Exodus 13:17-18

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

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.