Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.
Home Page: Quantum Study Bible
The Red Sea Crossing
The Year Before Our Lord 1446 BC
What was it like to be a Hebrew pushing your family and animals to keep far ahead of the Egyptian army? The worst position is at the tail end of the exiting group. Far ahead, Moses leads above the din of the crying children, the bleating goats and sheep, and the shouts of men urging their livestock to move forward. Everyone hurries. Moses isn’t taking the group into an open area, so you ask yourself, what are we doing in these tight cliffs that twist back and forth in a maze?
“Is Moses lost?” you may ask yourself. The ground rumbling from the Pharaoh’s approaching army. A quiet panic ensues as everyone increases their exhausted pace, facing a possible massacre. This way … that way … you wonder if Moses is trying to lose the army. The faster you walk the faster your heart beats, not only from the walk – but from fear.
Finally you reach a place where you see the cliffs open into a wide beach head large enough to hold everyone, but you realized you are trapped! Wails and tears rise above the normal chaos. An eddy of dirt as high as the eye can see spins, throwing up a wall of dust keeping the Hebrews invisible from the eyes of the Egyptians as the sun begins to set. As the sky grows darker the pillar of dust glows with light. You hear Moses from afar, He calls out at the top of his voice to “March!” pointing toward the sea with his staff. Everyone rises in confusion – Moses is nonsensically walking toward the water. A gale has risen, blowing stronger and stronger, coming from the east toward the west. You lean against the wind with your family in tow. Moses lifts his staff high over the sea, his long hair streaming in the wind. You stand aghast when you see a wall of water heaping up on each side of the dry land from one end of the sea to the other. Your eyes widen and your mouth falls open as you watch a pathway at least a mile wide appear.
You don’t have time to think. The Egyptian army is rumbling in the background through the last maze of cliffs in the darkness.
Groping, grabbing, and running you fix your eyes on the Pillar of Light ahead. “Follow the Light,” you scream above the wind to your family, you instruct them to be careful, there may be steep drop offs on the side as you walk through the parted water in the blackness of the night. Everyone is leaning into the hurricane-like wind as sprays of water blow overhead.
Now you realize you are in the midst of a miracle. There’s no time to think about where to place your foot; there’s only one direction and one pace. You don’t look back, you feel the pursuit of the army as you continue relentlessly. The night wears on and the sound of the army pounds in everyone’s ears becoming louder and louder. It is predawn before you struggle up on the shore of the other side. Then, just as your foot hits the opposite side of the sea, you hear a rush of collapsing water behind you. Your family and animals are safe and you drop in exhaustion on the other shore. The sun is about to break.
As the tiniest bit of light comes over the horizon everyone breathes heavily, looking back they stare at the bloated corpses popping up and dotting the shoreline.
“Who was lost?” you turn and ask.
“Not One!” someone at your side shouts. “You were the last!” Shouts arise though out the camp; and singing, praises, laughter, dancing, and crying. God has saved them with His Almighty Arm.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Egypt is decimated. Her people show the scars of the plague and boils. She is without King or Prince. There are no nobles or priests. She has no chariots, no weapons, no army. Gone are the first born of all males including the animals. The fields were destroyed by the locusts, frogs and flies. The remaining Egyptians gave their gold and silver to aide the escaping Hebrews. Millions of slaves are also gone … Egypt’s widowed queen is left empty handed, unable to protect herself or her nation.
This is a story none could believe and none can forget.
One of the dead bodies was Tutmosis II who must have been found and returned to Egypt for mummification. His wife was Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut is now a childless widow. All that is left in Egypt is the lowest of servants and forced labor, captives from other nations, sympathetic to the plight of the Hebrews.
It would be repulsive for Hatsheput to take one of these for her husband. She forces herself to make herself vulnerable and write to the Hittite king for one of his sons to become her husband and Pharaoh. But who could believe a report like this?
Hatsheput writes “I am afraid”, but the Hittite king fears he is being set up and sends a spy.
She has no one to protect her or Egypt. She is terrified. She does something of necessity; she becomes Pharaoh and wears a beard. All her inscriptions were eventually removed. Her story is one of shame and deprivation.
DNA has shown Tutmosis III, who became Pharaoh at her death is not her son. Tutmosis III may very well be a Hittite.
See Pharaoh of the Red Sea and read Hatsheput’s historical letter.
Rumors spread among the surrounding nations. They want nothing to do with a nation (Egypt) drenched in plagues and death; however the stories of these plagues saves Egypt from invasion.
If there was a newspaper at the time, the headline might read “I AM AFRAID”:
The Pharaoh was afraid he was losing his power and his dignity. The Hebrews were afraid they would be killed. Hatsheput writes “I am afraid” while the Hittite king is afraid he is being set up and sends a spy.
Satan operates on fear.
Exodus 14:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
Exodus 14:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.
Question: Does Moses know they would be trapped on a beach head?
Exodus 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered (lost) by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’
The wilderness is called “Wadi Watir” a long twisting canyon with steeps walls in which one can easily get lost.
God explains Pharaoh’s future thoughts to Moses.
Exodus 14:4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
Exodus 14:5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people (Jews); and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
Exodus 14:6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.
Exodus 14:7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them.
Note the word “ALL”: Everyone who is not a slave; including the priests, nobles, captains, and all royalty.
Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness (With a high hand, exalted).
Exodus 14:9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
Exodus 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
Exodus 14:11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
Meaning of the word “Egypt”: To be bound up. Symbolically, it means worldliness.
Exodus 14:12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”
Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
The word “salvation” is the same word for Jesus in Hebrew, pronounced “Yeshua”
H3444 – yᵊšûʿâ
Strong’s H3444: salvation, help, deliverance, health, save, saving, welfare.
Personal Applications:
* Moses said, “Stand still”. But if it were me I would want to run and hide … somewhere, anywhere. I would not want to “stand still.”
* The message is always the same “the battle belongs to the Lord, stand still and see what He can do.”
* I always want to help God by manipulating my environment without inquiring of Him. It never works.
* God always shows up on time, NEVER ahead of time and NEVER late.
* For every difficult situation, if handled correctly with trust in God’s provisions, God sees to it that He becomes their exceeding great reward.
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
- Personal Application:
* God commands them to hold their peace. It is a sabbath for each man to allow God to fight on their behalf WHILE THEY REST.
Exodus 14:15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
They are instructed to march forward. BUT The sea isn’t yet parted!
Personal Application:
* God requires us to take the first step of obedience in faith before seeing the end result.
Exodus 14:16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Personal Application:
* Faith is believing God will always show up on time.
* When God waits to the last minute it is because He receives even more honor. His timing is not our timing.
Exodus 14:17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.
“they shall follow them” (into the dry land).
Exodus 14:18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Exodus 14:19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
The Messenger of the Lord is none other than Jesus. He is the Pillar of Cloud. When He moved He was before them. When He did not move, He stood and protected them from behind.
Personal Application:
* God has our back.
Exodus 14:20 So it (He) came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one (THE EGYPTIANS), and it gave light by night to the other (THE HEBREWS), so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
The sun had set.
Personal Application:
* God knows how to protect men when they are surrounded by darkness and danger.
It was dark, the wind pushed fiercely against them, and the army was at their back.
Exodus 14:21 Then 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 into dry land, and the waters were divided.
Exodus 14:22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
A wall indicates height:
They were walking between their past in Egypt and their future, into God’s Promised Land. Parting the waters was a like a rebirth for the Hebrews, like a womb.
Exodus 14:23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, (all!) his chariots, and (all!) his horsemen.
It is reminiscent of David’s Valley of the Shadow of Death: Danger from the Egyptians, Danger from the sea, Danger from the walls of water as they walk from one shore to another through their valley of death.
Exodus 14:24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch (between 3am and 6am or “predawn”), that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.
The Hebrews crossed the Red Sea at Night.
Between 3am and 6am, the Hebrews arrived at the shore of the other side. The Egyptians were in the middle of the sea. When the last Hebrew went on shore, God troubled the wheels of the chariots such that they had difficulty continuing their chase.
The Hebrews crossed at night and the waters returned at light. This is a story of day and night.
Exodus 14:25 And He took off (troubled) their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
The Egyptians wanted to retreat … but it was too late. The people from the great world wide flood wanted to be saved but it was too late. The sinners in Zion will be terrified when Jesus returns…but it will be too late.
- Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings (fire)?”
Personal Applications:
* Don’t wait until its too late. Today means “now”.
2 Corinthians 6:2 “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
* EVERY sin has a day of reckoning.
* We can pursue our own agenda and God will allow it. To Repent means to make a YOU – TURN
BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
◄Note: Chariot Wheels from the 18th dynasty found in the Red Sea by Ron Wyatt.
For more information see The Pharaoh of the Red Sea.
Exodus 14:26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
The Hebrews had reached the other side. Remember what Moses said: “the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.”
Exodus 14:27 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
The Egyptians died at dawn. The Hebrews crossed at night. Not one Hebrew lost his life. Not one Egyptian was saved.
Personal Application:
* The spiritual law of God: You reap what you sow!
The pharaoh drowned the Hebrew male children in the river; therefore, God drowned the pharaoh in the sea.
The Pharaoh “dammed up” the Hebrews by not letting them go; God broke the dam and drowned the Pharaoh in the sea.
Exodus 14:28 Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.
Not one Egyptian survived. Not one Hebrew died.
Exodus 14:29 But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 14:30 So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
Exodus 14:31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.
SUMMARY:
MORAL OF THE STORY: God protects His Name. When it was over, both the Egyptians and the Hebrews understood that God was Lord.
Why did God take the Hebrews out of Egypt? They were worshiping Egyptian idols even though they had God’s name attached to them. God could not allow such a thing. It was more than just having compassion on their suffering. By the time it was over, the surrounding nations had heard about the Hebrews and their God.
- Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
- Joshua 2:11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
- Joshua 9:9 So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt,
DO NOT CAST GOD’S NAME IN BLASPHEMY. He will take the life of even a believer for such an act. To speak blasphemy is to speak a curse, it awakens and excites Satan. In scripture Satan is called a reptile, serpent, dragon, a sea monster, and leviathan. Satan is always a reptilian animal.
- Job 3:8 May those curse it who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse (excite) Leviathan.
Quantum Study Bible 