Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:Note that this is not this concept of God as savior is not about redemption of sin or eternal life: it's about physical violence in defense of the chosen people. His attributes are strength and defense. He is a warrior.
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.2 “The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.[b]
5 The deep waters have covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, Lord,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
shattered the enemy.7 “In the greatness of your majesty
you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
it consumed them like stubble.
God is exalted for his power of mass murder.
8 By the blast of your nostrilsAgain, this religion is not monotheistic. "Who among the gods is like you, YHWH?" this passage asks. His distinction is that among all of the Gods, he is the most murderous. SAB offers a catalog of God's murderous acts.
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy boasted,
‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.’
10 But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
11 Who among the gods
is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
This is not a benevolent God, except toward the Israelites. He intends to continue his campaign of mass murder, this times against all the peoples of Canaan, in order to give their land and possessions (not to mention their young women) to the Israelites.12 “You stretch out your right hand,
and the earth swallows your enemies.
13 In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
14 The nations will hear and tremble;
anguish will grip the people of Philistia.
15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people[c] of Canaan will melt away;
16 terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
until the people you bought[d] pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.18 “The Lord reigns
for ever and ever.”
This is the first time we have heard of a woman being called a prophet, and in fact Miriam one of the relatively few women who has been given a name at all so far. It is of some interest that in Orthodox Judaism, until recently, men and women dancing together was generally frowned upon. Here the women dance separately, for what it is worth, but apparently it's fine that the men are watching them. (A timbrel is a tambourine, same thing.)19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen[e] went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:“Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
Again, Shur and Marah are not the names of any known real places. The writers obviously have a vague idea of geography at best, but since the people wind up at a place called Mount Sinai* in fairly short order, it must be that they did not cross the Red Sea per se but rather the Gulf of Suez. Otherwise they would now be in what is today Saudi Arabia and they would have had to travel all the way up the east coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (very nearly setting foot in Canaan) and back down the west side. Possibly the writers simply consider the Gulf of Suez part of the Red Sea and don't make a distinction. However, an alternative theory is that they were indeed in what is today Saudi Arabia and "Mount Sinai" does not refer to a place in the modern Sinai peninsula at all but rather to some place east of the Gulf of Aqaba. (Scroll down to the section headed Edom/Nabatea for this explanation.) In any case, it really doesn't matter since the entire story is fictional anyway.22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.[f]) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.Another one of those cases where God can't just do the miracle, he needs to have Moses use a prop. No, I don't know why.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”Again, there is no such place as Elim, as far as we know.
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
* There is a range of hills or small mountains in southern Sinai. The feature called Mount Sinai today actually consists of three peaks, of which the tallest is called Saint Catherine.
Footnotes:
- Exodus 15:2 Or song
- Exodus 15:4 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 22
- Exodus 15:15 Or rulers
- Exodus 15:16 Or created
- Exodus 15:19 Or charioteers
- Exodus 15:23 Marah means bitter.
3 comments:
Wow. Such inconsistencies and nonsense. Reading your summation and critiques of the passages in the Pentateuch, Cervantes, gives me a greater appreciation for what it's like when people go to a concert with me (former professional musician) and I ruin it for them by explaining all the technical and musical insufficiencies ... thereby disabusing them of the notion that the concert was a really good one!
I don't do that anymore, of course, but I'm glad you're doing it for me. Enough is enough ... not that I was ever really religious, because I wasn't. But there was a time when I wanted to be. I see people who draw great meaning from religion for what they are: people who seek to draw great meaning from religion, no more, no less. Some of them are conniving pastors or televangelists, and many of them are just good people who would be good people even if they weren't religious. People are kind and others are not and some are evil, and organized religion will not change them in this regard. A personal understanding of one's religion can be a helpful tool for purposeful, healthy living. And religion can also be a scourge. It's a tool and, like any other tool, how we use the it makes all the difference.
Of course the Bible is vast, and it contains uncountable different and often contradictory sentiments and factual assertions, including various concepts of God and morality. Anyone who purports to rely on it in any way, whether for authority or inspiration, has to pick and choose the passages they want to pay attention to and ignore the rest.
Good point. That's what people do with information of all sorts--right?
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