Exhortation

Many can recognize the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Some may of not realized that this is really the third chapter of Moses' life. He had spent 40 years in the palace of the Pharaoh, and another 40 years as a nomadic sheep-herder. Also, God told Moses that he and the elders were only to ask permission to leave for a 3-day trip and not for good. But we know that once they left they never returned to slavery in Egypt. It sounds like the "3-day worship tour" concept was later used to become Gilligan's Island. It aired for three seasons on the CBS network, from September 26, 1964 to September 4, 1967. The show followed the comic adventures of seven castaways as they attempted to survive and ultimately escape from a previously uninhabited island where they were shipwrecked. Many debate over exactly where God parted the waters for the crossing of the Red Sea. My bet is that it happened near Saudi Arabia. The archaeologists visualize the following scenes. The path that they covered was probably 10 miles long and about 2.5 miles wide to accommodate the over 2 million people. Perhaps they would have walked downhill for a mile or two, then flat across the bottom for a few miles, then uphill to the other side. At the bottom, the walls of water may have been over 5,000 feet high on either side of them. In comparison, the tallest building in the U.S. is Chicago's Sears Tower at 1,700 feet. It would take about three of them stacked one on top of the other to equal the height of the water that was parted for the Israelites as they walked across the sea floor. We read in Judges 20:15-17 And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men left handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss. And the men of Israel, beside Benjamin, were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew sword: all these were men of war. Here it states that the Israelite army had "700 chosen men who were left handed, everyone could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss." So why were all the left-handed slingers together? A sling is a accurate weapon. But it has no inherent advantage to either hand and that weapon did not favor lefties. A military strategy book gives the answer. When you have a line of sword-bearing infantrymen, they all need to be holding the sword in the same hand for efficiency and safety. It's like putting lefties and righties together at the dinner table. And someone would be getting a good dose of elbow during the meal. In battle though, instead of an elbow, a lefty in the line could accidentally cut off his fellow soldier's arm or head. So it would be a good idea to keep those men in a separate unit, such as the slinger unit. And that's why they were all left-handed. As nobody would give them a sword and let them anywhere near the infantry line. Today all can receive the spirit of God, which is freely given by belief as shown in baptism, through the name of Jesus or Yeshua. Do not accept imitations as God will not either. May the grace of God be yours always.