Moses - Part 23
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Last week we concluded chapter 13 and spoke about Joseph and the bag of bones Israel carried out of Egypt at Joseph’s request...
Now we dive into chapter 14...
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. 5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. 13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 31 And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.
Disclaimer: We are not completely dependent on physical evidences to corroborate Biblical truth. We believe the Bible because it’s the Bible. However, we often see MANY physical realities that accompany Biblical truth
1. The Geography
1. The Geography
God gave the route to Israel:
encamp before Pihahiroth
Between Migdol and the sea
Against Baalzephon
Theory # 1:
Israel crossed the “Reed Sea”, which is only about 3-5 feet deep...
One of the only places on earth where they have the “wind set down theory”...
When the wind blows consistently from one direction, the water moves to one end of the lake and it allows people to walk through...
The problem is that when the water finally flows back after the wind stops blowing, it only creates a wall of roughly 6 feet… Then it goes back to its 3-5 feet depth...
Certainly not enough to drown an entire Egyptian army...
This belief of where the crossing took place is paired with the belief of where Mt. Sinai is located...
Tradition based belief places Mt. Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula
Archaeological and Biblical based study points to it being in Midian
The beach:
There is a beach on the western side of the Gulf of Aqaba that’s called “Nuweiba Beach”...
The gulf is about a mile deep, which results in steep cliff dropoffs from the shore...
At Nuweiba Beach, there is a natural landbridge that is only about a mile down and a gradual decline and incline on the shores...
Nuweiba Beach is said to be big enough to hold a couple million people...
The mountain area that leads to this beach is a set of gorges and valleys...
It would lead to Israel being shut in if they were on this beach...
If it was the “Reed Sea”, they could go just about any direction...
At Nuweiba beach, they would’ve really been shut in...
3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
They have claimed to find horse and human bones in this location...
Elim:
Directly located across the Gulf of Aqaba and just south, toward the location of Mt. Sinai
27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
They have found oasis and palm trees in this very location amongst desert everywhere else...
Rephidim:
Further east, and still towards the suspected place of Mt. Sinai, is Rephidim...
The place where Moses struck the rock and water came out...
There still stands a large approx. 100 foot tall rock that is directly split in two in this spot...
The rocks below it are smooth from what is believed to be water erosion...
Red Sea Location:
MANY other scriptures place the Red Sea where the Gulf of Aqaba is...
2. Pharaoh’s Pursuit
2. Pharaoh’s Pursuit
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. 5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
Don’t think for a moment that if you follow God, leave the world and head for the place God wants you to be spiritually that the satan will just let you go...
Pharaoh couldn’t just let Israel go...
Instead he pursued Israel...
3. Pharaoh’s Overtaking
3. Pharaoh’s Overtaking
9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
**Notice: the exact place that Pharaoh “overtook” Israel was the exact spot that God told Israel to encamp...
God must’ve not known Pharaoh was in pursuit
God must’ve underestimated the speed of Pharaoh’s chariots
God must’ve assumed Pharaoh didn’t know where the Israelites were
God knew all of this and yet still told Israel to encamp at that very spot...
Had all of this not worked out the way it did, there wouldn’t have been an Egyptian army to drown in the sea and be gone with once and for all...
There wouldn’t have been God’s people to witness God’s miraculous intervention...
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