1
¶ Now these are the names of the
children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came
with Jacob. 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and
Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and
Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and
Asher. 5 And all the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren,
and all that generation. 7 And the
children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and
waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Genesis
46: 26 All the souls that came with
Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all
the souls were threescore and six; 27
And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls:
all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and
ten.
Deuteronomy
10:22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt
with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the
stars of heaven for multitude.
Acts
7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his
father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
The difference in numbers between Moses’
accounts in Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, and Stephen’s account recorded by
Luke in Acts can be attributed to counting different people such as wives not
mentioned in one. There are a number of very good explanations for why Stephen
would count 75 people leaving for Egypt with Jacob and Moses would say 70 three
times.
Look at the factors by which this family
of less than 100 people grew. First, there is no mention in the Bible of
widespread epidemics or virulent diseases yet. The first known epidemic in
scientific literature and history may have been a Typhus epidemic in Athens,
Greece in the middle of the first millennium BC, which killed upwards of
100,000 people. It was brought on by war and as many as 30 different microbes
have been blamed for it. We will see God placing epidemics directly upon the
Egyptians and their livestock.
We will also see indications of a high
birth rate and of the hardiness and health of the Hebrews who had come to this
land. How fast can populations increase is not only a subject of debate but has
been seen as populations arise from great calamity. A high birth rate and
abundant food resources can lead to relatively quick growth in population. When
resources are abundant a population can experience what is called “exponential
growth” and this leads to a rapid multiplication of individuals. If you add God’s
supernatural purpose for multiplying the children of Israel you can imagine how
amazing this could be.
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