1 And the I AM spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is Mine.”
3 And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the I AM brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened bread be eaten.
No leavened eaten on the day you remember the Passover.
4 “This day came ye out in the month Abib.
“Abib” means “fresh, young barley ears,” and happens in March or April.
5 “And it will be when the I AM will bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He swore to thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shall keep this service in this month.
6 “Seven days thou will eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day will be a feast to the I AM.
7 “Unleavened bread will be eaten seven days, and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy houses.
The New Testament uses “leaven” to mean sin in a number of places. We are to live sin-free lives. This was symbolized by this week without leaven (yeast).
This unleavened week came after the sacrifice of the perfect lamb and was surrounded by celebrations.
After we accept Jesus as our “Perfect Sacrifice” we are to live a sinless life full of celebration.
8 “And thou shall show thy son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which the I AM did unto me when I came up out of Egypt.’
9 “And it will be for a sign to thee on thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the I AM's law may be in thy mouth. For with a strong hand has the I AM brought thee out of Egypt.
Now, the Jews took this literally. They wore little boxes with scrolls of scriptures in them on their foreheads. As time went on these boxes got bigger and more elaborate as a sign of their spirituality.
Close, but no cigar.
God meant He wanted them to have His words inside their heads and their hearts. He wanted them to be so full of wonder for Him that their every word was honorable to Him.
In similar fashion, many are expecting a great empire to force everyone to tattoo a physical mark on their head and hands. Many live in great fear of this, always being diligent to not have anything to do with anything that might look like this mark (which preachers have claimed to be everything from radios, TV, cars, social security cards, to the Internet, or a computer chip implanted under the skin).
Meanwhile, the satanic world-view (secular humanism) is drilled into their children’s heads in school and used to govern the commerce in the land (the “right hand of trade”) as well as our politics.
You would think we would learn.
10 “Thou shall therefore keep this Law in its season from year to year.
11 “And it shall be when the I AM shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee,
12 “That thou shall set apart to the I AM all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes of a beast which thou has, the males shall be the I AM's.
13 “And every firstborn of an donkey thou shall redeem with a lamb. And if thou will not redeem it, then thou shall break his neck. And all the firstborn of man among thy children shall thou redeem.
If the First Born is an unfit sacrifice, than a substitute must be used.
All of us are unfit sacrifices. A substitute was provided in Jesus; God’s First (Only) Born, Jesus Christ.
14 “And it shall be when thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that thou shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the I AM brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery.
15 “ ‘And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would not let us go, that the I AM killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast. That is why I sacrifice to the I AM all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem.’
16 “And it shall be for a sign on thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes. For by strength of hand the I AM brought us up out of Egypt.”
God’s deliverance of us from sin is no less dramatic or mighty. In fact, it is a much greater feat than merely freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was the shorter path. For God said, “Because the people will turn around if they see war, and they will go back to Egypt:”
The Philistines were very fierce and war like people, descended from Ham, who settled the land between Egypt and Canaan. They were some of the people Egypt was afraid of Israel joining with against them.
18 But God led the people around about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea (not towards Ethiopia, but onto the Sinai Peninsula which is surrounded by two arms of the Red Sea): and the children of Israel went up like an army out of the land of Egypt.
They were out of Egypt Proper immediately, though still in Egypt controlled land. The Sinai Peninsula had Egyptian watch towers all along the major travel routes with runners to carry messages. Pharaoh knew where Israel was and what they were doing the entire time.
Since many believe Moses was co-pharaoh for about nine years and led the Egyptian army during that time, he would have been quite familiar with this area, knew the best routes (as well as any human) and the best places to find grazing and water. However, God did not necessarily tell him to take the best route but the one that would accomplish His will. And Moses obeyed.
The Red Sea is long and narrow shaped, running between the continent of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It has two fingers that reach up and surround the lower part of the Sinai Peninsula- The Gulf of Suez and The Gulf of Aqaba.
The traditional belief is that Israel crossed the Red Sea at the tip of the western finger (The Gulf of Suez). Unfortunately, this area doesn’t really fit the biblical description of the area they crossed and is much too shallow to drown an entire army in.
This was identified as the crossing point by Constantine’s mother, a “psychic,” about AD300. She wandered around the region labeling different places for Bible events based on her “insights,” and advice from guides who were quite uneducated in either the Christian or Jewish Bibles. Unfortunately, a large number of our “Biblical Sites” were labeled by this woman and not by archeology or history.
The eastern finger (Gulf of Aqaba) fits the biblical description of the crossing perfectly, including having coralized chariot wheels, and human and horse bones on the bottom today.
The Gulf of Aqaba is more than a mile deep EXCEPT right in the middle, where erosion from the mountains on both sides has formed an underwater sandbar only nine hundred feet deep at the deepest, and about a mile wide. The angle of decent for the entire gulf is about 45 degrees EXCEPT this one spot where it is only about 6 degrees (the same angle as a wheelchair ramp). The beaches on either side are plenty large enough for a couple million people and their animals to camp.
This crossing point would also mean they crossed the entire Sinai Peninsula before pharaoh caught up to them (about a week after The Exodus) and most of their later wandering was on the northern Arabian Peninsula (mostly in modern day Jordon) instead of the Sinai Peninsula as is commonly believed. Since the Sinai Peninsula was under Egyptian control during most of history, this really does make more sense. They wouldn’t have been escaping Egypt to stay on the Sinai Peninsula.
Evidence for the true crossing point.
19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because he had made the children of Israel sware, saying, “God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away from here with you.”
Joseph wanted to be buried with his ancestors in Canaan. The Israelites dug him out and took his mummy with them.
There is an empty tomb of some important person in Goshen (where Israel settled during the captivity), that was very carefully opened up (instead of vandalized as the norm is), and is now empty. There are the remains of a statue of a curly-haired Semite in rich clothes. Could this be Joseph’s Egyptian tomb?
20 And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
Succoth was probably at the top of the Gulf of Suez. Israel would have been leaving from several places all over Egypt (though the majority would have been from Rameses in Goshen) and this would have been the best gathering point for all who were leaving.
Modern day army troops have traveled on foot from the top of the Gulf of Suez to the most likely crossing point on the Gulf of Aqaba. It took them six days, only traveling at night. Israel apparently traveled pretty much around the clock, but they had children, elderly and large numbers of animals with them, and so would have been slow.
Etham was “In the edge of the wilderness.” This would be the edge of the wilderness of the Red Sea mentioned in verse 18.
The entire context of the books of Exodus and Numbers leads us to believe Etham was not a specific city, but simply meant “wilderness.” In this verse, it likely means on the main trade route to the east that went south of Philistine territory.
21 And the I AM went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, so they couldo go by day and night:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
The cloud would have given shade to Israel in the day and the fire warmth at night, as well as telling them exactly where to go.
Moses was very likely quite familiar with the region and would have led them to the north of the Gulf of Aqaba (on the major trade route to the east). This would have allowed Egypt to follow them into Midian, though.
God clearly directed them on a different route by having them simply follow His cloud and fire, and turn off the main road and head south-east instead of due east.
The “traditional” chronology tells us there is no evidence for a large group of Semites in this area at the time of the Exodus (they place it in the 19th dynasty with Rameses II), so this story was obviously just a fable.
However, if you follow the biblical timeline (which is verified for later dates with the Assyrian timeline and with increasing archeological evidence) you must move the Exodus back 150 years and collapse the Traditional Timeline by several hundred years which moves the Exodus to the 13th dynasty under Neferhotep I.
Guess what? There is archeological evidence of a very large number of semantic slaves leaving Egypt (specifically, Goshen) at exactly the reign of Neferhotep in the middle of the 13th dynasty. The “traditionalists” have trouble explaining exactly who these slaves were supposed to be, but those who take the Bible’s word over human’s figuring have no problems.