The Exodus — TDW Kids

At last. “Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, ‘Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said’” (12:31). After all his refusals, Pharaoh gave in completely. “Bless me also.” Pharaoh added, “take your flocks and your herds… and be gone; and bless me also” (12:32). The proud king now asked for a blessing from the God he had said he did not know. In a hurry. “The Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste” (12:33). The people “took their dough before it was leavened” and carried their kneading bowls on their shoulders (12:34). Gifts. They “asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians” (12:35-36). God had said at the burning bush that they would not go “empty-handed” (3:21).

Total surrender (12:31-32). Pharaoh's earlier offers had always held something back: stay in the land (8:25), not too far (8:28), only the men (10:11), leave the flocks (10:24). Now he grants everything: “both you and the children of Israel… take your flocks and your herds.” Every condition Moses set is met. “Bless me also.” This was the king who had been treated as a god, and now he asked for a blessing from the God of his slaves. It was not repentance, as the next chapter shows, but Pharaoh's old question “Who is the Lord?” (5:2) had been answered. “They plundered the Egyptians” (12:36). The Hebrew verb natsal (say: nah-TSAHL) is used elsewhere for stripping or rescuing. The gifts came because “the Lord had given the people favor.” This fulfills God's word at the bush (3:21-22) and His much earlier promise to Abram: “afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:14). Haste (12:33-34). The unleavened dough is the reason for the unleavened bread of the feast (12:39). The memorial meal Israel would eat every year came straight out of the urgency of this night. Each year, eating the flat bread, Israel would remember that God's rescue came suddenly and that they had nothing to do but go when He said go.

It was the middle of the night. The king called for Moses and Aaron. This time he did not argue. He said, “Get up and leave my people!” He even asked Moses to bless him. The Egyptians wanted them to hurry. God's people grabbed their bread dough. There was no time to add yeast. They had to leave right away. They wrapped their bowls in clothes. They carried them on their shoulders. Their Egyptian neighbors gave them silver and gold. God made the Egyptians kind to them. God's people did not leave poor.

The king finally said, “Go!” God's people left Egypt. God kept His promise to set them free. It was a happy day!

A great crowd. “Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children” (12:37). With women and children, it was a huge crowd. Others came too. “A mixed multitude went up with them also” (12:38). Some people who were not Israelites chose to leave with God's people. God's rescue was open to them. No time to prepare. “They baked unleavened cakes of the dough… because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves” (12:39). They had to trust God for food. Right on time. “Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years… on that very same day… all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” (12:40-41). God had told Abram long before that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land (Genesis 15:13). A night to remember. “It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord” (12:42).

Rameses to Succoth (12:37). Rameses was one of the store cities the Israelites had built as slaves (1:11). Their journey of freedom begins from the very place of their bondage. The number (12:37). God's Word says there were “about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.” With the women and children, it was a very large people. Jacob's family had come down to Egypt as a small household (1:5), and God had made them a nation, just as He promised. A mixed multitude (12:38). The Hebrew erev rav (say: EH-rev RAHV) describes a large mixed group. Some Egyptians and others joined Israel. The Passover rules that follow (12:48-49) make room for outsiders who join God's people. “On that very same day” (12:41). These words show that God's timing is exact. The promise to Abram (Genesis 15:13-14) is kept. The night becomes “a night of solemn observance” (12:42), literally “a night of watching”: God watched over Israel, and Israel would keep watch in remembrance. The same God who kept watch that night is described in Psalm 121:4 as one who “shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

God's people walked out of Egypt together. There were about 600,000 men. Women and children walked with them too. Some people from other countries came along. They brought many sheep, goats and cattle. It was a long line of people and animals. When they stopped, they baked flat bread. They had not had time to make food for the trip. God's people had lived in Egypt for 430 years. God had promised Abraham this would happen. On the very day the years ended, they left. It was a night to remember forever. God always keeps His promises on time.

So many people left Egypt! Families walked out together. God set them all free. No one was left behind.

Not the short way. “God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, ‘Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt’” (13:17). God knew His people were not ready yet. The wilderness road. “So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt” (13:18). The long way was the safe way. Joseph's bones. “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you’” (13:19). Joseph had asked for this hundreds of years earlier (Genesis 50:25). Faith that waits. Hebrews says, “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel” (Hebrews 11:22). Joseph believed God's promise long before it came true.

Guidance that knows us (13:17). God chose the longer route because He cared for His people. He knew their fears: “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war.” The direct road along the coast was guarded and fortified. God leads us with our weakness in mind. “Orderly ranks” (13:18). The Hebrew chamushim (say: khah-moo-SHEEM) can mean “in battle array” or “organized in groups.” The ICB says “dressed for fighting.” They left as an organized people, not as fleeing slaves. Joseph's oath fulfilled (13:19). At the end of Genesis, Joseph's coffin was still in Egypt (Genesis 50:26). Now, hundreds of years later, Moses carried those bones out. They were a reminder that God was keeping the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They will finally be buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32). A long obedience. The verb “visit” (paqad, say: pah-KAHD) in Joseph's words, “God will surely visit you,” is the same word used when God “visited” Israel in their misery (4:31). Joseph's dying faith and God's present action are joined. What Joseph believed on his deathbed, Moses now carries in his hands. Faith in one generation becomes sight in another.

There was a short road to the new land. But it went through the land of the Philistines. The Philistines were strong fighters. They had big armies and forts. God knew His people were not ready to fight. They might get scared and go back to Egypt. So God led them the long way through the desert. God knew what was best for them. Moses also carried Joseph's bones. Joseph had lived many years before. He had asked to be buried in the promised land. Joseph trusted that God would bring His people home. Now it was happening! God never forgets a promise.

God took them the long way. He knew what was best. God knows what is best for us too. We can trust Him.

God went first. “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night” (13:21). A pillar is a tall column. Always there. “He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people” (13:22). God never left them. Remembered later. Years later Nehemiah prayed, “You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel” (Nehemiah 9:12). God goes before us. Moses later told Joshua, “the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Following today. We do not follow a cloud, but we follow Jesus. He said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness” (John 8:12).

Visible presence (13:21). The pillar is the first of many forms of God's visible presence in Exodus. It will stand between Israel and Egypt at the sea (14:19-20), descend on Sinai (19:9), and fill the tabernacle (40:34-38). God does not merely send His people; He goes with them. Cloud and fire. Fire and cloud often mark God's presence in Scripture: the burning bush (3:2), Sinai wrapped in smoke and fire (19:18). The cloud both reveals and hides. God is truly present, yet not seen directly. Unbroken guidance (13:22). By day and by night, the pillar “did not” depart. God never stopped leading His people. Psalm 105:39 remembers it as protection: “He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night.” A lesson for the church. Paul writes that “all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1). He uses Israel's guidance in the wilderness as a lesson for the church. The God who led Israel leads His people still, now by His Spirit and His Word (Psalm 119:105). God rarely gives us a detailed map. He gives us Himself to follow, one step at a time.

God did not just tell His people where to go. He went with them! In the daytime God was in a tall cloud. The cloud moved ahead to show the way. At night God was in a tall fire. The fire gave them light in the dark desert. They could travel day or night. The cloud never went away. The fire never went out. Even when they were tired, God was there. God was always with them. God is always with us too. Jesus promised, “I am with you always.”

God led them in a cloud by day. At night it was fire. God is always with His people. He is with you too.