The Big Wave

Exodus 14:15-31

Question: The ‘Big Wave’!

God told them to tell Pharoah,‘to hold a feast’ better interpreted ‘make a pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim feast’

Exodus 5:1, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.’

Exodus 6:6-7

1. Freedom to Worship / Offer Sacrifice – Exodus 5:1
   
   
2. To (once again) show the people that His promises are secure.
3. To show the pagan nations (Egypt and its rulers) that He indeed is the only God!

Ancient Egyptian deities were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion and were worshipped for millennia. Many of them ruled over natural and social phenomena, as well as abstract concepts.[1] These gods and goddesses appear in virtually every aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization, and more than 1,500 of them are known by name. Many Egyptian texts mention deities’ names without indicating their character or role, while other texts refer to specific deities without even stating their name, so a complete list of them is difficult to assemble.

It is believed that the Egyptians had between 9-12 major deities.

Ra / Amun-Ra – Arguably the most important deity in Egypt was the sun god Ra. He merged with other solar deities at an early date and assimilated them as aspects of himself—he was the emergent Khepri at dawn, Ra-Horakhti as the midday sun, and the weary Atum at the end of the day. Ra was a universal deity, who acted in the celestial, terrestrial, and netherworld realms, and was often presented as the supreme creator who emerged from the primordial waters at the beginning of time.  As creator of the world, Ra was also the archetypal ruler of the cosmos; myths tell of how he reigned over the earth until he became weary of the task and departed for the heavens, leaving living kings, known by the title ‘Son of Ra,’ to rule in his stead.

Ra-Horakhti, Ma’at, Amun  – When the god Amun rose in prominence in the New Kingdom, the two were fused to create the all-powerful Amun-Ra. His daily journey through the sky was fraught with dangers and he was accompanied in his sky boat by various deities who helped him on his path. In the Pyramid Texts, the king was said to join the entourage on the solar barque upon his ascension. His solar barque traveled the netherworld at night, passing through many challenges and merging with Osiris in the depths of the netherworld before emerging reborn at dawn.

Hathor – Hathor originated in the Predynastic period. She appears in the Pyramid Texts and later religious literature and holds a prominent place in the pantheon. Her name was written as Hwt-Hor, or “Mansion of Horus.” A sky goddess, Hathor was sometimes depicted in bovine form.

Also connected with sexuality, fertility, and motherhood, Hathor was the “beautiful one” who assisted women in all these realms. Most often represented in anthropomorphic form and wearing a red or turquoise dress, she was the mistress of the West who opened the gates of the underworld for the newly deceased and aided their transition. She was also presented as a hybrid figure with a human body and cow or composite head.

Horus in the tomb of a son of Ramses III in the Valley of the Queens (QV44) –

Horus – This falcon god was among the oldest known—Predynastic rulers were called ‘Followers of Horus’ in later texts and he appears on early ceremonial objects like the Narmer Palette. His complex nature is evident from the various aspects and roles he played in myth. Called ‘Lord of the Sky,’ Horus was viewed as a celestial falcon; these birds were highly revered for their sharp-eyed capabilities. This aspect was probably the earliest form in which he was worshiped, such as at the site of Hierakonpolis. Connected to this was his role as a solar deity and he was called Horakhty or “Horus of the two horizons’ as god of the rising and setting sun. Horus came to be worshiped as the son of Osiris and Isis, although the origins of this connection are obscure. In both falcon form and as the divine son of Osiris and Isis, Horus was strongly associated with kingship—kings were often referred to as a “living Horus.”

Diorite statue of King Khafre (Chephren), 4th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Giza, Egypt (photo: kairoinfo4u, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) – From the Early Dynastic period, the king’s name was written in a rectilinear form, known as a serekh, which was topped with a falcon. His role as guardian of kingship is beautifully demonstrated in the famous statue of an enthroned Khafre with the Horus falcon wrapped protectively around the back of his head.

As son of Osiris and Isis, Horus was heir to the mythical throne of Egypt and in pharaonic ideology the living king became associated with the falcon god while his deceased predecessor became Osiris, Lord of the Underworld. Horus was depicted in several forms: zoomorphically as a falcon, anthropomorphically as an adult or child god, and, most commonly, as a hybrid of a falcon-headed male wearing the Double Crown, signifying his rule over a united Egypt.

Osiris – One of the most important of all Egyptian deities, Osiris was prominent in pharaonic ideology and also popular in religion. He probably originated as a fertility god and was associated with the Nile inundations that rejuvenated the land. Viewed as a ruler of Egypt in the most ancient period, stories tell of his chaotic brother Seth slaying and dismembering him, scattering those pieces throughout the land. His powerful consort, Isis, gathered those pieces together and created the first mummy. Through her formidable magic, she revivified him and conceived their miraculous son, Horus. Horus avenged his father and Osiris became the King of the Underworld, providing a model for the desired resurrection that was the goal of every Egyptian.

In royal ideology, the deceased king was associated with Osiris while his living heir was viewed as the new Horus on the throne. Dwelling in the depths of the netherworld, Osiris served an essential role in the daily rejuvenation of the sun god Ra; he was even viewed as a counterpart of Ra for the dead, bringing them renewed life. Usually represented anthropomorphically as a shrouded wrapped mummy, often with green or black skin to suggest fertility, and grasping icons of kingship—the crook and flail.

He is often shown wearing a special crown called an Atef, which looks like a White Crown flanked by feathers. He is connected with the djed pillar from an early date; this hieroglyph came to be viewed as the stable backbone of the god. He served as the judge of the dead, sitting enthroned and viewing the weighing of the heart that awaited each deceased Egyptian. Eventually, the dead of all classes were referred to as an “Osiris.”

Isis – Almost always shown in anthropomorphic form, Isis was an extremely important goddess in Egypt and beyond. Sister-wife of Osiris, she appears more than 80 times in the Pyramid Texts assisting the deceased. She and her sister Nephthys were associated with kites (a scavenging bird of prey that has a shrill cry); they were portrayed as the archetypal mourners of the deceased. The primary protector of Horus, literally hundreds of thousands of statues were produced showing her holding the infant Horus on her lap.

Isis was the symbolic mother of the king and she may have originated as a personification of the power of the throne—her name is written with the sign for “throne’”and she is often crowned with this emblem. Like several other powerful goddesses, Isis could serve as an “Eye of Ra.” She was ‘Great of magic’ and her abilities in this realm are often emphasized. In addition to using her powerful magic to revivify Osiris and enact the conception of Horus, another story relays how she used her magic to heal Horus from a scorpion sting. She was often invoked in spells of protection and healing. One fascinating myth tells of how she used magic to learn the secret name of Ra, gaining dominance over him by that knowledge. On her head, Isis usually wears either the throne hieroglyph or a sun disc and horns. Sometimes she has wings, especially when her arms are outstretched to protect the figure of Osiris. A protective amulet associated with Isis, called a tyet, was used by the living and also often placed in mummy wrappings.

Her famous temple on the island of Philae was the last functioning Egyptian temple and her worship there continued until the 6th century C.E. Isis’s influence outside of Egypt (such as in ancient Rome) was substantial. She was connected with other goddesses, such as Astarte and Aphrodite, and had temples at Byblos, Athens, and Rome. Her cult was one of the “mystery religions” practiced throughout the Greco-Roman world; evidence of her veneration has been discovered as far away as England.

Egyptian deities

The List of Plagues

1. The water of the Nile was turned to Blood: Exodus7:14-25. The gods judged: Hapi: the God of annual flooding; Osirus: The Nile River was his bloodstream.
2. Frogs: Exodus 8:1-15. The gods judged: Hapi and Hegt who had the head of a frog and were related to fertility: Hegt was a goddess.
3. Lice: These were tiny, stinging, blood sucking gnats. Exodus 8:16 -18. The God judged: Seb: the earth god.
4. Flies that came in swarms: Exodus 8:20-32. The gods judged: Hathor: the goddess of protection; Vatchi: fly God.
5. Livestock die: Exodus 9:1-7. The God judged: Apis: the bull god.
6. Boils on the body: Exodus 9:8-12. The God judged: Sekhmet: goddess of epidemics.
7. Hail and Fire: Exodus 9:13-15. The gods judged: Nut; the sky goddess; Seth: God of storms; Shu: God of the atmosphere. 
8. Locusts: Exodus 10:1-20. The gods judged: Siris: God of crops; Serapia: protector of crops.
9. Darkness: Exodus 10:21-29. The God judged: Ra: the sun god who was the most worshipped God in Egypt.
10.  Death of the First Born: Exodus 11:1-12:36. The God judged: Heget: goddess of birth; Min; the God of reproduction. Deliverance from death was only thru the offering of the Passover lamb. As a result of the plagues both Pharaoh and the Egyptians beg Moses and Israel to leave Egypt. God fulfilled His promise to free Israel.

“God’s Supremacy Over the False gods of Egypt displayed thru the 10 Plagues” By Dr. Gary Barker

So, God delivered the people for Worship/Relationship not necessary or merely for freedom!

Application: When God sets us free/’saves’ us, it’s not so we can be ‘free’ to do what we want, when we want for our pleasure or as a benefit, but He does it that we might worship Him!

 Exodus 12:40’ Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt1 was four hundred and thirty years’. (NKJ)

Miriam’s Song of Deliverance – Exodus 15

• This is the first time this song appears in the Scripture, but it is also the first of four appearances.
• In addition to being the first song recorded in the Scripture, it is also the last – recorded again in Revelation 15 as it is sung around the crystal sea by those who have been raptured

Transition/Question: This newfound freedom from bondage and for worship was followed by a call by God of dedication as evidenced in Exodus 13.

II. Newfound dedication – Exodus 13:1-2

Exodus 13:2 “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.” (Exo 13:2 NLT)

• Of the born both humans and animals!

Exodus 13:3, So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever — the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the LORD has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.) (NLT)

Question: Problem with Yeast? 2 things: didn’t have enough time for yeast to take it’s effect and leaven is a symbol of sin.

‘You must celebrate this event every year.’

Application: My celebration day (memorial) is March 19^th.

Abib = early Spring (abhiibh) = ‘ear of grain,’ so aAbib is also the month when grain is fresh.

Application: While or deliverance and worship is still fresh or at its freshest, is when we need to worship.

Transition: Another important factor about the ‘Big Wave’ and the deliverance/freedom is that once they were on their way, God took them on a different rout.

III. Rarely (if ever) is One’s path Easy or as Expected or Anticipated.

Exodus 13:17-22

So I will conclude with this thought: As God prepares us, and begins to set in motion the things that will lead to our freedom to worship, don’t forget,

IV. We can stand in the Confidence of God’s Favor, protection and blessings!

’14:13, ‘Do not be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay Calm!

Application: The Land of Milk and Honey is right around the corner!Conclusion: God’s miraculous movements in guiding Israel through the Red Sea was to freedom to worship, consecration and confidence