Download the whole book, “A Comparison Guide between the Muslim Qur’an, the Jewish Tanakh, and the Christian Bible: A Simple and Helpful Summary of the Main Stories, Characters, and Beliefs of Global Monotheism” free HERE or on Kindle/Print/Audiobook HERE

19. Moses (Musa) - The Parting of the Red Sea

 

As the people of Israel escaped into the desert from Egypt, they found themselves in a tough spot.  Pharaoh changed his mind and sent the whole army of Egypt against them in chariots.  The Israelites were stuck, with the Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. God reminded them of His presence by sending a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to protect, guide, lead, and shield His people.  God provided a way where there seemed to be no way.  He made a path in the middle of the sea and the people of Israel, over a million of them, passed through the waters on dry ground.  When the enemy tried to go the same way, the enemy was destroyed. What a beautiful picture this is, pointing forward to Christ as the only way of salvation and the only way of life. Jesus is the way that seems so impossible, but if we trust and believe in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, the powerful hand of God saves us.

·      Read in The Qur’an - 2:49-50, 18:60

·      Read in the Tanakh and the Bible - Exodus 13:17-17:6, Nehemiah 9:9–11, Nehemiah 9:17–21, Isaiah 43:16–19, Psalm 136:11–16, Acts 7:35–36, Hebrews 11:29

 

Readings from The Qur’an:

·      The Qur'an 2:49-50 “And (remember) when We delivered you from Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people, who were afflicting you with a horrible torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and therein was a mighty trial from your Lord. 50. And (remember) when We separated the sea for you and saved you and drowned Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people while you were looking (at them when the sea-water covered them).”

·      When you read the account in the Tanakh and Bible (Exodus 13:17-17:6), how does it compare?  Do you see how God only provided one way of salvation, where there seemed to be no way of salvation?

·       The Qur’an 18:60 “And (remember) when Musa (Moses) said to his boy-servant: "I will not give up (travelling) until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travelling.”

·      This story of Musa (Moses) and Al-Khidr (18:60-82) contains some strange elements (murdering of an unbelieving boy by pulling his head off) and is not in the Bible anywhere? What should we make of this story?

 

Readings from The Tanakh and The Bible:

·       Exodus 14 “Then the LORD said to Moses, [2] “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. [3] For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ [4] And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

·       [5] When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” [6] So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, [7] and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. [8] And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. [9] The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

·       [10] When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. [11] They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? [12] Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” [13] And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. [14] The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

·       [15] The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. [16] Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. [17] And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. [18] And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

·       [19] Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, [20] coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

·       [21] Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. [22] And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. [23] The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. [24] And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, [25] clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

·       [26] Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” [27] So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. [28] The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. [29] But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

·       [30] Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. [31] Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.”

·      Nehemiah 9:9–11 “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, [10] and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. [11] And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters.”

·      Nehemiah 9:17–21 “They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. [18] Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, [19] you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. [20] You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. [21] Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.”

·       Isaiah 43:16–19 “Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, [17] who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: [18] “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. [19] Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

·       Psalm 136:11–16 “and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; [12] with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever;     [13] to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever;         [14] and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever; [15] but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever; [16] to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever”

·       Acts 7:35–36 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”

·       Hebrews 11:29 “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.”

 

See also:

·      “What Does the Bible say about Moses and the Exodus?” www.trustworthyword.com/moses-exodus

·      “What Does the Bible say about God’s People?” www.trustworthyword.com/gods-people

·      “What Does the Bible say in Leviticus?” www.trustworthyword.com/leviticus

·      “What Does the Bible say in Numbers?” www.trustworthyword.com/numbers

·      “What Does the Bible say in Deuteronomy?” www.trustworthyword.com/deuteronomy