Moses parting the Red Sea


GaleG
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Hello,
 
Would you help me understand these verses.
 
1 Nephi 17:26 says "Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great  
work; and ye know that by his (b)word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither  
and thither, and they passed through on dry ground".
 
'Word' is cross referenced to Helaman 8:11 - "Therefore he was constrained to speak  
more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto  
one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither  
and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon  
dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them  
up?"
 
Did the waters of the Red Sea part on the words of Moses or did he also smite the
waters with his staff in conjunction?

Thank you,  
 
Gale

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Guest Mores
22 minutes ago, GaleG said:

...
 
Did the waters of the Red Sea part on the words of Moses or did he also smite the
waters with his staff in conjunction?

Thank you,  
 
Gale

Who says it must be either/or? 

It appears to be a priesthood action or ordinance.  And (like baptism) there is a verbal part, a physical part, and a spiritual part.

More to the point, I don't see why such a detail is important.  We have two different authors in two different centuries writing about something that happened hundreds of years before they even came to this land.  Do you think that details might have gotten changed in the telling over time?

Notice that neither detail is present in the Exodus version.  He merely stretched out his hand.  So where did either of them get that from?  I'd reckon it was the common telling of the time that each author was in.

Such emphasis on minutae is called looking beyond the mark.  The fact is that it was a miracle of God. The physical motions or words spoken by God's instrument of the moment doesn't change the message that any of the three accounts is conveying 

Edited by Mores
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10 hours ago, GaleG said:

Hello,
 
Would you help me understand these verses.
 
1 Nephi 17:26 says "Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great  
work; and ye know that by his (b)word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither  
and thither, and they passed through on dry ground".
 
'Word' is cross referenced to Helaman 8:11 - "Therefore he was constrained to speak  
more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto  
one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither  
and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon  
dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them  
up?"
 
Did the waters of the Red Sea part on the words of Moses or did he also smite the
waters with his staff in conjunction?

Thank you,  
 
Gale

I think both. He used the sealing power. Helaman 10:5 offers some insight into this, and note verse 14, the relationship between "word" and "smite."

There is also a relationship between "word" and "rod" where the rod of iron is the word of God (1 Nephi 11;25), the means by which Lehi gathered his family unto eternal life. And a relationship between all these (e.g. "smite with the rod of my mouth"): Isa. 11: 4, Rev. 19: 15, 2 Ne. 21: 4, 2 Ne. 30: 9, and D&C 19: 15

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Moses may have raised his rod, but it was the Angel of the Lord (who is The Holy Ghost) who parted the red sea.

Isaiah 51:9 ¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

The above is part of the servant songs of Isaiah where the Lord awakens his servant to his identity in the end times.

D&C 8:Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.

Isaiah 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?

14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

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