Page 89 - Pentateuch

We are meant to understand that God has given a hefty down payment on his
603,550 fighting men promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had said, “I will make your offspring
2.4 million people like the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16; 15:5; 16:10; etc.).” The census records

603,550 fighting men, besides their families (Num. 1:44). Israel has become a
mighty nation. God has already worked wonderfully on their behalf in freeing them from Egypt through the
ten plagues and by bringing them to Mount Sinai. The events are miraculous as God has fed and given
thousands of people safe passage across the Red Sea. God’s people have experienced his blessings.

Somehow, God’s people had already absorbed information about Yahweh even while slaves were
dominated by the worship of the gods of Egypt. Many of their names have God’s name, “El”, in them.
“Elizur” (1:5) means “God is rock.” “Shelumiel” (v. 6) means “God is peace”. Nethanel” (v. 8) means “God
gives.” “Eliab” (v. 9) means “God is father.” “Eliasaph” (v. 14) means “God gathers.” All speak of a God who
is involved in the everyday life of people. Parents living in Egypt, with all that pagan influence, decided to
name a son for a different God, El. No Egyptian god bears this name.

We do not just exercise our imaginations by
seeing generation after generation of parents
passing on the history, the stories of Genesis,
to their children. “The writer of the
Pentateuch appears to have composed his
work from archival records of God’s great
deeds in the past… (Ex. 17:14; Nu. 21:14; Jos.
10:13). It is not unlikely that similar records
were kept at far earlier stages within the
individual households of the patriarchs and
their tribal ancestors. 104 The stories had not
been written down in final form by the
beginning of Exodus. Perhaps bits and pieces had been committed to Egyptian papyrus. Perhaps stories had
been committed to memory. The Israelites know they are different, and the events that made them
different would have been passed on. How else would a new generation know this God enough to name a
child after him?

What happened next? Israel complained. They complained about hardships (11:1-3). They complained
about the manna (11:4-35). They complained about Moses (12:1-16). In each case, the God whose presence
was intended to be a blessing became their judge. Fire consumed some of the people on the outskirts of
the camp (11:2). A plague broke out (11:33). Miriam became a leper (12:10). In two cases, Moses
interceded for the people with God (11:2; 12:13). Throughout these chapters the words “evil” (11:1, 10, 11,
15; 13:19; 14:37; 20:5, 15) and “good” (11:18; 13:19; 14:3, 7) are used, though often translated differently
in English. This is the spiritual debate, the spiritual lesson. Is God good? Does God give good gifts? Do God’s
good gifts sometimes appear bad? If so, why?

We might think they would learn after a few of these situations,
but the power of Egypt is strong in their minds. They know of
nothing else, just life in Egypt and these few months of travel to
Mount Sinai and now from Sinai. They remember the fish and
cucumbers and melons in Egypt (11:5-6). They were “better off
in Egypt” (11:18). They fear the people of Canaan and want to

104 Sailhammer, Pentateuch, 25.

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