Exodus 13:18 - Forerunner Commentary

Exodus 13:18

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Exodus 13:18.

Exodus 13:17-18
Excerpted from: Escape From Box Canyon

God says, in Exodus 13:17, that He did not lead them by the direct route to Canaan. It was called "the way of the land of the Philistines" (or, "the way of the Philistines"). It was also called by the Romans, later on, "the Via Maris." ("Via" meaning "the way of;" and "maris" means "sea." It was the way of the sea.) This was a very important route between Egypt and the rest of the world—especially the rest of the civilized world, along the Fertile Crescent that goes up along the coast of Canaan, and then up into Assyria, and then down the Tigris and Euphrates River. So, this was a major trade route. It was also a major war route between Egypt and the rest of the civilized world, particularly Mesopotamia.

The Egyptians at this time (from what we gather) were quite strong militarily. They had jurisdiction, basically, over most of Canaan at the time—even though they may not have been there physically. Their power was such that, when you came down that far, you had to worry about Egypt.

The Philistines were at the other end of this Via Maris, in Canaan. We all remember the Philistines (basically, for all the wars that they fought against Israel). The Philistines were the ones that put Goliath up against David; and David fought against the Philistines for quite a few years—as did Saul, before him. The judges also had their problems with the Philistines. The Philistines were so war-like that when Joshua finally brought the Israelites into Canaan, they avoided going into Philistine lands. God told them that all the land was theirs; but the way it worked out was that they had a hard time getting those Philistines out. And they never really did.

So, God said, "I've got the way of the land of the Philistines here to use; but I'm not going to do it—because, for one thing, there are Egyptian fortifications that way. And, once they get to the end of it, there are Philistine fortifications there. Even if they get pass the Egyptians, they are going to have to fight the Philistines. And they don't know war. They've been slaves all of their lives. They don't even really have anybody to lead them into war."

"So," He said, "I'll just avoid that and send them another way." He did not want to discourage them right out of the box. But on the other hand, He was setting things up for the Red Sea. He wanted to manipulate events His own way. So He said that He would not send them by way of the Philistines.

Exodus 13:17-18
Excerpted from: God's Creation and Our Works

You will recall that, as we were going through the sermon yesterday ["The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day"], that it was God who chose the exact date that Israel would leave Egypt—so that it would conform to the promise made to Abraham all the way back in Genesis 14-15. It was God, we are going to see here:

So it was God who chose the path that Israel would follow to the Promised Land. It was God who deliberately led Israel into a box canyon so that they would be trapped there—with walls on two sides, the sea on the other side, and Pharaoh and his army coming up behind. And He said that He did this in order that Israel and the Egyptians would be forced to see Him display His power by parting the Red Sea.

Exodus 13:18
Excerpted from: Passover (Part 5)

They went out, but they did not go out in a disorganized way. Everybody was not just tramping, tramping, tramping—running things over, or whatever. They were all lined up. And, because of Scriptures like this, I do not believe that Moses merely assembled everybody in one huge mass, like a huge crowd attending a rock concert, in some open area of Rameses. It would not have worked that way. The indication, from these Scriptures, is that he had them lined up as in a parade—according to their tribes, according to their families. It was not a milling mass of people, just running in every direction. Rather, he had them lined up—like a parade.

Exodus 13:18
Excerpted from: Grace, Unleavened Bread, and the Holy Spirit

God led them in orderly ranks. And you cannot have order unless there is a certain measure of authority, and agreement with that authority. To this point in time, they were in harmony with God. So you can see that this was not a "school's out jailbreak" with everybody going their own way. There was purpose to what was being done. He had not freed them just for the fun of it. There was a serious and orderly purpose that was being worked out. And they were willing, at that time, to follow His guidance.

Exodus 13:18
Excerpted from: Unleavened Bread and Pentecost

God did all the rest! It says in Exodus 13:18 that God lead them out in orderly ranks. You cannot have order unless there is a certain measure of authority and an agreement with that authority. To this point, Israel was in harmony with God and so you can see at this point, it was not a school's-out jailbreak with everybody going his own way. There was purpose in what was being done. He had not freed them for the fun of it; He freed them in a way that was going to teach us to follow His guidance.

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