Exodus 14-16 Red Sea and Manna

Thoughts

God sets the stage for the final showdown with Pharaoh – He will make it look like the Israelites are confused and put them in position by the Sea of Reeds

We aren’t told how many Egyptians came after the Israelites but we can guess it was thousands if not tens of thousands.

Here we see the beginnings of Israel’s tug-of-war with their faith in God’s plans. They are only a few days out of 430 years of slavery, and they’re already asking to go back.

I have mentioned how the Red Sea is the “Sea of Reeds” which makes a nice callback to Moses being rescued from the reeds.

Some have tried to say that this was the northern part tip of the overall Red Sea where there were more reeds and shallow waters, making it walkable. However this doesn’t account for the mass killing of the Egyptians as well as God saying they will walk on completely dry land.

Exodus 14:27 “And the LORD threw Egypt into the midst of the sea.” The word used is וַיְנַעֵר (vaynaʿēr) meaning to shake off, throw, hurl. I wonder what that looked like!

I wondered about Egyptian accounts of all of this: The Ipuwer Papyrus, also known as The Admonitions of Ipuwer, is an ancient Egyptian text that describes a time of disaster. It was written around 2100–1600 BCE and it portrays Egypt in collapse. Some of its lines include “The river is blood” , “”The land is without light” ,“Gold and lapis lazuli are strung on the necks of servant girls”, “No more children… where is the seed of men?”However, Egyptologists caution that there is no connection to the Exodus story. Interestinggg

Exodus 15 is a prophetic song and the first song recorded in the Bible. It may be called the ‘Song of Moses’ but it is all about God’s glory.

Here we see the first woman mentioned as prophet: Miriam

The name Mary in the New Testament is actually derived from the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam), which is the same name given to Moses’ sister in the Old Testament. In Greek, this name appears as Μαριάμ (Mariam) or Μαρία (Maria), depending on the context. The English name Mary is simply the common name of these Greek forms. 

Did Moses throw a whole tree into the water? The Hebrew word עֵץ (etz) means tree but can mean wood/log. 

Here we see God continually shaping the Israelites, testing them and providing for them. All they need to do is obey.

Wilderness of Sin doesn’t mean our English version of ‘sin’ – could possibly be related to Sinai or the word might be ‘Zin’.

Chapter 15-16 is a big contrast from singing praises to God to whining again.

We are now one month away from when they left (15th day 1st month to 15th day 2nd month)

The big Manna Test: No gathering more than needed, no gathering on the 7th day (double gathering on the 6th).

The manna itself was like a flakey seed – Numbers says it was like the color bdellium- a
gummy resin. It also tasted of honey

God said “Set aside an omer of it as a reminder for future generations” This was eventually placed in the Ark of the Covenant (Hebrews 9:4).

Questions

In what world did the Egyptians think it was safe to go into the Red Sea

“Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” – Did they not know that before ???

What was Egypt like after losing Pharaoh and their entire army? How did they restart? Did they not document this because it was such an insult to their deities?

Would it be hard to gather the manna if mixed with sand? Some legends say God blew the sand away.

Application

Sometimes God calls us to act, not just pray as we see here with Moses. Prayer is vital, but when God has already given direction, the next step is obedience. In this moment, God is continuing to teach, discipline, and reveal His plan to the Israelites as He leads them toward the Promised Land. Yet even with simple instructions, the people still struggle to fully trust Him. It’s easy to look at them and wonder how they could doubt after all they had seen, but the truth is I do the same. I often pray for guidance, but when God answers, I hesitate, delay, or overthink instead of stepping forward in faith. Applying this today means recognizing that obedience is often the response God is waiting for.