Shemot / Exodus

Torah:

Isaiah 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23

Luke 5:12–39

Exo. 1:1–6:1

Haftorah:

B’rit Chadasha:

Exodus (greek lxxe name) means : “The departure”Shemot (hebrew name) means: “Names”

Taken from the first verse that reads:

And these [are] the names of the sons of Israel who came [to] Egypt; with Jacob, they each came with his family. (Exodus 1:1)

Both are correct depending on how you view the Book of Exodus. It is in this book that YHWH delivers His people from the enemy with a Strong Hand!

But it is also in this Book that Father reveals His personal Name to us: YHWH

Exodus is a continuation of the book of Genesis. Genesis ends with Israel now Living in the land of Egypt. We arent told much about Israels stay in Egypt,But scholars say it is about 350 years from the end of Genesis to the beginning of Exodus, and we can glean much from history during that period.

Elohim told Yaakov : 2 In a vision at night God called to Isra'el, "Ya'akov! Ya'akov!" He answered, "Here I am." 3 He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down to Egypt. It is there that I will make you into a great nation. 4 Not only will I go down with you to Egypt; but I will also bring you back here again, after Yosef has closed your eyes." (Gen 46:2-4 CJB)

Israel was to be put into the furnace of Egypt for a time until YHWH would bring them up again. But it is THERE IN EGYPT that YHWH would make Ya”akov into a great nation! This is precisely what happened:

7 The descendants of Isra'el were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew very powerful; the land became filled with them (Exo 1:7 CJB)

YHWH said to Avraham: 13 ADONAI said to Avram, "Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. 15 As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 Only in the fourth generation will your descendants come back here, because only then will the Emori be ripe for punishment." (Gen 15:13-16 CJB)

Father told Avraham that his descendants would return in the fourth generation, and this is exactly what we see unfolding in the Book of Exodus. if we turn to Ex. 6:16-20 we find exactly four generations, thus:

1. Jacob's son Levi.2. Levi's son Kohath.3. Kohath's son Amram.4. Amram's son Moses.

YHWH would raise up Moses as Israels redeemer.

What exactly was the conditions in Egypt like when Israel was there? The Morrish Bible dictionary says the following:

In Hebrew Mizraim (though really it is Mitsraim). It is a dual form, signifying 'the two Matsors,' as some think, which represent Lower and Upper Egypt. Egypt is also called THE LAND OF HAM. Upper Egypt is called PATHROS, that is, 'land of the south,' Isa. 11:11. Lower Egypt is MATSOR in Isa. 19:6; Isa. 37:25, but translated 'defence' and 'besieged places' in the A.V. Egypt is one of the most ancient and renowned countries, but it is not possible to fix any date to its foundation. The history of ancient Egypt is usually divided into three parts.

1. The Old Kingdom, from its commencement to the invasion of Egypt by those called Hyksos or Shepherd-kings. This would embrace the first eleven dynasties. In some of these the kings reigned at Memphis, and in others at Thebes, so that it cannot now be ascertained whether some of the dynasties were contemporaneous or not. To the first four dynasties are attributed the building of the great Pyramid and the second and third Pyramids, and also the great Sphinx.

2. The Middle Kingdom commenced with the twelfth dynasty. Some Hyksos had settled in Lower Egypt as early as the sixth dynasty; they extended their power in the fourteenth dynasty, and reigned supreme in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth dynasties. These were Semites from Asia. They established themselves in the north of Egypt at Zoan, or Tanis, and Avaris, while Egyptian kings reigned in the south. They are supposed to have held the north for about 500 years, but some judge their sway to have been much shorter.

3. The New Kingdom was inaugurated by the expulsion of the Hyksos in the eighteenth dynasty, when Egypt regained its former power, as we find it spoken of in the O.T.

The first mention of Egypt in scripture is when Abraham went to sojourn there because of the famine. It was turning to the world for help, and it entangled the patriarch in conduct for which he was rebuked by Pharaoh, the prince of the world. Gen. 12:10-20. This would have been about the time of the twelfth dynasty. About B.C. 1728 Joseph was carried into Egypt and sold to Potiphar: his exaltation followed; the famine commenced, and eventually Jacob and all his family went into Egypt. See JOSEPH. At length a king arose who knew not Joseph, doubtless at the commencement of a new dynasty, and the children of Israel were reduced to slavery. Moses was sent of God to deliver Israel, and the plagues followed.

Very interesting questions arise - which of the kings of Egypt was it who promoted Joseph? which king was it that did not know Joseph? and which king reigned at the time of the Plagues and the Exodus? The result more generally arrived at is that the Pharaoh who promoted Joseph was one of the Hyksos (who being of Semitic origin, were more favourable to strangers than were the native Egyptians), and was probably APEPA or APEPI II, the last of those kings. It was to the Egyptians that shepherds were an abomination, as scripture says, which may not have applied to the Hyksos (which signifies 'shepherds' and agrees with their being called shepherd-kings), and this may account, under the control of God, for 'the best of the land' being given to the Israelites.

As scripture does not give the names of the Pharaohs in the Pentateuch, there is really no definite link between those mentioned therein and any particular kings as found on the monuments. Some Egyptologers consider other kings more probable than the above, placing the time of Joseph before the period of the Hyksos, while others place it after their exit.

So we see that prior to Yosef entering Egypt, it was ruled by the Hyksos pharoahs, semites and NOT Egyptian. So who were the Hyksos?

The origin of the term "Hyksos" derives from the Egyptian expression heka khasewet ("rulers of foreign lands"). The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt c.1800 BC, during the eleventh dynasty, and began their climb to power in the thirteenth dynasty, coming out of the second intermediate period in control of Avaris and the Delta. By the fifteenth dynasty, they ruled Lower Egypt, and at the end of the seventeenth dynasty, they were expelled (c.1560 BC).

The Hyksos made Avaris their capital city. Avaris is in the land of Goshen, precisely where Yosef and Israel lived!

The Hyksos ruled BEFORE Yosef entered Egypt and they ruled 150 years after Yosef! It is to this Semite, NOT Egyptian, pharaoh or “ruler of foreign lands” that the people of Egypt offered to buy them and they will serve pharaoh. Read Genesis 47: 18-26

During the reign of the Hyksos Pharaohs Israel prospered but that would soon change because verse 6 -8 reads as follows:6 Yosef died, as did all his brothers and all that generation. 7 The descendants of Isra'el were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew very powerful; the land became filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt. He knew nothing about Yosef (Exo 1:6-8 CJB)This new king WAS an EGYPTIAN and not a Semite, this was after the 150 years when the Hyksos were defeated and expelled. This new king did not recognize Yosef or did not want to for that matter. He just wanted to make sure that no person of foreign stock would ever again humiliate Egypt like the Hyksos. So tension built up between the Egyptians and the Israelites throughout the years of the Hyksos kings and now its time for the roles to be reversed. Israel will now become the servants and the Egyptians will be restored to their former glory under their new Egyptian king. First thing this new king does is he wants to control Israel and the only way to do that is to “keep them in check” so to speak. How? Drastically reduce their numbers and keep them from escaping!!