Nisan 21 – Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today…

Nisan 21, 5784; from sunset April 28, 2024, to sunset April 29, 2024

This is the name “Mosheh” (מֺשֶׁה – Moses) as seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls, written over two thousand years ago.

Stand Firm

Today, according to tradition, is the day that Israel crossed through the sea on dry ground…never to see the Egyptians who held them in bondage again.

They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?  What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?  Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, `Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’?  It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.  The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.  The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the Israelites to move on.  Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them.  And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.  The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God, who had been travelling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them.  The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.  Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other; so neither went near the other all night long.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.  The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.  During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.  He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving.  And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites!  The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place.  The Egyptians were fleeing from it, and the LORD swept them into the sea.  The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen–the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea.  Not one of them survived.  But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.  And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.  Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:

“I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.  The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.  The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.  The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea.  The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.  The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.

Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power.  Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.  In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.  By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up.  The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy boasted, `I will pursue, I will overtake them.  I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them.  I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’  But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?  Who is like you– majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?  You stretched out your right hand and the earth swallowed them.

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed.  In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.  The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall upon them.  By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone–until your people pass by, O LORD, until the people you bought pass by.

You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance–the place, O LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established.  The LORD will reign for ever and ever.”

When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.  Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.  The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.”  – Exodus 14:11-15:21 (NIB)


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