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The Israelites Leave Egypt
This chapter is based on Exodus 12:34-51; 13 to 15.
Before daybreak, the people of Israel were on their way. During
the plagues the Israelites had gradually assembled in Goshen. In
order to make some preparation for the necessary organization and
control of the moving multitudes, they had already been divided into
companies under appointed leaders.
And they went out, “about six hundred thousand men on foot,
besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also”—not
only those motivated by faith in the God of Israel but also a far
greater number who only wanted to escape from the plagues. This
group was a constant problem and danger to Israel.
The people took with them “flocks and herds—a great deal of
livestock.” Before leaving Egypt, the people claimed compensation
for their unpaid work, and the slaves went out with many treasures
from their oppressors.
“And it came to pass ... that the Lord brought the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.” The
Israelites carried with them the bones of Joseph, which, during the
dark years of bondage, had reminded them of Israel’s promised
deliverance.
Instead of taking the direct route to Canaan through the country
of the Philistines, the Lord directed their course southward toward
the shores of the Red Sea. “For God said, ‘Lest perhaps the people
change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.’” The
Philistines thought of them as slaves escaping from their masters
and would not have hesitated to make war on them. The Israelites
had little knowledge of God and little faith in Him, and they would
have become terrified and discouraged. They were unarmed and
not used to war, their spirits were depressed by long slavery, and
they had the added responsibility of women and children, flocks and
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