WHY DID GOD SEND THE ISRAELITES TO

EGYPT?

Old kingdomEgypt’s Great River

2300 Rise of the Egyptian

Civilization

2200Menes was

the Pharaoh

2100 King Khufu built the

Great pyramids of Giza

Middle kingdom False religions of Egypt

1718 Joseph is sold

to the Egyptians by his brothers

1716Joseph

becomes prime minister

of in Egypt

1706Jacob and

family move to Goshen

New KingdomPolitical evidence

1500 Slavery of Israel by Pharoah

1492 Plaques of

Israel

1491The exodus

Geographical features of Egypt

-surrounded by water and deserts which secured its borders from attackers

-the fertile Nile Valley was good for growing food during times of famine

-cataracts on the Nile also made it impossible for others to attack

- the area where they settled was up by the Nile Delta which was good for sheep to graze and families to multiply

2. False religions of Egypt

The Egyptians worshipped nature and had very different beliefs than the Israelites, thus the Jews united under one belief, one God and one nation

Because God helped Joseph interpret Pharaohs dreams, Joseph was promoted to Vizier, the Pharaoh's chief assistant.

Joseph had great influence over state decisions and he had the grain stored up during the time of famine across the land. During this time Jacob moved his family of 76 to Goshen.

3. Political reasons why God moved the Jews to

Egypt.

To grow as a nation The political situation allowed for the Jews to multiply

in numbers . In fact they grew so large that the Pharaoh, Thutmose I, became overly concerned about them and the Hykos joining forces and taking over the Egyptian empire

The numbers had gone from 76 to 2 million within a few decades.

In response the Pharaoh commanded Egypt's midwives to kill newborn Hebrew boys. When this failed, he directed all Egyptians to seize the male children that were born to the Hebrew lands and drown them.

This forced the Israelite people to cry out to God for deliverance which would come in the form of Moses.

Class structure of the Egyptians

The Egyptians also despised the Jews because they were shepherds, thus they would never intermarry.

Gen. 43:32 Than they would remain one nation as

God had commanded. In Canaan the Hittites were already marrying the Israelite women

Prophesied to Abraham

Gen. 15:1 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred year.... In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Weakness of Canaan and other empires

-When Israel left Egypt, the northern and southern world powers were weak

-It would help them as they plan to take Canaan back from there enemies.