Exodus - an Authentic Record of Events

The Bible is the inspired word of God. This page is a continuation in a series of articles about the Bible as God’s word.

Part 8  Exodus - an Authentic Record of Events

Last time we noted Colenso’s calculations to show that the Four Generation numbering of Israelite warriors at the exodus could be little more than 22 thousand instead of the 600 thousand given in Exodus 12:37.

What the critic did not take into account was the real-life fact that in any given family the number of generations can vary among different branches over a long period of time, as we saw with Bezaleel a descendant of Judah.

Joshua, who later led Israel in the conquest of Canaan, was among the 600,000 men who left Egypt. A descendant of Ephraim, he was in the tenth generation from the entry into Egypt - see 1 Chronicles 7:20-27.

From this investigation the reader of the book of Exodus can be confident in the truth of the statement made even before the enslavement of Israel in Egypt - “The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them” - Exodus 1:7.

After the exodus Moses exclaimed to the nation, “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude” - Deuteronomy 1:10. The information recorded in the books of Genesis and Exodus clearly show that Jacob entered Egypt in 1656 BC and that Pharaoh sent their descendants away 210 years later in 1446 BC.

Genesis 46:8-27 names the 68 male descendants of Jacob who accompanied him. Exodus 12:37 states that about 600,000 of his male descendants set out from Egypt. Numbers 1:3 shows that those who were counted after departing Egypt were "from twenty years old and above - all who are able to go to war in Israel.”

This means that the calculated rate of birth is based on the 210 years sojourn in Egypt less the twenty years minimum age of the numbered population: 210 - 20 = 190 years.

From the beginning 68 males, the ending 600,000 men, and the 190 years time, the on-line Exponential Growth Calculator produced a result of 4.78% average annual growth rate of Israel. This is a higher rate than most nations which are reported in Wikipedia’s March, 2025 “List of Countries by Population Growth Rate” -

Over the forty years between 1981 and 2021 Indonesia, grew at an average annual rate of 1.47%, while Malaysia and Philippines were both 1.9%. Elsewhere in South-east Asia Laos in the 20 years between 1980 and 2020 grew an average of 2.07% per annum, while it peaked at 4.41% in 2011; Myanmar peaked at 4.7% in 1983, but slowed to 2.23% by 2011.

Meanwhile in Africa in the forty years between 1983 and 2023 Tanzania grew an average of 2.87% p.a. and South Sudan from 2003 to 2023 averaging 2.27%, peaking to 4.65% in 2024*. Niger grew in those forty years by 3.38% per annum, and Equatorial Guinea 2014-2023 averaged 5.68% per annum, “doubling their population in less than thirteen years”.*

*WorldData.info

Israel’s 4.78% average annual growth rate in Egypt, which is calculated from the Biblical data, while high, is not “impossible,” since this rate has as fact been exceeded elsewhere.