Exodus 12:37–38: “Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.”

November 16th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This number of 600,000 probably refers to the fighting men who were 20 years of age and older. If that assumption is correct, it would mean a population of more than 2 million men, women, and children left Egypt. Israel had experienced a population explosion. 70 people had entered Egypt with Jacob, and 430 years later, 2 million people left with Moses. God had made a promise to Abraham to multiply his children and that promise was fulfilled.

The children of Israel first stopped at a place called Succoth, meaning “booths.” The Hebrew word suggests a small lean-to made from tree branches. It was probably not much more than a temporary campsite with crude shelters thrown up quickly. To this day, this type of shelter is still being duplicated and slept in each year by observant Jewish families during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.

God’s great rescue of the children of Israel out of Egypt is to be remembered, but even more we are to remember the greater work that it pointed to—our redemption by our Messiah Jesus. This first Passover night was done away with by the last Passover night of the Lord, when Jesus Christ was betrayed. Jesus was the perfect lamb slain to take away the sins of the world, and we will celebrate for eternity the redemption His death brought to us. He broke the yoke of sin, which was heavier than the yoke of slavery the Israelites wore in Egypt, from off our necks.

“LORD, You are the reason the death Angel has passed over our lives and You have brought us into a new kingdom. Help us to walk in that freedom today.”