The Miracle at the Red Sea: Moses' Big Day

Show Notes

Episode 456: 
In this episode, Chris and Jeff delve into the detailed account of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea. They highlight the faith and leadership of Moses, who reassures the panicked Israelites and encourages them to trust in God's plan, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Well, if you're listening according to each day, happy Monday and good morning, good morning, it is Monday, and nobody likes Mondays or I wonder if there's anybody that actually likes Mondays. I don't know, like if somebody says, oh, it's Monday. Oh, they just need to keep it to themselves. That's how I feel about it. Just keep it to yourself. I think so too. But anyway, good morning. Nevertheless, nonetheless, and my name is Chris, this is Jeff. We are the Bible Guys, and today we're continuing with Moses, and today's the big miracle, that's right, and I'm super excited about it. We're going to be reading out of Exodus chapter fourteen. But Desiree gave us a very interesting segment today to deal with. And this is something I've never contemplated before, No, never, right ever, So she I liked new thoughts. If Moses had to host a podcast discussing the logistics of parting the Red Sea, who would his guest speakers be, Which is a crazy thought. Yeah, I think that's a good idea. So, you know, it's very clever. It sounds like a skit. It turns out we happened to be, you know, podcast hosts. Yes, So I thought that was clever. And we're reading about Moses going to the Red Sea, and there had to been a lot of logistics. We're moving a couple million people. And I love the fact that you asked AI for this. So I sat down and asked chat gpt it. I said, if Moses hosted a podcast discussing logistics parting the Red Sea, who might he invite to be his guests? Which, by the way, the answers are so scary. It's scary that a computer can just spit this back out one. So I asked it for funny answers. Yes, right, so on purpose, and so it said the first one was the Egyptian Army swimming instructor, which is great, which is great, right to discuss what went wrong with their aquatic training program after this event was over. So I thought that was funny. Well, sir, can you explain why everybody to arownd? That's a funny one. This was funny. I didn't expect this one might also have a guest host who was a stand up comedian to add some humor about what it must have been like to see walls of water and think, well, this day just got weird, right, Yeah, And I'm sure you can just go off on that. I can picture a comedian, oh man, yeah, yeah, yeah, water going. Pharaoh's boat rental guy would be another one that. Yeah, to discuss the sudden surge and boat rental requests right after the sea part. That's great. Yeah, I'm just standing there and suddenly everybody wanted to rint my boats. Yep. A weather forecaster to explain how they totally missed predicting a sudden sea split in the forecast. Oh, there's that a fish. You could interview a fish to give the underwater perspective, especially the confusion about why their home suddenly had a no water zone. So there's that, Well there's fish. Can't talk. Chet GPT doesn't know everything. Well, I'm pretty sure you're the guy who talks about Disney all the time. And Nemo talked he did, yeh, he talked to other fish. Jeff Well Alls, I'm saying I didn't talk to the desk. I don't know, I don't know. Remember, yeah, I remember the bird was yelling and then when it went to the p humans it was a rock. Yeah. Well, Moses also talked to God in a bush. Bush just don't talk either. That's true, right, it's true. And then a hydraulic engineer to sarcastically take credit for designing the world's first and only natural watergates. So there you go. That's it. I thought those were very, very useful. They could be interesting, and we could probably get some very dynamic conversation out of swimming instructors in Pharaoh's boat rental. Guess. So here's the thought. I wonder if there'll be a podcast in heaven. We get up there and they were like, hey, where's everybody at? And we walk over and they're like, oh, they're all over on the east wing, and we go to the east wing and it turns out they're all just right. Yeah, todays is Moses is a big day, just listening to the big podcast. And I say, well, and then then we say, oh, my gosh, it took you thirty five hundred years to have a podcast. And then they say, what are you talking about. We just got here yesterday, but I'm pumped. There you go, okay, that's rough, Chris, come on, very rough, Come on, very very rough. I think we're going to leave the humor to chat GBT. Now, just tell me something funny. Our Bible people appreciated that that was a funny one. Okay, good, okay, So there you go. I think that was interesting. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Dez that we we would have never thought of those people. Matter of fact, I would have thought, like, you know, Aaron and Joshua and you know, just kind of nerdy stuff. But these were way better. Yeah, for sure, that's really funny. Okay. So then today we are picking up where the God has sent the plugs upon Egypt. The pharaoh finally says just get out, just go, right, and then he continues to change his mind, and then and then he lets them go because we're we're not going to read that's correct, letting go part. That's correct. I just said. He lets him go and says, just go. You said that. I just said it, And am I boring you to death? I'm talking and you're like, yeah, yeah, I hope he was making noise so I can say something, lady and gentlemen, pharaohsboth changed his mind in case he hadn't picked it up. Apparently Pharaoh's going to let them go. Yes, yes, but we're not going to read that part, I think, Chris. Let us know. Okay, okay, here we go verse five, first five. When we're reached the King of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds. What have we done letting all those Israelites slaves get away? They asked. So Pharaoh harnessed his chariot and called up his troops. He took with him six hundred of Egypt's best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander. The Lord hardened the heart of the Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance. The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh's army, all his horses and chariots, and his charioteers and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi hai h How do you say that pi Hahirath across from bell Zafan bail zephon. Yeah, I got that one, okay. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them, and they cried out to the Lord. 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? Didn't we tell you this what happened 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. 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. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Then the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving. 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. 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. When my glory is displayed through them, all egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord. 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. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned a fire, lighting up the night, but the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. 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 sea bed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground with walls of water on each side. Then the Egyptians, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and charioteers, chased them into the middle of the sea. 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. He twisted their chariot wheels, making the chariots difficult to drive. Let's get out of here, away from the Israelites. The Egyptians shouted, The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt. When all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, raised your hand over the sea again, and then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers. 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. 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. 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. 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 sea shore. 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. There you go. So they all drowned, all of them. Yeah, so six hundred chariots the rest of the army, and then it said, and then all the other chariots of Egypt. So there weren't just six hundred, there were plenty, right, And it's just amazing to me. How you know, do you think that six hundred is a small number of chariots, well, compared to a million people. I started thinking about the army force. But then I started, as you were reading that, actually my brain started going to like these war movies in my mind, and I started thinking, like, how many people can one chariot take down? Right? So, if you're in a chariot and you're just going up against defenseless people who are unarmed, I imagine a chariot can take down quite a few people. Oh yeah, you know, especially you just drive by with a sword in Kabam, Right, Well, some of those chariots in those ancient days, they would hook up essentially what would be like big swords sticking out from the wheel hubs. Yeah, and they would just go through and just mow people down. Yeah, it's pretty rough. So I don't know if the Egyptians did that, but I know that some of the ancient fighters would. Yeah. So yeah, So it's just an unbelievable thing to think. Several things. Actually, one thing that stands out to me is the comment that says dry ground. You know, so the water parts and what this soil that had been under that water for how many years? Now? Right, you know, since it's creation, probably all of a sudden becomes dry. So the Bible doesn't give us details by accident, so you know, otherwise they'd be walking in mud. Have you ever walked in mud so deep that when you're I've actually had it to where I know you have where I actually stepped in mud so deep to where I couldn't pull my leg up. And then when I finally used enough strength to pull my leg up, my shoes stuck, and then I pulled up my sock, and then all of a sudden, the mud closes and my shoes buried like it is gone. Oh, it's like a foot and a half deep right inside the mud. And so I mean you would imagine that's what the ground would be like. So how could a million people walk through in just less than a day? Right, And the answer is it has to be completely dry. So that's pretty amazing. Well. I only know of one partial miracle in the Bible, and that was when Jesus healed that guy his blind blindness and the guy goes, well, I see people walk around like trees and Jesus heals him again. Remember that part, Yeah, like they were like the blind God he saw like like images like like blurry. Yeah, he was kind of saying, hey, things are still blurry. And Jesus finished that miracle. Other than that, all the other miracles and I think Jesus was doing a thing there right that he did Yeh, he didn't mess up. All the rest of the miracles are complete and total. They're always complete. It's not just like a partial because it would have been impressive just standing the water up right, right, But God does a complete miracle. And every once in a while somebody will tell me about how, you know, some faith healer healed them, and hey, things are better. It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it used to. I'm like, well, the miracles in the Bible are it wouldn't hurt at all, right if that was real. So how much of this cycles semantic versus you know, the real deal? But you always see total miracles. So here you go. You've got these guys, man, and they're running in typical fashion. Here's the theme for almost all the rest of Moses's leadership. They get out, Yay, we're free. They literally they're leaving Egypt with their fists in the air in defiance. Right. And then they get to the water and say, you did this to us, right, right? It's Moses is the best, Moses is the worst. Moses is the best, Moses is the worst. Right, And this is for the next forty years of Moses is the worst. Yeah, and he's thinking, I sign up for this. Yeah, these clowns. Yeah. So another thing that we skipped over that whenever I talk about this passage or teach this passage, I camp on the fact that I love God's instructions to Moses. Because the army got together and they were heading, you know, their way. But even before they saw them. If you back up a few verses, God spoke to Most and said, Okay, here's the plan. Okay, I want you to take the people. I want you to take them all the way up to the edge of the sea between those two cities that were hard to read, and I want you to stay there. And the Israelites will think that you're trapped Egypt excuse me, the Egyptians will think that you're trapped and you have nowhere to go. He' say okay, ready break, and that was it. So the instructions that God gave Moses had the zero indication of what God was up to. So that's why I love that part of the passage is because you know, clearly God knows what he's doing. Clearly God spoke, and God gave very specific instructions, and yet the instructions were horrible. He says, hey, I got an idea. I got an idea. Camp yourself up against the water to where you have nowhere else to go. Ready break, you know, And that was it. He didn't even say, like, and then I'm going to part the red sea. He just said do that. And so that's why Moses here has confidence. So the people see that you know the chariots coming. They're absolutely convinced that they're going to die. Why because they spent the last four hundred years seeing what the Egyptians can do with chariots, right, and they've seen what it means to defy them, and so now that their wrath has been turned under them, they're absolutely convinced they're going to die, which is why they say, oh, great, Moses, now you've done it right. And then Moses is like, wait a minute, these are instructions given by God. Right, we're walking in faith. He didn't tell us what to do next. He just told us the first step. And there's a sermon in there that talks about you know, I mean that we can apply that would tell us God may not give you the entire solution, but he may ask us to step out in faith. And that's really what faith means. Otherwise it wouldn't take faith with it. It wouldn't take faith if we knew exactly what was going to happen. And so it's a lesson learned to say, Okay, God, I'm just going to do the next the next thing. How many times have you had somebody say I just wish God would give me a sign. Oh geez. Every moment of my ministry, I bet you most of our listeners have had a moment in their life where they just feel like their faith would be stronger if God would give them a sign. Yes. So the people of Israel saw God, you know, turn water into blood. Yeah, So wouldn't that be enough of a sign for you to go, Okay, God's always got me, right, But then there's boils and hail and frogs, frogs right, and lice and darkness, darkness literally the sun, God was de neutered in that minute, right for three days, and so just God, give me a sign. And I'm gonna say, I'm just gonna call bs on that one. If God gave you a sign, you still wouldn't have very much more faith than they do, because they got ten signs, including the killing of Pharaoh son and all the other firstborn sons in Egypt. And then they pillage Egypt without having to steal anything. They just the Egyptians gave them gold and silver. Their pockets are full full of gold and silver and jewelry and all that kind of stuff. They're standing at the edge of the sea and then they turn around and go God for good us and Moses, we told you not to do this. Isn't that what they said? They're like, we told you not to bring us out here. Just let us be slaves in Egypt. Right, It's better to die in Egypt a slave than it has to come out here in the wilderness and die be a corpse in the wilderness. And Moses is looking at going, Okay, God gave you ten signs eleven if you include the fact that their pockets are full, and then the people still doubt God. God can do all those other things, but he can't solve this one, right, And so I'm just gonna say Christians say that all the time. People claim that I don't think there's a lot of intellectual integrity in demanding that God give a sign when we know historically millions of Israelites they didn't. They had literally in the last few weeks enough signs to rock my world. And yet they're standing there at the edge of the sea, going, well, we're dying now. God delivered all the way to this point, but I guess this is where we die. Yeah, But you know, it's it's also a funny thing when you're confronted with actual death. You know, we don't realize how we're going to act in that moment. Sure, I think I told you a story where I always hoped that would be the person to run into the fire, you know, But then this thing happens, and I don't to find out I wasn't, you know, in the moment, and and I was like, gee whiz, like I'm sort of disappointed in myself, right, Like this thing happened. It was really scary, and I stood on the other side of the road, you know, and uh, and it was only a split second, but still I talked to myself, Gosh, I I'd like to think I'd be the guy to run back in the building, right And and yet you know, it turns out I didn't. So I mean there is that, you know where may perhaps they were so scared that but wouldn't you think yesterday God killed all of the all of the firstborn people of Egypt, and we're walking out with pockets full of gold and silver yesterday? I mean, I mean, we're not talking over the course of your life. This is literally yesterday. And now they're saying that I'm just saying, we are so fickle in our in our faith, our faith, ebbs and flows yesterday it is. That's exactly what happens. So then Moses, Moses does it. By the way, here's for those of you their leaders. Here's a great thing. Moses didn't know what was going to happen either. At this point. He had no concept of what was about to happen. The people are freaking out, and Moses says, don't be afraid, right right, calm down, just stand still. What else are they going to do? Right? They're surrounded, right, so just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today, and the Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Moses, first of all, understood his first job was to calm the people down right. People can't make good decisions when they're panicking. They want to run, they want to freak out. You know, I've told this before, but lions a lot of time, their roar is designed to scare and spook the gazelles and just get the gazelles to run away from the herd. And then it gets way easier to catch one than it is to try to get them. All right, and so you know, just he says, stay calm, stay where you are. God's gonna fight for you. Well, one of the reasons why he knew God was going to fight for them is because there was no other option. And he'd already seen God fight for them eleven eleven times here, and so there was no other option. Just calm down. And that's that's I think, great leadership, good shepherds. Calm down the sheep, because the sheep want to run, they want to panic on this kind of stuff. But then, but then I think this is funny. The very next so he says, calm down, don't be afraid. God's gonna fight for you. The very next verse, the Lord tells Moses, why are you crying to me? So inside Moses is freaking out right. On the outside, Moses is like, calm down, God's going to fight for us. And the very next verse, God goes, dude, why are you freaking out right right? Yeah? So, so somewhere in there Moses went to God and he's like, what are we doing? What are we doing? There's a place where David. King David tells his fighters, his soldiers all think that they're going to die. Remember, they're going to come up again. Saw and King David turns around and he says, no, no, he's talking to the mighty men. These are the leaders of the warriors. And he turns around, of the mighty man, it's time for you to play the man, right, because the rest of our armies are watching us, right right. Sometimes you just have to step up and be that person of courage, even when you're just trembling on the inside. And I think there's there's something about that here where he just stepped up and he said, God's going to have to take care of us. We have no other options. But on the inside he's just a mess. And God says, why you know, why are you crying out to me? And then raise that staff. Remember he's already used that rod, right, he's already used that staff. He's already done miracles with it. And so God decided to use the thing that was in Moses's hand to deliver the people. So I'm the movie and TV guy, and so I'm gonna go full Nerd on you. There's a famous meme, maybe you've seen it going around. It's a Star Trek meme where this captain, this white haired captain comes over and bulldozes everybody in the enterprise and uh, and then Captain Riker, Jonathan Riker, not captain but Commander Recker says to Deanna Troy, and she's a baitazoy. She she senses emotions and those are people thinking. And he goes, well, I will say this, he sure is confident, and and she knows the inside of him, and she goes, actually, he's not at all. And so then it cuts there right right, and so and this thing goes I've seen it one hundred times and and and it's interesting, how you know, here's this goofy little nerdy show and uh, and it's depicting exactly what we're talking about right here, because it resonates with every every scenario, doesn't it. Whereas as a leader of your family, you you play the man. You know, you be strong for somebody and on the inside you're like a sure hope. So, which, by the way, is exactly why it's so meaningful to me when John the Baptist sent that message to Jesus and says, are just tell me, just just just tell me, so I can hear from your own words. Are you the one that she commor should we look for another? Right? Because his entire life, he's the one that says he's the one that he says messages, Jesus goes, are you the ones? So they're about to come my head off just right. We're not fooling around with this, right, this is legit. Yes, yeah. And then another thing I was going to tell you is I was going to bring this up. Wow, it's almost time to go. But you're familiar with Ron Wyatt's in Israel, all his diggings in Israel. There's a guy famous in fifty sixty seventies where he's so famous in that he uncovered so much evidence saying this is real, this is real, this is real. And there's a group of people that says, oh, he falsified evidence, because there's no way he one person found so many irrefutable things. But then there's another group of people that says, no, no, no, But up until this point, nobody had looked as hard as run Wyatt, right, and so you know, people financed his expeditions and he went and just decided to dedicate and and so anyway, so whether you believe in Ron's findings are not h he found a very particular thing that he claims that he knows exactly where the people cross the Red Sea, and there was like a waddie and it would have been like a you know, like a little trail where there's mountains on every side. And so God would have told them to camp on this beachhead and and and so imagine that a million people going through this tiny, little winding trail with mountains on every side. In other words, there's no way out, right, there's only one way in, one way out, and it ends up on this beachhead with mountain ranges on either side. Definitely big enough for a million people. And then if you do a this is crazy, but if you do a what do you call those things where they measure the sona sonar. Yeah, underneath it looks as if and this is this part is true. It looks as if it's super deep. And then it comes up and there's like a man, there's like a god made bridge like a land bridge, like a land bridge, going from from this body to the other side. And what he says, Ron Wyatt says he found he found a stone pillar on one side that said, uh, this this commemorates the the crossing. But it wasn't but it wasn't a It didn't say much more than that right, and so he says, this has to be where they crossed, based on the sonar, based on where where the cities were, all these different kinds of things. And then he says that in the Red Sea that there's coral that if you if you look at the shape of coral could be construed as the gold, the gold around the chariot's wheels. Uh, that the coral had grown around and there's several things that are perfectly round, and he says, he says that that that would have been the base. That's why it didn't disintegrate. So it's pretty interesting. Wow, and and so and it's and it's like, wow, well, whether whether or not, uh, you know, whether or not that's exactly the place that they crossed. The thing that made me fascinated was that God would have created the Red Sea with this land bridge, knowing that one day this would happen, right, knowing that this would be the moment where you know, it was just fascinates or he created it right then? Oh yeah, that's right. He could have created it right then, who knows, Right, that's kind of neat. So it's neat, but hey, anyway you look at it, God delivers the people of Israel and from this point on Egypt leaves them alone. Yep, that's right. And that's how God does. God does complete miracles. He always completely resolves a thing. Well, that's our time, so we will pick up next time. We'll see then on the Bible, guys,