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The Last Day of Unleavened Bread
Coming out of the World
Baptism of Moses
The Red Sea Event
Pointers to Yahushua
Session 1
Transcribed and edited from video
www.answersoflife.com

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to YHWH, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to YHWH, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! YHWH is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my Elohim, and I will praise Him; My father’s Elohim, and I will exalt Him. (Exo 15:1-2 NKJV)

Some Thirty-five hundred years ago, a man was raised up by YHWH to lead the Israelites out of bondage and slavery, where they had become trapped in the land of ancient Egypt. The man’s name was Moses, in Hebrew his name is Moshe, and means drawing out of the water. He was born in Egypt to Hebrew parents. As a newborn infant, he was set afloat on the Nile in a reed basket to save him from an edict calling for the death of all newborn Hebrew males. Miraculously, he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter, and was reared in the Egyptian court.

After killing a brutal Egyptian taskmaster, he fled to Midian where YHWH Elohim of Israel revealed himself in a burning bush. Moses was directly called by YHWH to deliver the Israelites out from bondage in Egypt. Moses returned to Egypt, and with the help of his brother Aaron, negotiated directly with Pharaoh for the immediate release of the Israelites. However, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and would not agree to the release of the Israelites. Only after YHWH had visited a series of devastating plagues on Egypt, did Pharaoh concede to release the Israelites. After realizing they had no more slave labor to perform public works projects, the Egyptians convinced Pharaoh to bring the Israelites back.

Pharaoh then sent his army after them; YHWH parted the waters of the Red Sea allowing the Israelites a miraculous road to safety, then systematically drowned the perusing Egyptians. This is the historical narrative of that epic Red Sea event.

The agenda that we have on the slide is going to be about the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, with the theme of Hope and Salvation. This overall agenda has been developed over the last ten years or so, and includes a series of presentations specifically about the Passover with a theme of redemption. Those would include the actual Exodus account as the Israelites were leaving Egypt, and all of the events that surrounded the fourteenth and fifteenth of Abib on the calendar.

There are other presentations that focus the season on Yahushua’s Passover, particularly a time when the Feast of the Jews was mentioned in the Book of John. There are presentations on the historical Passovers that you find throughout the Tanakh. We also detailed the Six days before Yahushua’s Passover in 30 CE a few years ago, and that goes along with the First Day of Unleavened Bread, with the theme of deliverance and liberty. We’ve taken a look at the promise to Abraham, and the four hundred and thirty years between that promise, and the actual event of the Exodus in Egypt.

We are now going to put our attention on the subject of the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, and will have two sessions. Both sessions have to do with the parting of the Red Sea and escape of the Israelites from the grasp of the Egyptians. This first session obviously carries a theme of hope and salvation, and I have titled this first session “Walking in Faith”. It is actually going to be a detail of the actual Red Sea event as we would see it in the Tanakh Chapters 14 and 15 primarily of Exodus.

The second session will actually have what we have learned this time, and apply it as pointers to Yahushua and the New Testament. We will actually look at the Baptism of Moses, and how that applies to the baptism in Yahushua. We will also look at the transformation of our mind mentioned in Romans Chapter 12, and how we are not to be conformed to the world. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. That is what is coming up, although today we will be walking in faith, and talking about the Red Sea event.

Instructions

I like to start out by asking what the fundamental scriptural instructions are for this particular day.

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is YHWH’s passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto YHWH: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
(Lev 23:5-8 KJV)

This is fundamental basic instructions, start on the fourteenth day as the day of Passover, and then from the fifteenth day for seven days, keep a feast of Unleavened Bread, and have no unleavened bread, and finish that on the seventh day with a holy convocation. It’s interesting to note that this holy convocation is also noted as a Solemn Assembly. The follow-on instruction in Deuteronomy 16 says:

Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly ^{H6116=atsarah=festival, withhold, refrain, restrain from H6113=hold back} to YHWH thy Elohim: thou shalt do no work therein.  (Deu 16:8 KJV)

When we come to this particular day of the year which is seventh day of Unleavened Bread, I like to mention this unique attribute of Solemn Assembly. Now when you read the scriptures, if you don’t look underneath the cover to find out what the Hebrew means, sometimes the word “Solemn Assembly” is used and it really isn’t a Solemn Assembly in Hebrew. The word in Hebrew that keys this, is the Hebrew word in Strong’s that is pronounced “atsarah”, and atsarah is certainly a festival day, but it is a day that is withheld, a refrain, restrain, or a holding back about it.

I think the reason that YHWH designed it this way is because when we get to the end of the Days of Unleavened Bread, that we would have a day of refrain, a pensive day to think about what just happened and what we just honored and celebrated.

We see that in the instruction for the seventh day of the Days of Unleavened Bread. We also see it, interestingly enough, as the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles in what we would call the Fall Holy Day Season. The Eighth Day and the Feast of Tabernacles has this same attribute of an atsarah. Here are a couple of scriptures to follow up on this.

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto YHWH. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH: it is a solemn assembly ^H6116=same; and ye shall do no servile work therein. (Lev 23:34-36 RNKJV)

In Numbers 29 we see a second witness of this, and there are other witnesses of it if you go look for the key word, “atsarah” and search on Strong’s 6116 and you will find where this word “atsarah” is. There aren’t many, but you will find it in a half dozen places or so.

And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation…On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly ^H6116=same: ye shall do no servile work therein: (Num 29: 1, 35 RNKJV)

It’s interesting to find this, four or five years ago we discovered that this terminology was there, and it was specific to the seventh day of the Days of Unleavened Bread, as well as to the Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It is unique to that, there is a usage that has to do with fasting, and I’m not suggesting that these are fast days at all. Here are a couple of examples of the usage, we see it mentioned in Nehemiah Chapter 8:

The scriptures are consistent, I think there is a message about this, when you look in the Hebrew text, it’s the Hebrew word “atsarah”. There is also a usage of it for fasting; again, I’m not suggesting these are fast days.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly ^H6116=same:
(Joe 2:15 RNKJV)

When we get to the seventh day of the Days of Unleavened Bread and the Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the demeanor of the day seem to change according to this description that you find in the scriptures.

We will take a look at some of the background of what was going on, the calendar, what the location and the geography looked like before we actually get into the account of the Israelites going through the Red Sea. You could find this calendar explained in detail on our website at www.answersoflife.com in a presentation that is Pentecost Part Two. Pentecost Part Two is Shavuot at Sinai, or Pentecost at Sinai. In that presentation I developed this calendar and all the details associated with it. This is a summary version.

If we want to jump back about thirty-five hundred years when the Exodus actually happened and take a look at what the calendar looked like back then, we find some interesting correlation of events. The first thing is to show you a couple of anchors on this calendar. Where do you start with something like this? Where I started was when I discovered at the camp at Sin the Israelites were given quail and manna.

This account is in Exodus chapter 16, and it starts on the second month on the fifteenth day of the month. It goes on to explain, if you look into this, when the Sabbath actually is. YHWH was showing the Israelites when the Sabbath day was by giving them quail and manna on the first day of the week. He gave them instructions to gather their quail and manna for six day and then rest. They were to gather a double amount on the sixth day, and rest on the seventh day.

When you examine this in detail, you realize that this is a date marker of the fifteenth being a Sabbath day. The instructions end in Exodus Chapter 16 with another Sabbath day at the camp location called Sin.

When we see the second month and we know the fifteenth and the twenty second day are Sabbath days, those are pretty good anchors to start with. Once we know that the Sabbath day is the fifteenth, it’s easy to back up to say that the eighth had to be a Sabbath, and the seven days before that was the New Moon day of the month. That had to be a Sabbath, and once we know that, we know that the previous month was on what we call Friday. I have assigned thirty-day months on these two months that you see on the calendar. That is arbitrary; there would be argument that some would wonder why one isn’t twenty-nine and one thirty. I assigned them thirty just because of the number of days in a typical month on the new moon, and yes, there can be two thirty-day months in a row.

Also, as a side light, the long day in Joshua, and Hezekiah’s ten-degree recession of the sun hadn’t occurred yet. I have always suspected that those days influenced the calendar. There seems to be evidence that we were on thirty-day lunar month cycles previous to those events. I won’t go into the details of it, but in any case, it would certainly be something arbitrary and conjecture that these were both thirty-day months, but that is what I have assigned them.

Once we back up into the first month, which is the month of Abib, we know when the thirtieth day is, we can back up and find out when the New Moon Day was; which was a Thursday. Once we know when the New Moon Day was we can certainly move forward and find out when the Passover day was; which is the fourteenth, which would have been a Wednesday in this particular year. The First Day of Unleavened Bread would be on a Thursday on our calendar in this period of time.

Others that have studied this calendar system have come up with the same conclusion from a couple of different angles, and there is evidence that they have found some of the same anchors that we have. Once we have established that the Passover is Wednesday and Thursday on this calendar, we can get to the next three camps of Succoth, Etham, and Migdol, according to the scriptures that we see. That gets us to the Last Day of Unleavened Bread which we know would be the twenty first which would be a Wednesday on this calendar.

By tradition, the last day of Unleavened Bread in Jewish oral Torah, is when the Red Sea crossing occurred. I don’t think there is any solid scriptural proof that you can come up with that the Red Sea crossing occurred on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, or the twenty first of this month of Abib, but when you put this down on a calendar, it seems like this could fit. Also, after the Red Sea crossing, there was a three-day journey that took them to camp Marah.

I would suggest that some of these camps, even before the camp at Sin, when the Sabbath Day was reinstituted, and reminder to the Israelites that the Sabbath day was always in effect since creation. Some of the camps that we see; particularly when you read the chronological order in Numbers, these are likely camp days on the Sabbath, even before the camp at Sin.

That happens to be how this lines up, I don’t want to go into too much of the details, again if you are interested in more of the details and the rationale behind this calendar, go to Pentecost Part Two study, Shavuot at Sinai, and you will see the details of it. The other part of the calendar that I want to mention is the third month which would have started on Monday. They would have arrived at Mount Sinai on Thursday. There were three days of sanctification to get to the day that we would call Shavuot, or Pentecost. That is all predicated on counting seven Sabbaths, and one extra day to get to fifty days from the wave sheaf offering that happens after the weekly Sabbath during Passover week.

I know when the Israelites left Egypt, they didn’t have a wave sheaf offering, so I put on this calendar “future wave sheaf offering”, and so this would be a virtual wave sheaf offering, if you will. They didn’t actually honor it at this point, not until they went into the land.

If you were counting wave sheaf days it would have occurred on the eighteenth of Abib. That would have placed seven Sabbaths to get to Mount Sinai. There is one scripture that I want to bring up about the arrival at Mount Sinai. This is controversial, but useful to look at in terms of the background.

When they arrived in Sinai, there is a scripture in Exodus 19 that says:

In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai…And be ready against the third day: for the third day the YHWH will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. Exo 19:1,11) 

We certainly have the second part of this; the third day after they arrived would seem to lead to the Mount Sinai Ten Commandments event happening on the Day of Shavuot. Again, I don’t believe this is technically provable that the Day of Shavuot and the giving of the Ten Commandments, along with the first version of the covenant to the Israelites, the first-born legislation, if you will, that it really occurred on what is the seventh of the third month. By tradition in Judaism, it has always been thought that the Ten Commandment event at Mount Sinai occurred on Shavuot, or Pentecost.

In any case, this controversy is about the first verse of Exodus 19. “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai”, there are two possible interpretations of this that I see. That is, “the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai”, does that mean the “same day” was the first day of the third month? Or does this scripture mean that the same day was the “same day” they left? I take it that it’s the same day they left. When they were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day, they came into the wilderness. The same day they left, which was this First Day of Unleavened Bread on the fifteenth, on this calendar a Thursday.

It turns out, or it works out, when you put this all down, this arrival date coincides with that. You have to make up your own mind, others have studied this and there are other permutations on the calendar. I have a couple more in mind that I’ve thought to develop over the years. This calendar seems to be as close as I think I can make it, but certainly, you have to do your own homework on this and decide whether these things are so.  The Exodus occurred some thirty-five hundred years ago, and the Red Sea crossing took place someplace around the twenty first of the first month. With that, we can count seven Sabbaths that get us to Pentecost being on the seventh day of the third month.

The background I want to go over is the geography of this part of the world, of Egypt and the Red Sea and also the Sinai Desert and Arabia.

Obviously there is quite a controversy about a number of parts of this account. I want to put a couple of highlights on the map. One highlight is where Arabia is, we know Arabia as Saudi Arabia today, and what I will present is somewhat of a side bench discussion but the land of Arabia in antiquity going back to the first and second century BCE and first century CE, the land of Arabia looks to have extended much farther west. I will explain that as we go.

We have the land of Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula as we know it today, we call the sea the Red Sea, and in scripture it really means Reed Sea. It is papyrus Reed Sea; it is always mentioned that way. Today we have a different name for some of these Gulfs, the first Gulf of Suez which is nearly two hundred miles long from entrance to its end. The Gulf of Suez is a name that is recent in history. Originally it was included in the Reed Sea and you can find maps that show you this dating back to the first century CE.

The Gulf of Aqaba wasn’t always called that, this one is about one hundred miles from end to end. These were all considered the Reed Sea in the beginning, so you need to consider what was going on when the Israelites left Egypt. What was going on when some of the history was being written about in the second and third century BCE, and what were the landmarks then? Going on westward, something that is controversial, I will put Ancient Arabia on the map. Ancient Arabia extended from Persia in the Far East as far as the Nile River in the Far West. I will give you a little bit of background about that because once you understand that Arabia is part of the land mass, and that opens up possibilities of where Mount Sinai really was beyond it being in the Arabia, in the lower right-hand corner of the slide.  I am not saying it was, I am just saying it opens up the possibility.

I think I will be able to demonstrate to you how Ancient Arabia was all the way to the east side of the Nile River and then Egypt was the land beyond the west side of the Nile River. We also have the land of Goshen, Goshen is like a state or a county, it is a territory of land and the Israelites lived and worked on Pharaoh’s projects generally in the land of Goshen.

This slide may represent what it looked like there with the Nile River flowing through, you can see Pharaoh’s castle and the surrounding area. You can imagine some of the camps and locations, as well as the public works projects of the Pyramids being built out in the distance.

The land of Goshen is in what we would call the northeast corner of Egypt today. Historically, thirty-five hundred years ago, Goshen was thought to be a part of Arabia. Another significant part of this story, and we are not going to go into the alternatives, I just want to show you the broad brush of thinking on the alternatives of actually where Mount Sinai was. The Israelites went through the Red Sea, that is what our focus is, but they went on to Mount Sinai and stopped for a better part of a year before they moved on. That is, of course, where YHWH gave the Ten Commandments and so forth.

The first general option that I want to show you is the thinking that the Israelites crossed the Reed Sea at the upper end of what we call the Gulf of Suez; it would be someplace towards the upper end. There are different places where some people think they crossed, but they crossed over and went to one of two places and camped at Mount Sinai, Jabal Sin Bishar, or Jabal Musa. I think Jabal Musa is thought of as the traditional location of Mount Sinai. There are permutations on this arrangement, and permutations on the second arrangement. This is generally the other alternative; that the Israelites left Goshen, they made their across what we now call the Sinai Peninsula today, and then crossed over the Reed Sea in a place called the Gulf of Aqaba as we know it today. Mount Sinai would be at the Jabal Al Lawz location.

There are a couple of crossing places that you find in this arrangement; one is in the center of the Gulf of Aqaba, another one in out toward the mouth of this Gulf. There are other variations certainly, when you start studying into this, you will find there is much good work done by a lot of people on this. If you took just one of the good works and read it, and studied it you would say that would be it. I have given you two of the reference alternatives on the slide that highlight these two alternatives.

The first one is from Bible.ca and actually details the route to Jabal Al Lawz and it is a good reference. I have used it and studied into it. It seems very plausible however, if you look at this link: https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps.htm and research it, you will find that this alternative to go to Jabal Musa and Jabal Sin Bishar is also detailed and very credible. You just have to do your own homework on this, it’s not the purpose of this presentation, other than to show you what we are going to be looking at is the crossing of the Reed Sea in one of these locations, and where it is isn’t necessarily germane to the topic of the crossing. It actually happened, YHWH’s great hand of deliverance and its forward pointers to Yahushua is all what I want to focus on.

As a sidelight, I want to show you something else that give us a little bit of background that the thinking of the geography was different in the days that these accounts were written versus what we have today. There is a location called Jabal Hor, and can be seen on the next page. Jabal Hor is Mount Hor, if you will; Mount Hor is in the northeast section and corner of what we call the Sinai Peninsula. It is probably even bumped up a little further to the east beyond what we see here.

This is about where Mount Hor was and the location where YHWH told Aaron to go to and where he would die, he was divested of his priestly garments and his son Eliezer took over the priesthood at that point. This is a real historical location and mountain and there isn’t much dispute of where it is and is approximately where I am saying. What you see in the scriptures is a reference to this location, what is said is of interest, it is a short reference.

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom. (Num 21:4 KJV)

What that says is that they left Mount. Hor, they went south by the way of the Red Sea, so what I am trying to show you is the Gulf of Aqaba wasn’t mentioned, the Reed Sea is what is mentioned. They didn’t go all the way over to the main body of the Reed Sea, they just went to the end of this Gulf and then transferred over moving eastward to Moab. If you saw the map extension on the east, you would see that this is the land of Moab. This scripture gives us an indication that the Reed Sea was part of the labeling system of these Gulfs that we see on either side of the Sinai Peninsula.

We will take a deeper dive into this land of Goshen. I want to show you this, it is a discovery that I just happened to stumble on while doing research and background for this presentation.

LXX Confirms Goshen in Arabia

What you see in Genesis 45 are references to the land of Goshen.

And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: (Gen 45:10 RNKJV)

This is talking about Abraham and his offspring in the land of Goshen, and is the King James Version of the Masoretic Text, what we commonly use today. In Genesis 46 it says something similar:

That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. (Gen 46:34 RNKJV)

Clearly we see that the land of Goshen is in the area of Egypt. We get that from this second verse, in verse 34 of chapter 46. The Septuagint was written and translated from the original Hebrew into Greek around 250 BCE. The Masoretic Text that we use, where we derive the modern translations or the Authorized King James translation, was translated a thousand years later by the Masoretes in the seventh to the ninth century and the oldest existing copy of it dates to the eleventh century CE. The Septuagint predates the Masoretic Text by a thousand years at least. Here is what the Septuagint says in the comparative scriptures to the Masoretic Text. Of interest, when you compare that to the Brenton Septuagint Version.

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What you see when the Septuagint was translated, is that this land of Gesem or Goshen is referenced as Arabia. I think that is evident in other places that you can research.

There is a good article on this in Bible archeology:

https://biblearchaeology.org/research/contemporary-issues/3266-where-is-mount-sinai-in-arabia-galatians-425

The Septuagint, as I said, dates to 250 BCE and it references Gesem in the land of Arabia. There are other references that you will find if you go look, but during this period of time it surely appears that this land of Gesem that we are talking about, was referred geographically as Arabia. We don’t see that today, so much time has passed, and the connotation of where Arabia is located is thought to be in Saudi Arabia. What do we know is oftentimes people like to use the scripture in Galatians Chapter 4:25 that says:

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. (Gal 4:25 KJV)

Paul mentions Hagar being associated with Mount Sinai in Arabia, and usually people like to use that to say, “Well see, Sinai has to be in Arabia as we know it today because that is where Arabia is”. What I am showing you is that in the first century that is probably false. There is one other proof about this that I want to dig into. Again, these are things I just happened to come upon, I had not intended to talk about this, but perhaps it will expand your thinking about where Mount Sinai really could have been. I’m not saying it has changed, it could still well be in Saudi Arabia as we know it today, but certainly you have to look at the other possibilities in more detail, and we don’t have a reason not to.

Steven’s History Lesson
Quote from LXX

Interestingly enough, in Acts we find that Steven was giving a history lesson. What we are going to see here is that he makes a comment that has some legs to this subject.

And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls ^{75 people}. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers. (Act 7:13-15 KJV)

Let’s take a look at this. If we look at it in the Masoretic Text the Authorized Version, here is what it says when we look up where this scripture came from that Steven is quoting.

And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. (Gen 46:27 KJV)

Instead of seventy-five, we have seventy in the Masoretic text. Let’s compare the same verse in the Brenton Septuagint.

It looks to me like Steven knew and was using the Septuagint as his comparison. It certainly matches up to what he says. Interestingly enough, this place that matches up to what Steven says seven verses later is where it says that Gesem is in Arabia.

Steven is quoting the Septuagint as his validation point. Likely this is a good translation in the Septuagint; some people have tried to make a work-around to seventy versus seventy-five. Not many people have looked into the Septuagint to see that is where it came from. I have found the validity of the Septuagint fascinating, and have brought this up a number of times as the years have gone by. When you see a scripture in the New Testament that references something in the Old, it is always quoted from the Septuagint. It is an easy thing to prove, just get yourself a Septuagint translation and start comparing the Masoretic Text to the Septuagint you will see that the Septuagint is what they used in the first century. That is all they had and it’s amazing to have made this discovery, particularly that the land of Arabia was considered that far to the west in this period of time.

With that background, we are going to take a look at the real Red Sea Crossing, again, I am not here to say where it took place exactly, but it took place on this map somewhere. One of these alternatives was likely where it happened.

We will take a look at two side by side accounts of the Red Sea crossing event. One will be the event from Exodus Chapters 14 and 15, and the parallel from Josephus’ commentary on the same event. Josephus adds quite a colorful addition to what was going on. He had access to the library in Alexandria, that all burned down so the references that he may have had aren’t known for sure. Somewhere, Josephus seems to have had some extra material that talk about the Red Sea crossing. We will use that comparison as we go.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
YHWH instructs Moses

And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, Speak 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. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And 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 YHWH. And they did so. (Exo 14:1-4 RNKJV)

On the third day they came to a place called Beelzephon, on the Red Sea; and when they had no food out of the land, because it was a desert, they eat of loaves kneaded of flour, only warmed by a gentle heat; and this food they made use of for thirty days; for what they brought with them out of Egypt would not suffice them any longer time; and this only while they dispensed it to each person, to use so much only as would serve for necessity, but not for satiety. Jos Ant 2.15. 1-2

They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the lunar month; four hundred and thirty years after our forefather Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after Jacob removed into Egypt. It was the eightieth year of the age of Moses, and of that of Aaron three more. They also carried out the bones of Joseph with them, as he had charged his sons to do. Jos 2.15.1-2

You see that Josephus adds that “four hundred and thirty years after out forefather Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred and fifteen years only after Jacob removed into Egypt.” That is an additional detail that you don’t find in the Masoretic Text. However, if you compare the Brenton to the Masoretic Text, you see that the Septuagint agrees with what Josephus says.

When you try to reconcile the four hundred and thirty years on a calendar, which we have done, you find out that the Israelites didn’t live in Egypt four hundred and thirty years. They couldn’t have. The dates of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph just simply do not line up when you try to make all of that fit into four hundred and thirty years in the land of Egypt only. You have to look at it from the standpoint that they lived in Egypt and in Canaan in order to reconcile that. It is an interesting side discussion once again; I’m sure you can do your own research and find the details of this.

The Egyptians are going to have a change of heart about letting these Israelites go.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread
Egyptians Change of Heart

And 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? And he made ready his chariots, and took his people with him. (Exo 14:5-6 RNKJV)

But the Egyptians soon repented that the Hebrews were gone; and the king also was mightily concerned that this had been procured by the magic arts of Moses; so they resolved to go after them. Accordingly they took their weapons, and other warlike furniture, and pursued after them, in order to bring them back, if once they overtook them, because they would now have no pretense to pray to YHWH against them, since they had already been permitted to go out; and they thought they should easily overcome them, as they had no armor, and would be weary with their journey; so they made haste in their pursuit, and asked of every one they met which way they were gone. And indeed that land was difficult to be traveled over… Now Moses led the Hebrews this way, that in case the Egyptians should repent and be desirous to pursue after them, they might undergo the punishment of their wickedness, and of the breach of those promises they had made to them.
Jos Ant 2.15.1-2

So the Israelites are on the run, and Pharaoh’s chariots are after them.

And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And YHWH 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. But 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. And 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 YHWH. And 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? (Exo 14:7-11 RNKJV)

Josephus adds:

Now when the Egyptians had overtaken the Hebrews, they prepared to fight them, and by their multitude they drove them into a narrow place; for the number that pursued after them was six hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand foot-men, all armed. They also seized on the passages by which they imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting them up between inaccessible precipices and the sea; for there was (on each side) a (ridge of) mountains that terminated at the sea, which were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight; wherefore they there pressed upon the Hebrews with their army, where (the ridges of) the mountains were closed with the sea; which army they placed at the chops of the mountains, that so they might deprive them of any passage into the plain. Jos Ant 2.15.3

So the Israelites are really getting nervous now, but Moses is going to remain faithful and steadfast.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Moses Remains Faithful

Is 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. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, 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. YHWH shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And YHWH said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But 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. (Exo 14:12-16 RNKJV)

When the Hebrews, therefore, were neither able to bear up, being thus, as it were, besieged, because they wanted provisions, nor saw any possible way of escaping; and if they should have thought of fighting, they had no weapons; they expected a universal destruction, unless they delivered themselves up to the Egyptians. So they laid the blame on Moses, and forgot all the signs that had been wrought by YHWH for the recovery of their freedom; and this so far, that their incredulity prompted them to throw stones at the prophet, while he encouraged them and promised them deliverance; and they resolved that they would deliver themselves up to the Egyptians. So there was sorrow and lamentation among the women and children, who had nothing but destruction before their eyes, while they were encompassed with mountains, the sea, and their enemies, and discerned no way of flying from them. Jos Ant 2.15.4

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
YHWH’s will Be Done

And 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. (Exo 14:17 RNKJV)

But Moses, though the multitude looked fiercely at him, did not, however, give over the care of them, but despised all dangers, out of his trust in YHWH, who, as he had afforded them the several steps already taken for the recovery of their liberty, which he had foretold them, would not now suffer them to be subdued by their enemies, to be either made slaves or be slain by them; and, standing in midst of them, he said, “It is not just of us to distrust even men, when they have hitherto well managed our affairs, as if they would not be the same hereafter; but it is no better than madness, at this time to despair of the providence of YHWH, by whose power all those things have been performed he promised, when you expected no such things: I mean all that I have been concerned in for deliverance and escape from slavery. Jos Ant 2.15.5

And the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. (Exo 14:18 RNKJV)

YHWH’s will be done! Josephus adds:

“Nay, when we are in the utmost distress, as you see we ought rather to hope that YHWH will succor us, by whose operation it is that we are now this narrow place, that he may out of such difficulties as are otherwise insurmountable and out of which neither you nor your enemies expect you can be delivered, and may at once demonstrate his own power and his providence over us. Nor does YHWH use to give his help in small difficulties to those whom he favors, but in such cases where no one can see how any hope in man can better their condition. Depend, therefore, upon such a Protector as is able to make small things great, and to show that this mighty force against you is nothing but weakness, and be not affrighted at the Egyptian army, nor do you despair of being preserved, because the sea before, and the mountains behind, afford you no opportunity for flying, for even these mountains, if YHWH so please, may be made plain ground for you, and the sea become dry land.” Jos Ant 2.15.5

Josephus continues…The Egyptians thought they had this in the bag.

When Moses had said this, he led them to the sea, while the Egyptians looked on; for they were within sight. Now these were so distressed by the toil of their pursuit, that they thought proper to put off fighting till the next day. But when Moses was come to the sea-shore, he took his rod, and made supplication to YHWH, and called upon him to be their helper and assistant; and said “Thou art not ignorant, O YHWH, that it is beyond human strength and human contrivance to avoid the difficulties we are now under; but it must be thy work altogether to procure deliverance to this army, which has left Egypt at thy appointment. We despair of any other assistance or contrivance, and have recourse only to that hope we have in thee; and if there be any method that can promise us an escape by thy providence, we look up to thee for it. And let it come quickly, and manifest thy power to us; and do thou raise up this people unto good courage and hope of deliverance, who are deeply sunk into a disconsolate state of mind.
Jos Ant 2.16.1

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Red Sea Waters Part

Can you imagine witnessing this? This picture is really a stunning one of what it must have looked like. Maybe the walls of water were even higher, I don’t know, but it would have looked something like this with a pathway to walk into with water on both sides, with lightning and thunder going on in the distance, what an event!

And the angel of Elohim, 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: And 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. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and YHWH 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. And 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.
(Exo 14:19-22 RNKJV)

We focus on this as the water parting, but look at the miracle of the cloud and the darkness that was used to separate the Egyptians from the Israelites. The same cloud was used as darkness on one side and total light on the other. The light by night was provided for the Israelites to see, but the Egyptians had darkness.

Josephus adds to this:

We are in a helpless place, but still it is a place that thou possessest; still the sea is thine, the mountains also that enclose us are thine; so that these mountains will open themselves if thou commandest them, and the sea also, if thou commandest it, will become dry land. Nay, we might escape by a flight through the air, if thou shouldst determine we should have that way of salvation.” When Moses had thus addressed himself to YHWH, he smote the sea with his rod, which parted asunder at the stroke, and receiving those waters into itself, left the ground dry, as a road and a place of flight for the Hebrews. Now when Moses saw this appearance of YHWH, and that the sea went out of its own place, and left dry land, he went first of all into it, and bid the Hebrews to follow him along that divine road, and to rejoice at the danger their enemies that followed them were in; and gave thanks to YHWH for this so surprising a deliverance which appeared from him. Jos Ant 16.2.1-2

The Egyptians decide to follow, they are in pursuit.

And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. (Exo 14:23 RNKJV)

Now, while these Hebrews made no stay, but went on earnestly, as led by YHWH’s presence with them, the Egyptians supposed first that they were distracted, and were going rashly upon manifest destruction. But when they saw that they were going a great way without any harm, and that no obstacle or difficulty fell in their journey, they made haste to pursue them, hoping that the sea would be calm for them also. They put their horse foremost, and went down themselves into the sea. Now the Hebrews, while these were putting on their armor, and escaped them, and got first over to the land on the other side without any hurt. Whence the others were encouraged, and more courageously pursued them, as hoping no harm would come to them neither: but the Egyptians were not aware that they went into a road made for the Hebrews, and not for others; that this road was made for the deliverance of those in danger, but not for those that were earnest to make use of it for the others’ destruction. Jos Ant 2.16.3

Got to love Josephus’ writing.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Egyptians Trapped in Red Sea

And it came to pass, that in the morning watch YHWH looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for YHWH fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And YHWH 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. And 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 YHWH overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. (Exo 14:24-27 RNKJV)

It is a miraculous change of events for the Egyptians.

As soon, therefore, as ever the whole Egyptian army was within it, the sea flowed to its own place, and came down with a torrent raised by storms of wind, and encompassed the Egyptians. Showers of rain also came down from the sky, and dreadful thunders and lightning, with flashes of fire. Thunderbolts also were darted upon them. Nor was there any thing which used to be sent by YHWH upon men, as indications of his wrath, which did not happen at this time, for a dark and dismal night oppressed them. And thus did all these men perish, so that there was not one man left to be a messenger of this calamity to the rest of the Egyptians. Jos Ant 2.16.3

The Israelites are saved out of all of this, hope of salvation, they have made it to the other side.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Israelites Saved

And 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. But 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. Thus YHWH saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which YHWH did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared YHWH, and believed YHWH, and his servant Moses. (Exo 14:28-31 RNKJV)

On the next day Moses gathered together the weapons of the Egyptians, which were brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the current of the sea, and the force of the winds resisting it; and he conjectured that this also happened by Divine Providence, that so they might not be destitute of weapons. So when he had ordered the Hebrews to arm themselves with them, he led them to Mount Sinai, in order to offer sacrifice to YHWH, and to render oblations for the salvation of the multitude, as he was charged to do beforehand.
Jos Ant 2.16.6

You have to think about these weapons, probably they were largely made of metal, you would think they would sink to the bottom, but instead, they were delivered to the shoreline so that the Israelites had weapons. They certainly did because as they went along the rest of their journey they were fighting other adversaries, the occupants of the land that they were to possess. They had weapons along the way. Josephus adds an interesting detail of possibly how they came about them.

This gets us to the fifteenth chapter of Exodus which is about the Song of Moses, and is interesting. We will detail with a bit of Josephus commentary.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Song of Moses – Praise YHWH

And now these Hebrews having escaped the danger they were in, after this manner, and besides that, seeing their enemies punished in such a way as is never recorded of any other men whomsoever, were all the night employed in singing of hymns, and in mirth. Moses also composed a song unto YHWH, containing his praises, and a thanksgiving for his kindness, in hexameter verse. Jos Ant 2.16.4

This hexameter verse is 6/8 timing, and Josephus adds the rhythm of how the song should be played. Needless to say, the Israelites were in a joyous attitude, The Israelites had a thanksgiving and appreciative worshipping kind of attitude for being on the other side and seeing their deliverance.

Who is like unto thee, O YHWH, among the mighty ones? What an interesting verse.

As for myself, I have delivered every part of this history as I found it in the sacred books; nor let any one wonder at the strangeness of the narration if a way were discovered to those men of old time, who were free from the wickedness of the modern ages, whether it happened by the will of YHWH or whether it happened of its own accord. But as to these events, let every one determine as he pleases. Jos Ant 2.16.5

There must have been a controversy in the first century when Josephus wrote about this. Whether this was a legend and a myth or an actual happening, and it seems to be what Josephus is hinting at here, let every one determine as he pleases. We have determined, this was a real event, it really did happen and what a miraculous deliverance that these Israelites had at the hand, and away from the living conditions that they were having to deal with in Egypt.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread – Hope of Salvation
Miriam’s Reprise
Song of Moses Sung by Victorious Saints

And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

It’s useful to note that the reprieve that Miriam added at the end of the Song of Moses, is in fact, the same verse as the first verse that was sung in Exodus 15:1 that says:

Will this song ever be sung again? I think so, it’s talked about in Revelation 15.

And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of Elohim. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of YHWH, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, YHWH El-Shaddai; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Master, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
(Rev 15:1-4 RNKJV)

Israelites walked through the sea
Victorious saints stand of the sea ^{of glass}

This song will get sung again, I want to make sure I know the words to it, to be able to sing it in glory and honor to YHWH and to Yahushua when he returns. It is noteworthy to see that the Israelites walked through the sea and sang this song. By comparison, the victorious saints are going to stand on the sea of glass when we sing this song. HalleluYah, we look forward to this day.

Now the Red Sea crossing, what an event it was. We have looked at the comparison of the scriptural record that Moses recorded, and the commentary that Josephus added. This is the beginning of the journey, so certainly the Red Sea crossing and the detailing of this in honoring the Last Day of Unleavened Bread is useful to us. It is also useful to keep in mind that the Israelites continued their journey, went to Mount Sinai, and honored YHWH there; they had their first covenant offered to them. They received the Ten Commandments, of course they rejected the first covenant, they said they would do everything, and immediately went out and built an idol, a golden calf, YHWH didn’t like that. Moses broke the commandment agreement, the Ten Commandments, so they started over with a different set of Levitical orientation.

From there they went on their forty-year journey and eventually came into the Promised Land. They crossed over the Jordan and Joshua took over the reins from Moses, the history continues from that point.  This has been the Crossing of the Red Sea.

Do Your Own Homework

Shew me thy ways, O YHWH; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth ^{H571=certainty, stability}, and teach me: for thou art the Elohim of my salvation ^{H3468=Yesha=liberty, deliverance, salvation}; on thee do I wait all the day. (Psa 25:4-5 RNKJV)

Of note, this word “salvation” in Psalms is a Hebrew word Yesha, similar to the one that is our salvation who is Yahushua. You see the word “salvation” almost always as Yesha or Yahshua in the Hebrew text. It is interesting to note the connection to Yahushua

All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable ^{G5624= helpful advantageous} for doctrine ^{G1319=instruction, learning} for reproof ^{G1650=admonish, conviction} for correction^{, G1343=equity of character or act, justification}. (2Ti 3:16 KJV)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy ^{G5385=Jewish sophistry} and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rediments of the world, and not after Messiah.
(Col 2:8 KJV)

And this I (Paul) pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve ^{G1381=test, discern, examine} things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Messiah. (Php 1:8-10 KJV)

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