All language subtitles for battles_bc_s01e05_moses_-_death_chase

He is a revered prophet, a freer of
slaves, a

hero of the Bible.

He is the father of the Israelites,
Moses.

Moses with destiny lead his people to
the promised land of Canaan by any means

necessary.

This is a new look at Moses and the
Exodus story.

He talks to God, but he's also a
brilliant general.

He doesn't just lead slaves. He commands
an army of mercenary warriors.

During the Israelites' 40 -year march
across the desert, Moses and his army

fight battles of biblical proportions
and defeat some of the deadliest armies

the ancient world.

Moses is the master tactician.

Moses is an unrelenting commander.

Moses is on the war path to the promised
land.

The 14th century B .C.

Under a sweltering sun, Israelite slaves
build Egypt, one brick at a time.

If they fail, they suffer the
consequences.

But the Israelites are about to meet
their savior.

His name is Moses, and his story begins
with murder.

Exodus chapter 2, verse 11.

When Moses had grown up, he went out to
his kinsfolk and witnessed their labors.

He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one
of his kinsmen.

He turned this way and that, and seeing
no one about, he struck down the

Egyptian.

Moses is significant not only as a great
political leader of the Israelites, but

he really is the Israelites' first great
general. A good reading of the Exodus

book of the Bible reveals a first -rate
military mind, a commander who knew how

to organize troops, how to fight them
strategically and tactically, and a man

who practiced deception in the military
sense, almost as great as any other

general in history.

After Moses murders the Egyptian and
buries him in the sand, he flees Egypt,

escaping into the Sinai desert.

This is a great turning point in Moses'
life, according to the Bible.

He has filled his fate in Egypt and is
about to start on a path that will

ultimately lead him to a great
confrontation with Pharaoh, resulting in

exodus from Egypt.

After living many years in the desert,
God puts Moses on a path of bloodshed

brutality. God appears as a burning bush
and commands Moses to return to Egypt

and free the tens of thousands of
Israelites from bondage.

And he does exactly that. He goes to
Pharaoh and says, let my people go.

Pharaoh refuses.

Then Moses unleashes the fury of God in
ten devastating ways.

Hail crashes from the sky.

Water turns to blood.

And the angel of death kills every
firstborn Egyptian child.

It's like an apocalyptic horror movie,
and Moses, acting as God's mouthpiece,

running the show.

Finally, Pharaoh admits that he's
beaten, and he frees the Israelites.

Now, you'd think that would be the end
of the story. Roll credits.

But suddenly the Pharaoh changes his
mind and orders the army to hunt them

and stop them.

God, now in the form of a pillar of
smoke and fire, miraculously leads Moses

the Israelites out of Egypt.

Then comes one of the most famous
miracles of the Bible, the parting of

of Reeds.

This is how the Bible explains the
Israelites' escape from Egypt.

They continue to Canaan, where they
eventually claim the land as God -given.

But this is just one version of the
Exodus story.

It's a great story, and it's the
foundation upon which Judeo

based.

God leads the Israelites from bondage to
a promised land.

You get the whole Passover story and
everything.

Now, if we stop... and retell this story
from a military perspective, from a

soldier's point of view, we get a very
different, a very violent picture.

The real question of trying to
understand this retelling of Exodus is

the Israelites?

What are they doing in Egypt?

And why doesn't Pharaoh want them to
leave?

According to the Bible, the Israelites
originally migrated from the land of

Canaan into Egypt some two centuries
before Moses' time.

Around the 14th century BC, they settle
in the land called Goshen, a fertile,

prosperous area near the border.

And the Bible tells us that they live
here for 200 years, peacefully

with the Egyptians.

But in fact, there are those who believe
that the Israelites were more than just

coexisting. There's a theory that the
Israelites were actually major military

players in the defense of Egypt.

This theory comes from reading the
Exodus story at the military campaign.

Some believe the Israelites might be the
same people as the Habarim, a group

that includes merchants, construction
workers, and farmers, as well as

warriors.

If true, the Israelites are likely in
the land of Goshen for a very definite

reason, to help defend the Egyptian
border against attacks from the north.

So the Habiru military mercenary arm can
be put in Egyptian service as auxiliary

troops settled across that key avenue of
invasion to act as a tripwire and

defensive troops in the event of an
invasion from Canaan.

The powerful Habiru mercenary army is
about 1 ,000 strong.

Soon, a new pharaoh rises to power and
sees the fighting force as a threat.

And he said to his people, Look, the
Israelite people are much too numerous

us. Let us deal shrewdly with them, so
that they may not increase.

Otherwise, in the event of war, they may
join our enemies in fighting against us

and rise from the ground.

Pharaoh said he launched several wars to
reassert Egyptian authority over Syria

and Canaan.

Now, when he looks at the route from
Canaan to Egypt, what does he see?

Israelite settlements.

The Israelites have been living on the
border for about 200 years.

And Seti knows they're originally
immigrants from Canaan.

As Egypt's military grip on the land of
Canaan slips, Pharaoh Seti fears the

Israelites in Goshen will join the
Canaanite fight against Egypt.

Now, he didn't expel them.

What he did is he set them to labor.

This is the part of the Exodus story
when many believe the Egyptians enslaved

the Israelites.

But that may be historically inaccurate.

In the Christian translation of the
Hebrew Bible, the text tells us that the

Israelites were turned, set to slavery
in the field, making bricks for

cities. But the Hebrew Bible doesn't say
any such thing.

What the Hebrew Bible doesn't mention
the word slavery.

It says instead that the Israelites were
set to labor and uses the Hebrew term

Abadim.

Abadi means workman or construction
worker, or in a technical sense, what we

call corvée laborers.

Corvée laborers are recruited to build
public works projects like city walls

fortifications. While they may have been
forced to work, some believe they are

not slaves.

Now, you can imagine that the Israelites
are held in fairly high regard as

essentially the first line of Egyptian
defense.

and then suddenly are demoted to common
workers, this might not go over too

well. So after several years of this,
the Israelites decide it's time to go.

But when they leave, they may not be
just a ragtag group of slaves.

If the Habiru theory is correct, these
are people who are skilled fighters with

the military capability of causing some
pretty serious damage.

Now, historians disagree, but likely.

The Pharaoh at the time when Moses comes
and says, let my people go, is Ramses

II.

And after the plagues and all the drama,
Ramses finally concedes to Moses.

Then, 25 ,000 or so Israelites, divided
into their 12 tribes, the famous 12

tribes of Israel, flee Egypt.

The great exodus out of Egypt begins.

But soon, Pharaoh mysteriously changes
his mind and launches his army in

of the Israelites.

The Bible provides a clue as to why he
does this.

The Israelites had done Moses' bidding
and borrowed from the Egyptians objects

of silver and gold and clothing. And the
Lord had disposed the Egyptians

favorably toward the people, and they
let them have their request.

Thus they stripped the Egyptians.

It says that the Israelites lacked
provisions, and so they simply asked the

Egyptians for them, and the Egyptians
gave them the provisions they wanted,

including gold and silver.

Well, this is a story that's really not
believable, and if you read the Hebrew

Bible, the phrase or the term that is
used to describe what happened is

nitzayel. Nitzayel means to strip or to
spoil.

Whatever was being given was certainly
being taken at the point of a source.

The first steps to the promised land are
paved with blood.

The great Israelite exodus out of Egypt
has begun, and it's not a peaceful exit.

Some believe that the Israelites sack an
Egyptian city on their way out of the

country.

They're in the land which is surrounded
by, or literally infested with, what we

call store cities, small supply depots.
It's also the place in Egypt of the

giant... cattle -raising estates. So
here are the provisions all around them.

Okay, so what the smart thing might have
been would have been to essentially

sack one of the estates and provision
themselves.

The Bible says Moses leads the Israelite
slaves out of Egypt.

But some military historians believe he
commands a mercenary group of skilled

warriors.

There are those who believe that the
Israelites are this semi -nomadic group

called Habiru.

And one of the things Habiru are known
for...

by their military skill.

Pharaoh, who had let Moses and the
Israelites leave Egypt, now orders his

to hunt them down and destroy them.

The Bible says the Israelites leave
Egypt boldly and defiantly.

Well, Certainly one way to show defiance
is to take what you need on your way

out. But even more evidence in the Bible
points to a pretty tough Israelite

group. It says they had weapons.

The children of Israel went up armed out
of the land of Egypt.

If you read the Hebrew text of the
Bible, what it tells you is in fact that

Israelites were armed to the teeth.

Their arsenal includes the short spear.

About six feet in length, its stabbing
point is made of sharpened bronze.

And the flashing bronze sickle sword,
the most popular and deadly weapon of

day.

After sacking the city, Moses leads the
Israelites toward Canaan.

But as he approaches an Egyptian
outpost, Moses discovers that Egyptian

are in hot pursuit and closing fast.

He's got an anvil to his front and a
hammer closing on the back.

He calls his commanders together and
then gives an order that must have

some as almost insane.

He tells them to turn off the road and
head into the southern desert.

This appears to be suicidal.

But Moses knows this desert. He spent
most of his adult life here, and he's

a plan.

If we look at Exodus as a battle,

What we see is a level of military
sophistication that's truly amazing.

Moses takes his understanding of the
desert terrain and uses it to go up

the most powerful army of the time,
Egypt.

Egypt in the 14th century BC is at the
height of its power.

It is the time known as the New Kingdom,
and its power reaches north to

Mesopotamia.

But according to the Bible, Moses
receives help against the mighty

The Lord went before them in a pillar of
cloud by day to guide them along the

way, and in a pillar of fire by night to
give them light that they might travel

day and night.

Behind this divine intervention may be
inspired military strategy.

Although the Bible portrays the pillar
of smoke and fire, as essentially a

divine totem, perhaps even the Lord
himself or the angel of the Lord. In

of fact, there's nothing more than a
common command and control device used

commonly by Egyptian armies of the day.

Ancient Egyptian artifacts show how fire
and smoke are used to lead and direct

enormous armies spread out over great
distances.

At the head of the column, soldiers
carry long poles with bracers or fire

containers on top.

In a world before night vision goggles,
GPS, and radios, you need a way to keep

your troops together in the dark.

The Egyptians used fire.

At night, the brazier is uncovered to
serve as a beacon to follow.

In the morning, the brazier is half
covered to send out a smoke signal and

the army it's time to move out.

In fact, Alexander the Great, when he
conquered Egypt years later, adopted

technique.

Moses likely uses this Egyptian method
of signaling to keep the Israelites on

the move.

That night, the pillar of smoke turns
into the pillar of fire, signaling to

Israelites that it's time to make camp.

The Egyptians see this, and it doesn't
surprise them because they know what it

means, time to make camp.

They make camp themselves a couple
hundred yards away because it's night,

they didn't want to fight at night.

What does surprise the Egyptians is the
placement of the fire.

The Bible tells us Pharaoh is there.

Not sure whether he would have been or
not, but we'll follow the Bible on this.

He sees this and probably doesn't think
anything of it.

Israelites are just making camp, except
that the fire is closest to him relative

to the entire Israelite camp.

If the fire is at the head of the
marching column, then the Israelites

between Pharaoh and the fire.

But it's not. It's closest to him.

It appears that the Israelites are
heading in the wrong direction, back to

Egypt. Behind, the Sea of Reeds traps
them.

Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, they
are astray in the land. The wilderness

has closed in on them.

Now, from the Egyptian perspective, the
Israelites are lost.

They're moving deeper into Egypt than
they should be. They're not going to

escape this way. What a bunch of stupid
people the Egyptians must have thought.

It didn't count on the brilliance of a
first -rate tactical mind. And that is

that Moses has set about deceiving them
in any number of ways.

Moses is about to perform a magic trick.
He's going to make 25 ,000 Israelites

disappear right before the Egyptians'
eyes.

The ruse begins with the placement of
the pillar of fire.

The Israelites aren't heading in the
wrong direction.

Moses has turned his people around so
the fire is now at the rear of his

The purpose is to both deceive and blind
the Egyptians.

Modern soldiers are taught what we call
night discipline.

When you're moving at night, the one
thing you must do is avoid looking into

bright light because it has to do with
the cones and rods of your eye, the way

the eye functions.

But if you look into a bright light at
night, it can take 30 minutes up to an

hour before you can see again, at least
see clearly.

So as long as that flame was burning in
front of the Israelite camp, as best we

know, it burned all night, the Egyptian
soldiers from the camp, several hundred

yards away, were functionally blind.

They couldn't see beyond that light.

Under this cover, the Israelites escape
across the Sea of Reeds.

Everyone immediately thinks of Charlton
Heston in the film Ten Commandments. He

raises his arms, and the sea splits
right down the middle.

It's iconic, but it's also fantasy.

So what really happened?

Well, remember, Moses spent a lot of
time out in this desert and knows the

Sea very well. He would probably be
aware that at a certain location, at a

specific time of day, it can be crossed
on foot.

Moses' timing is perfect.

They likely cross about 20 miles south
of the Mediterranean, where the Sea of

Reed is a tidal swamp.

As the Israelites approach, the tide
rolls out. The Bible then states the

begins to blow.

Now, that wind is blowing from the
southeast out of the deserts of the

blows from the southeast at the same
time as the tide goes out pulling it

Within a small amount of time, that
marshland, perhaps several hundred yards

long, suddenly is empty of water. Or at
least the water is at such a low level

that you could easily walk across it.

It's not a heavenly miracle.

But it's still an amazing escape.

To pull it off, Moses brings together
his knowledge of the terrain, tides,

conditions, and Egyptian tactics.

And he has to keep 25 ,000 Israelites
together who are not used to marching

through the wilderness.

If you've ever been hiking in a group,
you know that's a miracle in itself.

Daybreak. Pharaoh Ramses is in for a
surprise.

The Israelites have safely crossed the
Sea of Reeds, and the water begins to

flow back into the marsh.

By the time the Egyptians get to the
Reed Sea, the tide is rolling in.

They can probably see the Israelites on
the other side, so they chase after

them. But chariots are too heavy for the
soft, mucky swamp.

They get stuck.

Moses triumphs over the mighty
Egyptians, succeeding with a brilliant

strategy and without raising a sword.

He has avoided a superior force,
deceived it into thinking he was going

gone the other way, and done it all
because he had an intimate knowledge of

terrain upon which he had to operate.

And he had that knowledge of the terrain
because he spent 40 years wondering if

we can believe the Bible, attending
flocks in that area.

As was said of the Duke of Wellington at
the Battle of Waterloo, he said, I've

had this piece of land in my pocket for
a long time. My guess is Moses had this

piece of land in his pocket for a very
long time as well.

But the Exodus campaign has only just
begun.

Three months into the journey, a tribe
of people called the Amalekites launched

a surprise attack against Moses and the
Israelites.

The Amalekites are a hostile tribe that
roams the Sinai Peninsula and southern

Canaan. They fight on camelback, firing
arrows at their enemies and cutting them

down on the run.

Moses has just outsmarted the Egyptians,
but his challenges have only just

begun. Next, he will lead the Israelites
into a fight against a new and

unexpected enemy.

It's the great exodus out of Egypt.

And the Israelites have just made a
daring escape.

But now, only three months after
crossing the Sea of Reeds, Amalekite

ambush the Israelites from behind.

Moses says something interesting.

Instead of leading the Israelites
himself, he watches the battle from the

hilltop. The Bible says, that every time
Moses raises his religious staff above

his head, the Israelites win.

But if he lowers the staff, they lose.

Now, we don't know if this is some kind
of signal or source of inspiration to

his men, or perhaps a ruse to make the
Amalekites think he has hidden forces

behind the hill. But Moses definitely
directs the battle in some way.

With Moses on the hill, control of the
army falls into the hands of another

great Israelite hero of the Bible,
Joshua.

The Israelites fix their spear into the
ground at a 45 -degree angle to defend

against the oncoming Amalekite camels.

This stops the immediate onslaught, and
the fight descends into a hand -to -hand

splatterfest.

The Amalekites launch a ferocious
assault.

From the hill, however, Moses inspires
Joshua and the Israelites to battle the

Amalekites. Despite being exhausted from
the journey, the Israelite soldiers

fight furiously and put down the
Amalekite onslaught.

It's a tremendous victory.

But Moses knows there are much greater
obstacles ahead.

Moses is a realist. Sure, his guys just
beat up on a raiding party of

Amalekites. But if he tries to invade
Canaan,

With a thousand men, he's going to have
trouble.

So, instead of heading towards the
promised land, he leads his people south

towards Mount Sinai.

Moses understands he needs a larger,
more sophisticated, and better trained

army.

But more soldiers means they'll need to
manufacture more weapons.

Why is Moses heading toward Mount Sinai?

We really don't know the answer because
the texts are silent.

But what we do know is that a Canaanite
group called the Kenites live there.

And they're known to be metal workers.

And the area around Mount Sinai is known
to be a giant, large mine for copper.

Copper and tin make bronze, and that's
what the weapons of the day are made of.

When you smell bronze, at a certain
point in the process, the copper emits a

dazzling green flame.

I could imagine the Israelites marching
into this...

Tolkien -like Middle Earth -type scene
where these weird green flames were

illuminating Mount Sinai.

Many Israelites are angry about the
detour.

The Israelites complain bitterly about
their conditions in the desert on the

to Mount Sinai. They're hungry.

They're thirsty.

They're exhausted.

You've got to remember there are women
and children here on this trek. How are

they going to eat? What are they going
to eat?

To get them to leave Egypt, Moses
promised the Israelites a land of milk

honey in Canaan. But what they get is
sand, marsh water, attacks, and spooky

mountains.

The Israelites are on the brink of an
open rebellion against Moses and his

leadership.

What happens in the Bible is whenever
you have a revolt of the people and a

punishment of the people, it's always
cast in ritualistic terms.

That, you know, they did something
against God's will.

But in point of fact, I mean, far more
likely is people are just angry,

horrified. You know, things aren't going
well. Here we are in the desert. It

says in the Bible, what are we doing
following you, Moses? We should have

back to Israel or gone back to Egypt.

There we had fish. We had melons. We had
onions. What do we got here?

Nothing, so to speak.

So very human emotions of maintaining
power.

While the furious Israelites rage, the
Bible says Moses climbs Mount Sinai.

There, he receives ten commandments from
God.

But he might also go up there to figure
out what his next move is.

How can he control his followers?

Who can he trust?

What will he need to invade Canaan?

The Bible states that Moses remains on
Mount Sinai for 40 days.

When he finally comes down, he carries
the stone tablets of God's law.

The Ten Commandments. But when Moses
reaches his people, he's stunned by what

sees.

He finds that the people have created a
terracotta or clay idol covered over

with gold and they're worshipping the
golden calf.

He's furious.

Enraged that his followers are
worshipping idols, Moses destroys the

tablets. He then calls together the men
of the Levite tribe.

His orders, teach the unfaithful a
brutal lesson.

He summons the Levites to him, it says.

Every man put your sword on your thigh
and go from tent to tent, killing even

your relatives and brothers.

And 3 ,500 died that day.

Moses turns the Levites into a
Praetorian guard.

Personal bodyguards beholden only to
him.

They do whatever he says.

And oftentimes, that means killing his
own people to keep the rest in line.

The Levites execute a terrible justice.

We're not exactly sure why God or Moses
chooses the Levites to do this business.

There's nothing that's special about
them except that they are the priests.

It's likely that their religious
conviction can never be swayed.

This is the start of Moses as divine
dictator.

Up until now, the structure of the
Israelite tribes has been very

But now Moses has a direct line to God,
and that's the end of all debate.

Phase one of the Exodus campaign is
complete, and Moses' tactical plan has

brilliant. Phase two, the conquering of
the promised land of Canaan, will

require a large -scale invasion.

For that, he needs more than his 1 ,000
mercenary soldiers.

What he does is he institutes,
essentially, a conscript draft from each

And that's a great reform because it now
means that Israel no longer has just a

made -up army of mercenaries.

Using population data, historians
believe the conscription likely swells

army ranks from 1 ,000 to about 5 ,000
warriors.

Forward reconnaissance teams scout the
enemy.

Heavy infantry form close battle lines
in front.

Light infantry are positioned in the
middle to flank, defend, and move out in

front for quick strikes with swords and
shields.

Slingers and archers are next in line to
fire at the enemy from a protected

position.

And at the back of the column, Moses
places another division of heavy

for defense.

It takes two years for Moses to train
and shape his 5 ,000 soldiers into a

deadly fighting force.

Except for chariots, which the
Israelites don't have, Moses creates a

image of the Egyptian army.

He knows how effective Egypt's
coordinated attacks are and wants the

capabilities for his own army when he
invades Canaan. His army is ready. His

control is absolute.

Moses is ready to conquer Canaan.

The promised land of Canaan.

Rich and fertile, it has everything the
Israelites want and need for their new

homeland.

Moses and the Israelites have been on
the march toward Canaan for two years.

But Canaan is a land already settled by
powerful city -states, with strong

armies and fortified cities. It's not
free for the taking.

The Israelites have no intention of
settling in Canaan as long as there are

other people still in Canaan. They
intend to attack cities and drive them

and to replace their populations with
their own population.

This is a war of extermination.

Moses leads his followers to a large
oasis in the desert called Kadesh

about 12 miles from Canaan.

Israelite spies who have been scouting
Canaan return with both good news and

bad.

They come back and meet with Moses at
Kadesh Banea, and

they say, this is an impossible task.

The cities are walled, the armies are
powerful, they have chariots, they have

armor, weapons, they have food.

It would be impossible for our army to
do this.

Moses determined that even his 5 ,000
-man army isn't big enough for the job.

The invasion must wait.

And so the Bible tells us they remained
at Kadesh Banei for two generations,

which has been translated to mean 40
years.

And in that time, of course, what would
have happened is that the 25 ,000 or so

people of the Israelite nation would
have replaced themselves through normal

birth rates.

So that by the time two generations had
passed, you're probably looking at a

community of about 35 ,000, which would
now allow you with a conscript base.

drawing on all adult males between the
ages of, say, 20 and 35 to produce an

army between 8 ,000 and 9 ,000 men.

The Bible states that finally, 40 years
after the start of the Exodus campaign,

Moses is ready to launch his attack
against Canaan. He has trained his army

well. They are a powerful fighting
force.

But Moses wants to fight on his terms,
using tactics and strategies he first

learned in Egypt and has been training
with for more than 40 years.

Walled Canaanite cities block the route
north from Kadesh Barnea, and a direct

assault could destroy Moses' army before
he ever gets to the Promised Land.

So instead, he marches the Israelites
east towards the Jordan River Valley.

Moses knows that your strategy should
dictate your tactics, not the other way

around. His goal is to get to Canaan
with the largest force possible, which

means he should avoid fights along the
way whenever possible.

For Moses, the path of least resistance
to Canaan is through the Jordan River

Valley. But there's still one problem.

A mighty tribe stands in the way of
Moses and the Israelites, the Ammonites.

There's no way around them. Moses has
the Dead Sea on one side and a harsh

desert on another.

His only way to the Jordan Valley is
through the Ammonites.

They're a somewhat softer target than
the Moabites or the Edomites.

Moses isn't stupid.

Diplomacy first.

So he asks the Ammonite king's
permission to pass through his country.

Ammonite king says, no way.

Moses turns and calmly walks away.

The battle is on.

Moses again turns to Joshua to command
the army on the battlefield.

The Israelites line up opposite the
Ammonites on the open plain.

Moses watches as the two armies clash.

Moses' army has been training for years.

Today, they finally draw blood.

The Israelites' heavy infantry smashes
into the Ammonites' front lines.

Bones are shattered.

Limbs are hacked.

The light infantry's bronze sickle
swords slash mercilessly.

The grass is soon split with blood.

The battle rages all day. But in the
bloody end, Moses' well -trained army

the battle.

We think that both armies are about the
same size.

So, what accounts for the Israelites'
overwhelming victory?

It comes down to training and tactics.

We know that the Israelite army is built
upon an Egyptian model, divisions of

varied forces that can fight as one.

They're likely more mobile, more agile,
and more disciplined than anything the

Ammonites had ever seen.

With the Ammonites destroyed, Israelites
sweep through the Jordan Valley. They

attack and ravage Canaan's neighbors in
the lands of Edom, Moab, and Gilead.

So the Lord our God also delivered into
our power King Og of Bashan with all his

men, and we dealt them such a blow that
no survivor was left.

One element of the Jordan Valley
campaign that stands out is its

Again, the Bible describes what happened
when these fortified towns were taken.

It was often great slaughter, burning,
destroying of the towns and flocks and

animals. And so you ask yourself, why
the need? Why the need for this kind of

brutality?

The Israelites don't want to live in the
Jordan Valley.

They're moving on to Canaan.

So, the worst thing they can do from
their perspective is to leave a hostile

force at their back as they push
forward.

The only way to make sure this doesn't
happen is to wipe out the population.

Ruthless, yes. Also practical.

Not just the men are slaughtered. Women
and children are also killed.

But before they march into Canaan, Moses
will turn against the people who have

been his allies for 40 years.

Moses' army, from 8 ,000 to 10 ,000
ruthless warriors, has cut a swath of

destruction through the Jordan Valley.

They now face the Midianites, a longtime
Israelite ally.

These are the people who took Moses in
after he killed the Egyptian taskmaster.

They are the people who Moses called
family. His wife is a Midianite. Now,

gives a brutal order.

Destroy them.

A couple of Israelite men were sleeping
with a couple of Midianite women. That

by itself probably wasn't a problem from
Yahweh's perspective, but they had now

begun to worship Midianite gods, and
they had turned their back on Yahweh. So

Yahweh orders the children of Midian to
be killed and puts Moses in charge of

the operation.

Every Israelite soldier, led by a
commander named Phineas, marches to the

camp. They destroy everything.

They butcher all the men, burn all the
houses, loot anything of value.

The only thing Phineas can't bring
himself to do is kill the women and

The Midianite camp is completely
destroyed. But Phineas can't bring

follow Moses' orders to kill women and
children.

So he marches them back toward camp.

Before the army even makes it back to
camp, Moses rushes out in a fury and

at Phineas, I told you to kill them all.

He demands that every boy and every
woman old enough to have slept with a

must die right then and there.

They are all executed.

This is all a prelude to the invasion of
Canaan, and Canaan will be a tougher

nut to crack than the tribal societies
of the Jordanian Valley.

Best now, best now, to train the army
for the horror it will face in the

When the bloodletting ends, the ritual
cleansing begins.

The Bible states that any Israelite
soldier who draws blood in battle must

outside the camp for seven days.

And this probably doesn't just mean
physical cleansing.

They might also use that time to cleanse
their guilt.

The horror of what they've done to other
people would have left deep

psychological scars.

And they would, in all likelihood,
suffer from what we now call post

stress disorder.

It's intriguing to raise the question
about the effect of all this up -close

personal bloodletting would have had
on...

the morale and psychological stability
of the Israelite soldiers.

Many believe Moses used brutal methods
in his long campaign to toughen the

Israelites for the invasion of Canaan.
But it's an invasion that Moses never

gets to be part of.

That very day the Lord spoke to Moses,
ascend the heights of Abarim to Mount

Nebo. which is in the land of Moab
facing Jericho, and view the land of

which I am giving the Israelites as
their holding.

You shall die on the mountain that you
are about to ascend.

The Bible tells us that God lets Moses
see Canaan from the top of Mount Nebo,

but doesn't let him enter.

Why?

After everything that Moses has done in
the service of God, it seems like cosmic

injustice that he's denied entrance to
the promised land.

The only explanation the Bible...

is that one time Moses showed a lack of
faith and struck a rock with his staff

in frustration.

And it makes you think, well, the Old
Testament God is strict, but come on.

So, one has to wonder, what's really
going on here?

Some historians believe that there's
another reason why Moses never sets foot

the Promised Land.

There'd been a lot of suffering and a
lot of bad decisions made on this great

trek, the extermination of peoples such
as the Midianites and attacks, plus

attacks on their own Israelites by Moses
and his praetorian god of the Levites,

that there's been some speculation that
the real reason Moses never made it to

the Promised Land is that he was killed
by his own people, that they just had

had enough of this and just rose up and
killed him.

As to the murder theory, the Bible is
silent.

There's not a scintilla of evidence to
support this perspective.

It just seems that it's a kind of a
logical consequence to ask, why would a

kill a servant who has spent 40 years or
more in his service for what seems to

be a minor ritual sin of striking the
rock with one's staff?

So it's the illogic.

It's almost the purity of the biblical
explanation that has led scholars to

speculate that Moses had met his end at
the hands of his own people rather than

at the hands of Yahweh himself.

Regardless of how Moses died, the
conquest of Canaan will fall to a new

generation.

The Israelite general Joshua continues
the brutal but effective strategies of

Moses in his quest to conquer Canaan.

And many centuries later, there are
examples of his ability to outmaneuver

enemy without actually fighting, as he
did when the Israelites escaped the

Egyptians.

One example is Chief Joseph of the Nez
Perce Indian tribe.

In 1877, 2 ,000 U .S. cavalry tried to
force the tribe around 800 back onto

the Indian Reservation.

The tribe fights back against
overwhelming odds and leads the U .S.

1 ,000 -mile chase through some of the
harshest wilderness in America.

At one point, the U .S. General Sturgis
believes he has Chief Joseph trapped.

But like Moses, Chief Joseph feigns one
way and moves another to allow his

people a chance to escape.

Unlike the Israelites, however, the Nez
Per are eventually captured.

The exodus of the Israelites under the
leadership of Moses has always been a

story of a dazzling escape and a
desperate battle for survival.

But now, seen through a military
perspective, the Israelites are no

slaves, but mighty warriors. They are
held together by one towering

We never think of Moses as a military
commander because until recently there

been no attempt to analyze the Bible in
military terms. But when you do look at

it that way, you'll find that this was a
man who organized the Israelites, which

had a completely trained military arm on
his way out of Egypt. This is a man who

sacked the city, a man who deceived
Pharaoh, and then later on completely

reformed the Israel military arm into a
first -rate fighting force.

Moses is a man of God and a man of the
sword.

A man who led his people to freedom and
to a new homeland.