"Exodus" a book by Deoram Bolan, Chapter 1: Exodus and the Road Out

EXODUS - A teaching by brother Deoram Bolan,
Edited by Jon R. Welker
Published by Shepherdsfield Publishers, Fulton, MO

CHAPTER 1: SEPARATION AND "THE ROAD OUT"

The Book of Exodus, the second book in the Bible, is very deep in spiritual meaning. It falls into two distinct sections, the historical and legislative. Chapters 1 through 19 are connected with the history of a people in bondage and with the birth of a leader who would deliver them. It is also connected with that people's emancipation from the land of Egypt and their journeys in the wilderness until they came to Mount Sinai. Following their arrival at Mount Sinai, God outlines for His people His way of life for them. He enters into covenant relation with them and gives them the Law. The Law is seen in its threefold category - the moral, the civil, and the ceremonial Law. The moral Law was for the individual, the civil Law was for the life of the nation, and the ceremonial Law was for the religious life of the people. Associated with the Law were the priesthood and the Tabernacle. All of these details are full of instructions for us who are God's people.

The word Exodus comes from two Greek words - Ek, which means 'out of or from,' and odus, which means 'a road or traveling way.' The word Exodus, therefore, means the 'road out' or 'departure.' The Book of Exodus deals with the departure of the Israelites from the land of Egypt. This word can be seen in Exodus 19:1:
"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the and of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai."

Notice "gone forth" - that's the word for Exodus. Thus, this word, Exodus, is used in the New Testament in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ when Moses and Elijah appeared to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration and spoke of His decease which He was to accomplish at Jerusalem (Lk. 9:30-31). The word "decease" is the same as the word "departure" or "Exodus." It spoke of His sacrifice on the cross, when He would leave this world temporarily and go to the unseen world, Hades, and then come back again from that realm and be reunited in His physical body - this time a resurrected and glorified body.

Exodus is the second book in the Bible. The first book is Genesis, which is the book of beginnings, and speaks to us of the elect or chosen of God. When you study the Book of Genesis, you see God choosing certain individuals and bypassing others. For example, God chose Abel over Cain, and He chose Shem, of the three sons of Noah, to father the race-line through which the Messiah would come. Shem was blessed above the other two sons. We also see God singling out a man after the Flood whose name was Abraham, who was to be a father of a nation. God sovereignly chose him out of all the men in that day. We also find that God passed by Ishmael and chose Isaac. Ishmael was the firstborn; yet Isaac was the chosen son, and God chose him to be the promised heir. Then God passed by Esau, the firstborn, and chose Jacob. Then God saw fit to choose Joseph and bypass Reuben, the firstborn of the twelve sons of Jacob. God chose Joseph to be the instrument to His people, as well as Egypt and the surrounding nations. He promoted him to be second only to Pharaoh in the Throne of Egypt. Reuben, who was entitled to the blessings of the firstborn, was passed by as God chose Joseph. Similarly, when we consider Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, we see that God set aside the first born, Manasseh. He was blessed by his father; but Ephraim, the second-born, came in for greater blessings (Gen. 48:19).

So we see God bypassing the first and choosing the second. Why? A truth of God was illustrated in these examples - that which is of the first is earthly, and the second is greater than the first. If you search the Scriptures, you will see that all of God's seconds are greater than God's firsts. We read of the first man, Adam, in 1 Corinthians 15:22 , 45, and then we read of the second man, the Lord Jesus. Of the two, who is greater? We read of two priesthoods - the Levitical and the Melchizedek priesthoods. The Melchizedek priesthood was greater. We read of two veils that were in the Tabernacle. The second veil brought the High Priest into the Holy of Holies; yet through the first veil, the priests were only brought into the Holy Place. Here we see God illustrating His sovereign grace and His choice of the ones who would be instrumental in doing His Will.

So, in the "book of beginnings," we see God choosing different ones for salvation. But in the Book of Exodus, we see Israel's deliverance from Egypt. Viewed with the perspective of teaching, we see that it deals with the matter of redemption. In Genesis, God chose those who would come into redemption, but in Exodus, we are shown how God saves. Leviticus is the third book in the Bible; it shows for what we are redeemed. Redeemed people will be a people who will worship God. Leviticus speaks of the walk of the Christian and the walk in the wilderness, how to worship God, and how to be kept from the pollution of sin. That is why there were laws given in the Book of Leviticus - laws concerning worship, God's provisions, and His holiness. Then the Book of Numbers speaks of the walk and the warfare of the child of God. It is connected with numbering, for every Hebrew male son who had attained the age of twenty years was conscripted into the army (Num. 1:3). He became of age for warfare at twenty years of age. We are numbered in Numbers to fight! God is telling us that He wants His Church to come of age; He wants us to enter redemption, to worship Him, and to be occupied in warfare. For the Bible says,
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12
We need to be taught how to fight as soldiers of the Cross. We need to know how to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). The Bible says we are to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6: 11 , 13).
By breaking down the various chapters of Exodus, certain themes can be easier for us to remember. There are five divisions of the book:
Chapters 1-6 speak of the need for redemption, because the people were enslaved. Redemption means 'buying back' or 'to loose.' It involved property and persons. Redemption involved land that was sold by the owner which he did not have the means to recover. When he could recover the land, a blood brother had to pay the money to bring it back to the one who lost it. Then, if an individual was a slave (the Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt), he needed a "kinsman redeemer," one who was related to him by blood, to bring him out of bondage. The "Redeemer" word means that this relative had the money or price to pay for his brother to be loosed from slavery. Redemption is prominent in the Book of Exodus. The need for redemption is seen in these chapters because the Israelites were slaves in the land of Egypt.
Chapters 7-11 speak of the power and the might of the Redeemer. You can't have redemption without a Redeemer.

Nor can you have salvation without a Savior. You can't have creation without a Creator and you can't have effect without a cause. Having seen the need for redemption, God shows us the one who can redeem and that is He Himself. He shows us His power and might to redeem in the evidence of the ten plagues that came on the land of Egypt.

Chapters 12-18 speak of the character of redemption and how this redemption came about - by blood and by power! We see how they celebrated this redemption after they had been brought out of Egypt.

Chapters 19-24 show the duty of the redeemed. Those who have been redeemed have a responsibility to obey the laws of the Lord, Who was the Redeemer.

Chapters 25-40 speak to us of the provisions made for us for the failures of the redeemed. God knew that His people were weak and would not be able to obey all that He said. But God was not a hard taskmaster. God, in love, gave them the solution to their failures. He gave them the Tabernacle and its provisions for the sins of the peoples when and if they failed Him.

The key verse in Exodus is Exodus 15:13.
"Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth Thy people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation."

So we see how all the thoughts here about redemption are brought together and how God in mercy reached down to redeem them and to bring them to His holy habitation which was symbolized by the Tabernacle in their very midst.

Exodus is the second book in the Bible and there is a reason for that order. In Genesis, we see beginnings of the movements of God, and all of the major truths of the word of God are hidden in Genesis in seed form. All of the other books in the Bible amplify these truths that are hidden in Genesis.

Exodus is the second book, and the number two is an important number in the Bible. For example, two is the number of division or difference. We don't have to look outside the Bible to discover this. Notice in Genesis 1 that on the second day, God divided the waters from the waters. He put the firmament in the heavens to separate the waters above. In the days of Noah, the water from the heavens was released to join the waters on earth. So, two is the number of division. Division can lead to estrangement, or it can cause reconciliation. It depends on how we view it.

Two is also the number of "witness" in the Bible. It is the witness of a testimony. If two people agree on a certain matter then they become a witness about that matter. Two, however, can be opposed. Two can agree and that is witness, but two can also oppose each other - that's opposition. All of these things are illustrated in the Book of Exodus.

Two is also the number of contrast. Isn't Cain a different character than Abel? Another contrast is Jacob and Esau. On the other hand, two can work together as did Moses and Aaron and Ephraim and Manasseh.

An example of two being the number of division is found in the very first chapter of Exodus where it is shown that Pharaoh sought to bring division among the Israelites. The plan he had in mind was to cause all the male children of the Israelites to be killed. If that had come to pass, the people of Israel would have been divided. They would have been weakened. So this division is seen in the first chapter of the second book. Then, in the plagues which came upon Egypt, God said He would put a division between His peoples and the Egyptians.

"And I will sever in that day, the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies
shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I AM the Lord in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between My people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be." Exodus 8:22-23

Isn't it wonderful that God put a division between His people and the Egyptians? This was seen in the manifestation of the plagues. Then God divided between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.

"And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel." Exodus 9:4
So God even divided the cattle of the Israelites and the Egyptians.

"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." Exodus 14:21

"And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony and the vail shall divide unto you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy." Exodus 26:33

Do you see how the word of God interprets itself? Exodus is the second book and two is the number of division. We see these divisions throughout the Book of Exodus.

Now let us consider the number two as a number of witness. The sufferings and groanings of the Hebrews witnessed to their need for deliverance. Then we see the ten plagues that bore witness to the might and power of God. God also used two men to be witnesses to Pharaoh - Moses and Aaron, who were brothers. The Passover witnessed to the protecting power of the blood of the lamb and to the value of that blood. So we see how God was manifesting His grace toward His people, but for the Egyptians, the plagues of God brought judgment. In the wilderness, God manifested His grace toward His people in providing manna for them. God gave them water to drink, met their needs, and kept them from becoming sick - they witnessed His provision.

The giving of the Law was the witness to the righteous government of God, and the Tabernacle was a typical witness of the perfection of Jesus Christ. All of these things also witness to God.

There were also two magicians who came against Moses and Aaron. As Moses and Aaron were witnesses, so there two from the other camp who came against them. Their names are not given in Exodus, but in the New Testament (2 Tim. 3:8), they are called Jannes and Jambres. These two magicians witnessed against Moses and Aaron by performing the same miracles. The only difference was that Moses' rod, or the rod that Aaron handled for Moses, swallowed up the serpents of the magicians!
In the Book of Revelation, we also read of two witnesses. God says in Revelation 11:3, "I will send two witnesses and I will give them power." Then we read of these two witnesses coming on the scene to do a great work.

As already mentioned, two is also the number of opposition. This was seen in Pharaoh's opposing the Israelites by trying to increase their burdens and forbidding them to leave the land. The children were oppressed by their taskmasters by having to make bricks without being given material to make them - opposition. We also see opposition from the magicians of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's opposing Israel's departure up until the very last. Then we read of the Amalakites, who were the first nation to oppose Israel after they went into the wilderness.

As stated previously, two is also the number of contrast. For example, in Genesis we have the history of a family. The family tree begins with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons. There were "about seventy souls" that left Canaan to go down into Egypt. So here we are shown a family. But in Exodus, we see a nation - seventy souls became almost two million in Exodus! So we see a contrast between Genesis and Exodus. In Genesis we read of Abraham's descendants being welcomed and honored in Egypt. Pharaoh welcomed Jacob into Egypt and gave him part of the land to dwell in. In Exodus, instead of being honored, they are opposed; so again we see contrast. In Genesis they are accepted; in Exodus they are rejected.

Genesis 22:8 says that God will provide Himself a lamb. In other words, God Himself would become that lamb. Jesus was God made manifest in the flesh. The people could not see that because He was veiled in that flesh; but He was God's Spirit Who laid aside His divine function to come among us to function as a man. So we see the lamb promised in Genesis: whereas the lamb is slain in Exodus to become the Passover lamb. Notice the contrast here. In Genesis we see Israel's entry into Egypt; whereas in Exodus we see Israel's departure from Egypt. In Genesis we see the patriarchs in the Promised Land; in Exodus we see their descendants in the wilderness. Do you know how the Book of Genesis ends? It speaks of Joseph in a coffin. There are many things in the Bible we read but do not always understand. Exodus ends -
"For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys."
Exodus 40:38

So you see the contrast – Exodus closes with the glory of God filling the Tabernacle and leading the people; whereas Genesis ends with Joseph in a coffin in Egypt.

Typically speaking, the Book of Exodus is historically true, but behind the history, there are types and shadows of spiritual truth. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt is a picture of how the Christian is delivered from bondage from the Egypt of the world, which is under the rule of Pharaoh, who is a picture of Satan.

Prophetically speaking, this book has a meaning. Behind the history is prophecy. The prophecy is that just as a Pharaoh arose in those days to persecute Israel, likewise, in this end time, another Pharaoh, who is called the Anti-Christ, will arise against Israel and against the true church of the Living God. Because natural Israel was a type of the church, we already see this Anti-Christ system coming against God’s people, trying to substitute false signs for the true Word of God. Doing away with prayer in our schools is the working of the Anti-Christ system that is to be headed up by a man in this end time.

Just as the Israelites were made to groan by the pressure and burdens of that Pharaoh, likewise, this rebel individual is going to see them crying out as they have never cried out before. And God, in His grace, will cause the Messiah to return to them when their condition is hopeless, just as it was when the Israelites were in complete bondage and God arose on the scene to bring them deliverance. Likewise, we will see a repeat of this in the modern nation of Israel. Therefore, the Book of Exodus speaks prophetically. And just as God judged Egypt with the plagues, He will like wise cause judgment to come upon this Anti-Christ system and upon those who come against His church and His nation, Israel.

And just as God had two witnesses in that day to help Israel leave Egypt, God will also have two witnesses in this end time to help His children and Israel. From one perspective, God’s two witnesses today are the Church and Israel. No, Israel is not a true witness in the full sense, but the fact that she is back in the land is one of the greatest witnesses that god has given in order to reveal that the end time is upon us! And the true Church was meant to be His witness. “You shall be My witnesses when the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts 1:8)

There are to be two witnesses in this end time that will
help the Church and help Israel. Many people believe that Moses and Elijah will come back to earth, and many Bible teachers teach this, but that does not necessarily make it right. We have to have an open heart to what God is saying. Why should God send Moses and Elijah into this dispensation when they served God in their day and were faithful in their time? We are not living in a dispensation that is in failure; it is better. In the Book of Hebrews, there are twelve better things mentioned. We are under a better covenant and better promises (Heb. 8:6). So why would God take two men from the Old Covenant to bring them in the end time, and what would they do then? If someone is going to be a witness, then he must be one who is seen and heard. There is much about the two witnesses that God will unveil to us. There will be two men, but not Moses and Elijah. If you don’t see this, just “put it on the shelf for future reference.” To be witnesses in this Dispensation of Grace, they must be witnesses of Jesus; those who walked and talked with Jesus and can say “He has preserved me and kept me.” Could it be that God has preserved two men from the days of the apostles who will come on the scene at the right time and who have not gone by the way of death? Think on that. Remember what Jesus told John? Peter said, “…what shall this man (John) do?” and Jesus said, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? (Jn. 21:22-23). Jesus did not just use words casually. Some people think that John died an ordinary death, but that’s just tradition. Put your faith in what Jesus said instead of tradition. We do not know all about John, but he could very well be one of the those two who is still living on the earth and will come forth at the appointed time. When these two come on the scene, people will know who these two witnesses are. They will have the credentials of God just as Moses and Aaron did.

Now let us deal with the typical meaning of Exodus. Jesus is represented to us in this book in many patterns. For example, Jesus is seen in the burning bush. For example, Jesus is seen in the burning bush. The Passover lamb is a type of the Lord. The manna that came from Heaven is a type of the Lord. The rock that was smitten was a type of the Lord. The Tabernacle – its furniture, its design – is also a type of the Lord. The priesthood speaks of His priesthood, and the offerings are all a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. See how Jesus is seen in the Book of Exodus by these many incidents!

In Exodus 1, we find that the Israelites were in the land of Goshen. This is how it begins:

“Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.” - Verse 1
Now they lived in Egypt, but they lived in a special part of Egypt. Pharaoh told Joseph,
“The Land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”
Genesis 47:6
Goshen means ‘rained upon.’ So the Israelites were given the best part of the land and were treated well by the Pharaoh.
The word “Pharaoh” means the ‘great house.’ But the situation is different in Exodus. After a number of years, a spirit of enmity began to manifest itself to the Israelites. And one of the reasons why the Egyptians were opposed to the Israelites was because the Israelites were shepherds. There is a meaning to this, as we will see. Egypt, in the Scriptures, is a type of this world.
Thy servant’s trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.” - Genesis 46:34

That is mentioned also in the Book of Exodus. When the plagues came, the Israelites were separated from the Egyptians, for they were a cattle-rearing people.

The question is, “Why did God allow the Israelites to spend such a long time in the land of Egypt?” According to the Scriptures, their sojourn was four hundred and thirty years (Ex. 12:40). And why did He suffer them to be treated so harshly? Couldn’t God have brought them out at an earlier time? Many times we go through a trial or a test in our Christian life and ask, “Why do I have to go through this situation? Many times we go through a trial or a test in our Christian life and ask, “Why do I have to go through this situation?” “Why do I have to wait so long?” “Why does God have to let me face all these opposing things?” But we know the times and the seasons are in His hands. Instead of fighting against god, we must learn to work with God. The quicker we learn that, the better it is for us. The Psalmist says, “My times are in Thy hands…” (Ps. 31:15), “…teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). If god does not bring you out in a day or in a year or in ten years, fear not; your times are in His hands. There is coming a time when God will deliver you - "who hath delivered us, who doth deliver us, and will deliver us," Paul says in II Corinthians 1:10.
Now the Israelites waited four hundred and thirty years in Egypt. They were exposed to much suffering. One reason for this is that God had to develop their spiritual muscle in Egypt so they would have greater appreciation for the land of Canaan. You cannot really love righteousness unless you hate iniquity. God has to work on us so that we can hate our ways and our rebellion and love Him. Oppositions tend to break us down and cause us to humble ourselves before God. The Psalmist says,
"Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word."
Psalm 119:67

We learn through our affliction. If God does not immediately deliver you out of it, don't give up hope. The Psalmist says,
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all."
Psalm 34:19

In the meantime, wait on Him and trust Him; He will work it out unto good. The hardest part is waiting!

God controls history - that is what we see in the Book of Exodus. God's people were enslaved, but He had plans 10 bring them out and did so in His time. The land of Canaan was too large for one family and so, in one sense, God had to let them grow into a big nation, so that when they came out of Egypt, they could take possession of the land of Canaan.

Why did they have to spend so long a time in Egypt? Because the cup of the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full.

That's a very important point.
"And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years."
Genesis 15:13-16

(Which seems to say, after they had spent thirty years in the land, four hundred years of opposition came against them and intensified.)
"And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shall go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."
Genesis 16:14-16

The iniquity of the nations is symbolized by a cup that overflows, and God told Abram that the Amorites would not be judged until their iniquity had come to the full. That is a very important principle in God's dealing with nations. The same holds true for this nation, America. America is going to be judged by God. Before judgment comes, however, God always shows mercy. Not only America, but all the nations of the world are coming into judgment. And the reason is that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are being repeated in this nation on a nauseating scale. If God would not spare Sodom and Gomorrah for these same sins, neither will He spare this land. We see the "mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind surely." And there is coming a day of reckoning for those who continue in their ways of sin. Yet for those who cry against this and are faithful, Abraham tells God, "Surely, Lord, you are the judge of the earth, you will do right" (Gen. 18:25). God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked; yet He is going to hold this nation accountable at the appropriate time.

Already America is being scourged. The Israelite males were twenty years of age when they were eligible to go to war. When we talk about an individual, it is twenty; when we speak of a nation, we multiply by ten. God told Israel in Leviticus 26:18, "When you sin, I will punish you seven times." But when God punished the nation, it was for seventy years. As a nation, a "time" is a year, so seven times ten years is seventy. America has already passed her two hundredth birthday. She has come of age. For the world we multiply by another ten, which gives us two thousand. It's been two thousand years since Jesus first came. So not only has America come in for her judgment and will enter into war, but the nations of the world also will be involved in Armageddon. It's all there in God's mathematics.

The Israelites had to stay in the land of Egypt until God prepared them, so that when they left Egypt and entered the land of Canaan, they would be His instrument to judge the wicked Amorites. The same pattern is being repeated today. When iniquity comes to fullness, God has a rod of anger to use. He has an instrument to carry out His wrath. For example, God prepared Israel to wipe out the Amorites. In this end time, God is repeating the same pattern by causing terrorism to flourish, not because it glorifies God but it will be His instrument to scourge the Western nations. But we don't fight with the weapons of man. The greatest weapon that God wants to bring back to us is the weapon of prayer. We need the strength and grace of God and the wisdom of God

The cup of the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full. God said He would visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate Him but would show mercy to them that love Him (Ex. 20:5-6). Why did Israel suffer so long? Because the sons of Jacob betrayed Joseph; they sold him into slavery. When you sow evil, you don't reap good. "As ye shall sow, so shall ye also reap" (Gal. 6:7). So by selling Joseph into Egypt, they became involved in Egypt and they too went into slavery. What they did to Joseph came back on their own heads. That is a matter of cause and effect. God settles the score, that's His Law. "Oh, but His grace!" you say. God is still a God of grace, but His grace does not annul that Law. This was the fourth generation of Israelites as God had prophesied in Genesis which would come out of Egypt. So what their fathers had sown, the children were reaping. America is going to reap what her fathers have sown. There were those who were good and they will come into good, but those who have sown evil, evil will come upon them, because God is holding this nation to an accounting. There are vital principles here that God would speak unto us if we would look unto Him for guidance and grace.

We need to see the experience of the Israelites in Egypt as a picture of Israel when they sold Jesus Christ to be crucified. They said, "...His blood be on us, and on our children" Matt. 25:27). So they have been sold into the hands of the Gentiles. Hitler killed six million of them, and they are still being persecuted. Yet God in mercy will have a remnant in the land. Remember, the blood of Jesus Christ speaks of mercy, and were it not for Jesus' blood covering in mercy, the nation of Israel would have been wiped out altogether. Thus we see the judgment and the mercy of God in preserving them as a people. The Lord was cut off from the land of the living when He died, as Israel was cut off from the Promised Land and wandered away into other lands. Many of them are still there; but. thank God for those who have come back into the Promised Land.

The land of Egypt is "Mizraim" in the Hebrew. Egypt is •hemmed in' by the desert on both sides and there is a river, the Nile, that flows through Egypt and waters the land. The river washes the desert and causes the soil to be replenished. The word, Mizraim, means 'double straightness in confine¬ment.' It can also mean 'red mud.' Pharaoh means ‘'the great house.' The word Egypt can be translated as the land that is 'hemmed in' or 'confined.' See how God speaks to us through geography. Every name in the Bible has a meaning. This land that is fenced in, this land that is 'red mud,' is a picture of the earth that is in bondage to the 'great house,' Satan.
Egypt hardly has rainfall, and when it does rain, it falls away from the land and goes into the Nile River. Therefore, the Egyptians do not look to heaven for their inspiration; they keep their eyes on the River. Egypt is contrasted with Canaan in the Bible because Canaan is the land that drinks in the waters of heaven. The Promised Land depends on God in the heavens to send the rain in its season. So, those who live in the "promised land" have their eyes on God, and those in Egypt have their eyes on their own water system. Egypt is renowned for its architecture, its art, and its sciences, and yet the Egyptians could not conquer death, so they embalmed the dead bodies. They deified the past. This is a picture of the world -death is still an enemy of man. In spite of man's knowledge and civilization, he still has not devised a cure for death. There is only one answer to death, and that is Jesus Christ.

"Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory?" I Corinthians 15:55
Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Death has been conquered by Christ, but "Egypt" has not conquered death in spite of its advances in civilization. The Egyptians had a memorial - a book that is called The Book of the Dead. Isn't that strange? They call their literary masterpiece The Book of the Dead! But Christians know that the Scriptures are Life. The Word of God that we have is not a book of death, but a word that ministers Life to whosoever believes. The Egyptians have beasts and birds as their gods. This takes us back to the Book of Romans, which states,
“…And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.” Romans 1:23, 28
And today, man “worships” his own intellect. Rather than worshipping God, the Creator, he worships the creature.
Death has been conquered by Christ, but “Egypt” has not conquered death in spite of its advances in civilization. The Egyptians had a memorial – a book that is called The Book of the Dead. Isn’t that strange? They call their literary masterpiece The Book of the Dead! But Christians know that the Scriptures are Life. The Word of God that we have is not a book of death, but a word that ministers Life to whosoever believes. The Egyptians have beasts and birds as their gods. This takes us back to the Book of Romans, which states,
"...And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." Romans 1:23, 28
And today, man "worships" his own intellect. Rather than worshipping God, the Creator, he worships the creature.

How did Israel get into Egypt? The first verse of Exodus tells us - Jacob brought them there. How did we get into this world of sin? Through one man, Adam, our father. You notice it doesn't say they came with Israel; they came with Jacob. Jacob is his natural name; it means 'a supplanter, a heel-holder, a replacer.' God had to change his name from Jacob to Israel, which means 'prince with God' (Gen. 32:28). So the children came with Jacob as he was, not with Israel. Adam in the beginning was good, yet he fell into sin; and in Adam, all die (2 Cor. 15:22). So also do we see death working in Egypt - "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Death is working in this world.

There was another king who arose on the scene who hated the Israelites. The word "another" means another of a different kind. There are two words for "another" in the Bible. One means the same kind; the other means another kind. This is found in Acts in Stephen's speech:
"Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph." Acts 7:18

So we see enmity here in Exodus 1 between the Pharaoh and the Israelites. Pharaoh's main opposition was to wipe out the seed of the male children of Israel. If he had succeeded there would have been no David and there would have been no Christ coming after the flesh from the seed of David. This conflict began in Genesis 3:15:
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
God was showing us that enmity was developing in the time of Exodus with Satan, through Pharaoh, seeking to wipe out the males of the Israelites. He was coming against the chosen seed. But can Satan succeed? He can go so far, but no further. God causes the very wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He shall restrain. Do you see the controlling hand of God in this drama?
"But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel" Exodus 1:12
The more afflictions that come your way, the more God wants you to grow richer. God wants to enlarge you! The Psalmist says,
"Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress...." Psalm 4:1
God wants you to learn in your affliction. He wants to turn your affliction into good. The serpent may try to wipe out the chosen seed, but, as stated, he can go so far and no further.
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." Daniel 8:23
"And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done." Daniel 11:36
The cup of the iniquity of the nations is now reaching that overflowing mark, but on the other hand there is another cup – the one of righteousness. The tares are growing to their fullness; the harvest time is upon us. The tares are ripening but the wheat is also ripening. God is also about to gather His wheat and He will bring judgment upon the tares. When things have reached their fullness, God steps in to bring judgment or to bring blessing – judgment on the wicked and blessing on the faithful. That is God's way -judgment on Egypt, but blessing on Israel, because they came under the shelter of the blood of the lamb.

Judgment in the end time is on those who bow to the ways of Egypt, which is a type of this world. God says,

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt, that trust in horses and trust not in Me, for the Egyptians are men and their horses are flesh." Isaiah 31:32

God wants to bring us out of Egypt, out of bondage to this world system, and bring us into His kingdom, under His Lordship.

The number four hundred and thirty is connected with bondage. Ezekiel was to lie down on his sides for four hundred and thirty days.

"Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shall lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee for the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." Ezekiel 4:4-6
Therefore, 390 + 40 = 430. The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years - a day for a year. After that time they came out in the fourth generation. Here is another beautiful picture showing us that God is about to bring His people out of bondage in this end time. Ezekiel's lying on his side for that time shows that we have been bound and not fully free. When Martin Luther came on the scene and preached that "the just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4), that was when the bondage began to be broken. From Luther until now we have still been partially bound, and yet it has been over four hundred and thirty years since Luther died. God is showing us that He is about to set us free to enter into the full blessings of Calvary! And He set Israel free and brought them back into the land though the nations of the world were against them.

Let us

We have been introduced to the person of the Deliverer, Moses. Exodus 1:11~14 tens us of the bitter persecution of this Pharaoh in Egypt, and how he came against the people of God and sought to kill them by giving them hard labor. But when he saw that they were not killed by the hard labor, he proposed to use the Hebrew midwives to kill the Hebrew males when they were born. The names of the two midwives given in chapter 1 are Shiphrah and Puah; but the name of the Pharaoh is not mentioned. Pharaoh was just a title for the ruler. How significant that God preserved the names of these two midwives who spared the Hebrew males, because they feared God. They preferred to obey God rather than man. They told Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were so healthy that they did not need their help when they gave birth. Shiphrah means 'beauty' and Puah means 'splendor.' Those who fear and obey God will shine with the splendor and the glory of God, and have the beauty of God in their lives.

"Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. "

Exodus 1:20

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So we see Pharaoh's design to come against the chosen seed. But he ended up a miserable failure.

In Exodus 2, we are shown a Levite family. A man marries a woman in the tribe of Levi, but his name is not mentioned. Moses' mother and father's name are not mentioned in the first few chapters of Exodus, but we will see their names in chapter 6:20. The father's name was Amram and the mother's name was Jochebed. When Moses was born, the edict was passed from the king that all the Hebrew males should be killed. The king urged others in Egypt to kill the Hebrew children. Moses had a brother by the name of Aaron and a sister, Miriam. When they were born, that edict was evidently not established, but when Moses was born, Pharaoh was determined to wipe out the male children. The parents knew that Moses was a child of destiny.

"And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months."

Exodus 2:2

Then she made an ark of bulrushes that grew along the Nile River, and hid Moses in it and put it among the bulrushes. Pharaoh's daughter went to take a bath and saw the baby in the basket and beheld that he was beautiful, so she adopted him. Moses' sister was standing nearby and asked if Pharaoh's daughter wanted a nurse for the child, then called the child's mother. Moses was reared by his own mother, though he was adopted into the family of Pharaoh. Ironically, the deliverer was brought up in Pharaoh's palace at Pharaoh's expense! No doubt, Pharaoh did not take much liking to Moses, but he seems to have indulged his daughter.

Moses was forty years old when he stepped in to deliver the Israelites. No doubt his parents informed him about the fact that he would be the deliverer. But he thought that he

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could deliver them in his own might and using the education he had received in Egypt. So we read of his killing of the Egyptian and burying him in the sand (Ex. 2."12). He thought no one had seen him. How much like Moses we are; we look around us with our natural eyes and not with the eyes of faith. No wonder we end in failure, because we judge things according to the natural appearance. He did not move in faith; he went out on his own. It was not the right time, but he saw how oppressed the Hebrews were and went in his own strength to deliver them, and failed. Then he sought to make peace between two of his own people. And they said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us 7" Pharaoh heard of the slaying and Moses fled for his life. For slaying the Egyptian, he was punished by being removed from his family for forty years. God does not justify wrongdoing, so he had to be separated from the nation of Israel for forty years.

When Moses flea, he went to the land of Midian (Ex. 2:15), There he saw seven daughters of a priest whose name was Jethro, Jethro. father.

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"And the name of the other was Eliezer, for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. J5

Moses' wife and sons stayed with her father when Moses went back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites.