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JANUARY 31
DAY 30:Why don’t the Egyptian historical records acknowledge the events of the Exodus?
The absence of any Egyptian record of the devastation of Egypt by the 10 plagues and the
major defeat of Pharaoh’s elite army at the Red Sea should not give rise to speculation on whether
the account is historically authentic. Egyptian historiography did not permit records of their
pharaohs’embarrassments and ignominious defeats to be published. Interestingly, one of the sub-
tle proofs of the truth of Scripture is the way in which it records both the triumphs and the
tragedies of God’s people.The Bible offers as many examples of failure as it does of faith.
Despite the absence of any extrabiblical,ancient Near Eastern records of the Hebrew bondage,
the plagues, the Exodus, and the Conquest, archeological evidence corroborates Israel’s dramatic
exit from Egypt as occurring during the Eighteenth Dynasty (about 1445 B.C.), a setting of great
political strength and economic strength in Egyptian history. Egypt was a world military, economic,
and political superpower.

January 31 Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall

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be like it again. But against none of the chil-
dren of Israel shall a dog move its tongue,
Exodus 11:1–12:51
against man or beast, that you may know that
And the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring the LORD does make a difference between the
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11 one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egyptians and Israel.’ And all these your ser-
Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. vants shall come down to me and bow down to
When he lets you go, he will surely drive you me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who
out of here altogether. Speak now in the hear- follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he
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ing of the people, and let every man ask from went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
his neighbor and every woman from her 9 But the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will
neighbor, articles of silver and articles of not heed you, so that My wonders may be
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gold.” And the LORD gave the people favor in multiplied in the land of Egypt.” So Moses
the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man and Aaron did all these wonders before
Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s
the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the heart, and he did not let the children of Israel
sight of the people. go out of his land.
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Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron
‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of 12 in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month
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Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of shall be your beginning of months; it shall be
Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh the first month of the year to you. Speak to all
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who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the
the female servant who is behind the handmill, tenth of this month every man shall take for
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and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there himself a lamb, according to the house of his
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shall be a great cry throughout all the land of father, a lamb for a household. And if the
household is too small for the lamb, let him
and his neighbor next to his house take it
according to the number of the persons;
11:5 the firstborn.The firstborn held a partic- according to each man’s need you shall make
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ularly important position in the family and your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be
society,not only inheriting a double portion of without blemish, a male of the first year. You
the father’s estate, but also representing spe- may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
cial qualities of life and strength (see Gen. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day
49:3). In Egypt, the firstborn would ascend to of the same month. Then the whole assembly
the throne and continue the dynasty. of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twi-
Whatever significance might have been light. And they shall take some of the blood
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attached religiously, politically, dynastically, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lin-
and socially, it was all stripped away by the tel of the houses where they eat it. Then they
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extent and intensity of the plague—namely, shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire,
the execution of all the firstborn of all classes with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs
of the population including their animals. 9
they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled
at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head
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