Old/New Testament
Often clouds and fire signify the presence of God in Scripture; that is especially true here in the Book of Exodus.
14 Eternal One (to Moses): 1-2 Speak to the Israelites and tell them to go back and set up camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon. Camp there next to the sea. 3 Pharaoh will talk about the Israelites, saying, “They are wandering around in circles. The desert has closed them in on all sides.” 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s stubborn heart even more, and he will pursue the Israelites. Honor will come to Me through the actions of Pharaoh and his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Eternal One.
And so they did exactly as the Eternal instructed.
5 When Egypt’s king received the news that the Israelites had run away, the attitude of Pharaoh and his servants changed. They began talking among themselves.
Pharaoh’s Servants: What have we done? We have released the Israelites from serving us and lost our labor force!
6 Pharaoh prepared his chariot and called out his army. 7 He took a select group of the 600 best chariots in the land plus all the other chariots in Egypt with drivers commanding all of them.
8 The Eternal hardened the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he chased after the Israelites just as they were marching out of the land with victorious hands held high.
9 The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. All of Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot-drivers and army caught up with the Israelites as they were camping by the sea not far from Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
10 Pharaoh approached the Israelites’ camp, and the Israelites saw the Egyptian army closing in on them. The Israelites were trapped and feared for their lives, so they cried out to the Eternal.
Israelites (to Moses): 11 Were there not enough graves in Egypt? Is that why you brought us out here to die in the desert? Why have you done this to us? Why have you made us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, “Stop pestering us so that we can get on with our lives and serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to live as slaves to the Egyptians than to die out here in the desert.
Moses (to the people): 13 Don’t be afraid! Stand your ground and witness how the Eternal will rescue you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians, for after today you will never see them again. 14 The Eternal will fight on your behalf while you watch in silence.
Eternal One (to Moses): 15 Why do you call for Me? Instruct the Israelites to break camp and keep moving. 16 Raise your staff and reach out over the sea to divide it. The Israelites will be able to walk straight through the sea on dry ground. 17-18 I am going to harden the stubborn hearts of the Egyptians, and in their arrogance they will continue to chase the Israelites. My honor will be on display when I defeat Pharaoh, his army, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers. The Egyptians will know that I am the Eternal when I display my glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers.
19 God’s messenger, who had been out front leading the people of Israel, moved to protect the rear of the company; the cloud pillar moved with him from the front to the back of them. 20 The cloud pillar took its position between Egypt’s and Israel’s camps. The cloud cast darkness by day yet it lit up the sky by night. As a result, the Egyptians never got close to the Israelites the entire night. 21 Moses then took his staff and reached out over the sea. The Eternal parted the sea with a strong east wind, which blew all night and turned the floor of the sea into dry ground between the divided waters. 22 The Israelites broke camp and traveled on dry ground through the parted waters, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians were undaunted. They continued their pursuit; all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers followed the Israelites into the middle of the sea.
24 Before daybreak the Eternal peered down upon the Egyptian army through the fire pillar and the cloud pillar and threw them all into confusion. 25 He caused the wheels of their chariots to break down so that it was nearly impossible for the drivers to control them. The Egyptians knew something was wrong.
Egyptians: Let’s go and get away from these Israelites. Their God, the Eternal One, is fighting for them against us.
26 After all the Israelites had reached the other side of the sea, the Eternal spoke to Moses.
Eternal One (to Moses): Now take your staff and reach out over the sea. The waters which I parted will crash upon the Egyptians and cover their chariots and chariot-drivers.
27 So Moses raised his hand and reached out over the sea, and the walls of water collapsed. As dawn gave way to morning, the sea returned to normal and the Eternal swept the retreating Egyptian army into the sea. 28 The waters rushed and covered all the chariots and their drivers, swallowing up all of Pharaoh’s army that had pursued Israel into the sea. Not one Egyptian survived.
29 But the Israelites had walked safely through the parted waters on dry ground, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Eternal rescued Israel from the powerful grip of the Egyptians, and Israel watched the corpses of the Egyptians wash up on the shore. 31 When Israel witnessed the incredible power that the Eternal used to defeat the Egyptians, the people were struck with fear of Him, and they trusted in Him and also in Moses, His servant.
Throughout this redemption story, it is clear that the Lord has protected Israel while He has judged and frustrated Egypt. After the many wonders before the Passover and the miraculous guidance by the cloud and the pillar of fire, God destroyed the Egyptian army in the midst of the sea. For centuries people have sought to explain this great miracle and make sense of it. Was it a volcanic eruption and a tsunami that parted the waters? Was it a shallow lake that drowned Pharaoh’s army? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Only God knows. But reason cannot grasp all that took place that day. When God’s covenant people were on the verge of extinction, God stepped in to fight for them. No one survived that day except by the miraculous grace of God.
15 Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Eternal One.
Moses and the Israelites: I will sing to the Eternal, for He has won a great victory;
He has thrown the chariot into the sea: horse and rider.
2 The Eternal is my strength and my song,
and He has come to save me;
He is my God, and I will praise Him.
He is the God of my father, and I will exalt Him.
3 The Eternal is a warrior;
the Eternal is His name.
4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has thrown into the sea.
And his high-ranking officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
5 The deep waters covered them;
they sank to the muddy depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, Eternal One, is magnificent in power.
Your right hand, Eternal, vanquishes the enemy.
7 In Your majestic greatness You conquer those who rise against You;
You unleash Your burning anger, and it consumes them like straw.
8 With a blast of Your anger the waters piled high,
the waves stood up like a wall;
in the heart of the sea, deep waters turned solid.
9 The enemy said, “I will go after them, chase them down, and divide the spoils;
my desire will be spent on them.
I will draw my sword; my powerful hand will take possession of them once again.”
10 But You blew Your breath-wind, and the sea covered them;
they sank like lead down into the mighty waters.
11 Who compares to You among the gods, O Eternal?
Who compares to You—great in holiness,
awesome in praises, performing marvels and wonders?
12 You raised Your right hand,
and the earth swallowed Your enemies.
13 With Your loyal love, You have led the people You have redeemed;
with Your great strength, You have guided them to Your sacred dwelling.
14 Already people have heard and they tremble;
those who inhabit Philistia are gripped by fear.
15 Even now the chiefs of Edom are deeply disturbed;
Moab’s leaders cannot stop trembling;
all who live in Canaan are deeply distressed and wasting away.
16 Horror and fear overwhelm them.
Faced with the greatness of Your power,
people are afraid to move; they fall as silent as stone,
Until Your people pass by, Eternal One,
until the people whom You purchased pass by.
17 You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—
the place, Eternal, that You have designated to be Your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, that Your hands founded and made ready.
18 The Eternal will reign as King forever and always.
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot-drivers drove into the sea, the Eternal caused the waters to collapse upon them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.
20 The prophetess, Miriam (Aaron’s sister), picked up a tambourine, and all the rest of the women followed her with tambourines and joyful dancing.
21 Miriam: Sing to the Eternal One, for He has won a great victory;
He has thrown the horse and its chariot into the sea.
22 Then Moses led Israel away from the Red Sea, and they entered the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert before they found water.
23 When they came to the place where they did find water, they could not drink it because it was so bitter. So they called the place Marah, or bitter. 24 Because they were very thirsty, the people complained to Moses.
Israelites: What are we supposed to drink?
25 Moses then asked the Eternal for help, and the Eternal showed him a log. Moses threw the log into the bitter water, and the water became sweet. At Marah the Eternal established an important principle and set a standard for His people so that He could test them.
Eternal One: 26 If you will listen closely to My voice—the voice of your God—and do what is right in My eyes, pay attention to My instructions, and keep all of My laws; then I will not bring on you any of the plagues that I did on the Egyptians, for I am the Eternal, your Healer.
27 Then they traveled on to an oasis called Elim, where there were 12 freshwater springs and 70 palm trees with dates. They set up camp there next to the waters.
Jesus is providing an entirely different perspective on success and happiness. The new Kingdom is breaking in, and the new community is coming together. This is the logic of that Kingdom and that community: to inhabit God’s story, this is what must be done. To accrue fame and comfort and riches is counter to this new community. In the economics of this new community, real success is marked by a willingness to sacrifice one’s very life to God, and the promised rewards are immense.
17 Six days later, Jesus went up to the top of a high mountain with Peter, James, and John. 2 There, something spectacular happened: Jesus’ face began to glow and gleam and shine like the morning sun. His clothes gleamed too—bright white, like sunlight mirroring off a snowfall. He was, in a word, transfigured. 3 Suddenly there at the top of the mountain were Moses and Elijah, those icons of the faith, beloved of God. And they talked to Jesus.
Peter: 4 Lord, how amazing that we are here to see these heroes of our faith, these men through whom God spoke. Should I quickly build some shelter, three small tabernacles, for You, for Moses, and for Elijah?
5 As Peter spoke, a bright cloud enveloped all of them.
Voice from the Cloud: This is My beloved Son. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.
This is but an echo of the Voice that spoke at Jesus’ ritual cleansing in baptism. It is an echo of what God said through Moses during his final sermon on the mount. God promised that although Moses could not enter the promised land, He would send His people another prophet. Moses’ very last wish for his beloved people was that they would listen to this new prophet when He would come.
6 This voice from heaven terrified the three disciples, and they fell prostrate on the ground. 7 But Jesus—who was, by this time, used to His disciples being plagued by fear—touched them.
Jesus: Get up. Don’t be afraid.
8 And when the disciples got up, they saw they were alone with their Lord.
9 The four men hiked back down the mountain, and Jesus told His disciples to stay silent.
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone what happened here, not until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.
Why does Jesus often instruct His disciples to keep secrets? In this case, perhaps He does because He realizes they will not understand the meaning of the transfiguration until they live through that other hilltop event, the death of Jesus on the cross. Believers, like the disciples, will better understand this bath of light and revelation when they, too, come to Golgotha and the cross.
Disciples: 10 Master, why do the scribes teach that the prophet Elijah must come first?
Jesus: 11 Scripture tells us clearly that indeed Elijah will come to restore all things. 12 But see this: Elijah has come already. No one recognized him for who he was, so he was arrested and killed. That is part of the preparation of which our Scripture speaks: for the Son of Man, too, will be arrested and killed at the hands of people who do not see Him for who He is.
13 And then the disciples realized the man they knew as John the Baptist[a] was the one Jesus was speaking of.
14 They had come down from the mountain, and as they headed toward town, they came to a crowd. As they approached the crowd, a man rushed up to Jesus and knelt before Him.
Man from the Crowd: 15 Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures. Sometimes when they come on, my son falls into the fire or into a pond. We are very concerned for him. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.
Jesus: 17 This generation is no better than the generation who wandered in the desert, who lost faith and bowed down to golden idols as soon as Moses disappeared upon Mount Sinai! How long will I have to shepherd these unbelieving sheep? (turning to the man) Bring the boy to Me.
18 The man did, and Jesus castigated the demon who had taken up residence in the boy. And the demon fled the boy’s body at the sound of Jesus’ voice, and the boy was healed from that moment on. No more shaking. No more falling into fires.
19 Later, when they were away from the crowds, the disciples asked Jesus why they hadn’t been able to drive out the demon themselves.
Jesus: 20 Because you have so little faith. I tell you this: if you had even a faint spark of faith, even faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and because of your faith, the mountain would move. If you had just a sliver of faith, you would find nothing impossible. [21 But this kind is not realized except through much prayer and fasting.][b]
22 Jesus and the disciples came to Galilee.
Jesus: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill Him, and on the third day, He will be resurrected, vindicated, newly alive.
The disciples were filled with grief.
24 Then Jesus and His disciples went toward Capernaum, and when they arrived there, some people who had collected the two-drachma tax that went for the upkeep of the temple came up to Peter.
Temple Tax Collectors: Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?
Peter: 25 He does pay the tax.
Jesus knows that He and His followers are the true temple, and yet Jesus is canny. It is not quite time to shake the foundations of the temple or of the old way of doing things. And so He pays the tax and bides His time.
So when Peter came into the house where they were staying, Jesus explored the subject.
Jesus: Simon, what do you think? When kings collect taxes and duties and tolls, from whom do they collect? Do they levy taxes on their own people or on strangers and foreigners?
Peter: 26 The foreigners, my Lord.
Jesus: Well, then, we children of the King should be exempt from this two-drachma tax. 27 But all in all, it’s better not to make any waves; we’d better go on and pay the tax. So do this: go out to the lake and throw out your line. And when you catch a fish, open its jaws and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take this to the tax collectors, and pay your taxes and Mine.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.