Exodus 12:41, commentary and pictures

On the appointed selfsame day at the end of four hundred and thirty years, with neither haste nor delay, all the hosts of the Lord marched out of Egypt from around Goshen in organized companies under the covering of the Passover blood. That going out fulfilled what had been shown beforehand to Abraham that his descendants would sojourn in bondage and then come out with great substance, and they carried Joseph's bones as a pledge that the promise of deliverance had been kept. God visited idolatrous Egypt with mighty signs and judgments that laid the land desolate and destroyed Pharaoh's pursuing army, revealing Himself as the living personal Redeemer above all heathen deities and all power in nature. He called them out because He pitied their grievous slavery and broke the yoke of bondage, to separate them from the customs of the world and make them His church, to lift them from ignorance and little faith to know Him and reveal His goodness, mercy, justice and love as light-bearers to the nations. That exact fulfillment on time points to the keeping of the hour determined in heaven's council for Christ to be born in Bethlehem, and the mighty deliverance is to be remembered with gratitude as proof of His power to bring victory through trials on the way to the heavenly Canaan, calling those who bear His name today to lift the oppressed and live separate from the world to reveal His character.

Exact Time and Deliverance

The four hundred and thirty years ended to the very day, on the selfsame appointed day fixed beforehand, for divine purposes know neither haste nor delay. All the power of Pharaoh's proud empire contended against that word in vain, and could not hold Israel an hour beyond the time. That day had been made certain in the revelation to Abraham that his descendants would endure sojourning and bondage for four hundred years and afterward come out. God Himself had sent His people into Egypt and kept them there until His own time for bringing them out had fully come.

They went out as the hosts of the Lord, in organized companies, in a grand march from the country round about Goshen. That was the best part of Egypt, where Joseph had settled his father and brothers with good pastures and water, where they could worship apart from Egyptian idolatry. Their going followed the sprinkled blood and the death-dealing angel on Passover night. In their departure was fulfilled the promise that Abraham's descendants would leave their land of oppression with great substance and great possessions. They carried Joseph's bones with them as a reminder that the promise of deliverance had been fulfilled.

God visited Egypt with fearful judgments and brought His people forth with power and mighty signs and wonders. Egypt was an idolatrous nation that refused to heed Him, and He laid the land desolate to accomplish His purpose and gave Egypt for them. In guiding and protecting His people He showed that He ruled the universe and was greater than the heathen deities. He acted as a living, personal Redeemer to show His own power over nature and science as the mighty God who made nature, with nature as His servant under His supreme command and control over all oppressing powers, standing forth as the only God with no god before Him. When the Egyptian host pursued Israel, He destroyed Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, despite all Pharaoh's power.

Purpose for a Delivered People

The exodus was an act of pity, for the Lord saw Abraham's descendants in grievous slavery and broke the yoke of their bondage to call them out. That deliverance proves He is not indifferent to the suffering of the oppressed. He placed Moses at their head to lead them through the wilderness to the promised land.

His purpose in bringing them out was to separate them from the customs, habits, and practices of the world and to bring them nearer to Himself to make known His will. He took them into the wilderness to be under the guidance of the unseen Leader and Teacher, wonderful in counsel, who would lead them in the ways of God. He made them His church, purchased by Christ, with what they held entrusted to the Lord as a representation of His church in every age.

They came out of lifelong slavery largely untrained, with little knowledge of God and little faith in Him, and He sought to lift them morally by teaching them to know Him. In life and character they were to manifest the principles of His kingdom and reveal His goodness, mercy, justice, and love, giving the world a representation of His character. As obedient light-bearers to the nations through whose land they passed they were sustained and strengthened by God. When the law of God is thus exemplified in life, even the world recognizes the superiority of those who love and fear and serve God above every other people.

That leading included calling them out to bring them to Sinai to hear the proclamation of the law that had been given in Eden. With His own voice in awful grandeur He proclaimed the Ten Commandments to them, demonstrating the fundamental importance of the law and making known His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world to impress its sacredness and the importance of obedience. The force and power of its delivery reveals its importance as the faith once delivered to the saints by Christ the Redeemer speaking from Sinai. He taught them that if contrite in heart, the powerful Ruler would work for them with nature as His servant, showing His supreme command and control over all powers that oppressed them.

Had they obeyed, they would soon have entered Canaan. But those who murmured and complained and refused to be converted from their evil ways perished in the wilderness. Their rebellion brought forty years of wandering, and only two of the adults who left Egypt entered the promised land. Even after judgments upon Egypt and destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, Israel on the border of the promised land dishonored Him by giving way to unbelief.

Remembrance and Gospel Application

The night march out of bondage was to be kept forever in memory by retelling, with the men with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal, the lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, the night assembly following the sprinkled blood and the death-dealing angel. Its story was recounted to Hebrew children as they journeyed to the feasts, and it was rehearsed in solemn silence at Jerusalem as part of the paschal service. That rehearsal was meant to stir the imagination, impress the heart, and fix the memory of deliverance forever in child and youth.

The mighty deliverance from Egyptian bondage was given to be remembered with gratitude and firm trust as proof of power to bring victory through trials on the way to the heavenly Canaan. Forgetting it breeds distrust of God, discouragement and self-pity, mourning and lamentation, and desperation when difficulties come. Such forgetfulness opens the heart to false and cruel discouraging words and repeats the sin of murmuring, rebellious Israel under the false report of the unfaithful spies.

The exact fulfillment on the appointed day shows that divine purposes know no haste and no delay, fulfilled despite all the power of a proud empire arrayed against the word. That keeping of time illustrates that the hour for Christ's coming had been determined in heaven's council and kept, so that Jesus was born in Bethlehem when the great clock of time pointed to that hour.

The same pity that broke the yoke of bondage and brought Israel out proves that God is not indifferent to the suffering of the oppressed, and it calls those who bear His name today to lift the colored people in America, who though in one sense freed from slavery still live in sin and degradation in the slavery of ignorance. They are to be lifted from degradation as Israel was lifted. The purpose in bringing Israel forth was to separate them from the customs, habits, and practices of the world and bring them nearer to God to make known His will, so that in life and character they would manifest the principles of His kingdom and reveal His goodness, mercy, justice, and love as a representation of His character, and when the law is thus exemplified even the world recognizes the superiority of those who love and fear and serve Him above every other people, and this same purpose holds for His people today.