Song of Moshe and Israelis
Questions and Proposed Answers
Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 15
Exodus 15:1 Then Draw (Moshe) will sing this song, and the children of Israel, to Yehovah. And they will say, to say, “I will sing to Yehovah! For heightening, He heightened horse! And He elevated his chariot via the Sea—2my Strength and the ballad of Yah! And He became to Salvation to me! This is my Mighty-[One]! And I house-dwelt Him—my Gods, my Father! And I elevated Him!
3 “Yehovah is a man of war! Yehovah is His Name! 4He taught charioteers of Pharaoh and his army via the Sea! And they immersed the choice of his thirds via the Ending Sea! 5Depths shall blanket-cover them. They shall descend into the profoundnesses like a stone.
6Thy right, Yehovah, is my majesty via power! Thy right, Yehovah, will shatter an enemy! 7Thou wilt demolish Thy risers via the multiplicity of Thy highness! Thou wilt send Thy heat! He will eat them as chaff!
8And Waters were piled via the wind of Thy noses. Distillings were positioned like a heap. Depths congealed in the heart of the Sea! 9Enemy said, ‘I will chase! I will reach! I will divide plunder! My being shall be filled of them! I will empty my sword! My hand will inherit them!’ 10Thou didst blow via Thy wind. The Sea blanket-covered them. They submerged like lead in majestic waters!
11 “Who is like Thee via their mighty-[one], Yehovah? Who is like Thee—majestic via a Holy-[One], Terror of Psalms Pele did? 12Thou stretched Thy right; land swallowed them.
13 “Thou guided this people Thou redeemed via Thy Grace. Thou led via Thy strength unto the living-quarter of Thy Holy-[One].
14 “The peoples hearkened. They quaked. Whirling grasped the inhabitants of Palestine. 15Then the alufs of Edom were dismayed, the strongmen of Moab! Trembling shall grasp them! All the inhabitants of Canaan melted! 16Dread shall fall upon them, and fear via the bigness of Thine arm. They shall be silent as a stone until Thy people will cross-over, Yehovah—until this people Thou hast acquired will cross-over! 17Thou shalt bring them. And Thou hast planted them in the Mountain of Thine inheritance established for Thy dwelling! Thou acted, Yehovah. Thine hands established the Sanctuary of my Lords!
18Yehovah will reign to Hider and onward!
19 “For Pharaoh’s horse came with his chariot and with his horsemen into the Sea. And Yehovah returned the waters of the Sea upon them. And the children of Israel walked via the dry in the midst of the Sea.”
20And Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aharon took the tambourine via her hand. And all the women exited after her via tambourines and via dances. 21And Miriam answered to them, “Sing-ye to Yehovah! For heightening, He heightened horse! And He elevated his chariot in the Sea!”
22And Draw (Moshe) journeyed with Israel from Ending Sea. And they exited unto Ox Desert. And they walked three days via desert. And they didn’t find water. 23And they came Bitternessward. And they were not able to drink waters from bitterness. For they are bitter! Therefore he called her name Bitter. 24And the people, they lodged upon Draw (Moshe) to say, “What shall we drink?” 25And he screamed unto Yehovah. And Yehovah taught him a tree. And he slung unto the waters. And the waters sweetened. He put a statute and a justice to him there. And He proved him there. 26And He said, “If hearkening, thou wilt hearken to the voice of Yehovah thy Gods, and thou wilt do the straight in His eyes, and thou wilt ‘ear’ to His commandments, and thou wilt guard all His statutes, I will not put upon thee all the sicknesses that I put into Egypt. For I am Yehovah thy Healer!
27And they came Their-Ramward. And twelve eyes of water and seventy palms are there. And they camped there upon the waters.
I. High Horse (verses 1-2)
Moshe will sing a song that is prophecy. He will teach the song to the children of Israel so that they will know what will happen during the End Times, during the Tribulation, and so that they will sing it to Yehovah!
They will start by saying, “I will sing to Yehovah!”
Why will they sing to Him? Yehovah heightened horse! He, the speaker’s Strength and the very ballad of Yah, also elevated the chariot by means of the Sea. This being who is the Strength of the speaker and who is the ballad of Yah became to the very Salvation of the speaker! He is identified as the speaker’s Mighty One. Yet, the speaker house-dwelt Him; He house-dwelt his Gods and his Father! The speaker also elevated Him!
Questions
1. The text states, “Then Moshe will sing this song, and the children of Israel, to Yehovah.” That sounds like it is a future text. Why is the text worded this way? It is a future text! I do not doubt that Moshe sang this after the Exodus, but the text is telling careful readers that this is what will occur in the future. The Israelis didn’t sing along with Moshe in the original event, but they will when those things described in this text occur in the future.
2. Why will they sing this song to Yehovah? This song is prophetic, and will be historical at that time. They will see that all these things happened exactly as described. They will be rejoicing as they sing the very things that Yehovah did—things that Yehovah wrote so many centuries before they occurred!
3. Why does the text say, “And they will say, to say”? If the text had only said, “And they will say,” it would have indicated that the Israelis will just repeat the words of the song. By wording it, “And they will say, to say,” this indicates that this will be what the Israelis truly desire to communicate! It will be from them, and not just repeated words.
4. Why will they say, “I will sing to Yehovah,” instead of singing, “I will sing to Yehovah”? Again, they will be communicating their own hearts, and not just repeating what has already been said. Besides, they are declaring what they will say in the future: “I will sing to Yehovah.” This isn’t a one-time communication; it will be what the Israelis do throughout the Millennium.
5. What does “He heightened horse” mean? What occurred? The word translated heightened is used for arrogance (that is, thinking one is bigger and higher than he/she really is) when it isn’t used for Yehovah. When it is used for Yehovah, it shows His highness in terms of all things, including rank. I propose that this text indicates that Yehovah is responsible for causing humans to view horses very highly in the future. Horses have become far less important than they were only 150 years ago. Automobiles, trucks, trains and other forms of transport have replaced horses and other pack and riding animals. Yet, in the End Times, the horse will again be a very important animal among all the animals of the world. I propose that this text explains that Yehovah is the one who has raised up horses in great rank among humans.
6. If the above answer is true, why did Yehovah heighten the horse? Yehovah will use horses in His plan! Bad guys riding horses will be overthrown along with their horses, and good guys riding horses will come to Mount Zion during the Millennium, thus not polluting the Mountain and the lands on the way to the Mountain.
7. Explain the wording, “For heightening, He heightened horse”: The repetition of the verb (to heighten in this case) shows that it is being strongly stated and strongly done. Yehovah really heightened horses in man’s estimation of their value.
8. What did Yehovah do if He elevated his chariot via the Sea? His can refer to either Pharaoh or the horse! Yehovah still elevated the chariot using the Sea! Thus, Yehovah caused the chariot to go up by means of the Sea. While its riders went down, the chariot seems to have floated. This must be very important for the Israelis because it is mentioned as important in the text. Seeing the empty chariot floating will prove that the chariot’s rider is gone! (Not seeing the chariot at all might give the impression that the chariot’s riders and the chariot escaped from the Sea.)
9. Who is the speaker in this Psalm text, and why do I call this a Psalm? There are other Psalms besides the ones listed in the Book of Psalms. This text is exactly like so many of the Psalms listed in the Book of the Psalms, and the way to view it is just like one must view the Psalms elsewhere. Every text must be taken literally and be carefully considered. Each statement tells a very important part of the events, and some statements give far more information than one might expect from them. A psalm is a commendation—that is, telling that something has been done very well. This Psalm shows this very well. (Some Psalms are very sad, but they still show that Yehovah has done things very well.)
Now, the speaker in any prophecy usually isn’t the writer. The writer is Moshe, in this case, but Moshe isn’t the speaker. The text states that Moshe and the children of Israel will sing this song to Yehovah; yet, the pronouns include I, me and my instead of we, us and our. When I run into texts like this, I think along these lines: “Could this be Israel as a group? That would explain the singular pronoun.” I then think, “Could this be Jerusalem, since Jerusalem also speaks in the Bible?” Finally, I think, “Could this be Mount Zion, since Yehovah and Mount Zion converse in the Bible?” I then see if I can determine if the speaker is one of these three by reading more of the text. In this case, I came to verse 13: “Thou guided this people Thou redeemed via Thy Grace.” I know that this people refers to the People of Israel; thus, the speaker isn’t the People of Israel.
Verse 17 states, “Thou shalt bring them.” Thus, the speaker is already where Yehovah will bring them; otherwise, the speaker would have said, “Thou shalt send them.” If I am right on this, the next line gives me an important clue: “And Thou hast planted them in the Mountain of Thine inheritance established for Thy dwelling!” At this point, I conclude that Mount Zion herself is the speaker. She is such an important character in the Bible, and she greatly loves the Israelis. She is a small and unimportant hill right now (in 2011), but she will become the most important piece of land in the world, and she will become very large during the Tribulation!
10. Why does the speaker refer to Yehovah as my Strength? If the speaker is Mount Zion, as I propose, a mountain can’t do much of anything unless another provides strength to it. Humans were made to serve the soil (among other things), and if they diligently work, they can greatly improve the strength of the soil so that it can produce much more. Yehovah will do far more than this for Mount Zion; Enemies will sink her, and He will raise her from the dead! Yehovah will raise her! He will give her the ability to rally the Israelis and their friends to come to her in order to live!
Isaiah 52:1 “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion!”
The One Who is the strength of the speaker is Yehovah, but in the form of the Messiah: in the form of Yeshua!
11. What is a ballad? It is a story in the form of a song.
12. Who is Yah? Yah is an abbreviation (shortened form) of Yehovah, which is a shortened form for Yeheyeh, Hoveh, Hayah, meaning He will be, He is, He was. Thus, Yah is Yehovah.
13. Why would the speaker call Yehovah “the ballad of Yah”? This being who is the ballad of Yah is Yeshua! He is the very story in song about Yehovah! Therefore, the name fits.
14. The next statement declares that “He became to Salvation…” How did this occur? What is this describing? The Name Yeshua means Salvation. Yeshua’s work is about saving lives both physically and everlastingly. Yehovah sent His speech to be Salvation—that is, He sent part of Himself to be the Salvation for humans (and in this case, for the mountain). That occurred first when Yeshua appeared in ‘Old Testament’ events and saved lives, but it especially occurred when Yeshua was born as a mortal Israeli child. It will occur in the future when Yeshua is Salvation to Israel and Israel’s friends during the Tribulation, and also to Mount Zion. Thus, the One known as “my Strength” and as “the ballad of Yah” has also become Salvation in person.
15. Explain “He became to Salvation to me:” The expression, to me, sounds odd in English. For me sounds more natural. Yet, the expression in Hebrew, to me, is deeper and covers more that just for me. While for me means on my behalf, to me means that and also is very personal (as if the speaker is saying, He became Salvation for me personally—as my property). To me shows ownership.
16. If the speaker is Mount Zion, will Mount Zion need saving? Yes! Mount Zion will be attacked and sunk. She will then be resurrected from the earth and from among the dead. Thus, she will need saving.
17. What is a mighty one in the Bible? It is one who has the ability to get done what must be done, and that ability requires strength and fortitude. It is often associated with war, but not always. From the viewpoint of a child, a mighty one is a person who deals with that child, and does what is necessary for the good care and benefit of that young child. Adults of this nature seem to be able to do anything in the eyes of a very young child.
This can refer to Yehovah as it does in this text. The fuller phrase used in the Bible is the Mighty One of Israel or the Mighty One of Jacob.
18. Why is the speaker claiming this Mighty One as his/her own? This is a declaration of ownership as a mighty one—as a hero! The speaker feels very attached to Yehovah as her hero. It is as if the mountain is a child: “That’s my daddy!” for example.
19. What does house-dwelt mean? The main flavour of this word is habitation, which is similar to abode: a place where a person or animal lives permanently or for a while. A habitation is a place that a person or animal inhabits, occupies. This word (Navah in Hebrew) connects more with home than with abode (an abode doesn’t have to be a home). Thus, I chose house-dwelt.
20. How can the speaker ‘house-dwell’ someone else? If the speaker is Mount Zion, and if Him is Yeshua, if Mount Zion provides Yeshua with a place for Him to abide for a while, and if Yeshua does make Mount Zion His temporary residence, Mount Zion has house-dwelt Yeshua! Now, there is another detail that we must consider. If any of Yeshua’s property (in the form of Israelis) is also given a place to stay on Mount Zion, whatever is done to one of Yeshua’s persons is done to Yeshua! Thus, by taking in guests who belong to Yeshua, the mountain has taken Yeshua in as a guest! This is also true of anyone who will have taken Israelis in as guests!
Every person made in the image of God is very valuable because of that image. Yehovah judges everyone by the works that he/she does in this life. Value before God is determined by two means: the image of God on the person, and what the person does.
21. The statement, “And I house-dwelt Him—my Gods, my Father!” sounds as if it is spoken in excitement. If this is true, why is the speaker so excited? Mount Zion either just now realized that she had been providing an abode for her Gods and her Father, Yehovah by providing abodes for the Israelis, or she is expressing the privilege she feels at being able to do this.
22. If the speaker is Mount Zion, how can Mount Zion call Yeshua “my Father”? All things were created by Yeshua:
Colossians 1:13 And He translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love 14in Whom we have redemption through His blood—the remission of sins, 15Who is the image of God—the invisible firstborn of all creation. 16For, all things were created by Him: the things in the heavens and the things upon the land, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or principalities or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him.
Since He created all things, including Mount Zion, He is the Father of even Mount Zion.
23. What did the speaker do to elevate Him? This reminds me of the following text:
John 12:32 “And I—if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all unto me.” 33He said this signifying what death He would die.
If this is correct, it is as if the speaker (Mount Zion) feels part of the guilt for participating in this. Yet, consider this from another angle. Mount Zion will gladly take in Israelis who are innocent. Those Israelis well be conducted up Mount Zion; thus, Mount Zion will elevate them. Thus, Mount Zion will be elevating Yeshua by elevating His property as Mount Zion conducts them up her sides.
II. The Baptism of Pharaoh (verses 3-5)
Yehovah is a man of war. His Name is Yehovah! Yehovah gave Pharaoh’s charioteers and Pharaoh’s army a lesson in warfare that they will never forget by means of the Ending Sea.
Pharaoh’s charioteers and soldiers immersed the best of Pharaoh’s fighting thirds by means of the Ending Sea!
In the future, depths call cover them like a blanket; they will descend into the greatest depths of oceans like a stone.
Questions
1. Is the God of the Bible against war? He obviously isn’t if He is a man of war!
2. Is the God of the Bible for war? He will be for war until He comes to reign. Once He arrives, He will cause all wars to cease.
3. Why is He for war? When humans become prosperous, they increase their sinning; that sinning involves hurting, torturing and killing innocent folks for pleasure. Yehovah can do several things to stop those humans, including the following:
- He can slaughter them (by various means including disease outbreaks)
- He can bring war, and make sure they are defeated by another culture that is less violent outside of war and more violent in war
- He can make them slaves—but this usually involves war
- He can starve them until they are spending all their time just trying to find food
The least traumatic of all of these is war since most are killed quickly, and most feel that they have an opportunity to fight and perhaps win. Also, with war, there is sometimes more time to turn to do right. When those fighting in wars can take slaves, sometimes the best of societies are brought home to serve, and thus to become parts of new families. Relationships can be built that are very good and very strong if both the slaves and the slavemasters are wise. Yehovah has instituted war because it solves a number of problems at the same time in some cases. In other cases, it is a powerful tool for vengeance. (Yehovah used war to ravage Russia because of its mistreatment of the Jews for so long; He also made sure that Communism did to all the societies and cultures what those societies and cultures had done to the Jews for centuries.)
4. Why does the text state, “Yehovah is His Name”? I can think of a number of reasons:
- When Yehovah is showing His character and works during the Tribulation, many throughout the world will desire to know the name of this deity who is doing these things. Thus, He tells them His name in this text.
- When Moshe and the Israelis will sing about these works, they will identify this one and only deity who continues after the Tribulation and into the Millennium so that others who are not very familiar with Him will know His name.
- The Name Yehovah has a meaning: He will be, He is, He was. Thus, when Moshe and the Israelis sing this song, they will tell all that His name is He will be, He is, He was so that they will know that this same God will continue into the future, that He is present now, and that He is the God Who was. This is different from all other gods.
- This identifies the God with the name Yehovah as a man of war so that all will know that Yehovah fights!
5. What did Yehovah teach charioteers of Pharaoh and His army, using the sea? He taught them the following:
- Yehovah is sovereign over the sea, over the waters, and over the land.
- The Egyptians cannot win if Yehovah is fighting on the side of Israel.
- Yehovah is the greatest warrior the earth has ever seen and will ever see.
- The chariots of Egypt are meaningless in a fight with Yehovah.
- The army of Egypt is anything but great in a fight with Yehovah.
- A rowdy band of Israeli slaves can easily defeat the greatest army of Egypt if Yehovah is with the Israelis in the battle.
- The sea itself will defeat the great Egyptian army in seconds if Yehovah turns the sea against Egypt.
6. Who, again, are Pharaoh’s thirds? I previously proposed that they were soldiers who were excellent swordsmen and who rode on the chariots along with the chariot drivers so that they could slaughter soldiers while the chariot riders conducted the chariots through the battle lines. I don’t have proof for this, but the wording gave me that impression.
7. If the above is correct, what is “And they immersed the choice of his thirds via the Ending Sea” describing? Who are they? They are the charioteers! They immersed (took them down under water) the choice (the very best and most skilled) of Pharaoh’s thirds (I propose them to be the second men in the chariots besides the charioteer, and that they are considered the thirds because the chariot itself is counted). Thus, the charioteers drove the thirds into the middle of the Ending Sea, and immersed them in the water where they all drowned!
8. The next statement is, “Depths shall blanket-cover them.” What are these depths, and what will occur if they are blanket-covered? The Hebrew word translated depths indicates very deep parts of the oceans. It cannot and does not refer to the Ending Sea. The difference between the depths and a regular sea part of the Ending Sea is that the Ending Sea’s depth is measured in feet (like 30 feet, for example) while the depths are measured in miles.
If soldiers are blanket-covered in the depths, that shows that they will go down to the bottom, and the ocean-bottom dust will give them a light covering like a blanket. This is what divers find when they go down to look at shipwrecks. They must be careful, because if they stir up too much of that dust that has landed in the waters, they won’t be able to see, and they can get hurt or killed running into things.
9. How does “Depths shall blanket-cover them” differ from what happened to the Egyptian soldiers after they were killed by the Ending Sea returning upon them? The Egyptian soldiers who were killed in the days of Moshe all floated to the seashore so that the Israelis could see them! Our present text describes a future event in which the soldiers will be taken far, far down in the oceans, and their bodies will stay on the bottom where they will be covered like a blanket with the dust of the oceans.
10. What are profoundnesses? They are extremely deep areas of the oceans—for example, areas measured in depths of miles—like four to 6 ¾ miles! (According to geology.com, “Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in Earth’s oceans. The bottom there is 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) below sea level.” Since a mile is 5,280 feet, that means that this point is 6.8 miles deep! Another web site, Wikipedia, says that the deepest point is the Vityaz-1 Deep, and it is 6.85 miles deep.)
11. What does “They shall descend into the profoundnesses like a stone” describe? This describes how their dead bodies will go down to very deep parts of the oceans as if their bodies were stones—they will sink very rapidly! (Human bodies do not sink like stones under normal circumstances; sometimes they don’t sink for quite a while, instead floating.) Thus, Yehovah will change their dead bodies so that they become hard and dense like rocks!
12. Why does Yehovah mix historical texts with future texts, or write future texts as if they are referring to historical events? Yehovah isn’t limited by time. Thus, Yehovah sees an event that happened three thousand years ago and a related event that will happen 15,000 years from now as if they are directly connected, because they are! That is the way He describes them for readers so that they, too, can make the connections!
III. Yehovah and His Right Do Battle (verses 6-7)
Yehovah’s right (that is, His right side) is the speaker’s majesty in power. Yehovah’s right will shatter an enemy! Yehovah will demolish all who rise up against Him to try to destroy Him; that demolition will be by means of the multiplicity of Yehovah’s highness!
Yehovah will send His heat (His fury). That fury will eat those risers as if they were chaff!
Questions
1. What is Yehovah’s right? This is often used in the Bible. This word is not the word used in right versus wrong, and it is not the word used to mean what a person should always be permitted to do (as in, “Those are my rights! I can do them!”). Instead, it refers to a direction: right versus left.
Now, if something is on Yehovah’s right side, Yehovah favours it! Yet, what is on Yehovah’s right side is a person—I am referring to Messiah Yeshua. He sits on Yehovah’s right side, and He stands on Yehovah’s right side—at His right hand. While being on Yehovah’s left isn’t bad, being on His right is a more privileged position.
In texts like this text, the word right is used as a title for the person, Yeshua! Thus, when it says, “Thy right, Yehovah, is my majesty in power,” it is akin to saying, “Thy right-hand-Man, Yehovah, is my majesty in power.” Yet, it also refers to Yehovah’s right hand; Yeshua is Yehovah’s right hand!
2. What does majesty mean? This word describes something or someone as honorable, noble, important, great, having authority, magnificent, large (in importance) and even royalty! Thus, I chose the word majesty for it.
3. What does “Thy right is my majesty via power” mean? The speaker, which I have proposed to be Mount Zion, is telling Yehovah that Yehovah’s right, referring to Yeshua, is the Mountain’s majesty by means of the power that Yehovah’s right is using. Thus, Mount Zion will become a very majestic, royal and important mountain because of Yeshua and the power that He will use to both save lives and to raise and make Mount Zion have the highest rank among the mountains of the world!
4. What does shattering an enemy involve? It involves causing a unified enemy that is well-coordinated to break apart and to flee as separate soldiers. It involves blowing an enemy to pieces (as in an explosion). It involves destroying the leadership and all the reasons for being unified in the first place.
5. What does demolishing folks involve? The Hebrew word behind the word demolish means the following, according to the writer of the best Hebrew lexicon that I can find: to tear down, break down, overthrow, beat down, break, break through, destroy, pluck down, pull down, throw down, ruined, destroyer, utterly; break away; to be torn down, be thrown down; to overthrow, tear down; destroyer (participle). I chose demolish. You can see that it involves much violence!
6. Who are these risers? They are folks whom Yehovah is elevating in rank and power! As you can tell, though they are elevated in rank and power, they are rising against the Israelis! Therefore, they are rising against Yehovah. Every person who achieves higher rank and status in this world achieves it because of Yehovah. Every person who achieves higher rank and status in this world is given higher rank and status in order to do good. Yet, most will use them to do bad. Thus, Yehovah will do one of the following:
- He will remove their rank and status (either temporarily or permanently)
- He will humble them so that they can become ‘good guys’
- He will destroy them (including killing them)
- He will wait for them to die a natural death or through disease
- He will wait for them to be violently killed at the hands of others (good or bad)
I cannot think of any other type of actions that are not included. (Perhaps you can think of some.) In the case of this text, He will slaughter them.
7. By what means will Yehovah demolish these risers? He will do this by means of the multiplicity of His own highness! Since Yehovah truly is the greatest, He will use any means He desires, making certain that all involved know that He did it! He won’t permit their demolition to be in secret or private. He will show that He is the Greatest.
8. What does highness mean in this text? The Hebrew word gäōn has the following acceptations (accepted meanings in the dictionary): exaltation, majesty, pride; majesty, exaltation, excellence; of nations; of God; of the Jordan; pride, arrogance (bad sense). When it describes Yehovah, exaltation and highness fit well. Yehovah does not have arrogance or pride. Yet, this word indicates arrogance and pride when used of evildoers. Yehovah has no need to arrogate anything to Himself (that is, to consider something or some trait his own without having the right to do this); all things are His. Yet, enemies will witness the appearance of arrogance and pride as Yehovah demonstrates that He is the Greatest by publicly destroying them in terrible ways! The following Psalm verses literally rendered explain this (see Psalm 18:26 in the King James Bible):
Psalm 18:26 With a graced-[one] Thou wilt-grace-Thyself. With a valiant-[one] of perfection Thou wilt-perfect-Thyself. 27With a purified-[one] Thou wilt purify-Thyself. And with a pervert Thou wilt-twist-Thyself! 28For Thou art with a humble-[one]. Thou wilt save. And Thou wilt-abase elevated eyes!
9. What is this heat that Yehovah will send? This heat is truly hot! It is His wrath! It is from the fire that will be in the Lake of Fire and Burning Sulfur!
10. Who will eat them as chaff, and what does this mean? Yehovah’s heat will ‘eat’ them (like fire eats chaff, sawdust, paper, etc.)—will burn them up! They will be burned to death just like chaff (the very flammable hulls of grains) is burned in a fire!
IV. The Waters Participate (verses 8-10)
The Ending Sea’s waters were piled by means of the wind of Yehovah’s noses! Distillings of waters were set in place as if they were something that can be piled. The depths of the Sea congealed (like Jell-o) in the very hart of the Sea!
The enemy of Yehovah and Israel said, “I will chase! I will reach! I will divide plunder! My being shall be filled of them! I will empty my sword! My hand will inherit them!”
Yehovah responded by blowing His own wind. The Sea covered them like a blanket. They submerged like lead in majestic waters!
Questions
1. What does “Waters were piled via the wind of Thy noses” describe? Yehovah’s noses (what we would call His nostrils) express Yehovah’s anger. When He is angry, His nostrils flare, like the nostrils of an angry bull. Heat comes out of His nostrils, along with breath, as if He is blowing out air. His nostrils were the source of the wind that caused the waters in the Ending Sea to pile up!
2. What are these distillings? This Hebrew word for this describes the slower and smaller forms of liquids flowing. Those were the flowings of water that were left after the main waters of the Ending Sea were moved. If those distillings had not been also moved, the Israelis would have stepped into mud that would have stopped them from walking.
Yehovah positioned those distillings like a heap—like a pile of stones! Yet, they were still liquid—not like ice!
3. What does “Depths congealed in the heart of the Sea” describe? It describes tall masses of water in a form like Jell-o, and positioned in the very middle of the sea!
4. Look carefully at this wording: “Enemy said, ‘I will chase! I will reach! I will divide plunder! My being shall be filled of them! I will empty my sword! My hand will inherit them!’” Did this happen in Moshe’s day? The Egyptians did chase the Israelis. The Egyptians thought they could reach the Israelis. They didn’t come after plunder, however; they came to retrieve the Israelis for Pharaoh so that Egypt wouldn’t lose them as slaves. Now, “My being shall be filled of [with] them” isn’t what the soldiers or Pharaoh desired; they didn’t come to devour them. They came to return them to Egyptian slavery. Then, “I will empty my sword” describes their preparing to attack and slaughter; that was the last thing that Pharaoh and the Egyptians desired to do. They desired them back and unhurt. The statement, “My hand will inherit them” isn’t what the Egyptians would have said, since they already thought that they owned the Israeli slaves.
5. Again, why does Yehovah mix texts about the crossing of the Ending Sea with texts that are about events that never took place? Yehovah desires careful readers to associate the historical events with the events that will occur: events that will have many similarities with what took place in the past, but will be much bigger!
6. What does “Thou didst blow via Thy wind; the Sea blanket-covered them” describe? This describes Yehovah’s blowing and causing the jelled waters to return to their normal state: wet, flowing waters! The sea returned and covered the soldiers like a blanket so that the soldiers were gone and out of sight.
7. If the sea blanket-covered them, how could they be seen dead along the shore?? Again, this describes a future event and not a past event. This describes the silt and sand at the bottom of the sea lightly covering the corpses that sank to the bottom; that isn’t what happened in Moshe’s day. The corpses were all washed ashore so that the Israelis could see them and so that they would know that the Egyptian army was entirely gone!
8. If this doesn’t describe a past event, when will this occur? It will occur during the Tribulation many centuries from now. Thus, Yehovah will do a similar but greater miracle at that time, and He won’t need to cause the corpses to be exposed. No one will want to view them, since those they were chasing will keep going to Mount Zion.
9. What does “They submerged like lead in majestic waters” mean? This means that their bodies didn’t float; instead, they sank as if they were made of lead—a very heavy metal that sinks as fast as or faster than stones! Those corpses sank that fast because Yehovah made them sink that fast; human bodies just don’t sink like that!
V. Comparing Other Gods (verses 11-12)
The speaker asked Yehovah a question: “Who is like Thee by means of their mighty one, Yehovah?” He continued, “Who is like Thee—majestic via a Holy One, Terror of Psalms Pele Did?” The speaker explained, “Thou stretched Thy right; land swallowed them!”
Questions
1. The first part of the question is, “Who is like Thee, Yehovah?” Answer this question. The only One Who is like Yehovah is Yehovah (in the form of Yeshua). There is no other being like Yehovah.
2. The question continues, “Who is like Thee via their mighty-[one], Yehovah?” What does “via their mighty one” mean? First, the statement indicates that Yehovah, too, has a mighty one, and He does! That mighty one is the Mighty One of Israel: Yeshua! Thus, the question becomes something like this: Who is like Thee, Yehovah, by means of their having a mighty one like Yeshua? There is no other deity who is both like Yehovah and who also has a separate mighty one who has done great things before man and before the entire planet! Yehovah combined with Yeshua are unique! Humans claim that all the other gods are somewhat like Yehovah, but their claims don’t have backing by action.
Yet, in our present time, the Mighty One of Israel is hidden from view so that nearly all humans don’t believe in Him. Many believe in their own gods whom they call ‘Jesus,’ ‘Lord,’ ‘God,’ ‘Allah’ (which means ‘God’ in Arabic), etc., but their gods are not the same as the Mighty One of Israel in His attributes (in His characteristics, what He does, for whom He stands, His righteousness, His justice, and so on). These folks would not like the Mighty One of Israel! Thus, the speaker asks, “Who is like Thee via their mighty one, Yehovah?” The answer is, No one!
3. Why does the speaker ask again, “Who is like Thee?” The speaker is about to describe differences!
4. Explain “majestic via a Holy One”: Yehovah’s majesty, splendour, greatness, etc. shows up on earth by means of Yehovah’s Holy One Whom Yehovah sent! Thus, Yeshua is the One Who shows just how majestic Yehovah is! If Yeshua Himself is extremely majestic, noble, glorious, royal, great, etc., and Yeshua was sent from Yehovah, that shows that Yehovah must be equally extremely majestic, noble, glorious, royal, great, etc.!
5. Explain “Terror of Psalms”: Terror refers to a person: to Yeshua. He is the Terror found in the Psalms in the Bible! (Yet, He is also the Salvation found in the Psalms in the Bible!) Every psalm is a praise, since the world translated psalm means praise. A praise is a commendation for doing things well; it is the giving of credit and acknowledgement for doing doings well. Those commendations of Yehovah describe how Yeshua will be a terror to his enemies and the Salvation of His people, Israel, as well as the Salvation of those who have proven to be friends of Israel, those who fear Yehovah in Truth. There is no terrorist like Yeshua; He is a destroying terrorist to His enemies who will not turn, and He will save the lives of even the weakest and least able persons who look to Him for His coming to reign (looking for Him during the Tribulation).
Read the Psalms! You will see descriptions of this Terrorist of Psalms. For example,
Psalm 2:4 Sitter in the heavens shall laugh! My Lords shall deride at them! 5Then He shall speak unto them via His nose! And He will terrify them via His heat!
6. Who is Pele? Pele means miracle, but not in the ordinary form of the Hebrew word miracle. It refers to a person who is the Messiah, the Miracle-doer of Israel, besides being the Miracle of Israel! Thus, Pele is another name for Yeshua. In one text, Pele is translated as Wonderful, describing that His Name will be called Wonderful.
7. What did Pele do, according to this text? He is the One who will do the Terror in the Psalms!
8. Who is thou in, “Thou stretched Thy right”? He is Yehovah!
9. What ‘right’ did He stretch? This refers to His hand and/or His arm! When He stretches His hand, He is sending His wrath! The following texts show this:
Isaiah 5:25 Therefore, Yehovah’s nose smoked into His people. And His hand is stretched-over him! And He smote him! And the mountains quaked {with terror}. And their corpse was as manure in the midst of streets. In all this, His nose did not return. And His hand is still stretched-out!
Isaiah 9:17 Therefore my Lords shall not rejoice over his chosen-ones! And He will not womb his orphans and his widows! For all of him is profane and a bad-doer, and every mouth speaks folly. His nose did not return in all. And His hand is stretched out!
10. Whom did land swallow? Land swallowed the bad guys—the enemies and those who rose up against Yehovah and the People of Israel.
VI. Guiding and Leading the Israelis (verse 13)
The speaker continued, “Thou guided this people Thou redeemed via Thy Grace.” He didn’t only work via His Grace, however; “Thou led via Thy strength unto the living-quarters of Thy Holy One!”
Questions
1. To what destination did Yehovah guide this people? Yehovah guided this people to Mount Zion. Yet, since this is a future event, I should say that Yehovah will guide this people to Mount Zion. The guiding that Yehovah did for the Israelis as they came out of Egypt was a very small example of what He will do in the future.
2. What does redeem mean? The word used here means to pay the price to free someone or something from being held or being a prisoner. It can also include purchasing someone or something.
3. If the above is true, from whom were the people freed, or from whom will the people be freed? Look carefully at the following texts:
Hebrews 9:12 Not by the blood of goats and calves, but rather by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained everlasting redemption.
This text shows that the price He paid was His own blood. That doesn’t tell from whom they were redeemed, however.
Hebrews 13:12 Yeshua also suffered outside the gate so-that He will sanctify the people with His own blood.
Since sanctifying is obtaining ownership, this shows that Yeshua will own this people. This still doesn’t explain from whom He did the purchasing.
The answer to this question was hard for me to find, at first. I then realized that the payment was made to justice, since the People of Israel was made of sinners, and all sinners are under the penalty of death. Justice had to be paid, as if justice were a person, but justice isn’t a person. Justice must be satisfied, since Yehovah is the God of justice. Since the Israelis were under the sentence of death, the only way to free them from that sentence will be to satisfy justice.
The people to which this refers is the people of Israel. This is a future text; the people of Israel will be redeemed, and this redemption will be by means of Yehovah’s Grace. His fervent zeal for the people of Israel will motivate Him to take action on their behalf.
4. What is the definition of Grace as it is used throughout the Bible? Grace is a very strong, burning zeal (conviction and drive to do something) by which one is motivated to take action regarding anything. That action can be on behalf of someone or something, or it can be against someone or something. It is like a mother who is both protecting her baby from an attacker (grace toward her baby) and is attacking the attacker at the same time (grace against the attacker).
5. To where were this people guided? They will be guided to several places at first: one part to Mount Zion, and another to the Botzrah/Petra area of the present country of Jordan, two safe havens during the Tribulation. Those in the Petra/Botzrah area will later come to Mount Zion where all remaining Israel will be gathered.
6. How can Yehovah lead via strength? What does this mean? Yehovah’s strength is another reference to the Messiah Himself. This ‘strength of Yehovah’ will be the ‘strength of Israel.’
7. What is this living-quarter? It is Mount Zion, since that will be the place where Yehovah will dwell during the Millennium and during the last portion of the Tribulation.
8. Who is this Holy One? He is Yeshua. He is called the Holy One because He is holy—that is, He is owned. The full title is the Holy One of Israel since Israel owns Him!
VII. The Terrors of the Peoples and Planting of Israel (verses 14-17)
Finally, the peoples of the world hearkened. They then quaked, shaking with terror. An army grasped the inhabitants of Palestine! The alufs of Edom were dismayed, and so were the strongmen of Moab!
In the future, trembling will grasp them!
In the past, the inhabitants of Canaan melted.
In the future, dread will fall upon them—dread and fear by means of the bigness of Yehovah’s arm! They will be totally silent like a stone is silent until Yehovah’s people will cross over—until this people that Yehovah has acquired will cross over!
Yehovah will bring them. Then, Yehovah will have planted them in the Mountain of Yehovah’s inheritance that He established for His dwelling!
Yehovah acted! Yehovah’s own hands established the Sanctuary of the speaker’s Lords!
Questions
1. Identify the peoples who hearkened: They are the various peoples of the world; each people is a separate cultural group. (A cultural group is a group of individuals who live and function within the same culture—the same practices and languages of life. They understand each other and hold similar practices.)
2. To whom and to what did they hearken? To hearken is to both listen and respond (in obedience, if that is what is being commanded). They finally hearkened to Yehovah’s obvious, open and deadly actions against some of Israel’s enemies and for Israel being redeemed and led. The peoples of the world will finally realize that Yehovah, the Gods of Israel, is above all other gods.
3. If they hearkened, does that mean that they did what Yehovah commanded them to do? No! Their hearkening was only in part! They now knew that Yehovah was doing all these things, but they were not willing to do what Yehovah said (by turning to righteousness and from sin)!
4. Why did they quake? What happened? They realized that Yehovah is furious against them for their willingness to even tolerate Israel’s destruction by the hand of Israel’s enemies! They now know that Yehovah is targeting them (those who are not friends of Israel), and they don’t know what He will do next!
5. What does “Whirling grasped the inhabitants of Palestine” mean? This describes the motion of anyone either in pain or in total confusion who begins going in circles (or, running around in circles). This word is usually used in conjunction with (in connection with) a woman who is giving birth (in natural childbirth). She is very uncomfortable, and she moves as she pushes with a twisting motion (which helps the baby move through the birth canal). When men experience this, they are totally confused, running for their lives to try to protect themselves or keep themselves alive. Some wounded men twist in the same pattern because of the intense pain they are enduring.
Since this happened to the inhabitants of Palestine, or better, since this will happen in the future to the inhabitants of Palestine, they will find their hopes (of destroying Israel) totally ruined, and their hopes (of being free on their own lands) gone; they will do what they have always done: take a stand against Yehovah and Yehovah’s property (the Israelis).
6. What do the Palestinians have to do with the events of the Israelis leaving Egypt under Moshe? They have absolutely nothing to do with the historical events under Moshe. They have everything to do with the future events of the Israelis leaving Egypt during the Tribulation. At that time, the Palestinians will be hoping that Israel is finally captured and destroyed, and that the Palestinians will finally be able to have the entire land of Israel to themselves. (The Palestinians are exactly the same people as the ‘Philistines,’ and translators nearly always call this people in the Bible with the name Philistines as if they have nothing to do with the modern Palestinians!)
7. What is an aluf? This is a person over a thousand soldiers. Such a rank exists in the modern Israeli army; this rank is that of a Major General.
8. Why was Edom involved in these historical events? Edom wasn’t involved in the historical events! Edom will be involved in the future events! The Edomites have hated the Israelis from the beginning even though they are related to them. Esau and Jacob were brothers; they grew up together, and they played together, being twins. The people that was formed from Esau (the Edomites) became hateful toward the people that was formed from Jacob (the Israelis) at a very early stage in history, and that hatred has been passed on from one generation to another. It will continue into the End Times. At that time, the Edomites will both hope for and work for the entire elimination of the Israelis. When Yehovah fights on the side of the Israelis, this will dismay the Edomites, since their own gods just won’t work, and their own plans will also not work. These alufs of Edom will be terrified and confused as Yehovah ruins their efforts against the Israelis.
9. Who is Moab? Moab was another relative of the Israelis, although they were not as close as Esau. This is how they were related:
- Lot was Avraham’s nephew.
- Lot had two sons; one was named Moab.
- Moab became a tribe, and finally a race: the race of the Moabites.
- Avraham childed Isaac, who childed Jacob.
- Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.
- Israel became a tribe, and finally a race: the Israelis.
Thus, the Moabites (Moab) and the Israelis (Israel) are related. Yet, the people of Moab, like the people of Edom, have held a hatred for the Israelis. (The women of Moab will later prove to be friends to the Israelis.)
10. What are “the strongmen of Moab”? They are like the toughest members of gangs; the Moabite gangsters (strongmen) will fight hard to destroy the Israelis.
11. Why are these folks trying so hard to destroy Israel? Why do they hate Israel so much? These different peoples have felt that their lives would be so much better if the Israelis no longer existed. They also know that the Gods of Israel, Yehovah, is causing the great Tribulation that has ruined so much of the world. If they can only destroy the Israelis, that will bring an end to the Gods of Israel (since this has always worked in the past with any other people and its gods). So many wars will have taken place between these peoples and the Israelis, by now, and no one has been able to destroy the Israelis. They will blame the Israelis for there being no peace on earth and for the lack of their own prosperity. They will not know or understand that they are taking the side of demons by wanting to destroy Israel. All demons know that the only way to stop Yehovah from permanently putting them into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur is by destroying Israel, since only the Israelis in Jerusalem can call for the Messiah to come to reign; once Messiah arrives, He will arrest all demons and lock them up, eventually placing them in that fire and burning sulfur lake.
12. Why will trembling grasp them? They will see what Yehovah is doing on behalf of the Israelis, and they won’t know what Yehovah will do next. They will therefore begin to shake with fear as they see the strong hand of Yehovah on the side of the Israelis—that is, saving their lives while ruining the attempts of the Edomites and the Moabites.
13. Who are the inhabitants of Canaan? They consist of the Canaanites and a number of other races that dwell on the same land with the Canaanites. The Bible gives a listing of these groups, and they include the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, and the Amalekites.
14. What happened to them if they melted? If they melted, they liquefied and went into the earth. Yehovah will do this literally, in some cases! They won’t be able to stand in other cases, and their strength and power will leave them. They will go into hiding as if they were melting snow. Where they were in groups violently shouting against the Israelis and the Gods of Israel, now they won’t be seen anywhere.
15. What is dread? It is a combination of fear and anxiety in which someone just knows that something terrible or difficult will happen to him, and that person greatly desires to avoid that, if possible. In this case, the dread will be so great, that it will be a terror.
16. What will they dread? They will dread what Yehovah will do to them because they have taken a stand against Yehovah and His property! They will dread the bigness of Yehovah’s arm!
17. What is Yehovah’s arm? A very young child sees the arm of an adult in very interesting ways. That arm can support the child; it can also take hold of the child and pull the child from what he/she was doing. That arm can swat the child’s hand; the child thinks that the arm can do anything. If that arm is connected to an angry adult, that arm can be very dangerous. The same is true of Yehovah’s arm. He can send His arm, since the arm of Yehovah is Yeshua! Yehovah’s arm is so big, that no place is safe from His arm; His reach is greater than any place that these peoples can go.
18. The text describes Yehovah’s people crossing over. Explain what they will be crossing, and also what this word has to do with the word Hebrew. The word Ever in Hebrew (pronounced Ev-Air) means he crossed over. It is the name of a man who was an ancestor of Avraham. All that were born to this man were called Evereem, or better, Eevreem, which is the Hebrew word for Hebrew! (You can see Eevreem in Hebrew; look at this part: Hebrew.) Since this word means he crossed over, it prophesied regarding what would happen to the Israelis later: that they, as a people, will cross over.
What will they cross over? They will cross over every border in the world behind which they are located in order to come to the Land of Israel. They will cross the oceans on dry land (since both ships and airplanes won’t be taking them as passengers; the airplanes won’t be flying at all, and the ships will not be friendly to them, for the most part). Thus, the Israelis will cross over all parts of the world to come to the Land of Israel, and to arrive at Mount Zion.
19. Why will these other peoples be silent as a stone while the Israelis cross over? They know by now that any interference with these crossings of the Israelis will get them killed! They will know that Yehovah is fighting for the Israelis! They will know that they won’t want to see more of His terrifying wrath against them! Yet, they won’t take a stand with Yehovah; they will still hate the Israelis while these things occur.
20. How did Yehovah acquire this people (of Israel)? He paid for them with His own blood: the blood of Messiah Yeshua! He paid justice for the penalty that the Israelis owed, taking upon Himself what was due to Israel for sin! That is why He received the beatings, spittings, scourgings (whippings that include tearing skin) and other tortures before He was put to death. Because He paid such a high price for them, He isn’t about to lose them to His enemies!
21. To where will Yehovah bring the Israelis? He will bring them to the Mountain of His inheritance established for His dwelling: to Mount Zion! That mountain will be very large, by that time! It is located in Jerusalem right now, but later Jerusalem will be located in it!
22. Why does the text state that Yehovah will plant them in the Mountain? Yehovah pictures the Israelis as being like a tree or a vine. He greatly desires that the Israelis bear fruit (like a good tree or vine), and the only way they will be able to do that is if they are planted (since a tree or a vine needs to be planted to do well). This also shows that their permanent residence will be in that mountain.
23. Why is it called “the Mountain of Thine inheritance?” Yehovah will inherit the people of Israel! Yeshua went through death; inheritances are normally passed on to the next generation after death. Yeshua came alive after being dead; He will inherit the people of Israel! That inheritance will occur in Mount Zion, the mountain being discussed in this text. (As you can see, this text goes far beyond the crossing of the Red Sea!)
24. Where will Yehovah dwell (in this text)? He will dwell in Mount Zion, and more specifically, in the Temple in Jerusalem on the north side of Mount Zion.
25. Will Yehovah be visible for folks to see? Yes! He will be visible, and in the form of Yeshua! Folks will be able to see Him. He will radiate light so that the entirety of Mount Zion will be lit up at night as if the sun is shining! Yet, folks will be able to approach Him.
26. What does “Thou acted, Yehovah” mean? This means that Yehovah took action; it doesn’t mean that He played a role as if in a play.
27. What action did He take? He stood for the people of Israel (and for the friends of the people of Israel). He did many miracles to make certain that the people stayed alive.
28. What is a sanctuary? This is normally defined as a safe place, a place where someone or some animal can remain unmolested or hassled. The word has a different meaning in the Bible, however. Sanctuary contains the word sanctus meaning holy in Latin. It is a place that belongs to another. In this case, it belongs to Yehovah! It refers to the Temple and its surroundings.
28. The text states, “Thine hands established the Sanctuary of my Lords.” Who is thine, and who is my Lords? Thine refers to Yehovah; my Lords refers to Yeshua! Yehovah will establish the Temple of Yeshua in Jerusalem, in Mount Zion, in Israel!
29. How will Yehovah’s hands establish the Sanctuary of “my Lords”? Yehovah will both save the Israelis and their friends alive, bringing them to Mount Zion, and thus bringing what the Temple typifies (pictures) to Mount Zion, and He will build the Temple (the physical structure) Himself!
VIII. The Length of Yehovah’s Reign (verse 18)
How long will Yehovah reign? He will reign to Hider, and onward!
Questions
1. What is Hider? This refers to the time border between what is revealed in the Bible and what hides by not being revealed in the Bible. Thus, Hider will be a time just after the New Earth has been populated with the Saints.
Hider can also refer to the time border between what is revealed in the Bible and what hides before the earth was created!
Yet, Hider is a good way to describe Yehovah Himself, since He hides Himself so that humans can live by faith! If He were visible, no one could live by faith since whatever is seen isn’t known by faith, but instead by sight.
2. What does Hider and onward describe? It describes the time border of what is revealed by the Bible and what comes after that hasn’t been revealed, and beyond that time without an ending in time! Thus, it describes forever in time starting with the New Earth. Yehovah’s reign won’t end.
3. When will Yehovah start to reign? He will start to reign at the end of the Tribulation and just before the Millennium (thousand-years).
4. Over whom will He reign? He will reign over all the races, over all the earth, over all the universe, and over everything. He will be King over all kings (and there will be kings over the larger people groups) and Lord over all lords (there will also be lords over smaller people groups).
IX. The End of Pharaoh’s Horse, Chariot and Horsemen (verse 19)
Pharaoh’s horse accompanied Pharaoh’s chariot and Pharaoh’s horsemen into the Sea. Yehovah caused the waters of the Sea to return upon them. The children of Israel had walked by means of the dry seabed in the midst of the Sea; that isn’t what happened to Pharaoh’s army.
Questions
1. The text states, “For Pharaoh’s horse came with his chariot and with his horsemen into the Sea.” It doesn’t state that Pharaoh himself came into the Sea. How could a reader know with certainty that Pharaoh went into the Sea? I looked for this, and I found it in one place:
Psalm 136:13 To Him Who divided the Red Sea into parts, for His Grace is to Hider, 14and made Israel to pass through the midst of it, for His Grace is to Hider, 15and overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His Grace is to Hider…
2. Why would this text mention Pharaoh’s horse and his chariot, and not mention Pharaoh? It is as if Pharaoh’s horse and chariot are more important than Pharaoh! Yet, where his horse and his chariot go, he normally also goes. Pharaoh drove that horse and the chariot into the Sea! That was truly not smart!
3. Upon whom did Yehovah return the waters, according to this text? He returned the waters upon Pharaoh’s horse and Pharaoh’s chariot! That chariot represented the total power of the Egyptian army!
4. Why does the text repeat that the children of Israel walked via the dry in the midst of the Sea? This is so important; Yehovah made certain that readers realized that they did walk in the very midst of the Sea, and they walked on dry land. This will occur again in the future.
X. Tambourines, Dances and Singing (verses 20-21)
Miriam the prophetess, Moshe’s and Aharon’s sister, took the tambourine via her own hand. All the women exited after her by means of tambourines and dances!
Miriam answered to them as they responded in celebration: “Sing ye to Yehovah!” She then explained, “For heightening, He heightened horse! And He elevated his chariot in the Sea!”
Questions
1. What is a prophetess? A prophetess is a woman who consistently and infallibly (that is, perfectly and with no error) quotes a god (the Spirit of Yehovah, in this case: the testimony of Yeshua). When she is quoting Yehovah, she is always saying exactly what He is saying, using exactly the same wording that He is using.
2. Did Miriam often prophesy? Being a prophetess doesn’t indicate how often one prophesies. A true prophet might not prophesy for a year; Yeshua might not have anything to say for a year! A true prophet might be prophesying daily; Yehovah might have much to say!
3. If Miriam was Aharon’s sister, who was her other brother? Her other brother was Moshe!
4. What did she do with the tambourine? She sang with it, using it as the rhythm accompaniment!
5. Was the music fast, or was it slow? It was very fast and very rhythmic!
6. Did all the women in Israel follow Miriam with their tambourines? All the women who normally accompanied her when she sang prophesies did so. Some women were too old to accompany her; some didn’t sing or play the tambourine; some didn’t dance. Those who accompanied her could sing, dance, and play the tambourine.
7. Was this a normal way to deliver prophecies of Yehovah? This was a normal way of teaching the Israelis things that they needed to learn! I don’t know how many prophecies were delivered this way, but all the Psalms in the scroll of the Psalms are designed to be sung, to have musical instruments accompany them, and, I propose, for dancing!
8. Was the music pretty? Like most African music (which it was), it was beautiful! The words were given by Yeshua and were infallible (unable to fail), and the music would have been of the same quality!
9. Was the dancing pretty? It was beautiful! The women wore garments that were very colorful, as has been common in African dances. This was an excellent way to teach the Israelis to recite the speech of God exactly as Yehovah gave it!
10. Verse 21 states, “Miriam answered to them.” Whom did she answer, and what did they say in the first place? She answered after the entire group recited the speech of God: the prophecy that she brought to the Israelis. She did the refrain: “Sing-ye to Yehovah! For heightening, He heightened horse! And He elevated his chariot in the Sea!”
XI. Healing of Bitterness (verses 22-26)
Moshe journeyed with Israel from the Ending Sea. They exited the land unto Ox Desert. They then walked three days via desert.
The Israelis didn’t find water. Instead, they came to a place that seemed to have water, but the water was bitter; it was impossible to drink it (without becoming sick or dying). The waters were bitter. Thus, Moshe named this area Bitter.
The Israelis had been angering at Moshe because of the lack of water. The people lodged upon Moshe, coming very close and pushing on him, working themselves up to become violent. They said, “What shall we drink?” Moshe screamed to Yehovah. Yehovah responded by teaching Moshe a particular tree. He took from that tree and slung it unto the waters. The waters sweetened!
Yehovah put to Israel a statute and a justice at those waters. Yehovah proved Israel there. He then said, “If hearkening, thou wilt hearken to the voice of Yehovah thy Gods, and thou wilt do the straight in His eyes, and thou wilt ‘ear’ to His commandments, and thou wilt guard all His statutes, I will not put upon thee all the sicknesses that I put into Egypt.” Yehovah then identified Himself: “For I am Yehovah thy Healer!”
Questions
1. The text states, “And they exited unto Ox Desert.” What did they exit? They exited the area of the Ending Sea and Egypt unto this desert.
2. Wasn’t going three days without water quite hard on them? It was hard on them—on all of them. This was during the spring of the year, however, and the heat wasn’t at its height. Also, the Israelis had cattle, including milking cattle, and they also had milking goats. The lack of water was hard on the cattle, but the Israelis weren’t dying; they were thirsty.
3. What does “they came Bitternessward” mean? They came to a place called Bitterness where the water looked good, but it was too bitter to drink.
4. Who is he who called her name Bitter, and who is her? I am thinking that it is Moshe who named the place, but it may have been someone who had come to that place long before who named it Bitter; Yehovah agreed with that name for that place. Her refers to the place, since a place can be feminine or masculine.
5. The next statement is, “And the people, they lodged upon Moshe.” What does this mean? To lodge is to come into a person’s space and to just stay there. If a person lodges at a motel, the person comes into the space (the room) and just stays there (overnight). In the same way, lodging includes going up to a person, coming close to that person, and not going away. This can be to express a protest (to ‘lodge’ a protest), or it can be to just ‘hang around.’ Little children are good at lodging if they want something from an adult. In this case, an entire group of Israelis went to Moshe to surround him and to press him because of the trouble they now had, being without water.
6. When they asked, “What shall we drink,” were they being respectful toward Moshe? Though the words sound respectful, they were ready to kill him already! They didn’t foresee this occurring.
7. Why did Moshe scream unto Yehovah? The Israelis were loud! Also, Moshe saw that the Israelis were about to kill him over this.
8. What does “And Yehovah taught him a tree” mean? Yehovah didn’t just tell Moshe which tree to use, but how to use the tree to change the waters. Yehovah gave Moshe instructions.
9. What did Moshe sling unto the waters? He slung parts of the tree—the parts that Yehovah taught, prepared in the way that Yehovah taught.
10. How could one tree sweeten bodies of water that are together enough to give drink to so many Israelis and their cattle, and still have plenty of water left over? If the sap in the tree contains a chemical that reacts with the chemical that causes bitterness, some chemicals have very great effects in very small amounts. Yehovah designed a particular tree to contain a chemical that will react with bitter waters to cause those waters to become sweet. The text doesn’t say how much of the tree was used, or whether more than one tree of that species had to be used; it just states that there was one kind of tree that Yehovah taught Moshe, and Moshe put that tree into the waters; the effect was that the waters now tasted sweet and good!
11. If someone came upon waters today that were bitter, and if that same type of tree was in the area, would throwing the tree into the waters have the same effect? Yehovah gave this information so that it will be useful during the Tribulation that will occur many centuries from now! It will be lifesaving at that time, too!
12. What does “He put a statute and a justice to him there” mean, and who is him? Him is Israel. He is Yehovah. Yehovah put a statute and a justice to Israel there.
A statute is a rule—that is, something that is to be done or to not be done. The word statute pictures such a rule as engraved in stone—that means that it is fixed and won’t be erased.
The statute that Yehovah put to Israel will be described in the next text. The same is true of the justice.
Justice is making a right decision based on all true facts, and following through on that right decision.
13. The next text states, “And He proved him there.” What does proved mean? To prove is to test someone or something out; to see if it will be able to take what it needs to be able to take. Proving a person might involve seeing if the person is strong and tough enough to take insults without responding back in an unkind way, for example. In the case of our text, Yehovah proved Israel by supplying no water for several days, and then bringing Israel to a place of bitter waters to see if Israel will ask Yehovah and will wait for Him to do the necessary miracle. The Israelis will not prove to be consistent or good for quite a while; they will prove to be perfect later in the future starting with the last part of the Tribulation.
14. What must Israel do in order for Yehovah to not put on Israel all the sicknesses that He put into Egypt? Israel as a group must do all of the following:
- Israel must hearken to the voice of Yehovah, the Gods of Israel
- Israel must do what is straight in Yehovah’s eyes—that is, what isn’t crooked, but totally ‘on the level’
- Israel must ‘ear’ to His commandments (put his ear to truly hear what Yehovah commands and all that He commands
- Israel must guard all Yehovah’s statutes (rules)
If Israel fails in any of these areas, Yehovah will put all the sicknesses that He put into Egypt upon Israel.
15. What, then, is the statute that Yehovah put to Israel? The statute is the list above! It includes guarding all His statutes!
16. What is the justice that Yehovah put to Israel? The justice is this: If Israel will do the list above, Yehovah won’t put the sicknesses of Egypt upon Israel. If Israel won’t do the list above, Yehovah will put the sicknesses of Egypt upon Israel!
17. Yehovah’s last statement (here) is, “For I am Yehovah thy Healer.” Why did He say this at this point in the text? Israel won’t do the list above at most times in the history of Israel’s existence. Thus, Israel will become sick with devastations that will be those that He put into Egypt. Yet, Yehovah can and will heal Israel anytime that Israel does according to this short list. Yehovah is the only one who can heal Israel!
XII. Camping at Seventy Palms Resort (verse 27)
The Israelis then traveled toward a place called Their Ram. There were twelve eyes of water—places where water refills if water is withdrawn—in that place, as well as seventy palm trees. The Israelis camped there next to the waters.
Questions
1. What does “they came Their-Ramward” mean? The name of the location is “Their Ram.” They came toward that location; thus, they came “Their-Ram”-ward!
2. What are eyes of water? They are places where water comes out of the soil or sand, watering like human eyes water. Thus, if the water is used up, soon more water replaces the water that was used. Since these places resemble human eyes by watering, they were called eyes of water. The amount of water can be many gallons. Twelve eyes of water were enough to supply several million Israelis and all their flocks and herds.
3. What is so significant about seventy palms being there? Seventy palms give off a lot of water, and must be supplied with water from the ground. They also produce fruit; one type of fruit of a palm is the date. A date palm tree can be a huge tree! Seventy palms can give shade, and this place was an oasis (a place of water and plants in the middle of the desert).
4. How big were the waters at that place? I can’t tell how big the waters were, but the Israelis found this a very good place to camp with plenty of shoreline for them and their animals to get to the waters.
5. Was this place populated, and is it there today? My impression is that it wasn’t populated, though it sounds like it would have been a good place to live if one could trade with others for necessities. I don’t know if it is there today. Climates change, and waters can dry up while new water places can form.
6. Were the Israelis happy going camping? The Israelis will not be happy during the entire time that Moshe is leading them!
