Why Did The Israelites Leave Egypt – Periodically, researchers poll historians’ opinions on which is the most influential event of all time. In recent decades, the Industrial Revolution has often appeared at the top of the list. For the politically oriented, not infrequently the French Revolution wins; for Marxists, the Russian Revolution. Christians often cite the life and death of Jesus as the single most important event in history. For Muslims, Muhammad’s revelations and his hegira [exile, 622 CE] have a similar transcendent authority.
However, when Jews celebrate Passover, they are commemorating what is perhaps the most important event of all time – the Exodus from Egypt. If for no other reason than the fact that the Exodus directly or indirectly generated many of the important events cited by other groups, it is the event of human history.
Why Did The Israelites Leave Egypt
That it was a Jewish event is an eloquent tribute to the extraordinary role that the Jewish people—so small a fragment of the human race—has played in human history.
Was Slavery In Egypt So Bad?
The exodus transformed the Jewish people and their ethics. The Ten Commandments open with the words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” To have no other God is to give no absolute status to other forms of divinity or to any human value that requires absolute devotion. Neither money, nor power, nor the economic or political system have the right to demand absolute loyalty. All human claims are relative in God’s presence. This is the key to democracy.
The morality of the exodus meant giving justice to the weak and the poor. Honest weights and measures, interest-free loans to the poor, leaving a portion of the crops in the field for the stranger, the orphan and the widow, treating the stranger as a native citizen—all these are applications of the Exodus principle for living in this world.
Thus, the Exodus, as articulated at Sinai, transformed the Jewish people and their religious ethical system. While Christianity and Islam adopted the Exodus at their core, almost half the world has been profoundly shaped by the aftermath of the Exodus event.
In modern times, the image of redemption has proven to be the most powerful of all. Increased productivity and wealth have raised expectations for a better life. Widespread scientific ideas and concepts of human freedom carry the same message: do not accept disadvantage or suffering as your lot; rather, let the world be transformed! These factors come together in a secular concept of redemption. By now, people are so imbued with the vision of their right to improvement that every revolutionary spark causes huge fires. In a way, humane socialism is a secularized version of the final triumph of the Exodus. The liberator is dialectical materialism, and the slaves are the proletariat – but the pattern and ultimate goal are the same. Indeed, vividly revived images of the Exodus play as powerful a role as Marxism in worldwide revolutionary expectations. In South America, liberation theology directly affects hundreds of millions trying to overcome their poverty.
The Exodus Route: Travel Times, Distances, Rates Of Travel, Days Of The Week
The secret of Exodus’ impact is that it is not presented as ancient history, a one-time event. Since the primary way to remember the Exodus is through reenactment, the event is offered as a continuous experience in human history. As free people relive the Exodus, it turns memory into moral dynamics. The experience of slavery that breaks and oppresses slaves does not destroy free men. It evokes feelings of disgust and determination to help others escape that condition.
As the participants eat the bitter herb, they recall the heartbreaking tale and the deaths of the children. They also remember that slavery gradually conditions people to accept servitude as the norm. The Israelites fell into that trap and were delivered, not by their own merit. The lesson is that a slave needs help to begin liberation.
In the seder ritual, the family also acts as a transmitter of memory. The past is not separated, but becomes an active part of the participants’ lives. Parents tell the story to the children. At the same time, children are not simply dependent. They ask questions and participate in the discussion. They must be included, for it is essential that they join in the unfinished work of liberation. That is why when Pharaoh offered to let the grown-up Jews leave Egypt to worship God if the children stayed behind, Moses refused the offer, “With our youth and our old men we will go.”
The order of the seder is deliberately designed to attract the attention of children, to enthrall them with the history of their people, so that they feel compelled to undertake the covenant duty. Thus, because of the magic of shared values and shared history, the Exodus is not some ancient event, however important, it is repeated redemption. It is the event from ancient times that is happening tonight; it is the past and future redemption of mankind. The Exodus is the most influential historical event of all time because it didn’t happen once, but repeated every time people opened up and entered the event.
Against All The Gods Of Egypt’
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Seder Your browser does not support the audio element. Pronounced: SAY-der, Origin: Hebrew, literally “order”; usually used to describe the ceremonial meal and the telling of the Passover story on the first two nights of Passover. (In Israel, Jews have a seder only on the first night of Passover.) God had promised Abraham centuries ago that his descendants would be freed from the land of slavery. Even though Abraham had died, He still remained faithful to His Word. “And it came to pass that at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that same day, it came to pass that all the armies of God came out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:41). God is never late in fulfilling His promises to His people.
Although Pharaoh and his servants fiercely resisted Israel’s departure, God’s Word was fulfilled as promised. Indeed, “there is neither wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30). Therefore, believers must rely on His unchanging promises. With storms threatening, Satan and his agents cannot disrupt His plan for our lives, for “the counsel of the Lord shall stand.”
Pharaoh was finally humbled by the Almighty as he called Moses and Aaron and said, “Get up and go out from among my people, you and the children of Israel; and GO, SERVE THE LORD, AS YOU HAVE SAID” (Exodus 12:31). He was humbled by the power and judgment of God. Besides freeing Israel to go and serve God, he added: “Take your flocks and herds, AS YOU HAVE SAID, and flee; and bless me” (Exodus 12:32). Previously, Pharaoh had proposed a compromise with Moses to go and serve God without their flocks and herds, which he refused (Exodus 10:24-26) It is worth having an uncompromising spirit.
How Long Were The Israelites In Egypt?
“And the Egyptians urged the people to send them out of the country with haste” (Exodus 12:33). God had told the children of Israel to prepare to leave Egypt urgently, “with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand; and you shall eat it in haste” (Exodus 12:11). Now Pharaoh and the Egyptians wanted Israel to leave immediately. Ordinarily, they should have hated the children of Israel at this time, being the victims of terrible plagues that culminated in the loss of all the firstborn in the land. Rather, “God gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians… Egypt rejoiced when they left, for their fear fell upon them” (Exodus 12:36; Psalm 105:38). This is another proof that “when a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).
Finally, God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled. “God is not a lying man; nor the son of man to repent; he said and he won’t do it? or has he spoken and will not do it well?”. (Numbers 23:19). God’s faithfulness to Abraham should strengthen our faith in Him.
“And the children of Israel departed from Rameses to Succoth” (Exodus 12:37). It was in anticipation of this journey that they were told to tie their loins, shoes on their feet and sticks in their hands and eat “in haste”. As believers, we must understand that we are “strangers and pilgrims” on earth and “our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven.” Like the children of Israel, we have an important journey ahead of us and God wants us to be fully prepared for it. To prepare, we must “lay aside every weight and the sin that you do
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