Exodus 12, Part Two

The death of the firstborn (vs. 29-30)—As He had said He would do, the Lord that night struck the firstborn of every house of Egypt “from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock”—even the animals were not spared (v. 29). “There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead” (v. 30). It was truly a sad night in the land, but the consequences of rebellion, paganism, and oppression are serious indeed. Note that it was the Lord Who did the killing, not some “death angel” as has sometimes been suggested.

Pharaoh lets the people go (vs. 31-36)—That very night, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them to go. There was no attempt to compromise this time; all could be taken, little ones, flocks, and herds. Pharaoh even asked for a blessing himself (v. 32). The Egyptians were happy to see the Israelites depart (v. 33). The exodus was so rapid that the children of Israel “took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders” (v. 34). Well, they weren’t supposed to eat leavened bread anyway. The Egyptians were so anxious for the Hebrews to go that, when God’s people asked them for “articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing,” the Egyptians were happy to comply. “Thus they plundered the Egyptians” (vs. 35-36). The Egyptians had been “plundering” the Israelites for over 200 years, so this was simply a fair payment in return.

The beginnings of travel (vs. 35-39)—This huge mass of people, “about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children” began their journey, going from “Rameses to Succoth” (v. 37). There is a question about the number of people who left Egypt, and I’ll deal with that in due course. Who the “mixed multitude” was (v. 38) is unknown, perhaps some refugees from other countries who had fled to Egypt during times of local famine or distress. The rapidity of the departure is again mentioned in verse 39.

The sojourn in Canaan and Egypt (vs. 40-42)—Verse 40 says “the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” The apostle Paul says in Galatians 3:17, “that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later,” that is, after promise to Abraham. So actually, the children of Israel did not spend 430 in Egypt proper; it was about half that. The time from Abraham to the giving of the law was 430 years. Thus, this verse is intended as a summary of that period. The copy of the Pentateuch (as the first five books of Moses are known) used by the Samaritan peoples clarifies the verse by saying “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was 430 years.”

Repetitive summary of the Passover feast (vs. 43-50)—The Passover was of such importance that the Lord emphasizes here its observance. I again remind the reader that most of these ancient peoples were illiterate and would need these books read to them. Thus, repetition of many of the important details is found frequently. The last two verses of the chapter tell us that “all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did,” (v. 50), something they didn’t do very often, and that the Lord, “on that very same day”—the day after eating the Passover lamb—“brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies” (v. 51). He kept His promise to them, and He did it quickly. All of this is part of the great scheme of redemption promised by the Lord in Genesis 3:15—thousands of years before.