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Out of the Ashes – Handout (Part-4)

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Out of the Ashes – Handout (Part-4) BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 1 INTRODUCTION: In this part of our study we will focus on possibly the greatest event in human history— the parting of the Red Sea and destruction of the Egyptian army as God physically leads and delivers His people out of Egypt. Because of a lack of archeological evidence to verify the biblical account, the location of the Red Sea (or Reed Sea) crossing has never been verified, nor have most of the locations mentioned in the story including the location of Mt. Sinai (also known as Mt. Horeb). Most locations have been derived from logical speculation based on the traditional and assumed location of Mt. Sinai in the lower part of the Sinai Peninsula. Although there has been an exhaustive search no archeological evidence has ever been found to support the traditional location. In fact, the only verifiable reason that the traditional site is designated “Mount Sinai” at all is because a Roman mystic designated it and Helena, mother of Constantine I, anointed it as the true Mount Sinai early in the 4th century AD. In this study we will carefully examine the Scriptures for clues to the actual location of Mt. Sinai and the Red Sea crossing, as well as recent archeological discoveries that may provide evidence which both verifies the story and newly proposed locations. It is hoped that this examination and evidence will help us verify the truth found in the Scriptures and reinforce our faith. THE LOCATION OF MT. SINAI (MT. HOREB) AND RED SEA: Scripture does not place Mt. Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula but east of the “Red Sea” which we know today as the Gulf of Aqaba in what was Moses’ time the Land of Midian but today is Saudi Arabia. The following Scriptures provide evidence to these claims. (Mt. Sinai/Horeb: Located in the Land of Midian) Exodus 2:11; 3:1, 12 (2:15) When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well… (3:1) Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God… BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 2 (3:12) And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." Comments: As is evident on Map-1 on page-3, the Land of Midian is located east of the eastern fork of the Red Sea (modern Gulf of Aqaba) in an area today known as Saudi Arabia. The entire Sinai Peninsula was at the time of Moses under Egyptian control and Moses fled Pharaoh to the Land of Midian to escape the reach of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Per Exodus 3:1, he settled on the west side of Midian near Mt. Horeb, and per Exodus 3:12, this is the same mountain he was instructed to lead God’s people back to in order they worship Him. Some scholars extend the land of Midian into the eastern portion of the Sinai Peninsula based solely on the presumption that the traditional location of Mt. Sinai was in the Sinai Peninsula. No ancient maps or texts extend the Land of Midian into the Sinai Peninsula. (Mt. Sinai/Horeb: Located relative to Mt. Seir and Kadesh-barnea) Deuteronomy 1:2 (2) It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. Comments: As is evident on Map-2 on page-4, Mt. Seir is southeast of Kadesh-barnea and would be very much “out of the way” if traveling to a Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb) located in the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. On the other hand, Mt. Seir could be considered “on the way” to a Mt. Sinai if located in northwestern Arabia or the Land of Midian. As a matter of fact, it would be about an eleven day journey. (Mt. Sinai/Horeb: Located in Arabia) Galatians 4:25a (25) Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia… Comments: In contrasting the descendants of Hagar (the bondswoman) with the descendents of Sarah (the free woman), the Apostle Paul denotes Mount Sinai as being in Arabia. Hagar came BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 3 from Egypt but would be the mother of Ishmael who would be the father of twelve predominately Arab nations. Paul clearly sees Mt. Sinai located in Arabia and not Egypt. (Red Sea: Location same as modern Gulf of Aquaba) 1 Kings 9:26 (26) King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Comments: As can be seen on Map-1 below, Ezion-geber near Eloth are located on the northern tip of the eastern branch of the Red Sea known today as the Gulf of Aqaba. This passage would identify the “Red Sea” as one and the same as the Gulf of Aqaba and thus supports the conclusion that the Exodus crossing was across the Gulf of Aqaba. MAP-1 BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 4 MAP-2 Kadesh-barnera Mt. Sinai (Traditional) Mt. Sinai (Alternate) THE PATH OF DEPARTURE There are two primary accounts of the path in which God led His people out of Egypt and to Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb). One is found in the Book of Exodus (chapters 13 through 19). The other is in Numbers 33:1-49. We will follow this path and compare the traditional and new alternative view of these locations, and examine their supporting archeological evidence. Scholars have placed the traditional locations of the places listed in the Scriptures based on the assumption that Moses led His people across the “Red Sea” or “Reed Sea” marshlands located between the Nile delta and the northwester corner of the BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 5 Sinai Peninsula, and then traveled to a Mt. Sinai in the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The two primary problems with these assumptions are that it is difficult to understand how Pharaoh’s army would have been drowned in shallow marshland, or how crossing this sea would represent an escape from Egypt since the Sinai Peninsula was also Egyptian territory. The alternative view, supported by newly discovered archeological evidence, proposes that the “wilderness” crossed on the way to the “Red Sea” was the Sinai Peninsula itself, and the “Red Sea” which was parted to allow the Israelites to escape and drowned the Egyptian army was the eastern finger of the Red Sea known today as the Gulf of Aqaba. Thus, in crossing the Gulf of Aqaba the Israelites would have crossed over into Midian (modern Saudi Arabia), both escaping the lands of Egypt and entering the region where Mt. Sinai (Mt. Horeb) was located per Exodus 3:1. (God Leads the People by way of the wilderness to the Red Sea) Exodus 13:17-22 (17) Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." (18) Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. (19) Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you." (20) Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. (21) The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. (22) He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Comments: Map-3 on page-6 illustrates “the way of the land of the Philistines” which would have been the closest path to God’s Promised Land in Canaan. God realized that His people needed to take the long path in order to learn to trust and depend on Him. Rather than taking the short path He leads them on a path that will provide opportunities for testing and teaching in order that they learn to be the people of God. He leads them in “martial” array, which is an organized military array, as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. BIBLE STUDY – “OUT OF THE ASHES” (Part-4) Page - 6 MAP-3 Numbers 33:1-6 (1) These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. (2) Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the command of the LORD, and these are their journeys according to their starting places. (3) They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the sons of Israel started out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians, (4) while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the LORD had struck down among them.
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