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Moses at the Red Sea - Pastor Don Guldin
Aug 13, 2025
Part 2 of Pastor Don Guldin's look into the life and legacy of Moses—prophet, deliverer, and servant of God. Lesson 62 Bible Study Series Pastor Don Guldin 150 Guldin Rd Jacksonville, NC www.calvaryministry.org
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Good morning, folks. This is Pastor Don Golden of Calvary Ministries. I want to
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thank all of you, as I do every week, for tuning in to be with us and to share
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the word of God in sermon and study. Last week, as you recalled, we did the
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first of the series of three that we're going to do on Moses. And we talked
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about Moses going to stand before Pharaoh and telling him, "Let my people
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go, the Hebrews that were in slavery at that time, for 430
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years. God sent him to Pharaoh to stand before Pharaoh and said, "Let my people
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go so that they might worship me and
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serve me. I be their God and they be my people."
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We read also how nine different times
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Moses went before Pharaoh and each of those nine times Pharaoh refused to let
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them go and God would put a plague upon them of one type or another.
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And then the 10th plague, Moses went back the 10th time, he and
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Aaron before Pharaoh, and he said one more time, "Thus saith
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the Lord God of Israel, let my people go." And the Pharaoh would not listen.
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The Bible says he hardens his heart and he would not hear the cries of the
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people of Israel to be let go to worship the Lord their God in a place that he
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would show unto them. So God sends the 10th plague and that
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plague is the taking of the lives killing all the firstborn of Egypt.
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among them the firstborn son of Pharaoh
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at the death of his firstborn son and at the clamor of the people in Egypt
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because of the loss of their firstborn.
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Moses goes to Pharaoh and Pharaoh says to him, "Take all your people and leave.
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Go from me." That brings to us then verse 18
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and chapter 13 of the book of Exodus.
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And we find there where it says, "So God led the people around by way of the
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wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up in
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orderly ranks out of Egypt." Now the thing that I want to point out to you
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about this opening verse from the scriptures, it says clearly
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that God led the people. God led the
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people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. So the people of Israel
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who had been enslaved by Egypt for 430 years are now leaving to go worship the
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Lord their God. God is going to lead them out of Egypt
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into a place where they can become the nation of Israel and worship the Lord
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their God. He will be their god and they will be his people. They are in the land
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of Gan when they leave. The pharaoh Rammeses is living in the city that he
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was building to bear his name at that time and a temple city further south
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called Pitham. It was these two cities, the building program of Pharaoh that
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caused the Hebrews to be enslaved, making bricks for the buildings he
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wanted in the city with his name, Rammeses, and his place of temple worship, Pitham.
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The Hebrews leave and they head south toward what is today called the Gulf of
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Suez. So they head south and they travel a distance of about
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40 miles from Pitham from Gan out of Gisham Gan
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and they reached the very north part of the Gulf of Suez.
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Now in the ancient Hebrew, that ancient part of what is the present day Gulf of
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Suez was considered to be part of the Red Sea. And they called it in the
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Hebrew Yam Suff. And when the Bible was translated about
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300 CE from the Hebrew into the Latin,
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which was later called the Vulgate, when the Bible was translated from the
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Hebrew into the Latin in 300 CE, that
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word Yamf, which literally means red sea,
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was translated as that into the Latin Red Sea.
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So Moses is leading these former slaves.
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We don't know how many but if you calculate over 430 years from the fact
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that they started with 66 persons 430 years they may have had as many as tens
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of thousands I don't know for sure and so I won't try to give you a figure but
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if it was just 20,000 people that was an
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amazing amazing determination for Moses to lead these people who had formerly been slaves
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and had never been out of Egypt, had never left the land of Goan for them to
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head south and go toward Yamang Suff,
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the Red Sea. And so they did. they depart and they would have traveled for
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about 47 days. When I get to my next point, remember
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Pharaoh, his eldest son, died in the last plague, the death of the first
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born. Pharaoh's son is dead.
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The time for inbalment for Egyptian royalty and those of high rank was 40
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days. So Pharaoh would have sat in Rammeses
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for 40 days waiting for the imbalmed remains of his son to come back.
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There was a period of mourning then after the remains came back. That was
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seven days. And so Pharaoh would have sat in Rammeses, the city he was
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building to have his name for 47 days.
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Now if we interpret that into a 7 day week that means that six and a half
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weeks the Hebrews had already been in journey from Gan south toward Yamsuk
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the Red Sea. 47 days. Pharaoh after he goes through his period
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of grieving for his son, he decides on the advisement of his counselors that
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they should go and bring the slaves back, that they should not let this
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happen to his reign in Egypt.
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And so they launch out and attack with all their chariots, with their horses,
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and with their foot soldiers, and they go after the Israelites,
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the former Hebrew slaves of Pharaoh.
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Now, that's where we pick it up in chapter 14 and verse one. It says there
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in chapter 14 of Exodus and verse one, now the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi
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Roth between Mdo and the sea opposite
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Baal Sapon. and you shall tent before it by the sea. Now, we don't have
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archaeological confirmation of where those were, but it
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says obviously that they were already near to the sea. So they had already in
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that 47 days traveled that 40 miles from
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Gan and they were camped before the Red Sea. So Rammeses and Pitham would have
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been to their north. The Red Sea Sulf
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would have been directly to their east. Directly to their east. And there they
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are encamped according to what we have here.
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And it says in verse eight, "And the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh of
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Egypt, the Pharaoh of Egypt, his heart was heart was hardened, and he pursued the
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children of Israel. And the chis children of Israel went out with
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boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them all the
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horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army. And they
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overtook them camping in this spot beside Piha
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Roth and before Bal Safon.
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And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold,
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the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid. And the children
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of Israel cried out to the Lord. They cried out to the Lord.
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Turn with me now if you would to the book of Romans, chapter 8, and I want you to go with me
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to verse 28. I wonder what type of sermon of
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encouragement Moses gave to the people when his scouts who were behind them to
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protect them and give warning of any approaching enemy
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when they came to him. I wonder what he said to the people of Israel.
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I think possibly something like Paul wrote many years
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later in the book of Romans chapter 8
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and verse 28. Paul said there,
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"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
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to those who are the called according to his purpose."
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Now, I want to remind you of the situation. God called the Hebrews to come out of
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Egypt so that they could come and they could worship him. They could be his
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people and he could be their God. They were called according to the purpose of
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God. And it says here that all things work together for good to those who love
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God. Now think of this. The people of Israel,
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they had the word that the Egyptians were coming from the north in pursuit of
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them. The Pharaoh had brought his chariots, his horses, his calvary, and
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he had brought his foot soldiers, and this is in the early part of the Iron
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Age. So, they had weapons of warfare that the Israelites had none of. The
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Israelites were completely at the mercy, it would seem, to the warfare
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uh tactics and the implements of war that the Egyptians had. The Egyptians
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were coming fast behind them from the north.
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They had a sea in front of them. Now at that point of the Red Sea all the
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way at the north of the present day Gulf of Suez,
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it is about 121 miles across that sea. So they could
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see the water in front of them, but they couldn't see the other side.
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That sea at that point, what we would call here the Red Sea,
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present day Gulf of Suez, was about
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on the average 140 ft deep.
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Now, these are people that were not skilled, you know, with maritime
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operations. They had no boats. They had no means to
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get across there. There were no large rafts. There were no barges.
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And so here the water is in front of them. They can't see the other side. A
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seemingly impassible obstacle. And the Egyptians are coming
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behind them from the north. And the message that I believe was
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preached to them, I believe that they were told, "We know
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that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
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the called according to his purpose."
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It says going on down in verse 31, what shall we say to these things?
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Imagine Moses standing on that shore. The Egyptians are coming. The ocean is
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in front of them. A seemingly impassable obstacle. He says, "What then shall we say to
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these things? If God is for us,
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who can be against us?
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Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress?
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Those people were in absolute distress. Have you ever been in distress in your
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life? Have you ever been faced seemingly impossible obstacles in front of you? Or
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persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or
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sword.
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Verse 37 of Romans 8. Yet in all these things, listen to the
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word of God. Yet in all these things we are more than
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conquerors through him who loved us.
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For I am persuaded, verse 38, for I am persuaded that neither death
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nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
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nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
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created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God
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who is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's
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go back.
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The people are there and Moses says to the people
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in verse 13, "Do not be afraid.
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Stand still and see the salvation of the
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Lord which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see
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today, you shall see again no more
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forever. The Lord will fight for you and you
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shall hold your peace. Then God says to Moses, "Now remember,
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they're standing on the west side of Yamsuk, the Red Sea, and they need to go to the
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east side to get into Sinai, a distance of about
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121 miles."
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And God says to Moses, "Lift up your rod
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and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of
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Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst over of the sea."
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Moses does exactly that. And the waters begin to part and they go
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up in a heap on both sides to the north and to the south.
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Turn with me to the book of Corinthians.
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1 Corinthians chapter 15
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and verse 55. Turn with me if you would. 1 Corinthians
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chapter 15 versif uh chapter 15
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and verse 55. [Laughter]
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And the Bible says there, now keep in mind how much these people
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were afraid, these Hebrew slaves. They were in fear of their very lives.
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God said that he would stand for them on this day.
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And first Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 55,
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the Bible says, and it's a comfort for us to this day. Oh death,
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where is your sting? Oh hades, where is your victory?
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The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Now listen
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to how it closes. But thanks be to God, who gives us the
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victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Moses said to them?
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Moses said to the people of Israel, "The Lord will fight you for you this day,
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and you shall hold your peace. Stand still and see the salvation of the
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Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. And the Egyptians whom you see
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today coming from the north, you shall see again
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no more forever. Now what happens?
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Excuse me. Moses and the people begin to cross the
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sea. Moses puts out his rod and the water
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walls back on each side. Now, keep in mind that this ocean, if this inland
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ocean, this Red Sea in this day and time was as it is today
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with an average depth of 140 ft. And let's say that there were tens of
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thousands to cross, maybe 20,000 people, maybe more.
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Let's say that the path that was made for them to cross was a half mile wide.
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That would mean that water was standing
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3,000 ft or more on each side of them, 34 of a mile high as they passed
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through. Then Moses stretched out his hand over
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the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind,
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and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
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So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and
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the waters were a wall to them, 3,000 ft high,
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wall to them on their right and on their left. They were literally
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looking straight up with water on each side. Now keep in mind from the point
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where they started going into this miracle, this phenomenon that no man had
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ever seen before. They could not see the other side, the
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other shore. But they had faith and they followed Moses and they went into the
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Red Sea as God commanded.
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So they go into the sea and as they are passing out on the other
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side, it says in the morning watch, they looked down and there was the army
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of the Egyptians coming into the sea.
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And it says the Egyptians when they looked they were scared and they said to
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Pharaoh, "Let us flee, lest we be consumed in these waters."
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The Israelites were safe on the east shore of Yamsuk.
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And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And when the morning appeared,
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the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were still fleeing into
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it. And so the whole army of Israel exactly
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as Moses told them was destroyed or the whole army of Egypt exactly as Moses had
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prophesied was destroyed before their very eyes.
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Verse 30. And so the Lord saved Israel that
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day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
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dead on the seashore.
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The Israelites safe on the east shore of the Red Sea.
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They stand on the shore and they sing the song of the sea. Here's what it
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says. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke,
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saying, I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.
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The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength
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and my song. He has become my salvation.
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He is my God and I will praise him.
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Who is like unto you, oh Lord, among the gods. And remember, Egypt had over 1,500
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pagan deities. Who is like you, glorious in holiness?
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Verse 18, the end of the psalm. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.
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Now I want to close with this thought. I know that people in today's society and
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in today's world face unique problems as well. There are times when you are
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afraid for what lies ahead. You're afraid for what lies behind. You seem to
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be in distress because of the very circumstances
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of your life. When times get desperate,
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when that type of distress falls upon you,
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remember that the Lord reigns forever and
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forever. And there's no one like unto the Lord
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who is like unto him glorious and holiness.
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Do this. You can make him your savior, your God,
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your redeemer. Simply say, "Almighty God, forgive me of
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my sins. I repent of my sins.
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I want to be a child of yours. I want you to have become my salvation.
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I want you to be my God. And I will praise you with the life I
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live. I believe if you have repented of your sins and called upon the name of
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the Lord that God will save you from all that plagues you and has the potential
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to cause you harm because the Lord,
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he is glorious. He is holy and he shall reign forever and ever. I
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pray that you have received that. Amen.