Introduction: Read Exodus12v31to41 and Exodus13v17to22.

There are some scholars of the Old Testament who doubt that the Exodus ever happened at all! The onus is on these academics to explain both why the story should have been invented and the origin of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened bread. It would be interesting to know whether any other people have invented a history of themselves which has no basis in fact and if they have, how it compares with the Jewish one.

This is not to say that there are not problems with the account we have in Exodus 13 particularly concerning the length of time the Israelites were in Egypt and the number of able bodied men who left Egypt. It is hard to reconcile 430 years being the time the Israelites lived in Egypt with the fact that Moses and Aaron were the great grandsons of Levi. If the genealogy of Moses is correct he represents only the fourth generation since Jacob and his sons settled in Egypt. It is possible the 430 years is the time that elapsed since Abraham arrived in Canaan. (See footnote on Ex12v40 in NIV) If this is the case then the Hebrews only spent something just over 200 years in Egypt. Unfortunately the genealogy of Joshua in 1 Chronicles put him in the 10th generation from Ephraim - more in line with a period of 430 years in Egypt.

The second problem concerns the number of able bodied men who are said to have left Egypt. This is given as 600, 000 - a number confirmed by the census Moses later organised of men over 20 years of age which added up to 603, 550 - excluding Levites. This means that with women and children the number leaving Egypt was somewhere between 2 and 3 million. It is impossible for the original small number of Hebrew settlers - 70 males and an unknown number of females to increase to such a vast total in 200 years. It is also unrealistic to believe that Moses could manage such a vast number in a desert environment for any length of time. A vast area would be needed for grazing and manna collection. Huge problems would exist regarding sanitation and water supply. Deserts and semi-deserts only support small populations of people.

I can only suppose that the way numbers were recorded in the time of Moses and earlier was not understood by later scribes and they interpreted what they did not understand incorrectly.

I am going to concentrate on six aspects of the exodus account that have something to teach us today.

(1) Powerful to save.

God delivered the Israelites out of bondage and they were never to forget it. Their abiding testimony was to be: "With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 13v14. Only God could set them free; there was no other way they could gain their liberty. The first born of Egypt paid the price to redeem the Israelites from slavery.

Christians realise that only God can set sinners free from their bondage to the old nature: its weaknesses, its demands, its self-serving and its rebelliousness. Only God can bring a man or a woman from the domain of Satan into his family. No one puts it better than Charles Wesley:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray -
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free.
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

There is a great sense of urgency about the exodus from Egypt. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the middle of the night and urges them to leave: "Up leave .... Go worship ...... Take your flocks and go." The Egyptian people were no less insistent and wanted the Israelites to hurry up and depart lest they all die. The Hebrews themselves were keen to be gone. They didn't wait for their dough to rise but left with it unleavened and wrapped in cloth. They were driven out of Egypt by the panicky population and their own desire to be gone.

It remains a matter of urgent necessity for men and women to leave Egypt and to set out for the Promised Land. People need to abandon destructive, futile and hopeless life styles that end in destruction and pass through the small gate to the narrow way that leads to eternal felicity. See exposition on Lule13v22to30.

There is a section in the old Sankey hymn book that deals specifically with the wisdom of taking precipitant action over your salvation. These quaint hymns are not much sung today! Perhaps, they should be for they convey an abiding truth:

Life at best is very brief,
Like the falling of a leaf,
Like the binding of a sheaf:
Be in time!
Fleeting days are telling fast
That the die will soon be cast,
And the fatal line be passed!
Be in time.

Be in time! Be in time!
While the voice of Jesus calls you,
Be in time! If in sin you longer wait,
You may find no open gate,
And your cry be just too late:
Be in time!

There are four participants:

(a) Entire Israelite families left Egypt for the Promised Land. Everybody went. Nobody was left in Egypt. The old and decrepit went and so, too, did little children. The hale and hearty went along with the sick and feeble. Young lovers went, teenagers went, the elders went and so, too, did the idiot boy.

Here we have a great picture of the universal appeal of the gospel. John informs us in his gospel that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. New life in Christ is not just for the old or the simple minded or the respectable but for everyone. Everyone needs new life if they are to escape from Egypt and enter God's Promised Land.

(b) A mixed multitude left Egypt. It wasn't just the Israelites who took the opportunity to escape but also other enslaved people and possibly even some poor and downtrodden Egyptians.

There are some who consider the non-Israelite element were a bad influence. They are called a rabble in Nu11v4. Certainly on this occasion they appear to take the lead in complaining about the monotonous diet of manna. They may have taken the lead in persuading Aaron to make a golden calf to worship. But we don't know this for sure.

Moses did not receive any instruction from God to send the rabble back to Egypt. It is also very clear that the Israelites did not need any assistance from others when it came to murmuring, complaining and disobeying the word of the LORD.

Jesus accepted that a very mixed multitude would claim to be his followers not all of whom would be genuine. The Parables of the Weeds, Mustard Seed, Yeast and Net all teach that the church would be plagued by imposters. However Jesus taught that judgment must be postponed until the end of the age. More harm than good results from earthly zealots trying to separate the wheat from the tares.

There are also many differences between genuine Christians. Paul recognises this when he likens the church to a body. There are also marked dissimilarities in the way Christians of different traditions worship. We should welcome diversity.

(c) The Israelites took their flocks and herds with them out of Egypt. We are not told what the herds consisted of. I think they must have had some donkeys to act as pack animals. We are not told much about the livestock during the forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness. They would be a vital source of yarn, hides, milk and meat. 40 years is a long time to subsist on manna alone!

When we become Christians we cannot leave certain aspects of our lives in Egypt. It is wrong to compartmentalise our lives and to divorce our business, our career or our sporting activities from our calling to follow Jesus. I am afraid many do - they leave their flocks and herds in Egypt. My Christian principles were never very evident when I played cricket as a young or middle-aged man. I was a poor loser. My behaviour on the hockey pitch on Saturday was rather different to my conduct in church on Sunday - to my shame!

(d) Moses did not forget to take the bones of Joseph with him out of Egypt. Joseph believed that God would take his people out of Egypt to the land he promised the patriarchs.

Some might question the worthwhileness of this. Does it really matter where our bones lie? I think it was important for Moses to take the mummy of Joseph with him. In doing so he was both remembering and honouring the faith of Joseph and the promise of God.

Last week a man travelled three hours to bury the ashes of his mother alongside the grave of his grandmother and grandfather. It is the first time in 52 years that he has visited our graveyard. The last occasion was when he was 12 for the burial of his grandmother. His grandmother brought him up after his father deserted his mother when he was a baby. He could hardly see for tears at his grandmother's funeral. This man wanted to come to our peaceful, verdant graveyard to remember and honour the women who loved and nurtured him - and to thank God for them.

(4) Provided with riches.

The Egyptians seem remarkably well disposed towards the Israelites because they pretty much gave them what silver, gold and clothes they asked for. Alternatively they were so distraught by events that they would pay anything to get shot of the Hebrews and their awful God.

This treasure proved both a curse and a blessing. Some of the gold was used to make the golden calf that was worshipped in defiance of the LORD while Moses received the Law on Mt Sinai. However, later the treasure of Egypt was donated to make and equip the tabernacle.

Sometimes the treasure of Egypt - the resources of the world - are a blessing to the church. For example, the state fund or part fund church schools, hospital, prison and armed forces chaplains. Churches are treated as charities and enjoy tax concessions. I know that some of the skills I picked up in Egypt have helped me in Christian service. My understanding of the Genesis Flood benefits from my education at UCL in geomorphology. My education in the world provided me with riches I was able to use as a church administrator.

We must not forget that it was in the will and purpose of God that the Israelites ask for and receive treasure from the Egyptians. Moses was told by God to encourage the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians.

(5) Prepared for change.

The Israelites must have undoubtedly prepared in faith for their flight into the wilderness. There are two points to note about this:

(a) We are told one thing that I found very surprising and is often overlooked. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle. 13v18. Now although this was the case, God knew that they were not ready to fight. So, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." 13v17. It is unlikely that there were many Philistines in the area at such an early date - but there were well manned Egyptian frontier posts.

Some young, new converts think they are ready for great feats of service in their Master's name. However, it is unlikely that they are really ready for such battles without preparation.

I am reminded of what the psalmist wrote: Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. AV. Ps103v13and14.

(b) Preparations must have been made by the Israelites that we are not told about. They certainly left in a hurry. They didn't have time to leaven their dough and so carried it unleavened in their kneading troughs. See12v33and34. But, we are also told: "After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 13v20. In Egypt the Hebrews lived in houses but in the wilderness they dwelt in tents! During the period of the plagues the Israelites must have made preparations for their time in the desert. They would need to get hold of tents and the means of transporting them plus a certain amount of flour, cooking utensils, bedding and the like. They couldn't flee to the wilderness without these items.

So the Israelites made preparations for their departure in faith. This might seem mundane and not even worthy of mention in the sacred record but it was essential.

It is important, as every boy scout knows, to be prepared. We need to prepare for emergencies. The farmer needs to prepare the soil for the seed corn; the teacher needs to prepare carefully to teach effectively; the preacher must prepare his sermon with due diligence to give of his best. When I was activities organiser at Pioneer Camp - a Christian camp for young people - I spent a week of my summer holiday in preparation. Perhaps, Christians are inclined to forget how important prayer is to prepare for Christian service.

I believe that the years Jesus spent in the carpenter's workshop were great preparation for his short public ministry. John tells us that Jesus didn't need anyone to tell him what men were like - he was well aware of their nature. He found this out as a tradesman in Nazareth. The great apostle Paul was banished to Tarsus by the church in Jerusalem. He spent 8 or 9 years there in preparation for his wonderfully effective missionary journeys.

Finally, Jesus taught how necessary it is to prepare to meet our God. The rich fool in the parable Jesus told had made far ranging preparations for his retirement. I daresay he had a bucket list of things he wanted to do. He had the resources for a life of pleasure and ease - but before he had even begun to enjoy the good things he had stored up for the future his soul was required of him by God. The rich fool was totally unprepared for the inevitable and inescapable day of reckoning.

(6) Providential leading.

God led his people out of Egypt; he chose their route in the direction of the Sea of Reeds and he went before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. God was their guide and protector.

We shall see that many trials and difficulties accompanied God's people on their journey to the Promised Land. Nevertheless God was always with them. He was ever present to help them.

It is an article of my faith that God cares for those who trust in Jesus. He protects young, immature Christians from setbacks that would disillusion and overwhelm. Even in maturity believers are expected to pray, "Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil."

I find it difficult to reconcile God's respect for man's freedom with God's commitment to a Christian's protection. This is an issue I dealt with several times in my expositions on Job. See exposition on Job1 Notwithstanding intellectual difficulties, my faith and experience enable me to sing with conviction:

Though I cannot his goings see,
Nor all his footsteps find;
Too wise to be mistaken, He,
Too good to be unkind!