God Calls the People out of Egypt 
Study Scripture: Exodus 13:17 - 14:30
Background Scripture: Exodus 13:17 - 14:30
Lesson 4

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Key Verse

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

Exodus 14:30

 

INTRODUCTION

The events recorded in chapters twelve to fourteen of Exodus are the first planks in the building of the nation of Israel by their God. These pivotal and enduring events which were the common experience of all the people, united what was to then a loose tribal based people and we begin to see the emergence of a nation. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread distinguished the Israelites from the Egyptians and the Crossing of the Red Sea separated and physically moved Israel from Egypt and set them on the road to the Promise Land.

Pharaoh had arrogantly asked, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go”? And then defiantly stated, “I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go" (Ex.5:2). Ten devastating plagues later he and the Egyptians knew who the God of the Israelites was, particularly after the night of ‘Passover’ when the firstborn of man and beast in every Egyptian home was killed by the ‘destroying angel’ (Ex.12:28-30). This event convinced heart-hardened Pharaoh and his people that they should let the Israelites leave Egypt, however and sadly for the Egyptians, their education was not yet over. They and the nations would learn with anguish of the awesome power of the Israelite God, as an even more tragic disaster awaited the Egyptians. The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall upon them (Ex.15:14-16).

The salvation of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and the work of God to bring this about is the main focus of our study scripture. This is confirmed in chapter fifteen in the song of Moses; The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. But beyond the historical record there is much to learn about our own salvation from this text.

Paul informs us that the Israelite experience was an illustration of our own salvation. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (1Cor.10:1-2). Now these things occurred as example to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. (1Cor.10:6). These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come, (1Cor.10:11). We will observe that the Israelites were in a completely hopeless and helpless situation as the Egyptian forces closed in on them and this is a true picture of the sinner before he is saved. Their salvation or rescue or deliverance was altogether the work of God, though they demonstrated some faith in obeying Moses command to go forward and they are commended for this act of faith by the writer of Hebrews, (11:29). Thus we see a demonstration of the grace of God in salvation and faith as the means through which grace works. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, (Eph.2:8).

Moses informed the people that they would be rid of the Egyptians forever, their deliverance was complete for all times and similarly our salvation was eternally secured by Jesus at Calvary. Paul exhorted his readers to learn the lesson of Israel, for after their great salvation, they ‘set their hearts on evil things’ and consequently came under God’s discipline.

A hard lesson for many to accept but one that is clearly shown in this text, is that God is glorified in executing judgment as He is in the exercise of His mercy. The destruction of the Egyptian army will equally bring glory to God as will His deliverance of Israel. “…But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD…”, (Ex.14:4).

Sadly, a particular way in which many Christians identify with the Israelites of Moses’ day, is in their lack of faith in God. The Israelites showed a penchant for despair at every difficulty, rather than trust God to honor the clear promises He made to them. The Israelites might offer the poor excuse that the patriarchs were dead for over four hundred years and their interaction with Yahweh was still in its infancy. Christians however have no excuse. We have the record of Scripture and above that we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Yet often our faith in God is lacking in our times of testing and God is not glorified in our lives. The fact is God will be glorified but we will be the poorer for not showing faith in Him.

God is the one that keeps covenant and reiterates this often in His self identification as the God of the Patriarchs. In so doing, he calls those in covenant with Himself to hold Him to His promises. All that God has promised to us He will do as demonstrated with the Israelites and the unchanging God will do no less for Christians.

God’s presence was physically manifested to the Israelites in the Pillar of Cloud and Fire. There was the daily reminder of His presence in the sight of the cloud and He was in fact guiding them along their way. Often from our perspective God’s path does not appear to be altogether wise, however we see here that His way will bring Him glory and bring us salvation and blessings.

TEXT

Verses 17 – 18.   The coastal route directly north and known as the Via Maris (the way of the sea) was the shortest and most common way to Canaan from Egypt. The Israelites might have considered it the logical route; after all it was the shortest distance, it was a trade route so food and water could be bought. On the other hand there were Egyptian military outposts along the route and God knew the people were not ready for armed conflict (Ex.14:10). The route would have also taken them through hostile Philistine territory where the likelihood of conflict was certain.

The Israelites had only just emerged from slavery and were still a broken and dispirited people. It would not be easy for them to sudden turn their hands from the trowel to the sword. They would have reacted the same way they did later, when on the borders of Canaan they balked at the though of fighting the ‘giants’ in Canaan and preferred to return to Egyptian slavery.

Thankfully God will not allow His people to face more than they are able to bear,

(1 Corinthians 10:13). Similarly a way that appear fine to us may be fraught with danger, so in our spiritual walk we must in faith follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

So God took them by another route. Often we cannot see God’s purpose in all He does, our place is to trust and obey.  The Egyptians were to be drowned in the Red Sea for the glory of God and the Israelites were to be humbled and proved in the wilderness, (Deuteronomy 8:2). God promised Moses when He sent him to Egypt that as a sign Moses would worship Him in the wilderness (Exodus 3:12) on his return with the people. Believers must understand that it is the will of God that will triumph and we must ensure that we are acting in the will of God. It is in the Scriptures that we learn the will God.  

The Red Sea mentioned here is not the huge expanse of the Red Sea (some 100 miles wide), but the western "finger" of the Red Sea that extends up unto the border areas of Egypt - the modern day Gulf of Suez.

 But God led them about… (See Deuteronomy 32:10), some hundreds of miles extra and yet Psalms 107:7 says: He led them forth by the right way. God's way is always the right way, though it may appear the longer way.

Israel went up harnessed…The term means they travelled in an organized fashion with dignity.                                                                               

They travelled in order and not in disarray as fugitives. Moses had not yet organized them as an army.

Verse 19.  The request made by Joseph of his brethren (Gen.49:26; 50:24-26) some four hundred years earlier was honoured by Moses and the people as they carried his bones with them to be buried in Canaan. Joseph demonstrated great faith in God by his request, (Heb.11:22).  From this it appears that despite their adversity some of the people had never lost sight of their promised redemption.

The honouring of Joseph’s request is also recorded in Joshua 24:32 and by Stephen in Acts 7:15-16. The exodus of Israel is thus linked historically to the Abrahamic Covenant and to the faith of the patriarchs of Israel.

Verses 20 – 22.   …from Succoth…Archaeologists have not yet been able to identify with any certainty the sites mentioned here and many of those mentioned in the records of the Israelites' journey

(e.g., Num.33). As well, many of these sites were not established towns and were only stopping points or oases. But while the exact locations are not known, we can safely infer that the nation was moving in a south-westerly direction and the wilderness which the Israelites were skirting was not the wilderness of Sinai, but that of Egypt.

…in a pillar of cloud…this was the primary means by which God guided the people as they traveled through the wilderness to Canaan. By day the pillar took the form of a cloud; at night it appeared as a pillar of fire. We should note that there was one pillar of both cloud and fire (Ex 14:24) and even when shining in the dark, it is still called the pillar of cloud (Ex 14:19), or the cloud (Num 9:21). Later, it served as a protective buffer between the Israelites and the Egyptian forces (14:19-20).

(See Numbers 9:15-22).

The Lord knows the needs of His people at all times and makes provision to meet those needs. God showed His presence to Israel in a dramatic way. In light of the political and spiritual infancy on the nation, their lack of faith and general ignorance of His person, He gave them a visible sign of His presence day and night, as He guided them through the trackless wilderness. The Psalmist suggests that the cloud provided cover, which would have been great relief in that hot, dry and harsh desert environment particularly for children, the aged and the infirm. He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night (Psalm105:39). He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all nigh, (Psalm 78:14).

The Lord went before…the pre-incarnate Son according to 1Cor. 10. The Lord Himself was in the pillar (13:21;14:24) and often spoke to the people from it (chaps.19—20; Num. 12:5-6; Deut. 31:15-16; Ps. 99:6-7). A similar cloud of smoke came to represent the glory of the Lord in the sanctuary throughout much of Israel's history (Exod. 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Isa. 4:5; 6:3-4). The pillar of cloud and fire remained over the Israelites until they entered Canaan under Joshua's leadership (v.22).

One writer comments on these verses as follows:

In this cloud Jehovah, or the Angel of God, the visible representative of the invisible God under the Old Testament, was really present with the people of Israel, so that He spoke to Moses and gave him His commandments out of the cloud. In this, too, appeared "the glory of the Lord" (Ex 16:10; 40:34; Num 17:7), the Shechinah of the later Jewish theology. The fire in the pillar of cloud was the same as that in which the Lord revealed Himself to Moses out of the bush, and afterwards descended upon Sinai amidst thunder and lightning in a thick cloud (Ex 19:16,18). It was a symbol of the "zeal of the Lord," and therefore was enveloped in a cloud, which protected Israel by day from heat, sunstroke, and pestilence (Isa 4:5-6; 49:10; Ps 91:5-6; 121:6), and by night lighted up its path by its luminous splendour, and defended it from the terrors of the night and from all calamity (Ps 27:1 ff., 91:5-6); but which also threatened sudden destruction to those who murmured against God (Num 17:10), and sent out a devouring fire against the rebels and consumed them (Lev 10:2; Num 16:35).

CHAPTER 14

Verses 1 – 4.  The exact location of the places named here are not known but Canaan lay due north east of Goshen, the main settlement area for the Israelites in Egypt. Their marshalling point for the exodus out of Egypt would have been at a location in Goshen. At God’s instructions the Israelites headed south-westerly and thus boxed themselves between the Red Sea and the wilderness. From a strategic and military standpoint this was a bad move and made them vulnerable as they were trapped between natural barriers.

The obvious opinion of anyone observing the movements of the departing Israelites would be that they were miserably lost, misguided and in a state of confusion. An enemy like Pharaoh would see this as an opportunity for easy capture or destruction.

Moses himself was a military man according to the historian Josephus and the movement of the Pillar of Cloud would have been puzzling but God’s direct word to him concerning the route surely gave him assurance. Note, often our weak faith fails but our God often comes with assurance and builds our faith to deal with even bigger tests down the road.

God had a plan for Pharaoh, the Egyptians, the Israelites and on-looking nations that was not immediately apparent. Every one was going to learn of the power of the Hebrew God and His special love for the children of Israel and God’s name was going to be glorified in an unexpected fashion. Yahweh is about to hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the apparently bewildered and confused state of the Israelites will also be brought to his attention.

God’s purpose in route selection and heart–hardening is the honor and glory of His name. All men are to honor God and it will come about either voluntary, or in Judgment. The sovereign Lord who form the light, and create darkness will exact honor upon Pharaoh and his army.

Verses 5 – 9.   Pharaoh had ordered the Israelites out immediately after the ‘firstborn’ among the Egyptians were killed throughout the entire land (Ex.12:30-33). He is informed that the Israelites had indeed departed and soon he and his officials began to have second thoughts and question the wisdom of releasing such a  valuable economic resource—slave labor. They now regard the Israelite departure as a flight! The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, …he turneth it whithersoever he will, (Prov.21:1). How soon they forget; the tears of mourning had hardly dried and already the terror of the last plague seemed forgotten. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart!

Maybe in Pharaoh’s mind he had only given them permission to go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God. However, from the circumstances of their departure and the property they ‘borrowed’ from the Egyptians, there was now the suspicion that the Israelites had no intention to return to Egypt and their employ.

Pharaoh quickly marshalled his elite chariot division, the most sophisticated military technology available at that time and gave chase after the Israelites, determined to recapture his slave-labor force. Apparently His entire chariot force was deployed in the chase; overwhelming force to achieve a quick victory or surrender. This is a strategy still popular with some of today’s military.

Pharaoh was indignant, his pride made him oblivious to his very recent experiences with the Israelites and God gave him up to the evil passions of his own heart. 

…with a high hand…(with boldness). This term carries the idea of courage, bravery and rebellion against authority (1 Kings 11:26-27). One writer notes: The rebellious nature of Israel was good when it was against Pharaoh and all it stood for; it was bad when it was against the Lord, Moses, and all they stood for. The trouble with rebels is they rebel against the wrong things!

The Israelites seemingly ‘foolish’ movements appear to be playing right into Pharaoh’s hands. The text informs us this is the route God prescribed and thus it is wise and will bring glory to God. The highly mobile Egyptian force soon closed in on the Israelites at the Red Sea.  

Verses 10-12.   The bravado with which the Israelites left Egypt melted at the sight of the pursuing 

Egyptian chariot brigade, they became terrified and cried out to the Lord. This appears to be a cry of desperation rather that a cry of faith, because soon they bitterly turned on Moses. (See Exodus 5:19-21). Their situation was indeed perilous. The Red Sea lay to the east, mountains to the south and west and the Egyptian army closing in from the north. 

They could see no escape as they were neither outwardly armed nor inwardly prepared for a successful battle and Moses again was the target of their bitterness and regret. Sarcastically they labelled Moses a meddler and trouble-maker that brought disaster on them and declared themselves to have been better off as slaves in Egypt. How soon they forgot their oppression in Egypt and God’s wonderful display of power and faithfulness on their behalf for the honor of His name.

The Psalmist captures their unbelief and lack of faith against the faithfulness and love of God in

Psalm 106:7-12 - Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea; the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their enemies; there was not one of them left. Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.

We can easily see Pharaoh’s pursuit and evil intentions against the Israelites as a picture of Satan pursuing Christians after God removes us from the Devil’s domain.

The Israelites knew that Moses was in fact following the commands of God (4:30-31) so this was in fact a rebellion against God Himself. It will be the first of ten that is going to seal their fate to die in the wilderness without seeing the Promise Land. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: (Num.14:22-23).

Verses 13 – 14.   Moses response here shows some spiritual growth since the incident of Exodus 5:19-21.  Admirably, he made no attempt to defend himself against their accusations or distortions, but calmly and with composure delivered the word of God.

Fear ye not…He first addressed their state of mind; they were not to fear, even in obviously fearful circumstances. The Israelites had seen enough of their God’s power to know He was more than equal to the situation, so despite their circumstances, Moses command was credible. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, (Psalm 46:1).This is an applicable command to Christians when they face difficult circumstances. In testing times we often resort to our own devices to our ruin, rather than  stand still and see! We may be sure that if God brings us into straits, He will also bring us out.

…stand still and see…Their salvation was at hand, God was going to fight for them and they were to be mere spectators and observe His work on their behalf. It was to be more that just physical observation, they were to ‘consider, pay attention to, discern what was about to happen and draw conclusions. Confident of God’s deliverance and protection  and of the defeat of the Egyptians, Moses sought to reassure the people of victory with the comforting thought that they would never see these Egyptians again.

One writer observes: Stand still is the Lord's direction to the believer in dilemma. Despair will try and cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. Presumption will tell you to jump into the Red Sea before it is parted. But God would have us to stand, and to stand still.

Verses 15 – 20.   As the drama quickly unfolded, it is apparent that Moses was not aware of how God was going to bring about the victory. At some point after his calming and reassuring words to the frightened masses, Moses received a mild rebuke from the Lord; “Wherefore criest thou unto me”?.

While we do not read of any direct command from the Lord, it appears Moses should have known that he was to order the Israelites forward – into the Red Sea and simultaneously hold his rod out and over the water. In light of what he knew about God’s plans and the movement of the ‘cloud’ he might have figured out the next moves. Moses is here chided for his lapse in faith or discernment.

Note, there is a time to pray, and a time to act and it can actually be against God's will to stop everything and pray in a particular situation. We can pray out of the wrong motives; praying to inform others who listen, praying to control a situation or praying to avoid action or buy time. At all times we must be under the control of the Holy Spirit to ensure we are walking in lockstep with the Lord and His will.

Christians are expected to use their faculties and move forward in faith to do the Lord’s work but we must be careful not to cross the fine line of waiting on the Lord. One writer provides this useful insight: “…Our Lord persistently encouraged men and women to use their minds. “Consider the lilies of the field,” He urged (Matt. 6:28), which was an appeal to man’s ability to reason. Abraham, we are told, “reasoned that God could raise the dead” (Heb. 11:19), when He commanded him to sacrifice his son. God did not tell Abraham He would raise his son, Abraham reasoned it was so, based upon his experience of having a son when he and Sarah were “as good as dead” (Rom. 4:19-21). God delights in faith that reasons and then responds. Moses should thus have reasoned what God wanted him to do and done it without asking God for guidance. I believe that we often ask God for guidance when reason would clearly indicate our course of action already…”

Whatever Moses’ failures were at this time, graciously God gave him specific instructions to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea, to divide the water and create a path for the Israelites to pass between the two sections of water on dry ground. The Egyptians, will continue their pursuit along the same path because God will harden their hearts. This foolhardy act will result in their destruction and God’s glory. Moses will again be affirmed by God to the people, so they would know God chosen him to be their deliverer.

As a result of this episode, the nation of Egypt would know for sure, that God alone is Lord when this titanic event takes place. The story would be told throughout that country, that the God of Israel parted the sea and destroyed the Egyptian army. Pharaoh and other rebels who will not give voluntary honor to God, eventually will do so, when His judgment is exacted upon them. The Egyptians would know and acknowledge, that he is Jehovah, the omnipotent, self-existing, eternal God.

The crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army was going to be a defining moment in the history of Israel. The Lord did not just use Moses as His instrument in the affair but physically participated through the ‘cloud’. The angel of the Lord, manifested in the pillar of cloud and /or fire, moved from His customary place in front of the camp to become their rear guard. He stood between the Israelites and the Egyptians. Throughout that night, the pillar enveloped the Egyptians in darkness and immobilised them on one side and illuminated the Israelite camp on the other side; thus lighting the way and enabling the Israelites to see as they passed through the sea. Literally the Lord fought for them that day.

Many see this incident as the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ saving His people and as a portent of His ultimate deliverance of His people from sin.

Verses 21 – 30.  Moses followed God’s instructions and stretched his hand over the sea. A strong east wind began to blow and continued all night. It parted the sea and created a dry corridor on the seabed with a wall of water on either side. This allowed the column of Israelites to quickly pass through the sea with their goods, which were likely loaded on wagons and carts. This miracle has since rightly assumed legend proportions even in the secular sphere.

The Israelites saw the wall of water on either side of them and it was an act of faith on their part to step in that canyon created by water. The writer of Hebrews commends their faith, (Heb.11:29). The pursuing Egyptians were right behind and this provided further incentive for them to take the step.  When confronted with the choice between the sea and the Egyptians, the sea would have been the less dangerous choice. Our loving God nurses and motivates our weak faith.

We can’t be sure what the Egyptians saw or knew or even what God allowed them to see. It appears to be beyond foolhardy to see the sea miraculously parted, to see walls of water just standing and then to venture into the space between the two bodies of water. They knew the power of the Hebrew God from the recent plagues with which he had just days before afflicted their land. They were pursuing the very people God was helping to escape There is no doubt the Hebrew God was against them and if there ever was an ambush for an army this was it! Despite all mentioned and more, the Egyptians rushed right in behind the Israelites between the walls of water.

Some raise the possibility that the pursuers entered into the sea without even knowing it. One writer helpfully explores this option as follows: First, we are not told anywhere that the Egyptians knew that they were entering into the sea. We are told that they entered the sea (v. 23), but it is not specifically reported that they knew this was the case. Second, the time of the passing through the sea (for both the Israelites and the Egyptians) was late at night (cf. 14:20, 24,27). Third, the pillar which gave light to the Israelites, produced or promoted darkness for the Egyptians (v. 20). True, the Israelites could see the sea in the light provided by the pillar, but could the Egyptians? Fourth, it would seem highly unlikely that the Egyptians would enter into the sea, knowing that God had parted it for His people. Fifth, the Egyptians appear to be guided only by the Israelites. The Egyptians were in hot pursuit. Where the Israelites went, the Egyptians followed. (It wouldn’t be difficult to follow the tracks of 2 million people, now would it?) The Egyptians were concentrating on the object of their pursuit (the Israelites), not the scenery around them. You tend not to see what you are not looking for. Sixth, since the seabed had become dry ground, there would be no particular evidence that the Egyptians were in the midst of the sea. If, perchance, my speculations here are correct, can you imagine the horror of the Egyptians when they first realized where they were? They really did get in “over their heads” this time.

The other possible explanation for this outrageous blunder on the part of the Egyptians is that they knowingly pursued the Israelites into the sea, somehow blinded to the incredible dangers. The sovereign Lord had marked them for destruction as He told Moses: “I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen” (Exod. 4:17).

Note, divine hardening and blinding are but the preliminary to destruction. Christians are warned that wilful blindness leads to divine blinding. Persistent sinning leads to heart hardening.

The morning watch which is approximately from 2 a.m. till dawn, saw the beginning of the end of the Egyptian army. And Jehovah looked at the army of the Egyptians in (with) the pillar of cloud and fire, and troubled it." This look of Jehovah is to be regarded as the appearance of fire / lightening suddenly erupting from the pillar of cloud that was turned towards the Egyptians and this threw their army into alarm and confusion. The mobile chariot brigade suddenly bogged down and came to a halt amid mass confusion. The ground which was dry suddenly became wet sand, chariot wheels fell off, horses and carriage crashed into each other, pileups; God looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud and collapsed the Egyptian advance.

The Psalmist recalls this great occasion in the nations history in poetic style:

Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Psalm 77:14-20).

Suddenly and too late, the Egyptians recognized something supernatural in the debacle in their ranks. The God of Israel was fighting against them and immediately panic swept through their forces.  They tried to retreat but there was no escape through the pileups and confusion. As pictured by the Psalmist, the violent confluence of nature’s forces terrified both men and beast.

At daybreak, God instructed Moses to once again stretch his staff over the sea and this time to deliver the final blow and destroy the Egyptian army. Moses obeyed and the waters of the Red Sea crashed down on the Egyptians wiping out the entire force of men, horses and equipment. The waters of the Red Sea returned to normal and the Israelites saw the bodies of their enemies strewn upon the shores of the Red Sea.

In marked contrast to the catastrophic events in the Egyptian quarters, the Israelites passed through the sea on dry ground, safely reaching the other side. The Red Sea thus became the instrument of Israel’s deliverance and the Egyptians’ destruction. The Israelites witnessed the power of God and came to a deeper appreciation of Moses as the leader God had appointed, and through whom God’s power and deliverance was manifested in an awesome display. The guidance of Israel through the sea helped to more firmly establish Israel’s faith and fear of the Lord. But faith in the Lord was inseparably connected with faith in Moses as the servant of the Lord. Hence the miracle was done through the hand and staff of Moses. The Israelites were to also discern not only the merciful Deliverer, but also the holy Judge of the ungodly, that they might grow in the fear of God.  

CONCLUSION

God showed Himself faithful to provide the Israelites with a visible manifestation of His presence, protection, and guidance. The pillar, we are told, was constantly with till they entered the land of Canaan. God continually gives His people evidences of His presence and believers should always have a sense of the presence of the abiding Holy Spirit.

Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be confident that the Lord goes before them, as truly as he went before Israel in the wilderness

The judgment of God begins sooner than His final destruction. The judgment of God begins with the hardening of men’s hearts. While the final destruction of the army of Pharaoh came at the time Moses lifted his hand over the sea the second time, that judgment was already at work from much earlier. The drowning of the charioteers was but the final blow of divine judgment, a judgment which had begun a year or more earlier.

We notice that God hardens a man’s heart, yet, on the other hand, a man hardens his own heart. When God hardens a man’s heart, He does not cause the man to think and to do other than what that individual is inclined to do. God does not harden a man’s heart by making him want to sin. Pharaoh did not want to release the Israelites, nor did he wish to submit to the God of Israel. God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would pursue the Israelites (14:4), but this is precisely what Pharaoh was already predisposed to do. Thus we must examine ourselves for wilful sin patterns, for once we decide to practice any particular sin, the hardening process has began, leading to sudden destruction. The New Testament also speaks of hardening as the product of the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). Thus, we can say that men not only harden their hearts, which results in sin, they also sin, which results in a hardened heart.

We note that the ultimate issue, which determined the destruction or deliverance of God, depended on which side of the cloud one stood! In our text, the judgment of God and the salvation of God employed the same means—the Red Sea. Those who stood in the sea in front of the cloud (the Israelites) were delivered, but those who stood behind the cloud (the Egyptians) were destroyed. To put it in a little different way, those who sided with the God of Israel were saved, while those who opposed Him were struck down by the sea.

Today, the dividing line between those who will be saved and those who will suffer God’s wrath is not a cloud, but the cross. All those who accept Christ’s sacrifice on the cross are saved and all those who reject it (either actively or passively), must bear the coming wrath of God, which will come upon them just as quickly and unexpectedly as God’s wrath fell on the Egyptians.

Today is the day of salvation, choose Jesus Christ!