Exodus - Moses leaves and returns
2: What if… there’s a mountain in Arabia…? What if… Egypt was a good place for the Israelites? 1. Why did the Egyptians let the Israelites stay? Genesis 46:31-34 says the Israelites were herdsmen – a despised occupation in Egypt; they presented no threat to Egyptian jobs. 2. Where did the Israelites live in Egypt? Goshen was probably hill-country – fine for animals but not particularly fertile, quite likely near the Nile delta where Rameses would later be built. 3. Did the Israelites mix with Egyptians? There probably weren’t any Egyptians near Goshen till work started on Rameses. At that point Israelite men were probably enslaved to work on the palace. Their wives may well have become servants in Egyptian houses. 4. How long did the Israelites stay in Egypt? Exodus 12:40 says they stayed 430 years. This could mean a little under 10 generations. (40 for a generation, 10 for a countable number.) 5. What did they do while they were there? Until they were enslaved, the Israelites p...