Exodus of Israelites (-1446 to -1406)

The Hebrews lived in Egypt in exile. There ruled a Pharaoh who oppressed the people and tried to stop the multiplication of the Hebrews with draconian measures (infanticide). According to the Bible he forced them to unpaid work and with his overseers he harassed the Hebrews. But one day God is said to have appeared to Moses in a burning bush. He gave Moses the order to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and to lead them to the "promised land of Canaan". After some hesitation, Moses agreed. But Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go at first. Then God sent 10 plagues:

1. blood, 2. frogs, 3. lice, 4. wild beasts, 5. pestilence, 6. skin disease, 7. hail, 8. locusts, 9. darkness, 10. slaying of the firstborn

Pharaoh gave up only after the tenth plague. It was particularly bad, because in each family of the Egyptians the oldest son died. The Israelites were spared this misfortune. The Bible tells us that Moses had previously instructed them, by order of God, to slaughter a lamb and mark the doorposts with the blood of the animals. In this way the angel of death could recognize the houses of the Israelites and "leap over" them. When the Egyptians mourned for the firstborn, the Israelites took flight.

God met Moses on Mount Sinai around 1446 B.C. and gave him ten commandments by which the Israelites were to live their lives in a godly manner. These commandments were part of the covenant agreement or "testament" between the Israelites and God also known as "The Law of Moses." In this "covenant" God promised to bless the Israelites. The people, for their part, agreed to follow God's ways.

Scholars refer to the commandments as the "Decalogue" and, on the one hand, they cover the relationship of people to God. On the other hand, the commandments also cover worldly aspects in terms of living together without conflict. If people were to follow these commandments, the world would certainly look very different.



1.    Don’t worship any other god - just me.
2.    Don’t make anything or anyone into an idol - and don’t worship them.
3.    Don’t misuse God’s name or do evil in God’s name.
4.    Don’t do your usual work on the seventh day of each week - treat it as a special holy day (a ‘holiday’).
5.    Always show respect to your parents.
6.    Don’t murder anyone.
7.    Don’t commit adultery by having sex with anyone other than the person you’re married to.
8.    Don’t steal from anyone.
9.    Don’t tell lies about someone else.
10.  Don’t be envious of anyone’s house, their partner, or anything they own.

The book of Numbers tells of twelve spies, important representatives from each tribe, whom Moses sent to scout out the land of Canaan as a future homeland for the Israelite people. The account is mentioned in Numbers 13:1-33 and is repeated, with some variations, in Deuteronomy 1:22-40.

God promised Abraham that He would give his descendants, the Israelites the promised land for the nations that would come out of his son Isaac. So Moses sent the men out with a mission to explore the land in terms of agricultural potential, population, urban organization (fortifications). He asked them to think positively and return with samples of the local produce.

Ten of the twelve scouts showed little faith and slandered with their gloomy report about the land they believed God had promised them. They were despondent and very pessimistic and did not believe they could take the land. The scouts reported that the inhabitants were of gigantic stature and they were like "grasshoppers" compared to them. This is an indication that there were giants among the Canaanites, which are now extinct.  

God became angry and therefore all the people had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until almost the entire generation of men had died. Joshua and Caleb were the two scouts who brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed. They were the only men from their generation who were allowed to see and enter the Promised Land.

Biblical account goes as follows:

The Book of Joshua tells how Israel conquered Canaan. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, sent two spies to Jericho, the first city in Canaan they wanted to conquer. They noticed that the land feared the Israelites and their God.  The Israelites marched around the walls once a day for six days, with the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day, they marched around the walls seven times. After that, the priests blew the rams' horns and the Israelites gave a great shout, and the walls of the city fell.  Following God's command, they killed all the inhabitants, as well as their animals. Only Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute who gave shelter to the scouts, her parents, brothers and all "who belonged to her" were spared.  

Joshua cursed all who rebuilt the foundations and gates with the death of his firstborn or youngest child. This was then fulfilled by Hiel the Bethelite under King Ahab's reign.