Joel Hendon

Interesting Facts Concerning the Second Biblical Book, Exodus


Posted: Thursday, August 05, 2010

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

The book called Exodus is the second book of the Pentateuch credited to Moses. It begins where the book of Genesis ends, at the time of Joseph's death. So, it's beginning date would be approximately 2369 A.M. (Anno Mundi...The day of the earth)

Unlike the Genesis record which covers that 2369 years from the creation, Exodus only covers about 145 years, from 2369 A.M. to 2514 A.M.. But lots of things happened during that 145 years. God chose Moses to be His representative to lead the children out of the Egyptian captivity. This involved the warnings he would give to Pharaoh and the fulfillment of those warnings, the ten plagues.

God sent the 10 plagues upon Egypt for multiple reasons. It was basically to free the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt, but that was not the only reason He chose them as he did. He wished to utilize these miraculous plagues to convince (1) The Israelites that He was their God and that he had the power to give them anything He wanted them to have, He could free them and bring them to the land promised to Abraham and strengthen them as needed to conquer that land. (2) To convince the ungodly Egyptians that he was the Almighty God and that He could and would have His way. (3) To show and convince the world, that He was the Almighty God and that He had chosen the Israelites as His people to bring the messiah into the world.

The first plague was that their water supply, rivers, etc., turned into blood, it not only ruined their supply of water but it also turned rancid and stank.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. (Exodus 7:19)

The second was the plague of frogs.

And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading troughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. (Exodus 8:2-4)

The third plague, that of lice.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 8:16)

Fourth plague: Flies

Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. (Exodus 8:21)

Fifth plague: Livestock diseased

Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. (Exodus 9:3)

Sixth plague: Boils

And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 9:8-9)

Seventh plague: Thunder, lightning, and hail

Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. (Exodus 9:18)

Eighth plague: Locusts

Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field. (Exodus 10:4-4)

Ninth plague: Darkness

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days (Exodus 10:21-22)

Tenth plague: Death of the firstborn

And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. (Exodus 11:4-5)

After these plagues, Pharaoh allowed the Israelites to leave but later decided against it and pursued them with his army. This is when God miraculously separated the water of the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to cross on dry land. When Pharaoh's pursued them in to the ocean bed, he let the waters come together again and consumed Pharaoh in the depths of the sea.

The book then contains the nations moving to Mt. Sinai where God gave them His ten commandment based law.

They then moved on to the border of Canaan and after a few men went in to spy out the land, all but Joshua and Caleb were afraid they were to great for them to conquer. This angered the Lord and He caused them to wander the wilderness for 40 years, until all of the men over 20 at the beginning, would have died there except Joshua and Caleb.

As they wandered, God continued to give Moses His law and instructions. Then He commanded Moses to build a Tabernacle, an elaborate but portable structure in which the High Priest could enter the Holiest of Holy place to commune with God and to offer sacrifices. It was a precursor to the temple which would be built in Canaan. It was also a type which would be compared to the kingdom when the Messiah came,

They also built, according to God's instructions, the ark of the covenant. This law, covenant, testament, given the people of Israel through Moses was also a type to be compared with the second covenant given through Jesus.
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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