A continuation of “An Introduction to the Exodus. A Picture of the Plan of the Ages,” appearing in the previous issue.

THE PASSOVER

The passover lamb is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 5:7). The Passover has been the subject of many good studies and summaries (e.g., Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 6, Study XI, “The Passover of the New Creation”), which will not be repeated here. But we should address the question, Why is the Passover given in connection with the last plague?

Christ’s First Advent could hardly have waited until Armageddon! It would appear, then, that the Passover is shown just before the Exodus begins in order to remind us that it is Christ’s Ransom Sacrifice at His First Advent that leads to the deliverance of all peoples from the world of sin, sickness, and death.

In like manner, “Behold, I come as a thief “ in Revelation 16:15, given just before the Armageddon plague, is a reminder that Christ’s Second Advent is also necessary to the deliverance of all peoples. (Neither the First or Second Advent is delayed until Armageddon.) It is to be inferred from Revelation 15:8 that when the last plague is ended, humanity will come to the temple (Christ and his church, 2 Cor. 6:16) to receive the blessings of the Millennial-Age covenant. – Rev. 21:24

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

It seems good to close with a thumbnail sketch of the world’s great hope. Unleavened bread symbolizes pure and uncorrupted spiritual food, as in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. The passover itself was to be eaten with unleavened bread (Exod. 12:8), as we with the heavenly hope must now partake of Christ’s sacrifice. On the morrow began a seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Exod. 12:15-20, Lev. 23:4-8) The first day and the last day were each to be holy convocations.

The first day of the Exodus (from Avaris/Ramses to Succoth, Exod. 12:37) represents the beginning of the deliverance of the Lord’s people from the kingdom of bondage, or the deliverance of ransomed mankind at the beginning of Christ’s Thousand-Year Kingdom on earth. Imagine what rejoicing there will be as people begin to come back from the dead!

A second day brings Israel from Succoth to Etham (near modem Ismailia), just at the edge of the desert (Exod. 13:20), and on the third day they turn 90′ and go along the edge of the desert to near Pi-Hahiroth, to a narrow part of what once connected to the Red Sea. A fourth day is spent crossing the sea and watching Pharaoh (sic!) and his hosts drown. Thereupon they sing a beautiful song of thanksgiving for their deliverance (Exod. 15:1-18), showing the world’s thanksgiving for final deliverance from all enemies at the end of the Millenium. – 1 Cor. 15:25-26

Days five, six, and seven fulfill their original call to go three days journey into the desert to serve Jehovah their God. (Exod. 3:18, 5:3, 8:27,15:22) Thus the holy convocation on the seventh and final day of the feast depicts the rejoicing of mankind throughout the perfect ages of eternity. – Rev. 5:13

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A lad of seventeen, Joseph was sold successively to the Midianites, Ishmaelites (nomadic merchant Arabs), and the Egyptians about BC 1851, during the reign of Sesostris III. Towards the end of this reign Joseph was falsely imprisoned. In the second year of the new king, Amenemhet III felt insecure and imprisoned his butler and baker (perhaps on charges of food poisoning), where Joseph interpreted their dreams. In the fourth year of Amenemhet Joseph was exalted to the highest office in the king’s government.  After eight years the famine began, and in the ninth year Jacob and all his family moved to Egypt, BC 1830.

Jacob died in the 29th year of Amenemhet III, and Joseph was given leave to go to Canaan to bury him. Sixteen years later Amenemhet died, after a 45-year reign, and his son took the throne. The dynasty ended eleven years later, BC 1786. Twenty-seven years later Joseph also died.

Then a new king arose over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. The Hyksos kings were the original builders of the capitol city of Avaris (later renamed Ramses), about BC 1724. (The Hyksos were merchants and craftsmen, who evidently stepped into a power vacuum. They were immigrants of mixed Semitic and Hamitic stock. They introduced horse and chariot warfare into Egypt.) Moses was born BC 1696 and adopted by Pharoah’s daughter.

When Moses was about 37, Khian ascended to the throne (possibly usurping it from Moses) and became the greatest of the Hyksos kings, even reuniting the country. In Khian’s 3rd year Moses left the royal court (perhaps dissenting from Khian’s methods and practices) and fled Egypt.

After Khian’s 40-year reign, any successor would have to be ambitious to leave his mark in history. Israelite slave labor was an integral part of fulfilling this ambition. But in his third year Moses returned to Egypt. (Exod. 4:19) Pharaoh’s ambition ran counter to the LORD’s determination, which brought on the destruction of Egypt (compare Exodus 10:7), and the following year the death of Pharaoh himself. His name is still unknown.

Thirty-nine years later the last of the Hyksos dynasty had been driven from Egypt and were destroyed at Sharuhen, in southern Palestine.

“Ye shall see them no more again for ever” (Exod. 14:13)

… for in the fortieth year the Israelites entered Palestine (Canaan).

Later, an Egyptian queen left the following monument to the Exodus: “I have restored that which was ruins, I have raised up that which was unfinished, since the Asiatics (Hyksos) were in the midst of Avaris (Ramses) of the Northland, and the barbarians (Israelites) were in the midst of them.

– James Parkinson

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