1 And the I AM spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over by Baalzephon. Before it will ye camp by the sea.
Pihahiroth means “mouth of the gorges.”
Migdol means “tower.”
Baalzephon means “The Baal (god) of winter” and was likely a city dedicated to the god of thunder, weather, and the north, who would have also had control over the sea. I would assume this particular city was given this name because of the cold winds that come through there.
So, they “encamped before the mouth of the gorges, between the tower and the sea, near the town of the “god of winter.”
We haven’t yet found the places mentioned here for sure. There are a couple of candidates, however.
The entire southern half of the Sinai Peninsula is covered in mountains. There is really only one reasonable path through it other than the major trade route. This path is a winding road through high mountains. God led Israel to Etham (Edge Of The Wilderness), then had them turn south. From there they traveled through the mountains to a beach on the Gulf of Aqaba, by a major watch tower (Migdol), near a city dedicated to the “God Of Cold Things.” They backtracked as if they were confused, lost, or trapped.
3 “For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are lost in the land, the wilderness has shut them in.’
Josephus says the Egyptians had “six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand footmen, all armed. They also seized on the passages by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting them up between inaccessible precipices and the sea; for there was on each side mountains that terminated at the sea, which were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight; wherefore they there pressed upon the Hebrews with their army, where the ridges of the mountains were closed with the sea; which army they placed at the gaps of the mountains, that so they might deprive them of any passage into the plain".
See Pictures Here
4 “And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he will follow after them, and I will display My glory through Pharaoh, and through all his armies, that the Egyptians may know that I am the I AM.” And they did so.
This “god of the north” was about the only Egyptian god that hasn’t been defeated yet.
5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
Talk about short memories! They wouldn’t have even finished burying their oldest children yet (mummification takes about 70 days), and they can’t remember why they kicked Israel out?
It is likely soldiers from the watch towers who sent word to pharaoh of Israel’s activities. These towers were scattered throughout the Sinai Peninsula.
6 And he got his chariot ready, and took his people with him:
Archaeologists have correctly dated the introduction of the chariot to the 1500’s BC. However, since they stretch out the timeline just as far as they possibly can in order to support their religious atheism/evolution, they put the chariot’s introduction at the time of the Hyksos or even later (18th dynasty?), making it impossible for the Exodus to take place in any earlier dynasty. If you readjust the timeline to accommodate the evidence of Egypt’s history being much shorter, the 12th and 13th dynasties fall in the 1500’s, just right for Joseph to ride in Pharaoh’s chariot and Moses to be chased by them.
7 And he took 600 chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
8 And the I AM hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the children of Israel and the children of Israel boldly ran away.
9 But the Egyptians chased after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
10 And when Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the I AM.
Egypt was the greatest army in the world at the time. They had reason in the human mind to be afraid. But when God tells you something, you can rest assured it WILL happen. There is no need to fear.
11 And they said to Moses, “Did thou bring us into the wilderness to die because there weren't enough graves in Egypt? Why have thou treated us like this, to lead us up out of Egypt?
12 “Isn't this what we told thee in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”
This is why God had to make things so hard on Israel. They haven’t even been out of Egypt a month (possibly not quite a week) and they are wanting to go back. Imagine how fast they would have turned around if their slavery had remained easy?
13 And Moses said to the people, “Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the I AM, which He will show to you today. For the Egyptians whom ye see right now, ye will never see again.
14 “The I AM will fight for you, and ye will hold your peace.”
“You won’t even have to fight! God will take care of you.”
I wonder if Moses understood at this point what was fixing to happen.
15 And the I AM said to Moses, “Why do thou cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.
“Don’t go begging Me for help. Just keep marching.”
After traveling through the canyon with Pharaoh hot on their heels, they come out of the mountains only to discover they are standing on a beach with mountains behind them and sea in front of them. (Yes, this beach is big enough for 3 million people to camp on, though it doesn’t look it in this picture. There are actually a number of hotels and a small city here today).
Satellite pictures reveal that the sea is much shallower right here than anywhere else. On either side of a “bridge” the water is 3-5000 feet deep. Right here it is only a few hundred feet deep. The slope from each beach is at an angle considered to be handicap accessible, it’s so gentle.)
16 “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel will go across on dry ground through the middle of the sea.
17 “And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow [the children of Israel], and My glory will be displayed through Pharaoh, and through all his armies, through his chariots, and through his horsemen.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the I AM, when My glory has been displayed through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen.”
The Sinai Peninsula was under Egyptian control at this time. Though they were out of Egypt proper immediately, Israel won’t really be out of their control until they cross the sea and are in Midian (today's Saudi Arabia). God is taking them completely away from their oppressors and has one final punishment for Egyptian cruelty, and one final defeat for their gods.
19 And the angel of God, which went in front of the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from in front of them, and stood behind them.
God is making sure they have the time they need to make the hike across the sea.
Some speculate that this pillar of fire/cloud is the tail of dust and fire from a comet that got too near Earth. Other countries record what sounds like a comet at this time with a great many disturbances. The ones nearer to Egypt record seeing the tail of the comet "fighting" with Earth.
20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and it was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to Israel, so that the one came not near the other all night.
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the I AM caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
That had to have been some wind!
It has been observed in many places all over the world for a wind strong enough, blowing long enough, to separate a body of water and even dry out the land under it. This is called a “Wind Setdown,” and is similar to a “Storm Surge.”
Now, it doesn’t usually happen in places this deep, but God is not limited and could certainly have created a wind strong enough to do the job, especially if He chose to use the gravity and atmosphere disruptions that would have occurred if a comet came this close.
Computer simulations say 12mph wind on a 6 foot deep body of water blowing for 12 hours would completely dry the water in the middle up. This is only a middle range tropical storm-force wind. Hurricanes often get over 100mph. We regularly have winds that strong here in our desert home.
David said, “He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as a heap” (Psalms 78:13).
I understand it is common in deserts everywhere for strong winds to insta-freeze water. In Exodus 15 we will read Moses singing about God congealing the waters. Could God have not only divided the water here, but caused a couple of nice, secure ice walls to form? This would have allowed the wind to stop while Israel passed through, yet the waters stay in walls for a brief time.
Paul says this was a type of baptism;
1 Corinthians 10:1-2 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” (ESV)
As Israel passed from captivity to freedom by going through the waters, we pass from the captivity of sin to the freedom of Christ through baptism. We are saved before baptism, just as Israel was free before the Red Sea Crossing, but this first act of obedience on our part seals our salvation, making it very real indeed.
22 And the children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right hand, and on their left.
So, did the kids poke at the fish watching them from the walls of water?
Ron Wyatt found a Phoenician column on the southern end of Nuweiba beach. Its inscriptions were defaced or eroded. Later an identical column was discovered at Baal-zephon on the opposite shore. Its inscriptions, which are intact, say it was erected by King Solomon in honor of Jehovah, and dedicated to the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by Moses and destruction of the Egyptian host. Obviously, Solomon (who was only 430 years after the Exodus- about as far as we are from the Pilgrims) thought this was the right crossing place.
23 And the Egyptians chased them, and went in after them to the middle of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
They assumed they could go anywhere Israel could go. Assumptions are not a good thing.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the I AM looked at the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and made the Egyptian army panic.
25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, “Let's run away from the face of Israel, for the I AM is fighting for them against us!"
The Egyptians are now stuck in the middle of the sea with no chariot wheels and walls of water/ice towering over them. If it was ice, they may be beginning to hear cracking.
Also, according to Psalms 77, there was an earthquake and a thunder storm:
“15 Thou have with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows (Lightning?) also went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
20 Thou lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
26 And the I AM said to Moses, “Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
27 At sunrise Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and it returned to its normal place, and the Egyptians ran away from it, but the I AM threw the Egyptians into the middle of the sea.
28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after Israel. There wasn't one of them left.
Obviously, Pharaoh drowned with his troops. Unfortunately, there is more than one pharaoh who disappeared suddenly from the records and who has no mummy or a badly preserved mummy. This makes it difficult to figure out who this is, though other evidence convinces me it’s Neferhotep, who did disappear suddenly from the records, was not followed by his son (who also just disappeared), but by his brother.
One reason I am convinced of the Gulf of Aqaba crossing is because it is the only potential crossing sight with chariot wheels, and human and horse bones scattered along the bottom of the water. ( http://www.arkdiscovery.com/red_sea_crossing.htm for pictures!) Wouldn’t we expect such “leftovers” where the greatest army in the world was drowned?
Of course, after some 3500 years, it would be disappointing, but not too surprising, for the evidence to have been washed away or completely decayed. But exactly why would chariots, people and horses be at the bottom of Aqaba if they aren’t Pharaoh’s army? How did they get there? I am convinced this really is Pharaoh’s army.
“Speaking to WorldNetDaily from the isle of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Moller, the author of “The Exodus Case,” says the key in finding the correct route of the Israelites is to understand that the Hebrew reference to “yam suph” does not mean “sea of reeds” as many scholars have claimed.
“Moller says it refers specifically to the Gulf of Aqaba, and while he’s not formally affiliated with the Wyatts, he agrees with them that a host of other evidence can be found on the Arabian side of the water, including remains of the golden calf, pillars, altars and even the rock the Bible says Moses split to bring forth water for the Israelites.
“Regarding the items found beneath the waters, Moller believes there are remnants not only of chariots and wheels, but also human and animal skeletons.
““There was a disaster [there] a long time ago,” he said. “Whatever that is, it’s open to interpretation.”
“He also notes that the downward and upward slope of the Aqaba crossing path actually falls within current U.S. standards for handicapped ramps.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2003/06/19382/#ruL2rcwmCcw4CWOh.99
29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.
Yeah, I can see the kids poking at the fish.
30 This is how the I AM saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore.
31 And Israel saw that great work which the I AM did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the I AM, and believed the I AM, and His servant Moses.