Secret References to Christ In the Old testament Scriptures - Kenneth B. Alexander

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the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ ” And the people bowed low and worshiped” (Ex 12:24-27). Passover was to be a permanent ordinance (eternal) to be celebrated from that day forward. It should be noted that after the Israelites settled into the Promised Land the rite was forgotten until the time of King Josiah. After that it was forgotten until the time of Ezra and Nehemiah as they rebuilt the temple after the exile. Perceptive Christians celebrate the Passover, instead of some other holiday (Easter) because the Passover is meant by God to be celebrated forever and not altered by time or current customs.

      “Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle”. (see above where the son of Thutmose II never had a first born heir to the throne because his son was killed during this last plague). “Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then  he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.” The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” So the people took  their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians” (Ex 12:28-37). God’s judgments when they come are swift and thorough. We should never be in a waiting mode with God but always in an action mode because we do not know the day or the hour.

      Israel Leaves Egypt

      “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.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; [Heb. “Sea of Reeds”] and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. 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.” Then they set out from  Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness” (Ex 13:17-20).

      There is some controversy over which sea Moses led his people to. The original Hebrew word for the sea is Yam Suph which means in Hebrew ‘Reed’ or ‘Marsh Sea’. The change in terminology may be traced back to the Greek Version of the Old Testament (LXX) and to the Latin Vulgate which changed the Hebrew to mean “Red Sea”. No satisfactory explanation has been offered for the change. The translation of this name as “Red Sea” comes from the sea’s Greek name in the LXX and elsewhere. The Red Sea on today’s maps is farther south, below the Sinai Peninsula. But the title Red Sea in ancient times may very well have covered both the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba (see Deut 1:1; 1 Kgs 9:26). The name “Sea of Reeds” in various English versions (usually in the form of a marginal note) and commentaries, reflect the correct meaning of the Hebrew word סוּף Yam Suph as “Reed Sea”a word for reedy water plants (Exod 2:3, 5; Isa 19:6; Jonah 2:6) This may have a connection with an Egyptian word used for papyrus and other marsh plants. On this basis some have taken the term Yam Suph as perhaps referring to Lake Menzaleh or Lake Ballah, which have abundant reeds, north of the extension of the Red Sea on the western side of Sinai. Whatever exact body of water is meant, it was not merely a marshy swamp that the people waded through, but a body of water large enough to make passage impossible without divine intervention, and deep enough to drown the Egyptian army. Lake Menzaleh has always been deep enough to preclude passage on foot (E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 66). Among the many sources dealing with the geography, see B. F. Batto, “The Reed Sea: Requiescat in Pace,” JBL 102 (1983): 27-35; M. Waxman, “I Miss the Red Sea,” Conservative Judaism 18 (1963): 35-44; G. Coats, “The Sea Tradition in the Wilderness Theme: A Review,” JSOT 12 (1979): 2-8; and K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, 261–63). Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is the term “Red Sea” used; it is only used in the mistranslations that followed. Although it may seem that The Reed Sea lessens Moses’ miracle, the Reed Sea is still a vast body of water uncrossable without a miracle.

      

      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. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before  Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea” These locations were clearings near the sea—Red or Reed Sea. He thought the Pharaoh would think the sons of Israel were wandering aimlessly in the land and that the wilderness had shut them in. The Lord said: “Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after us and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made his chariot ready and took and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. Then the Egyptians chased after them and they overtook them camping by the sea. As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel  became very frightened and cried out to the Lord. “They said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? They said “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.”

      But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. “As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land” The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the view of the Egyptians was blocked so they could not see the Israelites despite being only a short distance from them. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.

      It has been proven scientifically that a strong wind can push waters back, leaving a bridge of land between the waters. God caused a strong east wind, according to Exodus. Called the “wind set-down effect” studies have proved that a strong wind blowing for 10-14 hours could push back the waters sufficient for a land crossing (Doren Neff, Florida State oceanographer, referenced by an article by Michael David Lukas, Google.com). This “parting of the sea” would provide a 4-hour gap when the dry land appeared. This certainly does not take away from the parting of the sea as a miracle as such occurrences are very

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