1. What was the last plague upon Egypt? "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." (Exodus 12:12)
2. What were the Israelites required to do in order to escape it? Keep the Passover. (Exodus 12:1-11)
3. On what day of the month was the Passover? "And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening." (Exodus 12:6)
4. On what day of the month was the Passover? "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle." (Exodus 12:24)
5. When this great calamity came, what did Pharaoh do? "And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also." (Exodus 12:30-32)
6. Of what word of the Lord was this a fulfillment? "And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether." (Exodus 11:1)
7. How did the people of Egypt feel? "And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men." (Exodus 12:33)
8. What did the Israelites receive from the Egyptians? "And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:35-36)
9. With what word of the Lord was this in harmony? "But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourns in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and you shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and you shall spoil the Egyptians." (Exodus 3:22) "And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." (Genesis 15:13-14)
10. Explain the seeming discrepancy between (Genesis 15:13), and (Exodus 12:40). See Notes.
11. How large a company went out from Egypt? "And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children." (Exodus 12:37)
12. What did Moses take with him? "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you." (Exodus 13:19; see Genesis 50:24-25)
13. In exacting this promise, by what was Joseph actuated? "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones." (Hebrews 11:22)
14. What precautions did the Lord take against causing the Israelites to become discouraged? "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 13:17)
15. What protection in guidance did He give them? "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." (Exodus 13:21-22)
16. What confidence may God's people ever have? "The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivers them." (Psalm 34:7) "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides forever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forever." (Psalm 125:1-2)
17. Then what should ever be their song? "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2)
18. What sustained Moses all through the contest with Pharaoh, and the departure from Egypt? "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that destroyed the firstborn should touch them." (Hebrews 11:27-28)
Notes:
Genesis 15 says: "Know of a surety that your 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)
Exodus 12 says: "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." (Exodus 12:40)
Mark that this latter text does not say that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt four hundred and thirty years; but that the sojourning of the children of Israel, "who dwelt in Egypt," was so long. Their sojourning was not alone in Egypt, but in Canaan, as Paul says of Abraham: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." (Hebrews 11:9)
And in harmony with this is the reading of this American Pentateuch, and the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint, which are believed to exhibit the most correct copy of the five books of Moses. They read thus: "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan, and in the land of Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years."
This four hundred and thirty years of sojourning dates from the promise to Abraham; for Paul speaks of the giving of the law, which was immediately after the deliverance from Egypt, as four hundred and thirty years, the affliction was only four hundred years. (Genesis 15:13; Acts 7:6) Therefore, the four hundred and thirty years began with the promise; and this was when Isaac was about five years old, for he was not born until twenty-five years after the promise. (Compare Genesis 12:1-4 and 21:5)
So the affliction dates from the time when Ishmael mocked Isaac, (Genesis 21:9-10) for Paul refers to this as the persecution of him that was born after the Spirit, by him that was born after the flesh.--Signs of the Times, February 4, 1889--Exodus 12 to 13:22.
E.J. Waggoner