Exodus 14

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” President Dwight D.

Eisenhower spoke those words in his first inaugural address, January 20, 1953. As the man who helped lead the Allies to victory in World War II, General Eisenhower knew a great deal about the high cost of victory as well as the heavy burden of freedom that always follows. British novelist Charles Kingsley rightly said, “There are two freedoms—the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; and the true, where a man is free to do what he ought.” Throughout their history, the nation of Israel struggled with both of these freedoms, just as God’s people struggle with them today.

It’s a mark of maturity when we learn that freedom is a tool to build with, not a toy to play with, and that freedom involves accepting responsibility. Israel’s exodus experience taught them that their future success lay in fulfilling three important responsibilities: following the Lord (13:17–22), trusting the Lord (14:1–31), and praising the Lord (15:12–21).

“He [God] made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel” (Ps. 103: nkjv). The Jewish people were told what God wanted them to do, but Moses was told why God was doing it. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him” (25:14). The leadership of Moses was a key ingredient in Israel’s success.

Egypt’s pursuit (vv. 1–9). It dawned on Pharaoh and his officers that, by allowing their Jewish slaves to escape, they had threatened, if not destroyed, Egypt’s whole economy, so the logical thing was to go after the Jews and bring them back. Now we’re given another reason why the Lord selected this route: the reports would convince Pharaoh that the Jews were wandering like lost sheep in the wilderness and therefore were fair game for his army to pursue and capture. The Lord was drawing the Egyptians into His trap.

What seemed like an easy victory to Egypt would turn out to be an ignominious defeat, and the Lord would get all the glory. Once again He would triumph over Pharaoh and the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Pharaoh commandeered all the chariots of Egypt, mounted his own royal chariot, and pursued the people of Israel.

Israel’s panic (vv. 10–12). As long as the Israelites kept their eyes on the fiery pillar and followed the Lord, they were walking by faith and no enemy could touch them. But when they took their eyes off the Lord and looked back and saw the Egyptians getting nearer, they became frightened and began to complain.

These verses introduce the disappointing pattern of Israel’s behavior during their march from Egypt to Canaan. As long as everything was going well, they usually obeyed the Lord and Moses and made progress. But if there was any trial or discomfort in their circumstances, they immediately began to complain to Moses and to the Lord and asked to go back to Egypt. However, before we criticize the Jews, perhaps we’d better examine our own hearts. How much disappointment or discomfort does it take to make us unhappy with the Lord’s will so that we stop believing and start complaining? “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

When you forget God’s promises, you start to imagine the worst possible scenario. The Jews were sure that they and their children would die in the wilderness as soon as Pharaoh’s army caught up with them. The frightened people reminded Moses that they had told him to leave them alone (Ex. 5:20–23), but he had persisted in challenging Pharaoh. Israel was now in a terrible predicament, and Moses was to blame. Unbelief has a way of erasing from our memory all the demonstrations we’ve seen of God’s great power and all the instances we know of God’s faithfulness to His Word.

God’s power (vv. 13–31). Moses was a man of faith who knew that Pharaoh’s army was no threat to Jehovah. He gave several commands to the people, and the first was, “Fear not” (v. 13). Sometimes fear energizes us and we quickly try to avoid danger, but sometimes fear paralyzes us and we don’t know what to do. Israel was tempted to flee, so Moses gave his second command: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (v. 13). By faith the Jews had marched out of Egypt, and now by faith they would stand still and watch God destroy the Egyptian charioteers.

Moses not only told them to stand still, but also to “be still” (v. 14). How easy it would have been to weep, complain, and keep criticizing Moses, but none of those things would have helped them out of their predicament. Unbelief complains, but faith obeys and brings glory to the Lord. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). What is there to complain about when we have the wonderful promise, “The Lord shall fight for you” (Ex. 14:14)? Later in their journey, the Lord would help Joshua and the Jewish army fight their battles (17:8); but this time, God would defeat the Egyptians without Israel’s assistance.

The next order came from God to Moses, “Go forward” (14:15). The fact that Israel was facing the sea was no problem to God, and He told Moses exactly what to do. When Moses lifted up his rod, the waters would part, and Israel would be able to walk across on dry land and escape the Egyptian army. At Moses’ signal, the waters would then flow back, drown the Egyptian soldiers, and prevent Israel from returning to Egypt. In the years that followed, each time the Jews expressed a desire to return to Egypt, they should have remembered that God closed the waters and locked the door.

Why did God perform this series of miracles for the Jewish people? They certainly didn’t deserve it as they stood there cringing in fear and complaining that God didn’t seem to know what He was doing. To begin with, He was keeping His promise that He would deliver Israel and take them as His people (3:7–8). In years to come, pious Jews would measure everything by the demonstration of God’s great power at the exodus. But God had another purpose in mind: revealing once more His power and glory in the defeat of the Egyptian army. “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord” (14:18).

The pillar moved between the Israelites and the Egyptians, indicating that God had become a wall of protection between His people and their enemies. The pillar gave light to Israel but darkness to the enemy, for the faithless people of Egypt couldn’t understand the ways of God. When Moses stretched out his hand, the Lord sent a powerful wind that drove the sea waters back and opened the way for the Jews to cross. Psalm 77:16–20 indicates that a severe rainstorm accompanied the high winds, and after Israel had crossed, the rain turned Israel’s dry pathway into a muddy road. When the Egyptian soldiers tried to follow, the mud disabled their chariots and impeded their progress, and when the waters returned, all the Egyptian soldiers were drowned. It was indeed a night to be remembered.

Knowing that the enemy was in pursuit, and hearing the wind blowing all night, the Israelites must have wondered what was going to happen and why God was taking so long. But when we have faith in God’s promises, we have peace in our hearts. “Why are you so fearful?” Jesus asked His disciples after He had calmed a storm. “How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4: nkjv). Faith and fear can’t live together in the same heart, for one will destroy the other. True faith depends on what God says, not on what we see or how we feel. It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence—that’s superstition—but obeying in spite of consequence.

This series of divine miracles was certainly a revelation of the greatness and power of God, His faithfulness to His promises, and His concern for His people. Future psalmists would extol the Lord for His mighty works at the Red Sea (Ps. 66; 78; 80—81; 105—106; 136), and the prophets would use the exodus to encourage the Jewish exiles in their return to their land after the Babylonian captivity (Isa. 43:1–7; 52:11–12; 55:12–13; Jer. 16:14–15; 23:7–8), as well as to motivate the backslidden nation to return to the Lord (Jer. 2:2–3; Ezek. 20; Hos. 2:14–23; Amos 3; Mic. 6:3–4).

Moses’ position (v. 31; 1 Cor. 10:1–2). Paul saw Israel’s march through the sea as a “baptism,” for the water was on either side like a wall and the cloud of God’s presence was behind them and over them. As it were, Israel was “immersed” as they quickly crossed the dry bed of the sea. Their deliverance was certainly the act of God, but it was accomplished through the obedient leadership of Moses. As a result, “the people … believed the Lord and His servant Moses” (Ex. 14:31). They were now constituted as a nation with Moses as their leader. Through this “baptism,” the people of Israel were identified with Moses, just as in water baptism God’s people today are identified with Jesus Christ. The miracle of the exodus became a part of Israel’s confession of faith when they brought their gifts to the Lord (Deut. 26:1–11).