The Chase and the Baptism
Questions with Proposed Answers
Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 14
1And Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe] to say, 2 “Speak unto the children of Israel. And they have sat. And they have camped to the faces of Mouth-Of-The-Holes between Tower and between the Sea to the faces of North-Lord. Ye shall camp directly-in-front of him upon the Sea. 3And Pharaoh shall say to the children of Israel, ‘They are confused in the land! The desert shut upon them!’ 4And I will grip the heart of Pharaoh. And he will chase after them. And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army. And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah!” And they did so.
5And he told to the king of Egypt that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his slaves flipped-over unto the people. And they said, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery!”
6And he harnessed his chariot. And he took his people with him. 7And he took 600 chosen chariot and every chariot of Egypt, and their third over all of him. 8And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he chased after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand. 9And Egyptians chased after them.
And every horse, chariot of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army reached them camping upon the Sea, upon Mouth-Of-The-Holes to the faces of North-Lord.
10And Pharaoh approached. And the children of Israel lifted their eyes. And behold, Egypt is journeying after them. And they feared very much! And the children of Israel screamed unto Yehovah. 11And they said unto Draw [Moshe], “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert?? What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt? 12Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’? For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the desert!”
13And Draw [Moshe] said unto the people, “Fear ye not! Position yourselves! And see-ye the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today. For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider! 14Yehovah will war for you. And ye: ye shall hush!”
15And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “What? Wilt thou scream unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel! And they have journeyed! 16And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry! 17And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them! And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army, via his chariot and via his horsemen! 18And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah via my being demonstrated-important via Pharaoh, via his chariot and via his horsemen!”
19And Messenger of the Elohim who walks to the faces of the camp of Israel journeyed. And He walked from after them. And the pillar of the cloud journeyed from their faces. And He stood from after them. 20And He came between the camp of Egypt and between the camp of Israel. And He was the cloud and the darkness, and He lit the night. And this did not come-near unto this all the night.
21And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea. And Yehovah walked the Sea via a strong wind of the east all the night. And He put the Sea to drought. And the waters split. 22And the children of Israel came into the midst of the Sea via the dry. And the waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left.
23And Egyptians chased them. And every horse of Pharaoh, his chariot and his horsemen came after them unto the midst of the Sea. 24And it was in the guarding of the morning. And Yehovah overlooked unto the camp of Egypt in the Pillar of fire and cloud. And He hummed the camp of Egypt. 25And He removed the wheel of his charioteers. And He guided him via heaviness. And Egypt said, “I will flee from the faces of Israel! For Yehovah is warring for them in Egypt!”
26And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea. And the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen.” 27And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea. And the Sea returned to his vigour to the turnings of the morning. And Egyptians are fleeing to meet him! And Yehovah shook-off Egypt in the midst of the Sea. 28And the waters returned. And they covered the chariot and the horsemen to all the army of Pharaoh coming after them in the Sea. None remained in them unto one!
29And the children of Israel walked via the dry in the midst of the Sea. And the waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left. 30And Yehovah saved Israel from the hand of Egypt in that day.
And Israel saw Egypt dead upon the lip of the Sea. 31And Israel saw the Big Hand that Yehovah made in Egypt. And they—the people—feared Yehovah. And they believed in Yehovah and in Draw [Moshe] His slave.
I. Camping and Confusion (verses 1-4)
Yehovah spoke directions unto Moshe to give to the children of Israel. The Israelis have sat and camped in front of Mouth of the Holes which is located between Tower and the Sea; it is also in front of North Lord.
Yehovah told the Israelis to camp upon the Sea. This will give Pharaoh the impression that the Israelis are confused. Pharaoh will say to the children of Israel, “They are confused in the land! The desert shut upon them!” In the meantime, Yehovah will grip the heart of Pharaoh, and he will chase after the Israelis. Yehovah stated, “And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army. And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah!”
The Israelis did what they were told.
Questions
1. What did Yehovah tell Moshe to command the children of Israel? He told Moshe to command the Israelis to sit! They had left Egypt, and they now felt free. They had come to the Sea, and it was time to rest and to camp.
2. Why would a place be called Mouth of the Holes? Parts of this land have many caves! Since a mouth is an opening, this place must be an opening to an area where there are many holes—some being straight down, but others being sideways in rock hills.
3. Why would a place be named Tower? This is either named after a hill that looks like a tower, or it is where a tower was built at one time, I propose.
4. What Sea is this? This is what is commonly called the Red Sea: the sea that is below the present-day land of Israel and part of Egypt. It is part of the oceans, so it is salt water rather than fresh water. (See a Bible map and find the Red Sea.) A better name for this sea is the Ending Sea since this is where Israel will end to its south; that is what I propose the Hebrew name (Yam Suf) means.
5. Why would a location be named North Lord? Discovering why places and persons are named certain ways can be difficult and even impossible at times. I can guess that whoever named it prayed to a god who the namer thought ruled the north.
6. The next statement says, “Ye shall camp directly-in-front of him upon the Sea.” Who is him? I propose that this refers to the location called Mouth-Of-The-Holes.
7. The text then states, “And Pharaoh shall say to the children of Israel, ‘They are confused in the land!’” Will Pharaoh directly speak to the Israelis? He won’t get that close! He will speak to the Israelis in his mind; he won’t speak to them directly or out loud.
8. What will Pharaoh mean by, “They are confused in the land”? Pharaoh will think that they traveled to the Red Sea, and became confused trying to leave Egypt. He will figure that they went the wrong way, and dead-ended at the Red Sea. If they had known the right way, they would have easily continued on land. Pharaoh will be wrong, of course.
9. What does Pharaoh mean by, “The desert shut upon them”? This means that the Israelis became trapped by the desert (and by the water) so that the Israelis were unable to leave the desert.
10. Was Pharaoh right? Were the Israelis confused in the land, and did the desert shut upon them? No! Pharaoh was quite wrong. Yehovah had the whole thing planned.
11. For what purpose will Yehovah grip the heart of Pharaoh? Since the heart is the mind, Yehovah will grip Pharaoh’s mind. He will do this in order to help Pharaoh become resolved (that is, become determined without being undecided) so that Pharaoh will do what he thinks is the only right decision. Thus, Yehovah will help Pharaoh make up his mind!
12. What will Pharaoh decide to do? He will decide to chase after the Israelis!
13. What will be the result of Pharaoh’s chasing after the Israelis, according to the next part of the text? The result will be that Yehovah will be demonstrated as important by means of Pharaoh and all Pharaoh’s army! Yehovah will be shown as the most important being! Also, the Egyptians will know that this God is Yehovah!
14. The next statement is, “And they did so.” Who are they, and what did they do? They are the Israelis, and they did what Moshe said: they sat (down to camp) where Moshe said.
II. Heart Flip (verse 5)
Someone told the king of Egypt that the people of Israel fled. This caused an immediate reaction in Pharaoh and his slaves: their heart (mind) ‘flipped over’ unto the people of Israel. They said, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery!”
Questions
1. Who told the king of Egypt that the people fled? I only know of two choices: one of the slaves of Pharaoh, or Yehovah. I cannot tell what the answer is. I am thinking that it was Yehovah, since Pharaoh was in deep grief over the death of his son, and I don’t know who would break in on Pharaoh to tell him this.
2. What does “the heart of Pharaoh and his slaves flipped-over unto the people” mean? Pharaoh and his slaves have one heart in this text, referring to one mind. Pharaoh and his slaves suddenly turned from their grief and all the problems from all the deaths; their thoughts were on the people of Israel, and what a disaster their leaving would be to the Egyptian economy and standing in the world.
3. Why did they say, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery”? They realized that they released the very means of their country being rich! Now, they would all have to work very hard just to live even poor lives! (I do not assume that the Israelis were their only slaves, but they were the largest group of slaves; the Bible doesn’t mention other groups.) Releasing all those slaves without making sure that there will be replacements was now viewed as very foolish!
III. The Chase (verses 6-9)
Pharaoh harnessed his chariot. He took his people with him including 600 chosen chariot(s) and every chariot of Egypt! He took their third (of what?) over all of Egypt!
Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Pharaoh chased after the children of Israel! In the meantime, the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand! The Egyptians chased after them.
Questions
1. Who harnessed Pharaoh’s chariot?? I asked this because Pharaoh had so many slaves; certainly, one of his slaves would have harnessed the chariot for Pharaoh. However, this text indicates that he did it himself. If that is the case, that shows how much of a hurry he felt; it also shows that Pharaoh was physically strong and well-suited to chariot warfare.
2. Who are his people that he took with him? They are the Egyptians. Yet, Pharaoh himself led this recovery mission!
3. Why does the text state that he took 600 chosen chariot instead of 600 chosen chariots? When numbers are very large in Hebrew, the items being counted are often described in the singular form, as if there is just one.
4. What is the distinction between chosen chariots and every chariot of Egypt? The chosen chariots are battle-ready with charioteers who are likewise battle-trained and battle-ready, and who have distinguished themselves through tests and challenges on their chariots. Every chariot of Egypt indicates that Pharaoh ordered all other chariots in the land to participate in this chase. (I assume that these were battle chariots, and that Pharaoh was able to get orders to them right away, since it would take months to contact all the private chariot owners to go into this chase.)
5. What was so important about bringing all the chariots into this chase? In those days, chariots were very frightening to those being chased by them and doing battle with them. They were like small tanks. Charioteers could bring their chariots very close to those they were chasing and attacking, and could run over them while using swords against those on foot. Thus, Pharaoh knew that the chariots would terrify the Israelis, and would likely cause them to return back to Egypt without a fight.
6. The last part of the statement is, “…and their third over all of him.” Identify their, the third, and him: I propose that him refers to the chariot (of Egypt). Regarding the third, a lexicographer (a person who writes a lexicon—which is like a dictionary, but is different since it explains more about the words and their relationships to each other) suggested that this might refer to a shield carrier. If this is the case, and I am thinking he is right, each chariot had the charioteer—the person who drove the chariot—and another person who handled the shield and did other functions from the chariot. That would mean that there would be two persons on each chariot handling swords. The reason why this person would be called their third instead of their second is because the chariot itself was considered their first.
7. Why does the text again state, “And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh”? This shows how important it is for the reader of the text to note that Yehovah was firming Pharaoh’s mind to do this. Pharaoh had just lost his firstborn son, and everyone had suffered deaths because of Yehovah’s slaughter in Egypt. All in Egypt greatly feared what Yehovah the Gods of the Israelis could do. Pharaoh had every reason to fear going after Israel, but he wanted so much to go after Israel. Yehovah aided Pharaoh to do what he desired to do by gripping Pharaoh’s mind—by holding on tightly to it so that Pharaoh would think steadily and pursue without becoming scared.
8. What does “And the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand” mean? Anyone who does anything in the Bible with an elevated hand is declaring that he is feeling very strong and very able.
Thus, the Israelis exited from Egypt feeling very strong and very self-confident.
9. The text again states, “And Egyptians chased after them.” Why say this so often? This alerts the reader to be warned. This will terrify the Israelis more than anything they have experienced since they came into Egypt. What the Israelis fear will become an excuse to revolt against Moshe.
IV. The Army Approaches (verse 9)
Every horse of Pharaoh, every chariot of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s horsemen reached the Israelis camping upon the Sea, camping at a location called Mouth of the Holes, which was located directly in front of a place called North-Lord.
Questions
1. How long was this chase from the time that the Egyptians decided to go after the Israelis, and how long had Israel been gone from Egyptian slavery? This chase was many miles. It would have taken at least a day, since horses can only be run so long before they will be harmed. I cannot tell from the text; it may have been two days or more.
As for the length of time the Israelis had now been out of Egyptian slavery, I propose that they had already been gone about three days, though it may have been two days. They left at midnight or just after that time, and they traveled at least one day; the distances give me the impression of several days—enough for them to get used to the cloud by day and the fire by night.
2. The Israelis were camping upon the Sea. Did they think that they were safe from Egypt at this point? They did! They didn’t think that the Egyptian army would come after them.
3. How did they know which way the Israelis went? Besides having excellent trackers, they were easily able to follow the footprints and the animal droppings right to where the Israelis were!
V. Terror (verses 10-12)
Pharaoh approached the Israelis. The children of Israel lifted their eyes. They saw that Egypt is journeying after them! The Israelis greatly feared. They then screamed unto Yehovah. They then said unto Moshe, “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert??”
They then directly blamed Moshe: “What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt? Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’?”
The Israelis then told Moshe, “For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the wilderness!”
Questions
1. Why did the Israelis fear so much when they lifted their eyes and saw Egypt journeying after them? When an army is approaching very rapidly with chariots and horses, it appears to be an attack! The Israelis knew that the Egyptians had all lost firstborn family members. They therefore must have concluded that the Egyptian army was coming to take vengeance for the deaths in Egypt, and would slaughter the Israelis!
2. The text states that the Israelis screamed unto Yehovah! Did they have faith in Yehovah? If they did, their faith was very temporary. (Temporary faith is described in the Bible, like in Luke 8:13.)
3. What did they scream when they screamed unto Yehovah? The text doesn’t say what they said, but they were very angry. Great fear often produces great anger.
4. The Israelis next spoke to Moshe. Look at the wording: “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert??” What does this wording indicate? The sentences are broken! They are unable to complete sentences, they are so angry!
5. Of what were the Israelis accusing Moshe when they said, “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert?” The Israelis were being sarcastic with Moshe—saying something that they knew wasn’t true about Moshe as if he had no sense. They were accusing him of taking them into the desert to die there because Moshe stupidly thought that there were no tombs in Egypt. In other words, they were accusing Moshe of trying to kill them in the desert!
6. The Israelis next question Moshe, “What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt?” What were they saying? They were furious! They were now responding as if Moshe had interfered with their good lives in Egypt, and he, Moshe, had managed to just ruin their lives by forcing them to leave Egypt.
7. They next stated, “Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’?” Did they say this, and didn’t they have the right to choose where they would live and whom they would serve? They may have said this at the beginning when they were furious with the increased terrible assignments they were given as slaves.
As for their having the right to choose where they would live and whom they would serve, most humans think that this is the case. It just isn’t true. The Creator has all the rights regarding these things, and the created beings have responsibilities instead of rights!
The Israelis belong to Yehovah (like it or not!). If they refuse to serve Him, they certainly will serve others, and they will be destroyed. If they serve Yehovah, He will benefit them; if they fear Him and hearken to Him, He will give them everlasting lives.
8. They angrily stated, “For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the desert!” Was this true? It seemed true, since they only gave those two choices. They never gave the third choice: serve Yehovah in the desert, and live!
9. The Israelis show much more bitterness toward Moshe in verse 12 than toward the Egyptians. Why is this, and how characteristic is this? When folks fear a person or a group, and someone comes who can rescue those folks, if that rescuer does anything that those folks don’t expect, they become very angry at the rescuer, and they even sometimes defend the abusing person or group! They don’t fear the rescuer; they fear the abuser(s). The Israelis didn’t fear Moshe or Yehovah, but they feared the Egyptians.
VI. Moshe’s Faith-filled Reply (verses 13-14)
Moshe responded to the people, “Fear ye not!” He also told them, “Position yourselves!” They will then see “the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today.” What will be the result? “For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider!”
Moshe told them what would occur: “Yehovah will war for you.” He then strongly spoke to the Israelis: “And ye: ye shall hush!”
Questions
1. Moshe’s response to the violent anger wasn’t accusation. Instead, he commanded them, “Fear ye not!” wouldn’t this have increased their anger at him? It didn’t. Yehovah was also participating to make certain that the Israelis didn’t overthrow Yehovah’s plans!
2. Moshe commanded, “Position yourselves!” What was he telling them to do? He was telling them to take a firm stand where they were, and to not make any moves, including moves to try to flee.
3. Moshe then said, “And see-ye the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today.” What salvation was Yehovah about to do? Yehovah is about to save the Israelis from the entire Egyptian army. The Israelis only need to watch this process; they won’t be able to participate in it or help it along.
4. What did Moshe mean by, “For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider”? They are today seeing the entire Egyptian army (complete with chariots and charioteers) coming at them at full speed. To redouble is to do again, to repeat. The Israelis will never again see the soldiers of the Egyptian army coming at them like this again to Hider. The expression, to Hider, is both a time (referring to either the beginning of what is revealed in Scriptures or the ending of what is revealed in Scriptures) and a description of Yehovah Who hides himself (so that humans can live by faith; if He were always visible, faith in Him would be impossible). If the Egyptians will not see those soldiers again to Hider, they will never see them again.
5. The text states, “Yehovah will war for you.” Is Yehovah against war? He obviously isn’t against war if He participates in it!
6. If Yehovah will war for the Israelis, how much must they do to show their faith in Him? They must do nothing; that isn’t to show faith! It is to be obedient.
7. Moshe added, “And ye: ye shall hush!” Why did he command that? When the Israelis start complaining, they generally sin soon afterward! They just needed to ‘shut up’ and see what Yehovah will do!
8. Yehovah didn’t tell Moshe that He would fight for Israel. Was Moshe being presumptive? How is this different from a Christian claiming what God will do for him today? Moshe was a prophet. He spoke the speeches of Yehovah. He wasn’t being presumptive. He also knew that Yehovah had to fight for Israel, since Yehovah’s reputation was ‘on the line!’
In modern Christianity, some claim to know what God will do for them, and they declare these things. They are being presumptive, and they are often blaspheming the God of the Bible. They will be judged for these things.
VII. The Order to Travel (verses 15-18)
Moshe must have then screamed unto Yehovah with some frustration; for, Yehovah said to Moshe, “What? Wilt thou scream unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel! And they have journeyed!”
Yehovah now had instructions for Moshe: “And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!”
In the meantime, Yehovah will be active in this way: “And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them! And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army, via his chariot and via his horsemen! And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah via my being demonstrated-important via Pharaoh, via his chariot and via his horsemen!”
Questions
1. Why did Yehovah say to Moshe, “What? Wilt thou scream unto me?” What took place that is unrecorded? Moshe began to scream to Yehovah because the Israelis were about to rebel! (This isn’t recorded.) Yehovah commanded Moshe to speak unto the children of Israel instead of screaming to Him!
2. What was Moshe commanded to speak to the Israelis? He was commanded to tell them to prepare to journey!
3. What was unreasonable about telling the Israelis to prepare to journey? The Israelis had a major body of water in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. They couldn’t go anywhere!
4. Yehovah now told Moshe to elevate his rod and stretch his hand upon the sea; He also told him to split the sea. What must have been going through Moshe’s mind at this time? There wasn’t enough time to split the sea before the Egyptian army would catch up with the Israelis! Yet, Moshe had seen many miracles of Yehovah; Moshe knew that Yehovah could do this and make it work.
5. Yehovah continued, “And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!” What is the dry? This refers to the seabed that will be dried. (Moshe didn’t know how it would be dried so quickly.)
6. Yehovah said (verse 16), “And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!” The description of the events sounds like Moshe will lift his rod, stretch out his hand, split the sea, and immediately the Israelis will come into the midst of the sea on the dry. Is this what happened? No, it isn’t!
7. Why did Yehovah make the Israelis wait all night instead of causing the events to immediately occur with the Sea splitting and the sand immediately becoming dry? Yehovah gave the Egyptian soldiers the opportunity to think these things through, and He gave them all night. They could see that supernatural cloud pillar, and they didn’t even try to pass through it. Yehovah also gave the Israelis the opportunity to see that He, Yehovah, kept the Egyptians from touching them all night. Yehovah gave them opportunity to believe in Him.
8. Since the bottom of the sea is sand, won’t this be very difficult for the Israelis to cross (since sinking in sand is very tiring)? If the sand’s surface is dry, but if there is just the right amount of moisture underneath the surface, the sand is hard—almost like concrete! That is why it is easier to walk in the sand that is very near to the part being washed with waves than it is to walk in the sand further back.
9. Yehovah stated, “And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them!” Yehovah knew that this would result in all their deaths. Why didn’t Yehovah do something else so that all the Egyptian soldiers would live? What does this tell the reader about Yehovah when it comes to death? Yehovah is the One Who set up death! Had it not been for Him instituting death, humans would never have died. Once man sinned, Yehovah started death.
Now, since these soldiers were going after Yehovah’s property, and since they had already seen Yehovah’s power to slaughter all the firstborn of man and animals in Egypt, they were just running to their own deaths. Yehovah had no interest in saving their lives at this point since they were determined to stop Yehovah from gaining Yehovah’s property! This tells the reader that saving lives sometimes necessitates the deaths of those attempting to take lives and kidnap folks! This also tells readers that Yehovah is the God of death as well as life. This explains His presence in the Lake of Fire and Burning Sulfur; His wrath is what makes the fire!
10. How will Yehovah be demonstrated as important via (by means of) Pharaoh, his army, his chariot and his horsemen? Yehovah will totally destroy the entire army. Their deaths will pay to show just how important Yehovah is! (Later, Yeshua’s death will show just how important He is! His death will save the lives of millions!)
11. Why did Yehovah view as so important that the Egyptians know that He is Yehovah? This is so important for the Tribulation, which will occur many, many centuries later. The Egyptians will help the Israelis at that time! They will remember these events (believing that they occurred), and they will be seeing the very same strong hand of Yehovah, but over the whole world, during the Tribulation. They won’t want to be on the wrong side, at that time!
The Egyptian soldiers about which we are reading came to know that He is Yehovah, but they still died. Yehovah will make sure that all humans will know that He is Yehovah, including all the damned in the Lake of Fire and Burning Sulfur! They must come to know this because they were created in the image of Yehovah.
VIII. The Angel and the Pillar (verses 19-20)
Messenger of the Elohim (of the Gods) walks directly in front of the camp of Israel. He journeyed, and He walked “from after them”—that is, behind them.
The pillar of the cloud also journeyed from in front of them, and He stood behind them. He came between the Egyptian camp and the Israeli camp. He was the cloud and the darkness; yet He lit the night! This (referring to the camp of the Egyptians) did not come near unto this (referring to the camp of the Israelis) all the night!
Questions
1. Who is Messenger of the Elohim? This is God Himself in the form of a messenger (angel). It is the very Being Who will later be born as a child: Yeshua. The Bible describes Him as if He is a totally separate being from Yehovah the Father so that careful readers will see that Yehovah can divide Himself in a way that He can be everywhere at the same time, while being a Being in one place—again, at the same time! That way, He can deliver messages and do other things while Yehovah is still invisible and everywhere.
Since Elohim means Gods (plural), and since Elohim is the Creator, and since the Bible later describes Yeshua (Salvation) as the Creator, Elohim is all the Gods there are, and this title describes Yehovah as the Gods. Thus, Yeshua and Yehovah are truly One, and yet the Bible views them as separated beings so that careful readers can understand the division of labour between them. (One remains everywhere at the same time, and One comes to be born and to be a sacrifice for sin, as well as the King Redeemer at a later time.)
2. Why is Messenger of the Elohim described with, “who walks to the faces of the camp”? This description was important for the historical events, but it is far more important for future events: events during the Tribulation. He will walk ‘to the faces of’ (in front of) the camp at that time, and will therefore be a guard to the camp.
3. Where did Messenger of the Elohim go? He went from the faces of the camp (in the forward position) to “after them,” and thus behind them. That way, He guarded the rear of the group.
4. The text next describes, “And the pillar of the cloud journeyed from their faces.” Exactly what is this pillar, and did it journey separately from Messenger of the Elohim? That pillar is the physical form of the Spirit of Yehovah! The Spirit of Yehovah is Yehovah Himself, but in a form that again is separable from Yehovah in order to be sent and sendable. The careful reader will see this, and will again realize that Yehovah easily divides Himself so the will do separate and vital works at the same time.
The pillar journeyed at the same time that Messenger of the Elohim journeyed.
5. How did Moshe know all this to write all these details? Moshe is a prophet. He wrote as Yehovah described to Him what to write.
6. Why did the pillar stand after (behind) them (the Israelis)? The pillar, who is Yehovah (the Spirit), will be a guard and a wall for the Israelis.
7. Did the Egyptians see this pillar and its movements? Yes!
8. The next statement is, “And He was the cloud and the darkness, and He lit the night.” How could He be both darkness and light the night? He was darkness to the Egyptian camp: a very dark wall. He light the night for the Israelis; thus, the Israelis saw a well-lit wall of light between the Egyptians and them. Thus, He was a one-way darkness, one-way wall of light.
9. The last statement is, “And this did not come-near unto this all the night.” What does that mean? The first this refers to the camp of Egyptians, since they were pursuing the Israelis. The second this refers to the Israeli camp. The Egyptians didn’t come to the Israelis all the night.
10. Why didn’t the Egyptians just walk through the cloud wall, and take the Israelis? That cloud wall was very frightening on the Egyptian side. Walking into it would have produced great terror (since Yehovah would have made sure that it did). The Egyptians stayed away from that cloud wall. They didn’t know what it was, and they weren’t about to walk into it.
11. Will this cloud ever show up on Earth again? Yes! He, Yehovah the Spirit, will do the very same functions during the Tribulation. Yehovah did all things that He did before as examples of what He will do in the future unless a text states otherwise!
IX. Moshe Splits the Sea (verses 21-22)
Moshe stretched his hand upon the Sea as he was told. Yehovah “walked the Sea,” moving it from in front of the Israelis until it was gone from that location. He used a strong wind from the east all night to do this: to put the Sea “to drought”—that is, to a totally dry seabed. The waters were split by this means.
The children of Israel came into the middle of the Sea by means of walking on this dry section. The waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left.
Questions
1. Verse 21 states, “And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea.” Did Moshe do this again (since a text above already states the same thing)? No; he did it only once. The Bible often repeats an event to give more details of that event. This is also true in this case.
2. What does “And Yehovah walked the Sea” mean? It is as if a person were walking a dog: talking the dog from one place to another. Yehovah caused the sea to move from the location in front of Israel to locations away from the camp of Israel. The Sea, at first, had waves that were in front of the Israelis. Yehovah walked the waves away from the Israelis, and He moved the waters away using a strong wind from the east. Eventually, the sand where the Sea had been became visible.
3. If the wind was strong enough to “walk the Sea,” wouldn’t it have been like a hurricane, and wouldn’t it have blown sand, Israelis, sheep and animals around? Yehovah gathered the waters in a way that didn’t require a wind strong enough to blow the waters into a wall. Winds of more than 200 miles per hour would have been necessary to do that if He had done it that way, but He didn’t. He walked the water, and He heaped the water in a way such that the water didn’t try to go back. In the meantime, the wind was what dried the seabed.
4. What does “And He put the Sea to drought” mean? This means that Yehovah dried the Sea area, making it into a drought area (an area without water).
5. What does “And the children of Israel came into the midst of the Sea via the dry” mean? The Israelis went right into the middle of the Sea, and now the seabed is dry in the middle!
6. What did the Israelis see when they went into the middle of the Sea? They saw the waters stacked into walls on their right and on their left!
7. How did the waters stack up without flowing down? Another text describes them as being congealed—like gelatin (like Jell-o):
Exodus 15:8 And Waters were piled via the wind of Thy noses. Distillings were positioned like a heap. Depths congealed in the heart of the Sea!
Yehovah commanded the waters to stack, and they did!
8. If the Israelis had walked up to the walls of water, would they have seen fish in the water, and could they have pushed their fists into the water? Would the water have felt like water, or would it have felt like Jell-o? The Israelis would have seen fish in the water if the water’s side was flat (like glass). If it wasn’t flat, but very uneven, they might not have seen fish very clearly. They certainly could have pushed their fists into the water, and their fists would have come out wet. I don’t know if the water would have felt like Jell-o or not, but their fists would not have broken what Yehovah did.
X. The Bravery of the Egyptians (verses 23-25)
The Egyptians chased them! Every horse, chariot and all the horsemen of Pharaoh came after them unto the middle of the Sea! This occurred during the morning guard. All were up early.
Yehovah “overlooked” (looked over) unto the camp of Egypt in the Pillar of fire and cloud. He “hummed” the camp of Egypt. He then removed the wheel of his charioteers! Yehovah guided Pharaoh via heaviness.
Egypt (the army) now spoke as one person: “I will flee from the faces of Israel! For Yehovah is warring for them in Egypt!”
Questions
1. Why did the Egyptians chase them? Couldn’t they see the walls of water, and wasn’t the cloud still standing between? Yehovah removed the cloud from between so that the Egyptians had a clear view of the Israelis escaping. This event happened quite early in the morning; the sun wasn’t yet risen. I don’t think that the Egyptians saw the walls of water, but instead they saw the Israelis—their only focus.
2. How big was this area into which the Egyptian army, all the horses and all the chariots came? It must have been very big, indeed! It must have been the size of quite a few football fields, and perhaps a number of square miles. The Egyptian army didn’t come close to the Israelis.
3. Did the Egyptians realize that they were running into the Sea? They knew that the Sea was there last night. They knew that the Israelis were escaping on dry land. The Egyptians just didn’t think.
4. What is the guarding of the morning? There are normally three sections of an entire 24-hour day for a guard to keep watch. Each guard normally serves for 8 hours. The morning watch starts at some time in the night—perhaps at midnight or at 11 p.m., and goes for 8 hours, going into the morning. This watch is the guarding of the morning.
5. Where was Yehovah located during this event when Egypt began chasing the Israelis again? He was located in the Pillar of fire and cloud! Yehovah had moved the Pillar up into the air over the camps of the Egyptians and Israelis. Thus, He had a ‘bird’s eye’ view.
6. What does overlooked mean in this text? It means to look out and over something. It is as if Yehovah were in a room with a window, the window having a window sill; He looked out of the window and over the window sill in order to see the camps. Of course, there was no room and no window or sill; Yehovah looked out of the Pillar-cloud/fire.
7. The next statement is this: “And He hummed the camp of Egypt.” What does this mean? To hum something in the Bible is either to cause it to go into a commotion or to buzz it (which would also set it into a commotion). When folks begin speaking all at once, they form a hum. It generally shows confusion or great surprise. Yehovah caused the camp of Egypt that was in motion trying to catch up to the Israelis to become very confused and concerned. The next statement explains why.
8. Explain what took place when Yehovah removed the wheel of Pharaoh’s charioteers: Each chariot has two wheels. Yehovah caused at least one of those two wheels on each chariot to fall off. Once the wheel came off, the chariot’s body fell into the sand, and the other wheel did no good. The horse could not pull the chariot, and those inside the chariot were either thrown out or were in a non-moving chariot that was greatly tilted. If Yehovah removed both wheels at the same time, the chariot would just fall and stop; the horse couldn’t pull it.
9. What does “He guided him via heaviness” mean, and who are he and him? I propose that he refers to Yehovah. I also propose that him refers to Egypt. If these are both right, Yehovah guided Egypt by means of heaviness—the heaviness of un-wheeled chariots and the importance (since heaviness means importance) of Yehovah! Yehovah guided Egypt by means of Yehovah’s importance, trapping the entire Egyptian army in the Sea!
10. The text states, “And Egypt said…” How can Egypt speak as if it is one person? Any group can speak as one person! If the members of that group work together to communicate with one voice, or if members of a group express themselves and feel the same way, the group speaks as if it is one person.
11. What caused Egypt to flee from the faces of Israel (instead of from the faces of Yehovah)? Egypt knew that Yehovah is warring for the Israelis, and He is doing it in Egypt! Thus, Egypt (the entire group) realized that its only chance to live was to get away from Israel. (Of course, Egypt realized this too late.)
12. Was Yehovah warring for the Israelis? Yes, He was! He will do this again a number of times in the future!
13. If the Egyptians had shouted out to Yehovah to save them, would Yehovah have saved them? If they had truly humbled themselves before Yehovah, and if they had vowed to leave the Israelis in peace, and if they had not waited until their destruction was already occurring, Yehovah would have saved them. Once the destruction begins, however, and Yehovah’s wrath is already being sent, that isn’t the time to try to turn the events around. What happened in Nineveh many years later shows that Yehovah can stop His wrath if an entire people will turn from sinning. Waiting until the very last moment, however, won’t change Yehovah’s mind; anyone will call out for help as the person (or group) is being destroyed!
XI. Egypt Fails a Swim Lesson (verses 26-28)
Yehovah next said unto Moshe, “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea. And the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen.” Moshe did this; he stretched his hand upon the Sea. The Sea now returned to its vigour—its great strength. This occurred “to the turnings of the morning”—just as the sun was rising. The Egyptians are fleeing to meet the morning! Thus, Yehovah shook off Egypt in the middle of the Sea!
The waters returned, and they covered the chariot, the horsemen, and indeed all the army of Pharaoh coming after them in the Sea. None remained in Pharaoh’s groups—not even one person!
Questions
1. What was Yehovah commanding Moshe to do when He told Moshe to “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea; and the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen”? He was commanding Moshe to slaughter Egypt—that is, the part of Egypt that was there with the military of Egypt.
2. What does “the Sea returned to his vigour” mean? This means that the Sea returned to its full strength and activities (and thus, the congealed walls of water fell).
3. What are the turnings of the morning? They are the changes that occur as the sun rises, and darkness gives way to bright day.
4. Did the Egyptians see the waters coming at them? The events took place while the sun was rising over the horizon. The brightness could easily have blinded the Egyptians to what was occurring on their right and on their left, since they were looking at the Israeli camp fleeing eastward. The sun rises in the east; the Israelis were fleeing toward the east; the water walls collapsed from the north and south, and thus from the left and right of the Egyptians. I don’t know that they saw what was occurring until it hit them with full force.
5. The next statement is, “And Egyptians are fleeing to meet him!” Who is him that they are fleeing to meet? Verse 25 above stated that Egypt said, “I will flee from the faces of Israel.” So, the Egyptians weren’t any longer going toward Israel. Since the morning is toward Israel, they aren’t fleeing to meet the morning. I propose that they were fleeing to meet the Sea, hoping to be able to stand as the Sea returned to where they were located.
6. What picture is being described by the wording, “And Yehovah shook-off Egypt in the midst of the Sea”? This reminds me of another text:
Acts 28:3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance doesn’t permit to live!” 5And he shook off the beast into the fire. And he felt no harm.
It is as if Egypt were a snake, and had taken hold on Yehovah’s hand. Only, such a snake would have no power to harm Yehovah. Yehovah just shook off the Egyptian snake in the midst of the Sea; this snake couldn’t swim!
7. The text states, “And the waters returned.” What form was this return? This return was in the form of a tsunami—a huge, rapidly moving wave and wall of water; only, there were two tsunamis—two walls of rapidly moving water coming at each other!
8. How did the waters cover the chariot, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh? The waters were moving very fast, and the waves were very tall. The waters picked up and tumbled everything in their paths, forcing everything down to the bottom. Thus, they covered the entire army.
9. How many Egyptians remained alive after this event? “None remained in them unto one!” There wasn’t a single survivor among the Egyptian soldiers. Pharaoh also died. (Psalm 136:15 says so.)
XII. Israeli Baptism (verses 29-30)
The Children of Israel walked by means of the dry Seabed in the middle of the Sea. The waters are a wall to them from their right and from the left!
Yehovah saved Israel from the ‘hand’ of Egypt in that day.
Questions
1. Did any Israelis get wet in this event? No; they walked “via the dry”—no water touched them.
2. How tall were these walls of water that were to their right and left? They must have been several stories high!
3. Could all the Israelis see these walls of water? I suspect that they could see them, though they were quite far from the Israelis who were in the very middle of the group of Israelis. The camp of Israel was spread out along the seashore for quite a distance (perhaps several miles), since they wanted to be as far from the Egyptian army as possible. The cloud between the camps must have been a very long wall the night before; otherwise the Egyptians would have walked around it (Him). It (He, the Pillar) didn’t interfere with the Israeli views of the walls of water. Since these things occurred as the sun was just rising, however, the darkness might have kept both the Israelis and the Egyptians from clearly seeing these water walls.
4. What is the hand of Egypt (from which Yehovah saved the Israelis)? View Egypt as if it is one being. Its hand is what it can send forth to grasp someone or something, or to harm or kill someone or something. Its power is especially recognized in its hand, just like the power of a person is so often in the person’s hand. Thus, the hand is a picture of the power of a person or a group; it is the view of a very young child toward an adult. The adult’s hand is what the child watches, since that hand can do so many things to and for the child.
5. Will Yehovah save Israel from the hands of other groups? He will indeed many times in the future.
XIII. Dead Egyptians, Fear and Belief (verses 30-31)
Israel saw Egypt dead upon the ‘lip’ (shore) of the Sea. Israel also saw the Big Hand that Yehovah made in Egypt! The Israelis—the people of Israel—feared Yehovah. They even believed in Yehovah and in Moshe, Yehovah’s slave!
Questions
1. If the Egyptians drowned in the middle of the Sea, how did their bodies manage to come to the lip of the Sea, and what is a lip of a sea? The lip of a sea is the seashore that is being watered (by the waves) just like the human lip is watered (by saliva).
Yehovah made sure that the bodies of all of the Egyptians floated to the shore so that the Israelis could see them.
2. Why was the Israelis seeing the Egyptian bodies on the shore so important? If the Israelis didn’t see the bodies of all of the Egyptian soldiers, the Israelis would think that many survived, and that they would make another attack on the Israelis. By seeing them all dead, the Israelis knew that Egypt was no longer capable of coming after them.
3. What Big Hand did Yehovah make in Egypt? Yehovah used great force against the Egyptians, finally totally defeating and killing the entire Egyptian army. Since the hand represents power, Yehovah made very big power to use against Egypt and for Israel. He made it, because it wasn’t natural. What Yehovah did could not have naturally occurred.
To a very young child, the bigger the hand, the more powerful it is.
4. Why did the people fear Yehovah? What Yehovah did was very scary! Splitting the Sea and drowning an entire army is very scary! What else can Yehovah do???
5. Is fearing Yehovah good? It is very good. No one can possibly have Salvation without fearing Yehovah! Such fear is the beginning of wisdom!
6. The text states that they believed in Yehovah. Since they also feared Him, were they born of God (that is, did they now have the everlasting Salvation of God, and the resulting everlasting life)? Just because they both feared Yehovah and believed in Yehovah doesn’t mean that they had everlasting life. The Bible teaches about temporary faith (that is, temporarily believing in Yehovah). Such faith is very real, but it doesn’t last. Only lasting faith will do for everlasting life.
7. Was their believing in Moshe useful? It was useful for the time being! Again, if such believing is temporary, it won’t last, and it won’t result in any permanent good.