“Crossing the Red Sea–Rays of Light” by Yoram Raanan, 2002
Exodus 14 (NRSV)
Crossing the Red Sea
Controversy abounds: the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds? Where did they cross? When did it happen? Who knows? It is a fact, however, that the Red Sea today has some of the best diving in the world. With around 1000 species of fish and 150 species of coral, the Red Sea is rich in marine life.
Then the Lord said to Moses: 2Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. 3Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’ 4I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; 7he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. 9The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Pharaoh’s overtaking the apparently helpless Israelites camping by the sea and shut in between the two is probably the origin of the popular idiom for a terrible dilemma: “Between the devil (Pharaoh) and the deep blue (Red!) sea.”
–William MacDonald
10As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Psalm 106:7-12 (New International Version)
When our fathers were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his mighty power known.He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (New American Standard Bible)
We are persecuted, but not forsaken.
Moses told the people of Israel to stop. This is often the Lord’s direction to the believer in a time of crisis. Despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. Presumption will tell you to jump into the Red Sea before it is parted. Yet as God told Israel He often tells us — to simply stand still and hold our peace as He reveals His plan.
–David Guzik
15Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. 17Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”
19The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.
Where, exactly?
Other passages (such as Exodus 13:18 and 15:14) identify this body of water as the Red Sea. The Hebrew phrase for Red Sea is yam suph, which clearly means “Reed Sea.” Scholars and archeologists have attempted for years to positively identify this body of water.
Much recent research has proposed an alternative route for the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, one that sets Mount Sinai in the Arabian Peninsula instead of the Sinai Peninsula. This alternative route puts the crossing at the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. Crossings have been suggested at the northern tip (at Ezion Geber), in the middle (at Nuweiba Beach), or at the southern end (at the Straits of Tiran).
–David Guzik
from Rebecca: I myself am no expert in this field, but if you are interested in where the crossing took place, I suggest you research it! There is a lot of information and opinion out there!
The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
Psalm 77:16-20 (English Standard Version)
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The Ratner Museum, Bethesda, Maryland
23The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
The Pursuers Drowned
26Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.
The Ratner Museum, Bethesda, Maryland
29But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Hebrews 11:29 (Contemporary English Version)
Because of their faith, the people walked through the Red Sea on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do it, they were drowned.
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Music:
HERE is “O, Mary, Don’t You Weep No More” sung by Bruce Springsteen. He’s not called “The Boss” for nothing! And the band — well, listen for yourself!
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Resources:
Bruce Feiler: Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses (Book II, Chapter 3 “A Wall of Water”).
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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Images courtesy of:
Raanan. https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/14-raanan-crossing.jpg?w=450
Red Sea diving. http://www.eastcoastdiverllc.com/egypt3.jpg
map of alternate route for Red Sea crossing. http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/images/map2.gif
Ratner – Opening. http://ratnermuseum.com/?page=exodus#
Ratner – Closes. http://ratnermuseum.com/?page=exodus#
cartoon. http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=20001018
DWELLING in the Word 
I wonder how all the Egyptian army, horses, chariots, etc., could have drowned in the shallow Reed Sea. I’ll stick with the Red Sea myself!
Claudia 1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4 Given
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 06:01:33 +0000 To: claudia1027@msn.com