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1) Promises to Abraham
At around 2000BC an important man named Abraham lived. He is recognised in the basis of each of the Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths. The reason for his significance is in being specially chosen by God. The Bible doesn't say why he in particular was chosen, but simply that he was chosen by God to receive a special promise.
The promise was that he would become the father of a great nation for God if he would choose to accept it. To accept it, he had to move away from his life in what is modern Turkey, to the south. As part of God's promise, the nation formed from his descendents would be given Caanan as their homeland, which is in the area of modern day Israel.
Genesis 12 introduces Abramam (initially known as Abram) and records the first set of promises that were given. The first promise was about his own inheritance and the nation that would be formed out of his descendents, but they also extended to how all the people of the earth would be blessed though his descendent. We find later that blessing to the whole would would be through his special descendent of Jesus.
After the deeply important promises, the second half of Genesis 12 is comparitavely mundane. It records an incident of history when Abraham later travelled to Egypt. This is the typical nature of this section of the Bible. It reads as a historical account, and the combination of all the incidents builds up a picture of the lifestyles of the times.
Genesis 12
Genesis 12:1: Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed."
4 So Abram went, as Yahweh had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother's son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls who they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land.
7 Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said, "I will give this land to your seed ." He built an altar there to Yahweh, who appeared to him. 8 He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh, and called on the name of Yahweh. 9 Abram traveled, going on still toward the South.
10 There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was sore in the land. 11 It happened, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look on. 12 It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, `This is his wife.' They will kill me, but they will save you alive. 13 Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you."
14 It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, and oxen, and male donkeys, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and female donkeys, and camels. 17 Yahweh plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, `She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way."
20 Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him: and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had. WEB
Following this chapter, the record in Genesis continues on to describe further incidents from the life of Abraham and his descendents. In particular, there is a focus turns to one of his sons Isaac, and then to one grandson named Jacob. The reason they are singled out is that the promise of the special nation of people was to happen through Jacob.
At one stage in his life, Jacob was given a new name of “Israel”, which is the name taken on by his descendants as the name for the nation they formed. So this represents the formation of the nation of Israel. It came about because of the promise of God to one man.
2) Israel in Egypt
The bulk of Genesis is about the lives of the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the three generations of people receiving God's special blessing. It eventually culminates in the family of Jacob moving away from the land promised to him, and down to Egypt because of a drought.
Jacob had 12 sons, and the descendents of each were to become 12 separate tribes as part of the nation of Israel. One of the prominent sons was named Joseph. After a series of incidents, Joseph had become an administrator in the then great nation of Egypt, and an advisor to the Pharaoh.
As the drought was affecting the family of Israel, Joseph was able to bring his brothers and father to Egypt where some careful management and intervention of God through Joseph meant there was a source of food available. Genesis chapter 47 details the move to Egypt.
Genesis 47
Genesis 47:1: Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen." 2 From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers." 4 They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
5 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my cattle."
7 Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of 8the years of your life?"
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." 10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
11 Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father's household, with bread, according to their families. WEB
In prior chapters it was shown how God had warned the Pharaoh of Egypt about the coming drought. The warning had been given through Joseph, the son of Jacob, and as a result Pharaoh had given him responsibility over administering the stockpiling of grain and preparations for the drought.
Genesis 47:13: There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails."
16 Joseph said, "Give your cattle; and I will give you food for your cattle, if money fails."
17 They brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won't be desolate."
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's. 21 As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. 22 Only he didn't buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn't sell their land. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."
25 They said, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."
26 Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn't become Pharaoh's. WEB
The final section of the chapter describes the death of Jacob, who had been renamed Israel. One significant aspect here is that at the time of his death, Jacob maintained that Egypt was not going to be the place for his descendents to stay, but rather that their real future would be in the area promised by God to be their possession. For that reason, he asked that his bones be eventually taken back when the people returned.
Genesis 47:27: Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. 28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. 29 The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place." He said, "I will do as you have said."
31 He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed's head. WEB
So at the conclusion of the book of Genesis, the people of Israel were prospering and growing in a group in Egypt.
3) The Exodus
The second book of the Bible, Exodus, details events that occurred about 400 years later, this time around 1300BC. During those 400 years, the descendents of Jacob had grown a lot in number to a population of around 10,000 people.
It reached a stage where the people of Israel seemed a threat to the Egyptians, and they no longer held a friendly stance. The Egyptians put the Israelites into slavery, building possibly pyramids and other structures. Eventually God called on a man from Israel called Moses to give him the role of leading the people of Israel in a migration back North to the land they had been promised.
The early chapters of Exodus are about this mission of Moses to break the Israelites out of the slavery of the Egyptians. It only happened after God showed his power through a series of 10 plagues over Egypt. Even then, the Egyptians soon had a change of heart, and Exodus 14 reveals the events when the Egyptians try to recapture the Israelites as slaves. They had been walking eastwards out of Egypt toward the Red Sea, when the Egyptians started to give chase.
Exodus 14: 1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, `They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.' 4 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh." They did so.
5 It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" 6 He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; 7 and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. 8 Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. 9 The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
10 When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. 11 They said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt? 12 Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, `Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."
13 Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again. 14 Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still."
15 Yahweh said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. 16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. 17 I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his host, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen." 19 The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. 20 It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn't come near the other all the night.
21 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. 25 He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, "Let's flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!"
26 Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen." 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. 29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. 30 Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses. WEB
This incident of the Red Sea crossing and defeat over the Egyptians was something that remained famous in that area of the world for many years, and gave a reputation for the God of Israel as a powerful God who would protect his people.
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