Date of Award

5-1-1990

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Theology (ThD)

Department

Exegetical Theology

First Advisor

Horace Hummel

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

Exodus 14:2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Exodus 15:2; Isaiah 10:26; Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 12:2.; Isaiah 43:14-21; Isaiah 63:10-12; Luke 1:46-55; Nehemiah 9:9; Psalm 106:8-12; Psalm 114:3-6; Psalm 136:13; Psalm 66:6; Psalm 78:13;

Abstract

In Exodus 14:2, God commanded Israel to do a strange thing. God directed Israel to turn from their route, and to walk into a trap. By wandering to the shores of a reed sea, Israel intentionally gave Pharaoh the impression that they were lost, and tempted him to pursue them. Why would God command this? After all, Egypt had already been destroyed. Thousands of Egyptians had died. Pharaoh's will had been broken, and he had let Israel go.. The nation was already leaving Egypt for Palestine. Why did Israel not simply pass through the border fortresses and go on their way? Why would God decree a second act of judgment and deliverance? An event of this magnitude must have had purpose, but what could it have been?

Most commentators dwell at length on questions of date and location, but say little about purpose. This study will begin by looking at explanations for Israel’s sea crossing which have been offered. Then this study will look carefully at some aspects of Egyptian and Canaanite religion. After all, God delivered Israel both from physical and spiritual captivity. Israel had spent centuries involved in the Canaanite and Egyptiansyncret4sm found in the Nile delta. If the sea crossing had symbolic meaning, that meaning should be sought in the struggle for truth necessitated by Israel's involvement in Egyptian culture.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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