Exodus begins with naming the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The 12 Tribes of Israel are:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. It mentions Joseph later on and states he was already in Egypt.
Seventy Souls entered Egypt according to Exodus 1:5 and the time spent in Egypt was 430 years.
Several million Israelites left Egypt (The Exodus). There were 600,000 men on foot, add women and children and the mixed multitude (outsiders or sojourners) Exodus Ch.12:37-38. The number that left Egypt according to scholars vary from 3 million to 6 million. With them went their flocks, herds and cattle (Exodus Ch.12:38).
During their time in Egypt, the Israelites grew exponentially, therefore they became a threat to Pharaoh (Exodus 1:9). The estimated population of Egypt in the ancient world, just for a comparison…
“Karl Butzer estimates a generally steady growth from just under 1 million inhabitants in the Predynastic era ( 6000-3100 BCE) to over 5 million in Roman/Byzantine times (c.30 BCE -640 CE).[3] During the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 B.C.E.), this leads to a population total of approximately 2.5 – 3 million.”
https://www.thetorah.com/article/ancient-egypt-population-estimates-slaves-and-citizens
Because of the Israelites sheer size, Pharaoh intensified their slavery and tried to kill their firstborn. They had only two midwives even though they were rapidly multiplying and there were several thousand women giving birth. The midwives were instructed to kill the Hebrew children at birth (Exodus 4:23).
Now for some logistics:
The following is from ancient-hebrews.org it deals with some of the logistical issues of moving so many people around.
“RSV Exodus 12:37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
According to this passage 600,000 men descended from Yaacov left Egypt. If each man is married with an average of 5 children, this brings the entire population of Israel to 6,000,000. Equally puzzling is the fear the Israelites felt at entering the Promised Land where each city probably contained no more than 5,000 warriors compared to their 600,000.”
“Another problem is the simple logistics to supply feed, water and move such a large number. According to the Quartermaster General in the army, it would take 1,500 tons of food, 4,000 tons of wood as fuel and 11,000,000 gallons of water each day to supply the basic needs of this group. Another problem is the location of the Latrine.”
“RSV Deuteronomy 23:12,13 “You shall have a place outside the camp and you shall go out to it; and you shall have a stick with your weapons; and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it, and turn back and cover up your excrement.
A camp of this size would be approximately five miles by five miles square assuming only 1,000 square feet per family. One located in the center of the camp would require a hike of 2.5 miles to use the restroom.”
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-interpretation/how-many-came-out-of-the-exodus-of-egypt.htm
Regarding the numbers in Exodus this is something to think about:
I was tagged on the Facebook Page, Biblical Archaeology Review with the comment below:
“Ezra 2:64-65 – “The entire congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty. Besides their slaves and their bondwomen; these were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven, and they had two hundred male and female singers.”
These numbers are either exaggerated, or more possibly – a result of incorrect translation. The Hebrew ‘elef’ is traditionally translated to English as ‘thousand’, but this gives impossible numbers elsewhere in the Bible, for ex. Exodus 12/37-38.
According to Rabbi Michael-Shelomo Bar-Ron, elef in its original meaning, when used for enumerating of people, refers to chief, clan or family. So if we translate elef in Ezra 2:64-65 as “family”, then 42,360 becomes “42 families [consisting of] 360 people”, which sounds very reasonable.” It seems even scholarly Jews don’t believe the exaggerated numbers in Exodus. Rabbi Michael-Shelomo Bar-Ron is an author of Noachide Laws for non-Jews.
In Exodus Ch.2 Moses arrived on the scene as a DELIVERER:
Baby Moses was hid for three months. He was then taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised as an Egyptian. You already know the rest, so I won’t bore you with the details.
When Moses was older he saw a Hebrew slave being mistreated by an Egyptian so he killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12).
Moses then had to flee Egypt and was taken in by a Midianite Priest (Exodus 2:15).
The Midianite Priest’s name was Reuel and he had 7 daughters. The descendants of Abraham and his third wife, Keturah, are believed to have resided in the northern and central parts of the Arabia (Midian) and had close contact with the descendants of Ishmael. Moses married Zipporah one of Reuel’s daughters. Together they had two sons, at this point in time only one is mentioned, Gershom. Note Reuel has the EL at the end of his name, denoting there is a connection to the Hebrew God. Strong’s Concordance interprets his name as ‘Friend of God.’ But which God? Generic Elohim or the God of the Hebrews?
It’s common that Hebrew names end in EL but also Arab names who claim Ishmael as their ancestor. Was Reuel a descendant of Esau by his wife Bashemath, the sister of Ishmael? Genesis 36:4;10. That would’ve caused some embarrassment for the Hebrew scribes. Therefore it is my opinion that Jethro was introduced to us later on as Moses’s father-in-law. The other possibility is that Moses was written as God and this individual was written as Friend of God or Friend of Moses. Remember Moses was as a God (Elohim) to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1).
Here are some other considerations for the different names of Moses’s father-in-law and I’m going to throw in Hobab into the mix:
Reuel, Jethro or Hobab?
- The Reuel, Jethro thing is a scribal error or scribal edit.
- Was it a purposeful disassociation with Esau – Did Moses have his children with Esau’s descendant, Reuel? Therefore Reuel’s name was changed to Jethro?
- JPS Torah Commentary states that some Rabbi’s taught that Reuel was the grandfather of the girls, rather than the father. His name was a title and meant ‘Friend of God’. If that’s the case then Esau’s son (Reuel) was also a Friend of God.
- Then there was Hobab, who was the son of Reuel the Midianite (Numbers 10:29). Judges 4:11 states Hobab is the father-in-law thus making him Jethro also. This I believe is a scribal error, and Judges should read ‘the brother-in-law of Moses and not the father-in-law of Moses.
- The Bible doesn’t say what type of Priest Jethro was or which God he worshipped. But note in Exodus 18:12 he sacrificed, and ate bread with Moses and Aaron. They must’ve already been in Sinai and built an alter in order for this to occur.
The question remains in my mind whether all names relate to the same person or to different people.
This is how Reuel came to be The Chief of Edom: Abraham & Sarah had Isaac, Isaac had Esau & Jacob, Esau married Basemath and had Reuel who was the Chief of Edom.
God heard the cries of his people!
Moses and the Bush that Burned:
In Exodus Ch.3 we read about Moses on Mount Horeb. The Angel appeared to him, God is quite often referred to as an Angel in a theophany and then afterwards the Lord speaks. The theophany of Abraham with the Three Men is similar. In Judaism the anthropomorphism of God is a touchy subject, so often Angel is used to suggest that it was a heavenly being but not necessarily God. It was obvious in this instance, it was the Lord, as in God was there, because if an Angel said, “I AM” that would be even more blasphemous. “When Moses turned to see, God called out to him, from the burning bush. He replied, “Here am I” This is followed by a common theme among the Prophets, “Hey, you know what God, thanks for considering me, but please send someone else.”
The Promise of Canaan:
The promise of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey was the land of the Canaanites, Hittite’s, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites (Exodus 3:8). Six nations, compare that with Genesis and the promise to Abraham which was Ten Nations (Genesis 15:18-21).
Moses’s Mission was to take the children of Israel out of Egypt and lead them to the land of Canaan.
Exodus 3:14 I AM THAT I AM —- I AM hath sent me to you.
The message to Pharaoh was “The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.” Exodus 3:18 take Spoils (borrow?) they had no intension of coming back. The Spoils were jewels, silver and gold (Exodus 3:22).
There were miracles with The Staff which Moses possessed: As a Christian I often refer to this as I think it’s a great pearl of wisdom. God asks Moses, “What is in thy hand?” I ask myself regularly, “What is in my hand?” Whatever tools we have available to us God will use if we allow him. Even if you only have the most basic thing available to you, use it, because God will hold you accountable. Exodus Ch. 4:3 outlines the miracles performed with the Staff.
In Exodus 4:20 Moses leaves Jethro and Midian to return to Egypt. He takes his wife and sons with him. Moses’s father-in-law is now called Jethro.
There is an interjection in Moses’s journey back to Egypt, where a circumcision takes place. Zipporah circumcised her Son and threw the foreskin at Moses’s feet. Interesting that a gentile woman performed this circumcision on a young boy rather than an eight day old baby.
Pharaoh knuckles down and when Moses cried “Let my people go.” Pharaoh increased their workload.
God has a new name and identity:
Exodus 6:3 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew God by the name God Almighty, but by the name JeHoVaH I was not known to them.
God said “I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” As El (generic) Sadday (most powerful, the almighty of God). Here we have God introducing himself with a new character. In ancient thought your name (Shem) was your character. The Patriarchs did not know God by this name, how come? YHVH has always caused issues when it comes to defining God’s character.
Maimonides is quoted as saying…“It is well known that all the names of God in Scripture are derived from his actions, except one, namely the Tetragrammaton.” (Maimonides’s Yahweh, Amy Karen Downey).
Yahweh as the name of the Jewish national God is not used due to a time lapse. Rather than misinterpret the name because of a lost pronunciation, Adoni (Lord) is used instead.
The only character we can derive from this name YHVH is that he was summoned as a War God. “Yahweh was a man of War” (Exodus 15:3). A stark contrast to the teachings of Jesus who said, “My Kingdom is not of this world, if it were my followers would fight.” (John 18:36). I guess at this point the reassurance by God of a peaceful infiltration into Canaan went out the window. Awfully sad 😞
Jesus never referred to God by any other name except Father! For us as Christians Jesus restored the Fatherhood of God. Jesus called God, Father over 130 times in the New Testament. God is called, Father a mere 15 in the entire Old Testament. No where in the New Testament is God referred to as YHVH. It is my opinion then, that when we enter into a relationship with God, we become His child and He our Father. And for me, that relationship works fine, I don’t need to call Him by a name. My heart cries out…”ABBA Father.”
“Indications are that the Southern regions of Canaan were the first to accept JHVH as their God and attributed this to Him moving to them from Edom, i.e., from the south, into Canaan. The biblical account tells us that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob only knew God as God Almighty ‘El Shaddai’ (Exodus 6:3) and the Jewish priests claimed that it was only initially to Moses that God revealed Himself as JHVH (Exodus 3:14-15). We have shown, however, that JHVH was only generally accepted by Southern Israelites during the time of the Judges, c. 1,125 BC. We see this reflected in the Song of Deborah where they were under the impression that JHVH came to them from Edom and the Israelites embraced Him as their God, with 5:8 stating that they chose new gods, viz. Judges 5” (The Beginnings, Ernest Austin Adams).
God was either first introduced to Moses as Yahweh or Yahweh first made an appearance in the book of Judges and originated from Edom, Esau’s territory.
Moses and Aaron came from the Tribe of Levi. Gershon, Kobath, Merari. Kohath bore Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister, and they were the parents of Moses and Aaron. Exodus 6:20. Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon to wife. His sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamar (Exodus 6:23). Exodus Ch.7:7 says that Moses was 40 years old and Aaron was 43 years old at the time of the Exodus.
Moses as a God (Elohim) “Look, I have set you as a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your Prophet.” (Exodus 7:1).“And it will be, he (Aaron)will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a God ”(Exodus 4:16).
The Plagues of Exodus Ch.7 & 8:
Water turned to blood Exodus Ch.7:25; Frogs covered the land Ch.8:1; Insects (lice) Ch.8:16; Flies Ch.8:24; Cattle die Ch.9:3; Boils Ch.9:9; Hail Ch.9:23; Locusts Ch.10: 14; Darkness Ch.10:21; Firstborn are killed Ch.11:5. I must mention here that I find it ironic that Christians celebrate the death of babies in Exodus while at the same time they protest outside abortion clinics.
The first Passover was celebrated in Exodus Ch.12, it’s for all generations; Genesis 17:9-14; Exodus 12:1-13. Followed by The Feast of Unleavened Bread:
Pharaoh gives permission for them to leave Ch.12:31.
The Exodus begins:
Ramses to Succoth, they camped in Etham. Led by the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire (Exodus 13:20-22).
“Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea” (Exodus 14:2).
They crossed the Red Sea.
Wilderness of Shur (there was no water to drink) Exodus Ch. 15:22 Marah bitter water
Elim There were twelve wells of water, palm tress they camped there (Exodus Ch.15:27).
Wilderness of Sin – between Elim and Sinai. Fifteenth day of 2nd month. Exodus Ch.16:1. They experienced hunger and were fed Manna from Heaven. They gathered it for 6 days, and stored it for Sabbath. They were observing the Sabbath before the Law (Exodus 16:22). They had Manna in the morning and Quail in the evenings. Manna lasted 40 years (Exodus 16:35).
In the wilderness they saw The Glory of God in the Cloud. Wow! I know what they saw (Exodus 16:10). Such a wonderful metaphor for God’s goodness and grace, it’s when we are in the wilderness we often experience the best that God has to offer.
“And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? (Exodus Ch.16:28). God has an issue with continued disobedience.
When they arrived at Rephidim there was NO WATER for them to drink! They had to strike the Rock of Horeb. Massah & Meribah Exodus Ch.17:7
It was on the third month of their journey that Moses has an encounter with the God of the Mountain. After that the people had an encounter with God (Exodus Ch.19). The month of Abib (first month in Jewish calendar) Exodus 13:4.
In passing I want to mention that Slavery is in the Old Testament. Servants as in slaves who were bought with money and circumcised could partake of the Passover Exodus Ch.12:44. But not a foreigner (tosab) sojourner or stranger (Exodus Ch.12:45). The Hebrews practiced slavery in antiquity, they owned and traded slaves, just like the nations around them.
I have heard people quote this ‘One Law for all’ passage in the wrong context. “One law shall be to him that is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” It’s Conditional! If they are bought with a price, as in slavery (chattels) or they have been circumcised. In other words they have converted to Judaism, only then could they partake of the Passover. Exodus Ch.12:49. Otherwise it is definitely Two Laws, Moses’s Law for the Jews and Noachide Laws for the non-Jews.
The Way of the Wilderness Exodus 13:18 not the Way of the Philistines Exodus 13:17.
Let’s talk about AMALEK: Genesis 14:7; Numbers 13:29;14:25.
Amalek fought with Israel (Exodus 17:8) therefore is cursed apparently forever.
The curse of Amalek:
“And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus Ch.17:14-16). It’s these kinds of verses that cause much confusion amongst Christians. Jesus Christ gave his life for all and God loves all mankind. To carry hate and vindictiveness in your heart from generation to generation is wrong in every sense of the word. I cannot accept that it’s God’s intention to make us carry such a burden.
In Exodus 4:20 Moses left Jethro and Midian and returned to Egypt. He took his wife and sons with him. Later Jethro returned Zipporah and the boys back to Moses, who apparently had sent her away (divorced) her. Their sons names were Gershom and Eliezer. Even though both left with her and Moses, Eliezer’s name meant, “Delivered from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:4). Moses only had two sons by the way with Zipporah (Exodus 18:6). Before leaving Jethro gave Moses advice on sharing responsibilities (Exodus Ch.18:21).
Mount Sinai:
Moses and The Ten Commandments, much of Exodus covers The Ten Commandments, so it’s best to read my full article on it.
Exodus Chapters 23:20-23:
“Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.”
Personally I have no issues with the migration from an ancient near east context. People groups moved around all the time. I have two articles on the book of Jasher and it appears to me that the promise of land preceded The Hebrew Scriptures. Jasher, says it was prophesied over Abraham when he was born because he was born under a star. Either way a group of people moving about the ANE is no big deal, wherever they happen to be going. Some ancients were permanent nomads, like the Bedouin. It’s not like millions of people crammed into these cities, there would’ve been a couple of hundred thousand at most. The ancient Israelites were not welcome in Egypt anymore for whatever reason, so they went in search of a new home. For me it’s more a case of whether their journey was violent or peaceful.
It’s clear to me that God intended to take the Children of Israel on a journey to The Promised Land. Ten ancient people groups occupied that land already. “The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites (Genesis 15:18-21). What is also clear is that God intended it to be a peaceful infiltration into these lands rather than a violent one, “I will cut them off”, “Little by little.” And for the most part scholars believe that it was a peaceful infiltration. As circumstances changes and opportunities arose, the Israelites expanded their territory.
Although, from reading the Scriptures that does not seem to be the case and a group of humble slaves in Egypt suddenly became warriors and armies. If the numbers allotted to the Israelites are correct and they were in armies, then why didn’t they defeat the Egyptians who were apparently smaller in number? Chapter 12:51.The Lord brought them out of Egypt in their armies (?) Were they slaves or were they armies?
Exodus 25-31 consists of the instructions for The Tabernacle:
This is a good video to provide the basics instructions for The Tabernacle.
It’s important to note that the colours used in the Tabernacle are Blue, Purple and Scarlet. Blue for the Heavenly realm, Purple for Royalty and Scarlet for redemption through the blood. In Jesus after we have received eternal life through his death and resurrection the Scarlet turns to Green for life. Under the New Covenant our colours are Blue, Purple and Green.
The Journey for the Israelites resumed with an additional promise of the Angel going out before them to drive out Canaanites etc. (Exodus 33:2). Although this was conditional, “Observe Thou that I command thee this day.” Exodus 34:11
The Tabernacle was erected, sacrifice and worship commenced and the Tabernacle was covered with the Cloud, the Glory of the Lord.
Exodus 14:14 Stand Still, Fear Not, The Lord will Fight for You.! If only we would listen.
My conclusion on Exodus is that I do believe in the Exodus of the ancient Israelites. The reason being is that there is too much extra-biblical evidence for their existence in the Levant later on. They obviously came from somewhere, so why not Egypt? Exodus is their written history and I am in no position to question it. The fire by night, the cloud by day, the water from the rock, the manner from heaven, the Glory of God all ring true to me. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness is a stunning example of a Christian’s journey in Christ. The process is so significant for the whole body of Christ.
The difficulties I have with Exodus are no different to the difficulties I have with the Hebrew Scriptures in general. Numbers are either symbolic or exaggerated, that the texts are heavily edited and anyone with a keen eye will see that immediately. A person who is a seasoned reader will spot the change in authorship in every single instance. I stand by my claim that Midrash (Jewish interpretation) is very much present in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word Lord is used interchangeably with God speaking and the authoritative voice of someone like Moses.
All Scripture is KJV
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Cheryl Mason
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