Millions!

For Tuesday, February 4, 2025:

Exodus 12:17 NLT: “That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children.”

Why was Pharaoh so reluctant to let the Israelites leave Egypt? Perhaps an understanding of the size of the exodus will help explain Pharaoh’s position.

There were more than just a few bodies leaving the Egyptian work force. Pharaoh would have to replace 600,000 men! And it would be fair to say that most of those men were married, so together that’s 1.2M people. If we estimate that each couple had at least two children, and add in a few stragglers who wanted to leave Egypt along with the Hebrews, we’re in excess of 2.5M, and that’s a lot of people to leave all at once!

As an example, if everyone in Minneapolis and St. Paul and the first inner-ring of suburbs all packed up and left, that would be close to 2.5M people. You’d leave a few semi-rural suburbs dotting the outskirts, with a giant 2.5M person hole in the middle! Rhetorical questions: #1 How could they all get out of town? Wouldn’t 494 and I35 be gridlocked? #2 How long does it take 2.5M people to get out of town? #3 Where could they all go to separate themselves from Egypt’s domination? It needs to be a considerable distance and a pretty big place! The closer we examine this scenario, the bigger God gets. Amateurs wouldn’t be able to pull this off!

Can you imagine one guy, Moses, being the God-appointed leader of 2.5M people? He must have been scared to death! Having his brother Aaron nearby offered some consolation, but not enough. Moses is to lead everyone to the Promised Land, a land of milk and honey, but he hasn’t yet been shown the way. (The dad-joke here is that Moses wandered for 40 years because he wouldn’t ask for directions!)

How big is my God? Big enough to move 2.5M people from Egypt to Canaan in 40 years, and sustain them every step of the way. How big is YOUR God?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship