Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 14:26-28

26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as done of them.

Now the Egyptians were bogged down in the middle of the channel and the Israelites were clear on the other side. There was no need to keep the passage open any longer, and God commanded Moses to seal the way shut. Notice how in a single action, the closing of the sea, God both saved His people and destroyed His enemies. The same act can be both salvation and damnation.

Verse 27 once again makes reference to the time of day, stating that the sea returned to its proper place “when the morning appeared.” Pharaoh’s army, it would seem, first came into the view of the Israelites in the evening, causing them to despair as the sun set on them, literally and figuratively . But then, in the night, when they were their most powerless, God worked a miracle for their salvation, and in the rising of the sun their future was made hopeful once more. A new dawn, once again both literal and figurative.

And so the sea’s walls cascaded together in a sudden, dramatic flood. The Egyptians, we are told, tried to flee, but they could not outrun the rush of water. All the army was covered. The chariots, the horsemen, the host, none of them survived.

Note that verse 28 specifies that “all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea” were destroyed. The phrase “that came into the sea” might suggest that not all of Pharaoh’s army charged between the waves and that some of them could have been spared. This is what fuels hypotheses that Pharaoh might have actually survived that day. Given the arc of his story, and his stubbornness thus far, and God’s prior comments about gaining honor upon Pharaoh specifically, and verse 23’s declaration that “all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen” charged into the sea, I am inclined to believe that Pharaoh did not survive. Indeed, I find it most likely that verse 28 is merely saying that the Lord destroyed “all Pharaoh’s army, which army came into the sea,” and thus there were no survivors whatsoever.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:35-38

35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 

36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. 

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

I pointed out earlier that when God instructed the Israelites to take the jewels of their Egyptian neighbors, it had the appearance of a conquering army taking the spoils of war. Verse 36 makes this interpretation concrete by saying the Egyptians were indeed “spoiled.” Though the Israelites had not raised a single hand against their overlords, yet they carried the trophies of their triumph over them.

Moving on, in verse 37 we hear exactly how large the Israelite nation had become. Back in Exodus 1, we were told that there were only 70 souls when Jacob and his family first entered into Egypt. Since that time, just their men were nearly 10,000 times greater in number! If their men “on foot” were 600,000, then presumably there were approximately 600,000 women, and probably more than 600,000 children, bringing their total up and to and even exceeding 2 million! One can see why the Egyptians had been worried about their growing strength. The “on foot” description of the 600,000 men seems to mean men who were still strong enough to travel forward under their own power, and therefore also fit to carry a sword. It was justifiable that Egypt would be concerned about this potential army within their borders, though their solution to that problem was certainly not justified.

Verse 38 tells us that they also took up all of their flocks, herds, and cattle, which of course Pharaoh had previously tried to deny them. Also of interest is that “a mixed multitude went up also with them.” This might have been the remnants of other nations that had been conquered by the Egyptians and made to serve alongside the Israelites. It might have been Egyptians who had intermarried with the Israelites or been converted to the Lord by His miracles.

Of course, we will see a theme soon enough of the Israelites being seduced from God by the strangers in their midst. It is possible that this “mixed multitude” was the first group to tempt them to sin. Though we will not have it spelled out to us in Exodus, a later recounting in Numbers shows that it was this group of foreigners who first began to complain to Moses in the wilderness, leading the way for the Israelites to also tempt the Lord. Thus, even in this moment of triumph, there are already the seeds of a downfall.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:34, 39

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

We just read how the Egyptians were anxious to hurry the Israelites out of their land. Today’s verses explain even more of this haste, describing the Israelites as being “thrust out, and could not tarry,” with no time for even their dough to rise. Hence the wisdom in God telling them beforehand to prepare all of their bread to be unleavened. He knew the great hurry that would soon be upon them.

I mentioned yesterday that it sounded like Pharaoh had summoned Moses and Aaron in the very same night that all the firstborn of Egypt had been slain, and given today’s verses it sounds like the Israelites had to be out of their homes by the very next morning. Waiting for the dough to rise would only have been a matter of hours after all, not days, and they apparently didn’t have that long to spare. An immediate departure would also explain why God told them to have staff in hand, shoes on feet, and to burn any leftover lamb.

To sum up, it seems most likely to me that on the evening of the tenth day of Abib the Israelites had their Passover feast, the Egyptian firstborn were killed during the night, that same night Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to leave, and all the camp was gone in the morning. I never realized before how rapidly all these events might have transpired, and if it was this way then it shows just how quickly God can change everything, accomplishing the impossible in an instant!