Red Sea

 Do you believe the Red Sea crossing, described in Exodus chapter 14, really took place?  In Exodus 14:21-22 it states that the Lord caused the sea to go back from a strong east wind all that night; that God made the seas into dry land and that the waters were divided. In several places it says that the water was like a wall to them on their right hand and their left. 

There is no natural explanation that exists or one that can be contrived to explain the Yam Suph crossing. One false theory that nests in academia is that the Hebrew words Yam Suph really refers to a shallow sea of reeds and not the deeper Red Sea crossing as described in Exodus as a wall of water on their right hand and their left. To use any natural phenomenon to explain the sea crossing defeats God’s purpose in the first place.

Some scholars and scientists have generally assumed that miracles are impossible because they violate the laws of nature.  CS Lewis, a noted English writer, believed miracles are acts of God. Therefore they are entirely possible if there is a God to take action. Once you take your first step of faith and believe in the existence of God, then believing in miracles is not such an insurmountable idea. This entire universe is so vast that human reasoning can’t begin to fathom its intricacies. Again, if you explore the world of the atom with its sub atomic particles the same is true and you will eventually get to the conclusion that God indeed holds all things together. 

Remember back to Exodus 2:15, when Moses at the age of forty, killed an Egyptian slave master? When Pharaoh heard about the murder he wanted to kill him. Now Moses was running for his life and fled from Egypt to the area of Midian, Saudi Arabia.  Moses most likely used a well established trade route that was in existence at that time. The route cut across the middle of the Sinai Peninsula rounding the northern most end of the Gulf of Aqaba. With Pharaoh’s army at close pursuit you can bet Moses did not linger in Egypt but rather crossed over the border into Saudi Arabia. Now, forty years later, at the age of eighty, Moses returns to Egypt to lead the Israelites away from bondage. Early tradition places the route to Mt. Sinai in the southern end of Sinai Peninsula. Even though this route is printed in the map section of every printed bible, the truth is nobody knows for sure if this is where the Mountain of God is located. The problem lies buried in the fact that there is not much archeological evidence to support the theory.

In 1996 a Swedish scientist by the name of Viveka Ponte’n made some very exciting discoveries on the east of the Gulf of Aqaba in Saudi Arabia that collaborate a deeper Red Sea crossing. Among these discoveries was Mt. Jabal al-Lawz the possible location of the biblical Mt. Horeb or Mountain of God. At the bottom of this mountain is another archeological site containing large flat boulders possibly set up by Aaron as an altar. These rocks were decorated with hieroglyphs of Egyptian bulls complete with their distinctive long horns. Also a possible landing point associated with the Red Sea crossing was found near this location.  All these sites were found not in the Sinai Peninsula but on the east side of the Gulf of Aqaba in Saudi Arabia. 

In Exodus 13:17, 18 God led the people south to the Red Sea. Additional research by Dr. Lennart Moller of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Sweden, and Viveka Ponte’n produced the only possible departure site large enough to accommodate the fledgling nation of Israel. The site was discovered on the east side of Sinai Peninsula called Nuwaybi Beach. Then again in Exodus 14:2, 3 God tells them to turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth and the sea. Pi Hahiroth translates “mouth of the gorges”. Nuwaybi Beach is a triangular shaped peninsula surrounded to the north and south by 2000’ high mountains and the Red Sea to the east and a mouth of the gorges to the west. As pharaoh’s army was bearing down on them from the west, it left the Israelites trapped with no humanly possible way of escape. 

Now the stage is set for God to show His power, might and strong arm of deliverance. The Lord divides the seas, dries up the land allowing Israel’s young and old to escape the Egyptian army. Once the Israelites are safely across God collapses the walls of water drowning pharaoh’s army. Archeological evidence was found submerged under this 8 mile section of sea that supports Dr. Lennart Moller and Viveka Ponte’n   theory. Coral encrusted chariot wheels, hubs and axles have been located in the waters off Nuwaybi Beach and the Saudi Arabian exit site.