God Saw the Affliction of His People (Walk Thru the Bible Week 4)

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,680
Welcome to Walk Through the Bible, Susan Michael's 12 month journey through the most exciting

2
00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,180
book on the planet.

3
00:00:08,180 --> 00:00:11,200
It will transform your life one page at a time.

4
00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,640
Be sure to subscribe for future episodes that will ignite your faith and bring your Bible

5
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,640
to life.

6
00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,680
Now, let's join our host, Susan Michael.

7
00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,480
Well, hey there.

8
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:25,480
Welcome back.

9
00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:31,800
This is Walk Through the Bible, week number four, and congratulations are in order.

10
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:36,400
You have finished the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis.

11
00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:42,680
This week you're beginning on the second book of Exodus, so congratulations.

12
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:48,560
Our theme this week is that God saw the affliction of His people.

13
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:57,240
And we are covering in the daily Bible, it's pages 97 to 121, or the dates of January

14
00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,320
22nd through the 28th.

15
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,480
Now let's compare Genesis and Exodus.

16
00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,200
In the book of Genesis, you know, it was the book of beginnings.

17
00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,480
And the book of Exodus means exit.

18
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,960
So it is about the Exodus out of Egypt.

19
00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:21,120
In Jewish thought, it's known as the book of the covenant, though, because the second

20
00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:27,120
part of the book of Exodus is about God's covenant with His people that He made in the

21
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:28,120
desert.

22
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:34,880
Now, in Genesis, our bigger than life patriarch is Abraham.

23
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,240
He rules the story.

24
00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:43,280
In Exodus, we have a new leader, and his name is Moses.

25
00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,280
Now Moses is educated.

26
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,280
He's trained.

27
00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,120
He's been raised in the royal household.

28
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:59,120
He is all, he becomes an author and a law giver and a builder and a military leader.

29
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:07,440
I mean, he is really a very capable man, quite a leader in all of history.

30
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:13,160
The book of Exodus, as I said, the first part tells about the Exodus from Egypt.

31
00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,600
And so let's review the story that we're reading this week.

32
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:22,880
We left off last week where the Israelites have been living in Egypt.

33
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:24,800
They went there for food.

34
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:30,880
God used Joseph to save the people of Israel as well as the people of Egypt.

35
00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:40,800
And Joseph, Jacob has died in Egypt, and he's taken to be buried in the land of promise.

36
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,320
And then later Joseph dies in Egypt.

37
00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,200
And that's sort of how we left off last week.

38
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:55,960
Now this week, we see the oppression gaining on the Israelites.

39
00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,240
They have been made slaves.

40
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:04,560
A new Pharaoh arrived in Egypt that didn't know Joseph, and he saw these Israelites.

41
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,560
They were multiplying like crazy.

42
00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:13,480
And so he began to treat them harshly and to put them into slavery.

43
00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:21,160
And finally he said, look, just I want the midwives to kill every newborn baby because

44
00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,680
these Israelites, man, they're just multiplying like crazy.

45
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:31,960
And the midwives tried their best not to do that and refused to do it.

46
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:38,920
And we have the story of one of the Hebrew women named Jokabed, and she gave birth to

47
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,640
a boy and she knew that he was supposed to be killed.

48
00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:49,320
So she puts him into a basket, puts him there at the edge of the Nile River, and he is then

49
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:58,240
found by a daughter of Pharaoh who takes him into her home and raises him.

50
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:06,120
And one day, now Moses as an adult who knows he's Hebrew, he knows he's of that heritage.

51
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:16,120
He goes down, he sees the slaves, he sees an Egyptian taskmaster mistreating the Hebrews.

52
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:22,880
And in fact, he strikes the Hebrew and so Moses strikes back and he actually kills the

53
00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,920
Egyptian.

54
00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:30,280
And so once it becomes known that he's done this, he flees Egypt, he goes to the land

55
00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:31,880
of Midian.

56
00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:41,480
Now Midian is all the way past the Sinai Desert across the Gulf of Aqaba, which is a part of

57
00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:42,480
the Red Sea.

58
00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,480
It's in Saudi Arabia today, the area of Midian.

59
00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,040
But it seems like that's where he went.

60
00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:58,720
And the Midianites, they were nomadic and so they did travel into the Sinai area and

61
00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:05,640
maybe it was in the Sinai where he met Jethro and his daughters and he remained there and

62
00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,720
he married one of the daughters named Zipporah.

63
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:16,520
And it's some 40 years later that God then speaks to Moses from a burning bush on Mount

64
00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:23,760
Horib and he demonstrates his power to Moses and he reveals his name to Moses and then

65
00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:31,160
he says to Moses, he's going to send him back to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh allow

66
00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,040
his people to go free.

67
00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,160
And of course, Moses is very insecure about this and unsure.

68
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,360
He says, please, my brother Aaron, he speaks much better than me.

69
00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,560
So finally God says, okay, you can take Aaron.

70
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:52,840
But in the end, you know, it's Moses that did the speaking to Pharaoh, which is interesting.

71
00:05:52,840 --> 00:06:00,800
Now in this confrontation between the God of the Hebrews and Pharaoh, who is worshiped

72
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:06,040
as a God of the Egyptian people, he's seen as divine.

73
00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:10,480
And there's this great confrontation now taking place where God is telling him to let

74
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,720
his people go free and Pharaoh refuses to do it.

75
00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:22,760
And so there's a series of plagues upon Egypt until finally, Pharaoh himself loses his first

76
00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:28,600
born son and he tells the Israelites to leave.

77
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:34,760
And God has instructed them, the Israelites, to prepare to leave.

78
00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,840
But because of that final plague, they were to kill a lamb and put the blood of the lamb

79
00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:45,200
on their doorpost and that house would be passed by by this plague.

80
00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,440
It would not enter a house covered by the blood of the lamb.

81
00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,640
And so the Israelites did that.

82
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,880
They were spared that final plague the next morning.

83
00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,600
They were able to flee Egypt.

84
00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:08,680
And their next big obstacle, of course, is what is known as the Red Sea or the Reed Sea.

85
00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,000
We'll talk about that later, but it's a big body of water.

86
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,280
They need to cross it.

87
00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,560
The Egyptian army is behind them.

88
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,240
We all know the story because why?

89
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:22,880
Well, not only have most of us read it or heard it in Sunday school.

90
00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,040
We've all watched the Ten Commandments, right?

91
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,720
It's my absolute favorite movie.

92
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:30,680
I love the Ten Commandments.

93
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,600
I would love to watch it every single year.

94
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,920
It's always on around the time of Passover or Easter.

95
00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,040
But finally, my husband said he was so tired of the Ten Commandments, so I haven't been

96
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,720
able to watch it for a few years.

97
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,720
But absolutely love the movie.

98
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,280
We've all seen it.

99
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:52,040
And Moses raises his staff and the waters part.

100
00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,480
And there's a big wall of water on both sides.

101
00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,200
And the Israelites walk through on dry ground.

102
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,680
That's exactly what the Bible says.

103
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:07,000
It says there was a wall of water on each side and they walk through on dry ground.

104
00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:15,200
Then the Egyptian army began to walk into the dry ground and pursue the Israelites.

105
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,080
And the water then comes rushing back and covers them and drowns the Egyptian army.

106
00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:21,440
It's quite a story.

107
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:31,680
I mean, this is really befitting of a major cinematic production, which it was made into

108
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:32,680
one.

109
00:08:32,680 --> 00:08:34,720
And it's so fun to watch that.

110
00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,400
I love watching it.

111
00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,840
Now God has his people alone.

112
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,080
The Egyptians are gone.

113
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,920
The enemy is gone.

114
00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,680
They're now in the wilderness in the desert.

115
00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,720
They have no food, no water.

116
00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,880
And they're like, what in the world are we doing?

117
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,920
Did you bring us out here to die, Moses?

118
00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,160
And that begins the wilderness wanderings.

119
00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:08,600
So I want to take a minute here and talk about the two big unknowns in this story.

120
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:17,440
And the when and the where are the two big unknowns in this most dramatic story.

121
00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:23,880
Last week I talked about the whole timing issue of when were the Israelites in Egypt.

122
00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:30,080
And I hope you were able to watch the Going Deeper episode that we released last week.

123
00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:37,600
And we talk about the archaeological finds in Egypt that actually seem to indicate the

124
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,960
whole story is absolutely true.

125
00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,600
And the Israelites were there in Egypt.

126
00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:48,160
But the whole timing issue is the real key issue.

127
00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,480
The archaeologists are dating it at a different time.

128
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:53,920
What does the Bible say?

129
00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,280
So I hope you joined us on Going Deeper.

130
00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:04,360
Last week we interviewed Tim Mahoney, the producer of patterns of evidence of the Exodus.

131
00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:09,600
Now this week I want to talk about the when and the where.

132
00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:10,600
Also when.

133
00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:16,920
You know, a lot of times we will say that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400

134
00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:21,080
years, but that's really not the case.

135
00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:26,400
There are three different scriptures that talk about the timing of being around 400

136
00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:27,560
to 430 years.

137
00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:34,600
But these scriptures do not say that they were in slavery for 400 years.

138
00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:39,920
And it takes a little bit of analysis, which I took the time this week to do an analysis

139
00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,560
of those three scriptures to get to the bottom of it.

140
00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:55,920
And it was 430 years from the time Abraham entered Egypt to the time the Israelites were

141
00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:01,280
the Exodus out of Egypt and the law given in the desert.

142
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,680
So that's the 430 year period.

143
00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:11,240
Well, as we know, Abraham went to Egypt, then he went back and he had Isaac and then Isaac

144
00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:19,800
had Jacob and Esau and Jacob went up and labored for his two wives, Rachel and Leia.

145
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:26,120
So we have all these stories that have taken place that are a part of the 430 years.

146
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:31,080
So how long were the Israelites in Egypt under Joseph?

147
00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,640
It was more like about 200 years.

148
00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,640
And how many years were they actually in slavery?

149
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:45,120
And the estimate is it's anywhere from 86 years to roughly 120 years of slavery.

150
00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:51,480
I for one was a little relieved to find this out because I kept thinking, why did God allow

151
00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,160
them to be in slavery for 100 years?

152
00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,880
I mean, 100 years is long enough, believe me.

153
00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:09,400
But I understand now he did let them languish in this torturous situation for a whole 400

154
00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,000
years, more like 100 years.

155
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:18,760
The other issue on when did this happen is that the Bible never names Pharaoh.

156
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:19,760
We don't know.

157
00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:24,400
There's Pharaohs all the time from when Abraham first went to Egypt.

158
00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,400
And then there's Pharaohs through the whole Joseph story.

159
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:35,440
Now the slavery and then the Exodus story and never does the Bible tell us which Pharaoh

160
00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,240
was ruling at which time.

161
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,600
So it doesn't help us so much with the timing.

162
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:48,720
But there's one thing that in scripture that has been a little misleading.

163
00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:57,160
And that is that there's five different times in the Bible where the name Ramses is used

164
00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:04,280
to describe a section of the country or the city where the Israelites were and where the

165
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,560
Exodus began from Ramses.

166
00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:14,520
Well, that's why the Ten Commandments, if you watch that movie, it has Ramses the Second

167
00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:19,960
is the Pharaoh that has enslaved the Israelites.

168
00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:25,440
And he's the one that his army suffers during the Exodus.

169
00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:33,720
And that's because it says that the Israelite slaves left Ramses and then they went to other

170
00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,760
places and they come to the sea and they have the parting of the sea.

171
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:45,080
So it's like, well, Ramses, that must mean that all this took place during or after Ramses

172
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,200
the Second.

173
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:52,960
But when you look at the scriptures, you realize it doesn't say that that was the Pharaoh of

174
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:54,320
the time.

175
00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,520
It's using a geographical description.

176
00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,680
And we believe it was used anachronistically.

177
00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,840
I hope I pronounced that right.

178
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:11,560
And anachronism is when I'm writing about a location and I use the location name today

179
00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:13,080
when I'm writing it.

180
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:21,000
It's like, I call that place New York or Kentucky or Florida because that's what it's called

181
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,000
today.

182
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:29,240
But if I'm writing a historical novel or an analysis, it may not have been called that

183
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,240
back when the events happened.

184
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:36,360
And that's what we believe is the case here with the area called Ramses.

185
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:41,920
When the Israelites were there, it was not called Ramses.

186
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:48,040
It was called Ramses later on when the story was being written down.

187
00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:57,680
So this week on Going Deeper, we are going to talk about the timing issue here and the

188
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:04,720
place names leading up to the Exodus and the Red Sea parting.

189
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,640
So where was the Red Sea crossing?

190
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,160
We do not know.

191
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,600
There are two different viewpoints.

192
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:19,440
One is what we call the minimalist view.

193
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:26,600
That's the one where the translation of the term a yam-suf.

194
00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,840
This is the name of the body of water that they cross.

195
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:30,840
A yam-suf.

196
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,280
Yam means sea.

197
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:34,480
Everybody knows that.

198
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,760
But what does soof mean?

199
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:38,880
And some people say it means red.

200
00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,560
So it's the Red Sea.

201
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,680
And others say it means reeds.

202
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,080
It's the Red Sea.

203
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:53,800
Near the Egyptian border, there are lakes and marshy areas where the reeds grow.

204
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,160
Reeds don't grow in an ocean.

205
00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,960
They grow in lower levels of water.

206
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:08,640
And so the theory that the Israelites crossed one of these small lakes is called the minimalist

207
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:15,800
view because that means that the miracle was not as big and grandiose as the Bible seems

208
00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,720
to imply that it was.

209
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,960
Or that the movie, The Ten Commandments, shows that it was.

210
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,280
So that's why we call it the minimalist view.

211
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:34,280
There's another view that says that yam-suf means the Red Sea.

212
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:40,640
And it could either be the Gulf of Suez, which is an arm of the Red Sea, or the Gulf of Akhaba,

213
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,040
which is another arm of the Red Sea.

214
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:51,560
And that maybe the Israelites traveled for about three days and got over to the Gulf of

215
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:53,080
Akhaba.

216
00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:54,920
And that's a deep sea.

217
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:55,920
Very, very deep.

218
00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:02,840
In fact, it's so deep that even that's challenging that they have found one area of it that could

219
00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:04,520
have been passable.

220
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,160
The rest of it is so deep it's impossible for them to have passed.

221
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:15,760
But there is one area that they have found where this passing could have taken place.

222
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,000
So those are the two views.

223
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:25,480
But all of that affects also not only how big was the miracle, but it also affects where

224
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,760
was Mount Korib?

225
00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:29,920
Where is Mount Sinai?

226
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,720
And there's three different locations for it inside the Sinai Peninsula.

227
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:40,840
And there's another location in Saudi Arabia, because as I said, that's where ancient Midian

228
00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:42,680
was.

229
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,200
And so none of it's really, really clear.

230
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,560
But this week on Going Deeper, we have Tim Mahoney back with us.

231
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,000
We're going to talk about the crossing of the Red Sea.

232
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,680
He did a lot of investigation about it.

233
00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,160
What were his conclusions?

234
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,880
So please join us back here on Going Deeper this week.

235
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:11,520
Now let's talk about the plagues, because a major part of this story is the plagues.

236
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:17,920
And I want to say that once again, you know, everybody, they look at these miraculous stories

237
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:23,320
and they try to determine, well, could there be a natural explanation?

238
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:31,400
And so a natural explanation for the plagues, a minimalist view would be that it was all

239
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,400
caused by natural causes.

240
00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,600
Well, what would those causes be, you might be thinking?

241
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:44,160
Well, actually, they believe that it could have all started with the flooding of the

242
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:45,840
Nile.

243
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:52,320
And this flooding of the Nile then led to the growth of algae and bacteria.

244
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:58,080
But what's so interesting is just in the last few years, here in the United States,

245
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:04,000
we've had a growth of red algae, and it does make the water look red.

246
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,600
And it's also very, very full of bacteria.

247
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,000
And it makes your eyes burn.

248
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,120
People had to stay away from the beaches because of this algae.

249
00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:21,960
So they're saying that in the Nile River, flooding could have caused an algae like this

250
00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:30,040
that made the water look red and maybe have burst a growth of bacteria that may have made

251
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,080
the water red.

252
00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:40,120
It would have then made the frogs to be jumping out of the normal places of the Nile Rivers

253
00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:43,840
into the land because of the flooding.

254
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,480
It would have killed the fish.

255
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:53,680
The dead fish would have, and the bacteria in the water would have bred these insects

256
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,960
and the gnats and the flies.

257
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:03,560
And they may have carried disease themselves, which would have gone into the livestock.

258
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:08,000
And then the same disease and the insects could have caused boils on the skin.

259
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,240
So interesting, huh?

260
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:14,680
They actually say that this one could have led to the next, could have led to the next.

261
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:15,680
All right.

262
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,280
Then let's look at the locust.

263
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:23,160
Of course, locust swarms are not unusual in that part of the world.

264
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:28,960
Just in 2020, there was an absolutely humongous locust swarm.

265
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:33,560
It went through Africa and into the Middle East.

266
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:40,360
And so locust could have a natural explanation for it that year.

267
00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:42,520
You might be saying, well, what about hail?

268
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:48,320
Well, hail is not common in Egypt, but it's not impossible.

269
00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:53,400
And do you know that in 2020, they had a big hail storm in Egypt?

270
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,080
So it is possible.

271
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,480
And then the plague of darkness.

272
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:04,480
One theory is that it was what we call a ham scene.

273
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,560
Ham scene can last for about three days.

274
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:16,320
And it's when the hot desert air comes blowing in from the east and with it comes the dust

275
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,840
of the of the desert.

276
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,240
And I mean, it's a dust storm.

277
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,840
And so it can completely block out the sun.

278
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,960
It can make the day dark.

279
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:33,640
Now it's interesting that in the story, it says the Egyptians had darkness, but the Israelites

280
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,400
didn't.

281
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:36,920
Could there be a natural explanation?

282
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:37,920
I don't know.

283
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,680
But the point I'm getting to is this.

284
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:47,560
I believe that even if you can come up with a natural explanation for this or that, there

285
00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:54,240
is no explanation for the timing, which was absolutely miraculous.

286
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:59,920
And the announcements by Moses before the plague took place.

287
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,880
So there's still the hand of God in operation.

288
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:09,840
He might use natural forces to bring about the intended result.

289
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,640
So that doesn't deter me at all.

290
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:20,720
The final plague, which is the death of the firstborn once again, I cannot come up or have

291
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:28,040
not read any natural explanation or a plague that would have only struck the homes of the

292
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:34,560
Egyptians and not the homes of the Israelites that have put the blood on the door.

293
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:43,920
That seems to me beyond any natural explanation and one that is totally spiritual.

294
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,680
So don't misunderstand me.

295
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,560
I believe the whole story is a miracle.

296
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:54,240
I'm just telling you that if somebody comes to you and says, oh, well, there's a natural

297
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,120
explanation for it all.

298
00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:57,120
No.

299
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:03,960
It's not a natural explanation for the timing, for the announcement ahead of time, and for

300
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,320
God giving Pharaoh the choice before each one of them.

301
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:14,400
So don't let them belittle the miracles of the plagues.

302
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,360
And then of course, we have the Passover.

303
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:23,880
And God tells he is reliance to kill a lamb, put the door on the doorpost, and that this

304
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,800
will protect them during this plague.

305
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:38,520
The spiritual parallels, of course, to this Passover and to the blood on the doorpost

306
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:47,160
is that we see the spiritual explanation is that the world that is in bondage and slavery

307
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,480
and sin.

308
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:58,080
God comes and he reveals his power through Jesus and he revealed who he is through Jesus.

309
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:06,560
And then he delivered the ultimate sacrifice of his only son, Jesus, the Lamb of God slain

310
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,200
from the foundations of the earth.

311
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,680
The apostle Paul called him our Passover lamb was slain on our behalf.

312
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:20,640
And so as we accept that, and you could say we applied the blood of the lamb on our lives,

313
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,960
we come under it, we say, yes, I accept that sacrificial death on my behalf.

314
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,280
And I live under that blood.

315
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,640
We are then God's people.

316
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,720
We're identified as part of God's people.

317
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:37,960
And we are protected.

318
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:44,480
And we celebrate our own Passover every year in the form of the communion service.

319
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:50,040
So I mean, what an amazing spiritual parallel.

320
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,480
And you can't make this stuff up.

321
00:24:54,480 --> 00:25:01,560
And you know, when you look at the story of the Israelites, the story of the slavery and

322
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:07,360
then their deliverance and the Passover lamb and the Passover blood.

323
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:15,440
And then that they made God told them that they were to every year repeat this story

324
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:20,520
and to relive it as though it was they themselves who were slaves in Egypt.

325
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,560
And they do this with a Passover meal and a Passover Seder.

326
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:30,560
And it was at that Passover meal that Jesus took the cup and said, this is my blood shed

327
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:31,920
for you.

328
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:41,680
And so we as Christians now are also observing our own Passover in the form of a communion.

329
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,120
How did God do this?

330
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:53,320
How did he devise this very natural and physical acting out of something that became a spiritual

331
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:58,800
reality for millions of people all around the world later on?

332
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,360
That's what's so amazing about the Bible.

333
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:10,040
That's what I think makes it so exciting is that once you begin to understand the story

334
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:15,560
behind the story, it all just comes alive.

335
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:25,240
So now to finish our reading today, we've had the the plagues, the Passover, the Exodus,

336
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:30,880
we've gone through the Red Sea and now the Israelites are in the wilderness.

337
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:38,320
And now we begin a very, very tender story actually, although it's painful at moments,

338
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:44,240
but a very tender story of how God begins to reveal himself to his children, the children

339
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:45,680
of Israel.

340
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,680
And he reveals himself as their provider.

341
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:50,360
He provides water for them.

342
00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,600
He provides miraculous food for them.

343
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,200
He says, I am the God that heals you.

344
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,200
He's there to take care of their every need.

345
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:06,000
And then he begins to provide for them, reveal himself to them.

346
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,520
And then he begins to give them instruction.

347
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:15,840
And we're going to leave our story there this week.

348
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:22,000
And next week, we're going to pick up on God's instructions to his children and what he's

349
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,040
teaching them.

350
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:32,920
Remember the word Torah, which means the first five books of the Bible we refer to as Torah.

351
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,600
The word Torah means instruction.

352
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:43,680
And so God in revealing, telling the Israelites what to do, he's teaching them.

353
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,360
He's giving them instruction.

354
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:51,600
And that's the real heart of Torah is this instruction.

355
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,680
So we have covered our lesson for this week.

356
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,320
I really encourage you come back again in a couple of days.

357
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,920
We're going to launch Going Deeper.

358
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:09,120
It's going to be the evidences of the Exodus.

359
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,680
Interview with Tim Mahoney.

360
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,200
It's going to be really great.

361
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,960
So I can't wait to see you back here for Going Deeper.

362
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:23,400
And then next week for our next week's readings of Walk Through the Bible.

363
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:29,960
Down below in the show notes, we link to you to Tim Mahoney's two documentaries.

364
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,760
One is called Patterns of Evidence, the Exodus.

365
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,000
The other one is called Patterns of Evidence, the Red Sea.

366
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:44,320
If you want a fascinating watch, you will learn so much.

367
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:49,880
I really recommend that you get those two DVDs and watch the documentary.

368
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,720
For sure, join me back here on Going Deeper when we interview Tim Mahoney.

369
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,840
See you back here then and next week.

370
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:17,960
Until then, God bless.