So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.
Hebrews 6:1a-b NLT
Several weeks ago Mikaela and I were attending the morning family service at IMI Church, smiling as we saw little children running around the room laughing with one another. We sat listening to the speaker who is a part of the IMI staff team giving the message tailored for the children to understand. She taught from Exodus 14 in sharing God’s rescue of the Israelites from the Egyptians through the Red Sea. A story many of us have heard, read for ourselves in the Bible, or listened to the pastor preach on God’s rescue of the Israelites on a Sunday morning. A story that perhaps many of us have heard over a dozen or so times in our lifetime thus far. But a question was raised in my mind while the speaker taught and that was, “Do we (Christians) know this story? Do we know the Bible?”
The reason why this question came to mind was for two reasons. The first being as the speaker read the passage she shared, “The pillar of cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps…” which caused Mikaela to turn and look at me with a puzzled face. I recognized why she looked puzzled because the “pillar of cloud” is something not often taught in a Sunday school lesson nor typically included with the message being preached on a Sunday morning. The second reason was something I had never caught before and that was that God’s rescue of the Israelites from the Egyptians mostly took place at night. “What? How did I miss this before?!” as I became excited in reading through the passage myself.
I knew after this service I wanted to do September’s blog on this passage and pose this question not only to those who will read this blog, but also to myself. I will never claim to be all knowing of the Scriptures as it will always be a joy for me to discover new revelations in Scripture that I have not noticed before. However, I love to share these experiences and thus we have this month’s blog being, “Do we know the Bible?”
All of this being said, I now want to invite you to read Exodus 14 as I have included it below. Please take your time in reading the passage slowly, but also as if you were an investigator in trying to find out exactly what happened in asking questions and thoughts to yourself. Now I have done several things in placing emphasis on different parts of this passage…
> If I have bolded and underlined a phrasing or several words in a row, not only does it mean that it is important, but this also means this phrasing or word selection is repeated again.
> If I have bold and italicized a word, partial sentence, or a whole sentence it is because I am trying to draw your attention to important/core parts of the passage.
> If I have only italicized a word, partial sentence, or whole sentence it is because these parts have an important relation to the passage as a whole or the text immediately preceding or following it.
Exodus 14 NLT
1 Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses: 2 “Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon. 3 Then Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!’ 4 And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord!” So the Israelites camped there as they were told.
The Egyptians Pursue Israel
5 When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. “What have we done, letting all those Israelite slaves get away?” they asked. 6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops. 7 He took with him 600 of Egypt’s best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. 9 The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army—all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. 14 The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Escape through the Red Sea
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! 16 Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. 18 When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!”
19 Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. 20 The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night.
21 Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. 22 So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!
23 Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. 24 But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. 25 He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
26 When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers.” 27 So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. The Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers—the entire army of Pharaoh. Of all the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived.
29 But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, as the water stood up like a wall on both sides. 30 That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. 31 When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
After I studied this passage slowly in asking questions and seeking answers from the text, I really felt blessed after doing this. As I stated above, the imagery that this mostly all took place at night caught me off guard and gave me a new perspective/insight to what happened during this story. I know for myself when I imagine Moses picking up his staff and raising his hand over the sea I imagine a painting of this event where Moses is standing in full sunlight on a high rock overlooking the sea with the sea beginning to separate, but yet this takes place at night.
This means that the Israelites crossed during the night with the pillar of fire being their only light as they walked on dry ground through the Red Sea with the roar of the water on either side of them. Then which leads to once the Israelites safely cross, the Egyptians give chase also in the light of the pillar of fire and just as the sun begins to rise, the Lord tells Moses to once again raise his hand over the sea which will cause the waters to rush back to normal in covering/killing the Egyptians. Which also makes me think of how in worship songs, “My hope comes in the morning” a new meaning.
So why do we miss these types of things in Scriptures? One reason I would venture to say is that of the biblical stories we hear over and over especially for those of us who have grown up in the church, we begin to tune out in listening to a pastor yet again preach on a popular Bible story. Or as we read through the Bible and reach a well-known biblical story, we just unconsciously speed up our reading and skim over said biblical story. Perhaps we think, “Gosh, another sermon on God rescuing the Israelites from the Egyptians through the Red Sea? Well I’m just going to close my eyes for a little bit then” as we begin to wonder what we will do once were out of church and back home. Or perhaps when we reach the story of the Red Sea while reading the Bible we think, “Eh, I already know what happens here, let’s just skip ahead a chapter or two.”
I don’t say or give these examples in guessing this is what other people must think, I say and give these examples because at one time or another these were my exact thoughts and words I mumbled out quietly under my breath. Over the past several years I have learned the overwhelming truth that God seeks to teach me and you new things every day from the Bible. As such, I seek to take a heart posture that is honoring of that truth.
I would be interested to hear if you had a new revelation in reading this passage or another passage in Scripture as well. As such feel free to comment below, email, or message me. I think that is one of the reasons why the writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers to become mature in their understanding of Scripture, faith, and especially in Jesus. The same holds true for us today that we are to continue to read the Bible and know God’s Word and take a heart posture where God’s Word reaches our hearts and changes us from the inside out. Blessings