King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 13 notes
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
3For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
5And 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?
This is madness…😡.. A spirit of mental illness was upon them.
Why would you do that after all that was done to you?
They had so soon forgotten.
The note above was in Feb 2022 — to add to it (13th March 2024): the spirit of madness was brought upon them by the Lord, i.e. the hardness of their hearts. I have also dropped a comment on the possible elements accounting for this behaviour of theirs from a natural perspective and a supernatural perspective, and these two ✌️, i.e. the natural and supernatural, merge nicely.
This suggests that:
1. Pharaoh understood that Israel 🇮🇱 was going into the wilderness to serve the Lord, albeit for three days as Moses had said earlier, and to return.
2. He disagreed because he long suspected they ran the risk of taking advantage to flee.
3. Now that he had gotten word that indeed they did flee, his fears were confirmed.
4. Pharaoh had spies and eyes on Israel 🇮🇱 to check out what they were doing and if they would flee.
5. For Pharaoh to have kept eyes on Israel 🇮🇱 despite all the loss he had suffered indicated he wanted them to come back as agreed 🤝 — to let them come back into his domain after their God had killed their first born.
6. For Pharaoh to have pursued Israel 🇮🇱 even after all the loss of his first born and all the loss from the plagues indicates he, Pharaoh, was never going to let Israel go under any circumstance.
7. For Pharaoh's and his subjects' hearts to be so set on never letting Israel go except over their own dead bodies — not that of their sons or property — indicates the grand benefits they were enjoying under their enslavement of 🇮🇱 Israel 🇮🇱.
7b. Israel 🇮🇱 was literally their life, and they couldn't imagine nor live without the contribution of the Israelites.
They would rather die than give up such a life.
Now I understand why men, the wicked, would kill for fame, riches and material possessions. This is wisdom.
7c. This explains why God told Moses to start off by asking for a three-day journey into the wilderness. He was never going to budge under any circumstances if the reason was for them to just go free to their promised land.
8. This is the heart of man under demonic hardening and divine influence; how much more when men, especially believers, are under the influence of demonic spirits and demon-possessed human beings.
They will not let us go except by the finger of God. This was a whole nation, so it was the hand 🖐️ of God, but Christ lets us know that he casts out demons by the finger ☝️ of God.
6And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
7And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
So this was the military might by which Egypt kept Israel enslaved.
They were never going to be free.. no, not in a thousand years.
8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
9But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
10And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
11And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
Their faith, not even just faith but even their memory, failed them.
They had so soon forgotten. But that is the nature 🏞 of the flesh. It's so powerful and controls us so easily.
The fear of death and the looming danger of the army of the then super 👌 power.
Moses did exhibit faith though.
13And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
Moses had been prior notified that this would happen, so he was bold in the face of death ☠.
14The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Hmm 🤔.. The Lord was tough on Moses; the days of crying 😢 out were passing... Take action, says the Lord... Move forward.
16But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Not just move forward but stretch out thine hand 🖐️ and divide the sea 🌊.
Now the Moses–God partnership was coming so strong 💪, it seemed it was Moses who was doing the division ➗.
17And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
19And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
So there was the pillar of cloud 🌥 and the angel 😇 of the Lord right before their faces, and yet they doubted the Lord.
It is human nature; we all fall prey to it, and these have been written for our learning.
20And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD 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.
How long did this take for the sea to begin to be parted?
I don't think 🤔, as soon as Moses stretched his hand 🖐️, the parting began…. It might have taken some time.
22And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
At this point it was both at the same time... i.e. the pillar of...
25And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
Why are they now realizing this... A spirit of stupor was upon them.
After all the Lord had done against them all these ten times in Egypt through the plagues, are they now realising this?
Well, it was too late now.
Then I realized in like manner the devil and demons can cast darkness upon a man so that foolishly he digs his own grave.
Let's look at our own lives — we sometimes make some of the most stupid of decisions and wonder what we were thinking when we made them.
Things we could have very easily walked away from, but we continue on in them to our hurt.
Lord, deliver us from any demonic bondage and blindness set over our hearts 💕 to our own hurt.
Deliver us, oh God, deliver us.
26And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
So God honored the leadership of his servant Moses, causing Moses to do the physical actions and he, God, fulfilling it.
This way his leadership was greatly honored in the eyes 👀 of Israel.
This again goes to buttress the point that God is a God of process. He is not erratic.
27And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
Was this an all-night event, i.e. the restoration of the sea? Did he stretch his hand literally all night? Possibly he did, till the sea returned, as we see in the war with Amalek when he stretched his hand till the war was over.
Probably this duration was shorter than that of the war with Amalek, because in the war Moses' hand got so tired it needed support.
28And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
29But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
31And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.