2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
June 14, 2017
Exodus 12:31-49
At this point in our story we see deliverance realized. It is one thing to hope for deliverance, but it is another thing to see it come to past. This is why you must never give up while there is breath in your body. I can imagine that there were some that doubted Moses and just assumed that their promises of deliverance were just wishful thoughts. There might have even been times when Moses himself doubted the success of his mission. The Israelites had been in bondage so long that it is understandable that some would not think this would ever come to pass. The challenge of being in a messed up situation for a long time is that it is hard to think you can ever get out, but this story is a reminder that you should never give up hope. This is a reminder that God has not forgotten you. It might seem like God has forgotten, but that is not the case. God has used Moses to bring his wrath on Pharaoh for his harsh treatment of the people. God has humbled old Pharaoh and has left him with very little. Pharaoh might have thought he was a mighty big man, but he was no match for the almighty God.
Verses 31-32. The night that the destroyer came through the land of Egypt and killed all the firstborn, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and told them to leave the land. Pharaoh tells them to go as they have requested. At a certain point your God will make your enemies your footstool. Pharaoh even asks Moses to bless him. God told Moses that he would make Moses look like a god to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1). Pharaoh looked at Moses like dirt and dust, now he sees Moses like a god. One has been humbled the other has been exalted. Only a person of greater importance could bless another. Pharaoh’s request for a blessing was an admittance of his inferiority and Moses superiority.
Verses 33-34. Here we see another aspect of why there was no yeast in the bread, and what the yeast symbolizes. The Egyptians were so anxious to see the Israelites leave they forced them to leave before the bread could rise. The unleavened bread was a symbol of leaving in a hurry. This is how we are to leave a life of sin. When we get set free, we should leave in a hurry. We have no time to stand around and say goodbye to bondage. When we get set free, we need to get up and move. This is the issue for many in the church. We are slow to move away from the things that have had us bound. We linger in the place of bondage, when we have been set free. We need to lead unleavened lives, lives where we have fled sin in a hurry.
Verses 35-36. These verses are my favorite. God told Moses that when they would leave they would take riches with them. The Israelites didn’t have any riches of their own, but God promised a massive wealth transfer, from those that hoarded wealth to those who labored as slaves. God made the Egyptians favorable towards the Hebrew people. So much so that they were more than willing to pay them to leave with gold, silver and clothes. The wealth that the Egyptians had kept from the Hebrews, they now are willing to turn it over because they are under judgment. It took the judgment of God on them for them to stop hoarding wealth. Their wealth was useless against an angry God. Once again we are reminded that God is on the side of the oppressed. God had leveled on the Egyptians, in a few days, the judgment that they had stored up for themselves for hundreds of years. God is not mocked, whatsoever you sow you will reap. The Egyptians had sown pain and sufferings, and now it was their turn to reap pain and suffering.
Verses 37-42. As this chapter wraps up, we learn that the Hebrews had been in Egypt for 430 years. On that night they traveled from Rameses/Goshen to Sukkoth. This is about a 100-mile journey and it is about a three-day journey. The text says about 600k men not including children left that night. They cooked and ate the bread as a lasting ordinance to remind them how quickly God brought them out. They were slaves the day before, but now they are free.
Verses 43-49. From these verses we see that it was not just the descendants of Israel that left Egypt. We know that others left with them who were probably fellow slaves. They would be excluded from the covenant, but if they wanted to be part of the covenant of God’s people they could join through circumcision for the men. God’s covenant was an open covenant not a closed covenant. Lev 19:33-34, Exodus 23:9, Exodus 2:21.
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