35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 

36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. 

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

I pointed out earlier that when God instructed the Israelites to take the jewels of their Egyptian neighbors, it had the appearance of a conquering army taking the spoils of war. Verse 36 makes this interpretation concrete by saying the Egyptians were indeed “spoiled.” Though the Israelites had not raised a single hand against their overlords, yet they carried the trophies of their triumph over them.

Moving on, in verse 37 we hear exactly how large the Israelite nation had become. Back in Exodus 1, we were told that there were only 70 souls when Jacob and his family first entered into Egypt. Since that time, just their men were nearly 10,000 times greater in number! If their men “on foot” were 600,000, then presumably there were approximately 600,000 women, and probably more than 600,000 children, bringing their total up and to and even exceeding 2 million! One can see why the Egyptians had been worried about their growing strength. The “on foot” description of the 600,000 men seems to mean men who were still strong enough to travel forward under their own power, and therefore also fit to carry a sword. It was justifiable that Egypt would be concerned about this potential army within their borders, though their solution to that problem was certainly not justified.

Verse 38 tells us that they also took up all of their flocks, herds, and cattle, which of course Pharaoh had previously tried to deny them. Also of interest is that “a mixed multitude went up also with them.” This might have been the remnants of other nations that had been conquered by the Egyptians and made to serve alongside the Israelites. It might have been Egyptians who had intermarried with the Israelites or been converted to the Lord by His miracles.

Of course, we will see a theme soon enough of the Israelites being seduced from God by the strangers in their midst. It is possible that this “mixed multitude” was the first group to tempt them to sin. Though we will not have it spelled out to us in Exodus, a later recounting in Numbers shows that it was this group of foreigners who first began to complain to Moses in the wilderness, leading the way for the Israelites to also tempt the Lord. Thus, even in this moment of triumph, there are already the seeds of a downfall.

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

We just read how the Egyptians were anxious to hurry the Israelites out of their land. Today’s verses explain even more of this haste, describing the Israelites as being “thrust out, and could not tarry,” with no time for even their dough to rise. Hence the wisdom in God telling them beforehand to prepare all of their bread to be unleavened. He knew the great hurry that would soon be upon them.

I mentioned yesterday that it sounded like Pharaoh had summoned Moses and Aaron in the very same night that all the firstborn of Egypt had been slain, and given today’s verses it sounds like the Israelites had to be out of their homes by the very next morning. Waiting for the dough to rise would only have been a matter of hours after all, not days, and they apparently didn’t have that long to spare. An immediate departure would also explain why God told them to have staff in hand, shoes on feet, and to burn any leftover lamb.

To sum up, it seems most likely to me that on the evening of the tenth day of Abib the Israelites had their Passover feast, the Egyptian firstborn were killed during the night, that same night Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to leave, and all the camp was gone in the morning. I never realized before how rapidly all these events might have transpired, and if it was this way then it shows just how quickly God can change everything, accomplishing the impossible in an instant!