Ex. 14: Across the Sea on Dry Land

The Israelites are making their way out of Egypt. Boldly, and with out trepidation. God is ahead of them, leading them. Pharaoh let them go, the Egyptians are backing them. Life is good.

God is still not done showing his power, though.

As the Israelites are traveling, God has them stop at a place called Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. This is meant to make Pharaoh think that the Israelites are wandering around, and trapped by this huge natural boundary. Well, God allows Pharaoh to come to what's left of his senses momentarily, and, slapping his forehead, Pharaoh exclaims, "What have we done? We let our slaves go!" So Pharaoh readies his armies, including 600 of his best chariots, plus all his other kinda mediocre chariots, all with officers, and Pharaoh sends his armies after Israel.

As the Egyptians get closer and closer, Israel sees them, and then they freak out, and cry out to God. They accuse Moses of bringing them out of Egypt to die because there were no graves left back there. What a cynical take. They are in danger, and they need protection. They assume they are going to be killed, there's no sense of fight in them, even though they probably significantly outnumbered Pharaoh's army.

Here is what Moses says, and I love this. It removes any power that fear may have over Israel. "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Man, I love that in verse 14. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Isn't that amazing? I don't even have to take up arms or fear death, because it is the LORD fighting for me. I need only to be still. Not to be nervous. Not to be distracted. I can focus on God, and not on my own talent, my own fortitude.

God tells Moses to tell the Israelites to move on. Even though they are right by the Red Sea. And Egypt pursuing hard behind them. I wonder how these Israelites must have felt, having been told to pick up and get moving again. To leave camp and head for the sea. Futile? Last chance? Probably. I can't imagine they felt confident in their leadership at this point.

God also tells Moses to raise his staff over the sea and divide, so that the Israelites can go through the sea, and then God will influence the Egyptians to go in after them. And then God vaguely says that the Egyptians will know He is the LORD.

Tactically, the angel of God moves from leading the Israelites to bringing up the rear, standing behind them, between them and the advancing Egyptian army. Kinda weird here is how verse 20 says that this pillar of cloud brought darkness to one side, and light to the other, so that neither side went near the other all night long. Wow. That is something I wish I could have seen...its like a wall of light. Except being in the dark, you wouldn't be able to see what was in the light, not like looking out of a dark room into a lit room. What a bizarre phenomenon.

So Moses stretches his hand out over the sea, and all that night, God drove the sea back with a strong east wind, and turned it to dry land. With the waters divided, Israel walked across, with a wall of water on each side. Another absolutely mind-blowing occurence. I always through it was an instant division, but the Word says God sent this wind to blow all night. It doesn't say Israel trudged through a muddy swamp during a dry season, they walked across the Red Sea on dry land, with a high wall of water on both sides. Awesome.

As Egypt pursued, God allowed them to get into the sea, and then jammed their wheels so they couldn't drive. And they were conscious of the fact that it was the LORD fighting for Israel, as God promised in Ex. 14:18. Then, with Israel safely on the other side of the Red Sea, at daybreak, God has Moses stretch his hand back out over the sea, and the water went back into its place. The walls of water crashed down around the Egyptians, and covered the entire army of Pharaoh. No survivors. Chuck Norris? Would have drowned.

This day, the LORD saved Israel from the Egyptians. Imagine being an Israelite, looking out from camp, seeing the dead of the Egyptians washing up onshore...who were you going to trust? There was no deliverer except for the LORD.

This chapter ruled.