may calculate these figures in various ways; but the point is that four (thirty) hundred years was plenty of time for the nation of Israel to multiply into the 600,000 men recorded in Exodus 12:37, even with a large number of Israelite men losing their lives before bearing children, and with infant male mortality by the Egyptians taking place during the later generations. Exodus 12:37 — “about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children” - Comments - Note in Numbers 1:46 that two years later (Numbers 1:1) there were “603,550 men able to go to war, who were 20 years old and upward.” Thus, the number of Israelites were increasing in the wilderness. Numbers 1:46, “Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.” Numbers 1:1, “And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,” Exodus 12:38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. Exodus 12:38 — Word Study on “mixed” – Strong says that the Hebrew word “mixed” “ay’-reb” (ςֶ ?ψֶ ?α) (H6154) means, “woof (as mixed and interwoven), or (as knitted material),” and it carries the meaning, “a mixture, a mixed people, a mixed company.” Enhanced Strong tells us this word is used 11 times in the Old Testament being translated in the KJV as “woof 9, mixed multitude 2”. Strong says this Hebrew word is derived from the primitive root (ςָ ?ψַ ?α) (6148), which means, “to braid, to intermix,” and “to give or be security.” Its only other use as a reference to people is found in Nehemiah 13:3. Nehemiah 13:3, “Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.” Exodus 12:38 — Comments - The children of Israel went out of Egyptian bondage with a group of non-Israelites who joined themselves with God’s people. God shows mercy to other nations who can turn to the Lord by faith. This seems to be a prediction that God will one day send the Gospel to the Gentiles so that they will be grafted into the remnant of the people of Israel. In Exodus 12:43-49 the Lord will give Moses the rules on how to incorporate these Gentiles into Israeli worship and life. Exodus 12:39 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. Exodus 12:40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. Exodus 12:40 — Comments - Although the exact date of the exodus has not been determined, scholars dated this event from 1446 B. C. to 1290 B.C.[67] [67] R. F. Youngblood, F. F. Bruce, R. K. Harrison, and Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), “Exodus.” Exodus 12:41 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. Exodus 12:41 — “four hundred and thirty years” – Comments - Two other Scripture references say the Israelites were in bondage for four hundred years. Genesis 15:13, “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;” Acts 7:6, “And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.” Exodus 12:41 — “on the very same day” – Comments - The phrase “on the very same day (Exodus 12:41) means that Jacob and his family entered Egypt on the day of Passover. Exodus 12:40-41 — Comments – The Significance of the Date of the Exodus - The Book of Jubilees, written by a Pharisee during the second century B.C., states that there were exactly fifty Jubilees from the time of Adam until the day the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land. “there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of Adam until this day, [2410 A.M.] and one week and two years: and there are yet forty years to come (lit. ‘distant’) for learning the [2450 A.M.] commandments of the Lord, until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the west.” (The Book of Jubilees 50.4-5) It is interesting to note that the Exodus took place approximately on the fiftieth jubilee since Adam was created, which is a period of 2,546 years. This means that a jubilee of fifty years had elapsed upon the earth fifty consecutive times. Note the simple arithmetic. Adam to Seth – 130 years Seth to Enos – 105 years Enos to Cainan – 90 years Cainan to Mahalaleel – 70 years Mahalaleel to Jared – 65 years Jared to Enoch – 162 years Enoch to Methuselah – 65 years Methuselah to Lamech – 187 years Lamech to Noah – 182 years Noah to Shem, Ham, Jepheth – 500 years Shem to Arphaxad – 100 years Arphaxad to Salah – 35 years Salah to Eber – 30 years Eber to Peleg – 34 years Peleg to Reu – 30 years Reu to Serug – 32 years Serug to Nahor – 30 years Nahor to Terah – 29 years Terah to Abraham, Nahor, Teran – 70 years Abraham to Isaac – 100 years Isaac to Jacob – 40 years Jacob into Egypt - 130 years Into Egypt until the Exodus – 430 years These numbers add up to a total of 2,546 years. Exodus 12:46 — “neither shall ye break a bone thereof” - Comments - Jesus is the sacrificial lamb. Like the Passover lamb, His bones were not broken (Psalms 34:20, John 19:33-36). Numbers 9:12, “They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.” Psalms 34:20, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” John 19:33-36, “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.”