A brave rescue!

Last Friday was the 108^th anniversary of a brave rescue. On 31 October 1917, the Lighthorse charge at Beersheba in Palestine was ‘The last great cavalry charge in history’. My wife’s grandfather was one of the 800 Australian horsemen that captured Beersheba. Beersheba marks the southern boundary of Israel, often mentioned in the biblical phrase, “from Dan (in the north) to Beersheba (in the south)” (Jud. 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; 2 Sam. 3:10; 1 Ki. 4:25). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived there and Elijah visited when he fled from queen Jezebel. This stunning victory ended the 400-year Turkish rule over the Holy Land and lead to the creation of Israel as a nation once again. It was a brave rescue from Muslim rule.

This day was also the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther challenged the sale of indulgences (the idea that purchasing an indulgence would free a loved one’s soul from purgatory) by the Roman Catholic church. So, October 31 is called Reformation Day. It was a brave rescue from false doctrine in the church.

These are better reasons than Halloween for celebrating on 31 October.

In this post we see that the exodus was God’s first great rescue and it set a pattern for the second great rescue by Jesus and it was a warning for Christian living today.

The date of the exodus

The exodus was a great rescue from slavery in Egypt. It was also the formation of a new nation (Israel) that had a covenant with God and divinely delivered laws (including the ten commandments).

The Bible gives us a date for the exodus. It says, “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord” (1 Ki. 6:1NIV). Solomon reigned 970-930 BC and the Jewish temple was built in 966-959 BC (NIV Study Bible). Therefore, the exodus was in about 1446 BC (966 plus 480).

But secular scholars generally think that the exodus was in about 1270 BC when Ramses II reigned over Egypt. They base this on a verse that says, “So they [the Egyptians] put slave masters over them [the Hebrews] to oppress them with forced labour, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh” (Ex. 1:11). Then they say that there is no archaeological evidence of the exodus at this period of time (the reign of Ramses II).

Have you ever lost something and struggled to find it? I wear fingerless gloves on my fingers on winter mornings to keep them warm. Last winter I lost two pairs of gloves in a few days! But fortunately I found them later. If you look in the wrong place, you will never find it! They were looking around 1270 BC, which is 176 years later than 1446 BC. But it is worse than that because the traditional Egyptian chronology is unreliable!

Sometimes there was more than one king ruling at the same time due to co-regency (like David and Solomon) and regional monarchies (like Israel and Judah). Looking at “patterns of evidence” including a collapse of Egyptian society, suggests that the exodus may have been about 228 years earlier than 1446 BC on the traditional Egyptian chronology. This means that they could have been looking about 400 years later than the exodus on the traditional Egyptian chronology (176 plus 228). You can’t find something that’s lost, if you look in the wrong place. If someone looked for my fingerless gloves 400 years later, they won’t find them!

Biblical evidence of the exodus

The first five books of the Bible were written by someone who was more familiar with Egypt than with Canaan. And the landmarks mentioned during the exodus such as the Red Sea, the desert and Mount Sinai are realistic. Also, Jesus compared His sacrificial death to Moses lifting up the bronze snake in the wilderness (Num. 21:4-9; Jn. 3:14-15). He thought it was a real historical event.

The ten commandments originated during the exodus and were quoted by Jesus and well known by the Jews at that time.

The Jewish Passover and the Festival of the tabernacles originated during the exodus and are still kept by many Jews. They remind them of how God rescued Israel from Egypt in the exodus. There is no point to either of the festivals or what is done during them if there was no exodus to form the basis.

Archaeological evidence of the exodus

The Brooklyn papyrus is an Egyptian document that names 95 household servants of a noblewoman. Forty of the names are Semitic, and several have been identified as Hebrew names. It is dated about 100 years before the exodus.

The Ipuwer papyrus describes a series of plagues and catastrophes that befell Egypt that have an uncanny likeness to the plagues and catastrophes God used to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. One of its dates is soon after the exodus.

The Berlin pedestal relief is an inscription describing Egypt’s war victories over three nations – Ashkelon, Canaan and Israel. It has been dated in the 13th century BC, which was during the Israelite judges. This confirms that Israel existed as a nation near Canaan at this time. It’s probably the earliest known inscription mentioning the nation of “Israel”.

The rescue

God sent Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Because Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the Israelites go, God sent a series of ten miraculous judgments on Egypt. After the death of the firstborn in the 10th judgment, Pharaoh let the Israelites go. They escaped the Egyptian army in the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.

The Israelites were reminded of this rescue many times in the Old Testament (Josh. 24:17; Jud. 6:8-9; 1 Sam. 10:18; Amos 2:10). They were to obey the God that rescued them.

And Paul used the idea of being rescued (or freed) from slavery to sin when he described the good news about Jesus. Jesus liberated believers from sin because He paid the penalty that they deserved.

Paul told Christians, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? … You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. … But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:16-23).

We are either a slave of sin or a slave of God. We serve either sin or God. Being a slave of sin resulted in death (separation from God). The Roman Christians had been slaves of sin, but they became slaves of God. Now they served a new master.

Who do you serve, sin or God?

The rescuer

Moses was one of Israel’s greatest national heroes. He led them out of slavery in Egypt and received their law at Mt Sinai. He is mentioned 85 times in the New Testament. Many of these refer to the law of Moses. And Moses appeared with Jesus and Elijah at the transfiguration (Mt. 17:1-3).

The writer of Hebrews claimed that Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus liberated believers from sin. Jesus fulfilled the pattern prophecies of the tabernacle. Moses was a servant of God, whereas Jesus is the divine Son of God.

He wrote, “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. ² He was faithful to the one [God] who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. ³ Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵ “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory” (Heb.3:1-6).

Jesus was an apostle (sent by God like an ambassador) and a high priest (our representative before God). He was like both Moses and Aaron. Jesus removed the barrier between God and us.

How often do we “fix our thoughts on Jesus”, as commanded above?

Both Moses and Jesus were faithful to the tasks that the Father gave them. They both fulfilled the purpose God gave them. What about us? Are we trustworthy and reliable in our service? God expects us to do what we can with what we have.

The rescued

The Israelites who were rescued from slavery grumbled against Moses. At Mount Sinai they made a golden calf to worship. Later Miriam and Aaron opposed Moses. And after the spies explored Canaan, the people rebelled and refused to enter Canaan. Because of this they died in the wilderness over the next 38 years.

The New Testament says that these people were examples and warnings for us (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). “⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. ¹¹ These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. ¹² So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Cor. 10:6-12)

They warn against:
– desiring evil things
– Idolatry (anything viewed as more important than God)
– sexual immorality
– complaining and grumbling against God (Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances”, Phil. 4:11),
– letting temptation lead to sin, and
– spiritual pride (1 Cor. 10:13).
There was a need for discipline and self-control.

Then the Bible says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

We are all tempted to sin. But God controls the context of our temptation and provides a way of escape.

Many times God revealed Himself to Israel, but they rejected His message. They focused on the problem rather than on God’s promises. In this context, Hebrews 3 warns against:
– sin
– unbelief (which leads to disobedience). God did not allow the Israelites to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (v.19).
– disobedience (which leads to spiritual failure and divine discipline)

We need to confess our sin before it gains a foothold. And constantly encourage each other in the truth (v.13). Otherwise, Christians can reach a condition of permanently disregarding God and His Word when the conscience is seared (1 Tim. 4:2).

The warnings in 1 Corinthians 10 and Hebrews 3 are against spiritual failure.

Lessons for us

Be wary of anyone who says that there is no evidence for the exodus – they are probably looking in the wrong time period. There is evidence, but you have to know where to look for it.

We have seen that the exodus was God’s first great rescue and it set a pattern for the second great rescue by Jesus and it was a warning for Christian living today.

The exodus was the greatest rescue in the Old Testament and the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ was the greatest rescue in the New Testament.

The Israelites only got their freedom after the Passover was sacrificed. We only get spiritual life and freedom after we trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Have you taken that step?

The exodus is like the journey to victorious Christian living. God has freely given us all things in Christ, but we must apply those promises to our lives. The Promised Land is a picture of claiming the promises of God.

But most of the Israelites disobeyed and rebelled against God and died before they reached Canaan. They were spiritual failures. What about us? Are we following the Lord or the ways of the world?

Only Joshua and Caleb were faithful and reached Canaan. If we have trusted in the Lord, and are faithful, we can have a victorious Christian life. They finished well. Let’s be like them and finish well.

Posted, November 2025

Also see: Archaeological evidence of the exodus
The lighthorse charge at Beersheba