SEMESTER 2
429 – Israel’s Bondage in Egypt
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: BIBLE SURVEY II LESSON # 29
ISRAEL’S BONDAGE IN EGYPT
INTRODUCTION:
1. Israel went into Egypt only a large family (seventy souls).
2. They came out 215 years later an exceeding great nation. How does this transpire?
I. THE TIME ELEMENT
1. It is approximately 1661 B.C., 2238 years after the creation.
2. Joseph is 39
years old, having been in Egypt 22 years and governor over Egypt for 9 years.
3. The house of Israel is in Egypt 215 years.
i. Some think 430, but Scripture will not allow this. (Compare Ex. 12:40 to Gal. 3:17.)
a) The promise was given to Abram 430 years before the law.
b) The time from then (Abram at 75, Gen. 12:1-4) till Isaac’s birth was 25 years (Gen. 21:5), till Jacob’s birth was 60 years (Gen. 25:26), till Jacob entered Egypt at 130 years. (Gen. 47:9) This totals 215 years.
c) This leaves 215 years of the 430, from promise to law, (Gal. 3:17) for them to spend in Egypt.
II. IS THIS SUFFICIENT TIME FOR AN INCREASE TO A GREAT NATION
1. It is questioned whether this number of people could increase to this multitude in only 215 years.
2. Let us hypothesize a growth after this manner, starting with 57 grandsons of Jacob and their wives.
i. We will have the average grandson reproducing his family 15 years after arriving in Egypt.
ii. From that point we will make the generation cycle 25 years.
a) Note the accuracy of this generation cycle. (Gen. 50:22-23)
iii. We will let the average couple have 6 children, who live to reproduce.
iv. We will have all but the last 4 generations die before they left Egypt, leaving no one over 100.
v. The total this will leave is 2,202,386.
III. ISRAEL’S BLESSING IN EGYPT
1. They were fruitful and increased abundantly
2. If we compare this to Jacob’s 13 children, the factor of 6 children per couple may be far too few, especially at the first.
3. Up to this point Israel had, for all practical purposes, been the owners of the land of Goshen.
4. Up to this point the flocks and herds which were brought down from Canaan, had multiplied and were considered theirs.
IV. TROUBLE COMES TO ISRAEL
1. Seventy-one years after Israel came into Egypt, Joseph died. Jacob had preceded him in death 54 years earlier.
2. Soon after this, a pharaoh began to reign who did not know Joseph, or his exploits for Egypt. (Ex. 1:8)
3. He saw such great blessing upon Israel, he feared them. (Ex. 1:9-10)
4. At this point these honored guests became slaves. (Ex. 1:11-14)
5. God still blessed and Israel grew, so Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male children. (Ex. 15-16)
6. The midwives feared God and disobeyed Pharaoh, thus he charged all Egypt to kill the male babies.
7. They lived with this affliction for 100 to 140 years, yet they continued to multiply.
V. GOD GIVES MOSES TO ISRAEL
1. Between 20 and 60 years after this affliction started, a child named Moses was born. (Ex. 2:1-4)
2. God in His providence arranged for Moses to be raised in Pharaoh’s house. (Ex. 2:5-10)
3. When Moses was grown, he chose to take his stand with Israel. (Ex. 2:11-13)
4. Moses expected that Israel would know he was their deliverer (Acts 7:25), but they did not. (Ex. 2:14)
5. Thus, Moses fled into the desert where he remained for 40 years, and Israel was left in their distress. (Ex. 2:15)
6. It is in this 40 year period that they begin to cry out to God for help. (Ex. 2:23-25)