Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 14:23-25

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

Eventually the Egyptians were able to get around the fiery, cloudy pillar and gave chase to the Israelites. Verse 24 makes it clear that the pillar did not vanish, but perhaps by the light of rising sun, during “the morning watch,” they were able to see well enough to navigate around it and follow their quarry into the sea.

Meanwhile, God watched all of the Egyptians’ doings from within the pillar. He watched as they stubbornly continued in their efforts to molest His people, and so He took away their chief advantage: their chariots. It says that He “took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily.” This might mean that the wheels became sloughed down in the wet sand or mud that had been saturated by the Red Sea. No matter how hard they drove their horses, the dragging sludge was apparently too great, even to the point of breaking the wheels under the stress.

Now, at last, a panic fell upon the Egyptians. They were on foot, deprived of their speed, and caught between two great walls of water. Perhaps the Israelites had still been finishing their journey through the channel, and they had judged that they would be able to catch them before they were all out, thus God would not be able to close the channel without destroying His own people. But then, by getting partway through before losing their chariot wheels, they may have suddenly found themselves not able to reach one side or the other before the Israelites would fully vacate the chasm and God could close the channel with no friendly casualties.

They had stepped willfully into the trap, practically daring the Lord to destroy them, and finally they could see with their own eyes the manner of their destruction. They attempted to flee, acknowledging that God, Himself, was at war with them. It was, however, too late.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 2:13-14

13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.

Moses’s arc had brought him to see the suffering of the Israelites and take action to save one of them. After having slain an Egyptian guard to save one of his brethren, one might think he would be frightened to return, but this was not the case. Having ventured into the trouble of the Israelites once, he then came back a second time. Apparently, the first visit had only encouraged him to continue.

On the second visit, he made an entirely new observation. Whereas he was already acquainted with the abuse that the Israelites suffered at the hands of the Egyptians, now he saw two Israelites striving among themselves, no Egyptians involved whatsoever. In this we see a representation for how the Israelites were divided among themselves. They might have been universally oppressed, but that pressure had not fused them into one. They needed a leader, not only to protect them from an external enemy, but also from themselves.

And, as before, Moses saw this as an opportunity for him to step up and fill the need. He approached the two men and tried to mediate between them. He did not rush to make an accusation or a judgment, he began by asking them for their testimony…but immediately everything went awry. The two had absolutely no respect to him, they did not see him as their leader, and in fact they viewed him with suspicion and hostility. This, unfortunately, would be a reoccurring theme in Moses’s dealings with the Israelites. Though his intentions were pure, at every turn they would doubt and accuse him. Assuming the mantle of their leader was going to be a difficult and heavy burden, and in this instance, he was only having the smallest sampling of that fact.

Even worse, Moses now learned that his deeds from his last sojourn among the Israelites were known. Presumably neither of these two Israelites were present when he slew the Egyptian guard, and if they already had heard about it, then soon everyone else would.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 2:12

12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

I already covered this verse with yesterday’s post, but as I was researching other commentaries I discovered a different read on it that I thought deserved some individual attention. When I first read the verse I only interpreted the phrase “he saw that there was no man,” as meaning Moses was checking for any other Egyptian guards who might witness and report his actions to the Pharaoh. However another interpretation that others have considered is that he was checking for any Israelite who was going to rise to the occasion and save their persecuted brother.

It could be that this verse is describing Moses coming to the realization that there was a void of leadership among the Israelite people. Perhaps he was realizing that they needed someone to fight in their behalf, and if no one else was going to fill that role then he would. This, of course, is another trait of great leaders. They do not elect themselves to greatness, rather they see a people in need, but none of them willing to stand up and do what needs to be done, and so the leader takes that responsibility out of necessity.

So which is it? Was Moses looking side-to-side out of caution, ensuring that he wouldn’t be caught, or was he merely looking to see if anyone else would help, and finding no one took the mantle upon himself? Frankly, I cannot tell, and in the greater scheme of things it probably doesn’t matter, but both interpretations do offer interesting possibilities for Moses’s development of character.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 50:1-3

1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

Joseph commits his father’s body to be embalmed by the physicians of Egypt. We have never heard of any other patriarch having his body embalmed, but here it would be necessary if the remains were to make the long journey back to the cave of Machpelah without turning rancid.

It is interesting that these early Israelites accepted the embalming process, as the Jewish law forbids it. Perhaps this law was not in force at the time of Jacob, or perhaps this was considered an acceptable exception. In either case, the period of seventy days that Jacob is mourned for matches perfectly with the Egyptian custom, as reported by Herodotus in his Histories. Thus, Jacob was to be buried with his Hebrew fathers, but his funeral preparations were decidedly Egyptian.