Exodus
13
– 16
There are three definitive stories in the Bible that are
historical accounts that people question. The first is Genesis 1 where God
creates everything, either God is real or he does not exist. That is the number
1 most debated chapter in the Bible. Coming in tied for second is the great
flood (Genesis 7) and the parting of the Red Sea we will look at today.
Before getting into that we need to look at chapter 13 for a
bit. Verses 13:1 & 2 really get into where we need to be with God:
Eternal One
(to Moses): 1-2 Set apart all of the firstborn
and dedicate them to Me. The first male offspring—both human and
animal—that opens the womb among the people of Israel belongs to me.
Ever wonder why Cain’s offering was
rejected and Abele’s was not? They both brought an offering to God, yet Cain’s
was not “first” but rather “some of the crops” (Gen 4:3). See we need to get God first and in
everything we do. I fail at this constantly where I give God my seconds or the
left overs assuming they were not used. Rarely is the first thing I do with
money in is write my tithe. My accountant would say I tithe well, but like Cain
I give what I can. That is the point of the tithe, not that God needs the
money, but we demonstrate He is first; this is the key to this chapter. We are
not to give 1 of 10 dollars, but the first dollar.
One other note about the first born, God
gave his first son, his first born for salvation of mankind. That is a key
point where God is following his own law.
Without any more fanfare time to look at
the parting of the Red Sea. Verse 14:21 really describes what happened well:
Moses then took
his staff and reached out over the sea. The Eternal parted the sea with a
strong east wind, which blew all night and turned the floor of the sea into dry
ground between the divided waters.
One thing that often is missed is the time
the wind blew to dry the ground. Based on earlier verses it blew all night
before they crossed and God kept Egypt busy and confused during this time. It
did not say, the sea parted and they went like Hollywood depicted. God is above
nature and used nature to do the impossible, but there were still limits on
what he could do supernaturally. I have seen models on how this may have been
done, granted not like Hollywood, but cool all the same.
I would love the present day archeologists
to do a deep exploration of the Red Sea to determine if there are a mass of
chariots underwater. This would require ground penetrating sonar, but could
prove that this event happened. Maybe a grant would be in order!!
Verse 16:2 is interesting for two reasons:
As soon as
they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites
complained to Moses and Aaron.
First one is the desert of “Sin” I notice
that is in italics so it may be an addition. After reviewing verse 16:2 with
other translations it was clear the name was not included in all but the
Message, which was 1-3 and not just 2 … in looking at KJV verse 1 it states
that they were in the “wilderness of Sin”. So the question is why is sin
named after this wilderness? It’s used before or was it called that due to
their comments?
Second is how quickly the Israelites started to complain.
Think about it, they just have been singing praises on how God did the
miraculous and saved them from bondage and in short order are wishing they had
never left. This shows God’s not always going to give us a freshly paved road
with a fully stocked limo to get to where we are going. Sometimes we have to
demonstrate faith. Unlike Israel, the more you learn to lean into God the less
worry takes over your life.
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