I'll grant you the Israelites were not in peak fighting condition. I'll even go so far as to amend your statement of teleporting them to the promised land to just outside the promised land (assuming that wasn't what you meant before) so they can prepare to reclaim Palestine. There's still the problem of God proving he exists and how that would affect people's behavior.

What's this higher authority that would be a cop out? And on the subject of kings, should a king always follow the rules he lays down for his subjects? Is not his duty to ensure what's best for his subjects and kingdom? If the rules he lays down for his subjects interfere with his doing what's best for them, why should he be required to follow them?

Noah and Moses were one-on-one. My translation says the pillar was a luminous cloud, not fire. Clouds aren't much of a sign. If someone showed me a column of fire suspended in the sky and said it was a sign from God to wander the desert, I might believe that. If someone pointed to a long cloud and said it was a sign from God to wander the desert, I would smile, nod, and slowly back away that person. Perhaps my translation is in error, but I would not find a long cloud to be proof of God's existence.