part0032

Following the first Passover for the children of Israel, the Pharaoh of Egypt had finally agreed to let the Jewish people leave Egypt. He had held out through nine different plagues within the land. But on the tenth plague which had been the death of the firstborn child in each Egyptian family his stubborn will had finally been broken. He could have saved himself a lot of trouble and a lot of grief if he had just let them go in the beginning. But of course he had not done that. So, about six hundred thousand men and their families had left that land on the day that they had been set free. Not only had they gained their freedom, but the people of Egypt had actually insisted on them taking with them provisions for their travel as well as much of their own personal property. One might suppose that by that point the people of Egypt had just wanted the Jewish people to go, and who could have blamed them? In the end they had lost much because of their leader's stubbornness.

Exodus 12:35-38 says, "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment : And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians . And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them ; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle." The above statement about a mixed multitude going with them means that some of the Egyptians had possibly also left Egypt to go with the Jewish people. After all, the ten plagues had probably nearly destroyed their land to the point that there may not have been much reason for many of them to stay. Also when the passage says that six hundred thousand men on foot had left that number would have been a count of the foot soldiers.

One can know that for sure because thirteen months later the Lord had told Moses to get a count of the number of men in the camp that could go to war. As the below verses show, the count of fighting men at that time had only been a little over six hundred thousand. Numbers 1:1-47 says, "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, Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel…So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them ."

Thus, the six hundred thousand men on foot that had left Egypt had only been the fighting men that were over twenty years of age. It had not included any women, any children, or any of the older Jewish men that could not fight. It also had not included anyone that had been from the tribe of the Levites. Therefore, one might reasonably conclude that two-to-three million people had left Egypt on the day that the Pharaoh had finally given in to the Lord's demands. That would have been a very large number of people for Moses to lead out of Egypt. But the Lord had prepared him for the task just as He ALWAYS prepares His servants for the work that He has for them.

Soon after they had left Egypt, however, the Pharaoh had had a change of heart about having let them go. Therefore, he had sent his troops after them. Of course, nothing about what would follow had surprised the Lord. Because He is omniscient, He had known that the Egyptians would come after the children of Israel. So what He had done was tell Moses to position the people with their backs to the Red Sea. Exodus 14:1-2 says, "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea." From a military point of view, that would have made them look like setting ducks for an approaching well-trained military. Sure enough, when the armies of Egypt had seen their placement, they had been immediately ready to attack. But what would happen next would surprise all of them including most of the Jewish people. Exodus 14:21-22 says, "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left . "

While the battle hardened Egyptian troops had watched in amazement, the children of Israel under Moses' leadership had crossed over the Red Sea on dry ground. Thus, the Lord had pushed the waters back on either side so that not one Jewish person had gotten wet when crossing the sea. But when the Egyptian troops had followed after them into the dry sea, the Lord had through Moses brought all of that water back onto them. Exodus 14:26-30 says, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen . And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore."

Following that day with the Egyptians and the Red Sea, Moses would lead the children of Israel through many difficult situations for most of the next forty years. In fact, even though they had often failed the Lord, Moses had never failed them and he had also never failed the Lord. One seemingly small mistake had kept him from actually entering into the Promised Land. But despite that, he has still always been regarded as a great man among the Jewish people.