Leaving the Land of Egypt

Having given instruction regarding the Feast of Unleavened Bread and redeeming the firstborn, Moses in today’s passage begins to describe Israel’s history once the nation departed Egypt. Exodus 12:37 and Numbers 33:3 report that the Israelites departed Egypt from the city of Rameses, located in the eastern region of Goshen, the area where the Israelites had settled (see Gen. 47:1–12). Goshen was located in the northeastern region of Egypt.

The easiest route for Israel to take to the promised land of Canaan would have been the Via Maris, an ancient trading route that ran along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and connected Egypt with Syria and other lands north of Canaan. To take the portion of this route to Canaan from Egypt would have required Israel to travel about twelve kilometers or seven and a half miles, a journey of less than a day. As we read in today’s passage, however, God did not lead His people to Canaan along this path, referred to in Exodus 13:17 as the “way of the land of the Philistines.” Exodus refers to the road this way because the Via Maris passed through the western part of Canaan, the location of the Philistine cities that caused Israel so much trouble in the days of the judges. At the time of the exodus, several Philistine trading outposts had already been established in western Canaan, and they would have regarded the vast multitude of Israelites as a threat, leading to battle between the Philistines and the Israelites. Knowing that the Israelites were not prepared to fight and would run back to Egypt if they encountered trouble, the Lord took them to Canaan not by the shortest possible route but by the longer “way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea” (vv. 17–18). Note that “equipped for battle” in Exodus 13:18 makes it sound as if Israel was ready to fight, but the Hebrew is better understood as referring to Israel as leaving in groups of fifty. Armies were arranged in such groups, so Israel departed Egypt in a kind of battle formation, but they were unprepared for war (see v. 17).

God did not take Israel to its destination by the easiest route because they were not ready, and that helps us reflect on the Lord’s providence in our own lives today. Just as God took Israel through a “less direct” route to Canaan in order to accomplish other purposes in the nation, such as showing Israel its need to depend on Him alone and to train it for battle, the Lord may also take us on what seems to be a circuitous path to accomplish His purposes.