Class Notes, Exodus 13:17-15:21

Ex 13:17-22 (NIV) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.

19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place."

20 After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

· There were actually three routes to Canaan

o The Via Maria (the way of the sea) went along the Mediterranean sea

o The two other routes (probably one being the Kings Highway) took a lot longer

· Why does God choose the longer route instead of the most direct route?

o The people were not ready

o The Egyptian Army still posed a threat to their rear

o The route was easier and faster, but God chose the slower, longer, and harder route

· APPLICATION:

o Where in life is God taking us through the harder, longer, and more difficult route?

· The actual location for many of these places is unknown. Many were just a slope on a hill or an oasis. A famous theologian, Kaiser, stated that "everyone is guessing"

Ex 14:1-9 (NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." So the Israelites did this.

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians — all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops — pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

· God says he will harden the heart of Pharaoh, but who takes the first step?

o Pharaoh changes his mind

o In the plagues, the same pattern emerges. Pharaoh hardens his heart and then God in response to his disobedience, hardens Pharaoh's heart

· APPLICATION: Disobedience hardens our heart to sin

· What causes the Egyptians to consider going after Israel?

o Various locations for the place where the Israelites are trapped

o They looked confused and vulnerable

o They turned back from the Wilderness of Shur

o Again, not exactly sure on locations. [Show on map my guess]

Ex 14:10-18 (NIV) As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."

· What is the disconnect in the story in the story with the people?

o They had just seen ten incredible miracles by Moses

o But they are now complaining (this is the first of ten complaints)

· What do they want?

o Serve the Egyptians in slavery

o Die in Egypt in slavery as opposed to the desert

· What is the disconnect with Moses?

o Has a great speech

o But then cries to God as if he does not believe what he just said

· I don’t think God is rebuking Moses for crying out, but for not believing what he just told the people

· What is the typology of the story?

o Redeem from the bondage to sin (slavery)

o Passing through the waters represents our baptism into Christ

o The trip through the desert represents our time in the world

o The entry in the promise land is our reward in heaven achieved after our journey through the desert -- and also, the degree of our reward is based on our life of faith in the desert

Ex 14:21-31 (NIV) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt."

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

· If the opening is approximately 1/2 mile wide, then it is entirely reasonable for 2 million Israelites to travel through in the time frame described

· Nothing in the text precludes a literal wall. The normal meaning of the text would be a literal wall

· The Hebrew phrase yam sup that Moses used to describe the body of water through which the Israelites passed miraculously means "Red Sea," not "Reed Sea."

o In the article quoted ..., the writer explained that the word sup did not originate in the Egyptian language but in Hebrew. Many scholars have claimed it came from an Egyptian root word meaning "reed." He showed that it came from a Hebrew root word meaning "end." Yam is also a Hebrew word that means "sea." The yam sup is then the sea at the end. The ancients used the name yam sup to describe the body of water that lay beyond the farthest lands known to them. It meant the sea at the end of the world. It clearly refers to the Red Sea often in the Old Testament. The Greeks later used the same term, translated into Greek, to refer to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The translation of yam sup as Reed Sea is evidently both inaccurate and misleading. It implies that the Israelites simply crossed some shallow marsh when they left Egypt. Such an interpretation lacks support in the inspired record of Israel's Exodus. (Davis, pp. 168-71, or Hyatt, pp. 156-61)

· Verse 31 is a key verse in Exodus, why?

o The people fear God and put their trust in him. Like Abraham who believed God and it was credited him as righteousness

o For the first time, Moses is called "His servant"

· The highest praise a person can received is to be called God's servant

Ex 15:9-10 (NIV) "The enemy boasted,

'I will pursue, I will overtake them.

I will divide the spoils;

I will gorge myself on them.

I will draw my sword

and my hand will destroy them.'

10 But you blew with your breath,

and the sea covered them.

They sank like lead

in the mighty waters.

· Today, many scoff at Christianity. Some are blatantly opposed to the ideas of Christianity, interestingly more so than other religious ideas

· They imagine how wonderful life would be without the trappings of religion -- some of which I might agree, ie, the religious who just go through the motions without any real faith

· Like the Egyptian Army referenced in this verse, the boast and talk a lot, but ultimately all people will stand before God to give an account

o There is no fancy speech or overpowering argument that will cause God to reconsider His judgment. How dumb our intellectual elites are-- to think that the infinite God might get jousted in an argument by a finite mind, not matter how smart it is

Ex 15:14-18 (NIV) The nations will hear and tremble;

anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,

the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,

the people of Canaan will melt away;

16 terror and dread will fall upon them.

By the power of your arm

they will be as still as a stone —

until your people pass by, O Lord,

until the people you bought pass by.

17 You will bring them in and plant them

on the mountain of your inheritance —

the place, O Lord, you made for your dwelling,

the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.

18 The Lord will reign

for ever and ever."

· There is tremendous irony is this verse, do you see it?

o The song of Moses having looked backwards at God's mighty hand now looks forward. It announces, with supreme confidence, what will happen to the nations ahead of them. In an ironic twist, when the time came to take the land, when the spies returned from spying out the land, it is Israel who trembles, who terror and dread fall upon.

o Again, it is so easy after a mountain top experience to think that one can conquer anything with God. And that actually is the truth; but when reality strikes, our faith melts away quickly. Instead of an attitude of victory, we expect defeat. Instead of seeing God in something, we just see ourselves failing. Father, protect me from own fears and rationalizations. I want to trust you and your power to carry me on to victory.

Class Notes, Exodus 11-13:6

Ex 10:28-11:1a, 4-8 (NIV) Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."

10:29 "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."

11:a1 Now the Lord had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. . . ."

4 So Moses said, "This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt — worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave." Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

· What do we note about both men? Why are they angry?

o Both men were quite angry. Pharaoh was angry because his nation was destroyed and he was being forced to do something he did not want to do. Moses was angry because Pharaoh's hard-heartedness had ruined the nation, probably people that he knew previously and cared for when he served in the previous Pharaoh's court.

· How does what Pharaoh says at the end of chapter 10 fit with what happened at the beginning of chapter 11?

o God had given Moses instruction on the last plague prior to the meeting, so now he gives the last plague and leaves

· Is anger wrong? When is it wrong and when is it okay? Is it okay to be angry at God?

o I don't believe there is anything wrong with being angry at God for a period of time. I believe it is a natural, human reaction to the pain in life. Jonah was angry at God, but he was not rejected. Moses, though not angry, used every excuse in the book to avoid doing what God called him to do. His description to his Father-in-law of the reason for his going to Egypt confirmed that he really didn't believe God at first. But God was patient with Moses, up unto the point where he refused to obey God, then his anger burned against Moses. So the problem is not anger toward God, but disobedience to what God has called us to do. Jonah was also disobedient and nearly lost his life for it. But Jonah's anger only brought about circumstances to teach him truth.

o APPLICATION: The message for us is to listen and obey. The consequences of disobedience are great. God can overlook doubt and anger, but he will not overlook for long disobedience.

Ex 12:1-11 (NIV) The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire — head, legs and inner parts. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord's Passover.

[graphic Hebrew Calendar deleted]

· We should not some of the characteristics of the sacrificial lamb?

o It is male. Represents the firstborn male of each home

o Free from blemish or injury (specifically not allowed to break a bone). Like the unleavened bread, free from sin

o Only a year old, not having lived a full life

· What are other unique aspects

o Twilight literally means between "between the two evenings." The commonly held Jewish view is that the first evening began after noon and the second began at sunset. In Jesus' day, the Jews slew the Passover lamb in mid-afternoon (about 3pm), also when Christ died

o The door represented the house. There were no altars, so the houses became altars. You don't do the threshold lest someone step on the blood. The blood consecrated the house. The application of the blood demonstrated their faith

o The roasting of the lamb enabled the lamb to retain its essential structure and appearance. It looked like an animal not just meat. Eating sacrificial raw meat was a pagan custom

o The bitter herbs remind the person of the bitterness of life

o The unleavened bread reminds them of the haste, but also is a picture to us of Jesus body, sinless, that we partake of today

o No leftovers. This was a special meal, not an ordinary dinner

Ex 12:12-13 (NIV) "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn — both men and animals — and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

· Interesting point, who sees the blood, God or the believer?

o Only God sees the blood. The believer has to trust in the blood without seeing it. Many want to add to the blood, to perform works as well. God only has to see the blood to pass over the house

Ex 12:14-20 (NIV) "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord — a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat — that is all you may do.

17 "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

· When God redeems Israel, they eat unleavened bread for seven days. Clearly, holiness follows redemption

o Meyer writes "For us the leaven must stand for the selfness which is characteristic of us all, through the exaggerated instinct of self-preservation and the heredity received through generations, which have been a law to themselves, serving the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We are by nature self-confident, self-indulgent, self-opinionated; we live with self as our goal, and around the pivot of I our whole being revolves."

· Same point but just said differently. Holiness does not precede redemption. You don't become holy first

Ex 12:21-28 (NIV) Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

24 "Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' 27 then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'" Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

· The interesting thing in Israelite history is verse 28

o The Israelites obey God exactly

o They start out well, unfortunately they don't finish well

o They start out in faith, expressed in their obedience. They believed the destroyer would pass over them. Why do they fail later, in the desert? Why do people with miraculous conversions fall back?

· I think we take things for granted

· We rely on the emotional events for energy, little realizing that a walk with God must survive in the drudgery of life

· Another key practice is mentioned. Who teaches the children spiritual things?

o Parents teach biblical truth to their children

o Sunday School began in Britain in the 1780s. It was in response to children working long hours in the factor six days a week. Sunday was the only day to teach them. It was Christian philanthropists who were protecting them from illiteracy

o Sunday School is a good thing but it cannot replace parents as the ones God intended to teach their children spiritual truths

Ex 12:29-36 (NIV) At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."

33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!" 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

· Pharaoh had fought God for a long time. Now he is the one who goes to Moses and Aaron and tells them to leave. He uses the "go" twice, and "take your flock" once. He asks for a blessing, which is amazing because Pharaoh was considered a god

NOTE: Regarding God's "hardening of Pharaoh's heart," it should be noted that the first hardening of Pharaoh's heart was from Pharaoh himself when he refused to obey God. His decision to disobey God, and for that matter--anyone's decision to disobey God, has consequences and one of those consequences is that our heart becomes hardened to God. I suppose once we've started the process, it is hard to tell who is doing the hardening since it is God's judgment for disobedience -- if you disobey, God makes it harder to obey and to experience the blessing of obedience.

The other issue is to what extent does God interfere with free will? Free will is absolutely critical to being made in the image of God, because it is only with free will that a person can love another. The bible says that God is love (at least one definition), and so being made in his image requires the ability to love. Without free will, you can't have love -- a robot cannot truly love another person -- you must choose to love. And for that matter, you can't worship either, a robot cannot worship; a person requires free will to love and to worship.

But God can "influence" persons without directly affecting their free will. In this case, he made the "Egyptians favorable disposed toward" the Israelites. It doesn't say how he did that. I'm sure there was a certain sense of awe as the plagues attacked the Egyptians and left the Israelites alone. That could have also turned to bitterness and envy, but it can easily go the other way. Much like when people give a rich person preferential treatment (which is wrong by the way). While they might envy the rich, the think that by being friends they will get something in return.

Anyway, the bottom line is that while free will is an essential aspect of God's creation (and incidentally, the real reason for evil in the world), and critical for loving, God can influence people without taking away their ability to choose freely.