Exod 14 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
Last time, the night of the Passover came and went. The passage says, “That same day, the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies” (Exod 12:51).
Going ahead of them was God himself: “The LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light” (Exod 13:21).
In this lesson they reach the edge of the sea. The sea is in front of them, and behind them Pharaoh’s chariots are coming.
God told Israel to turn back and camp by the sea. He said Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened and he would chase them, and God would get honor over Pharaoh and all his army. Pharaoh did regret letting the people go, and he set out after them with six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt. (vv. 1–8)
9The Egyptians pursued them. All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
10When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to the LORD.
11They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt?
12Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today.
14The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be still.”
15The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.
16Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground.
God said the Egyptians would follow them in, and he would get honor over them. The angel of God and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of Israel’s camp to behind it, and stood between the two camps; all night the one did not come near the other. (vv. 17–20)
21Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
The Egyptians followed them into the sea. In the morning watch the LORD threw their army into confusion and took off their chariot wheels, and they said they would flee from Israel. (vv. 23–25)
26The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. The LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.
28The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.
29But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
31Israel saw the great work which the LORD did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
To read the whole chapter: Exodus 14, 31 verses.
Sea in front, soldiers behind. The Israelites have only just left Egypt, and Pharaoh’s whole army catches up with them (v. 9). The passage says, “The children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid” (v. 10). Their fear is written down plainly, not covered over.
Rather go back. The people turn on Moses: “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?” (v. 11). And then: “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (v. 12). A few days earlier they were doing forced labor. Now, at the edge of the sea, they would rather go back to being slaves.
Stand still, and see. Moses does not argue with them. He says, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today” (v. 13). And: “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be still” (v. 14). This is not a battle the people will fight.
Go forward. Right after that, God says to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward” (v. 15). Being still does not mean sitting still. God tells Moses to lift his rod, and tells the people to move ahead, onto a road that has not yet opened. Standing still and going forward — both are in this one passage.
The cloud moves behind them. All along the way, the pillar of cloud has led from the front. That night, “the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them” (v. 19), between the two camps, and “one didn’t come near the other all night” (v. 20). Before the way ahead was opened, God stood between them and the army behind.
An east wind all night. “The LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land” (v. 21). The Israelites “went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (v. 22). The passage gives the end of the Egyptian army one short line: “There remained not so much as one of them” (v. 28).
They saw, they feared, they believed. The last verse of the chapter says Israel “saw the great work which the LORD did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses” (v. 31). The day before, they told Moses they would rather go back to Egypt; this day they believed. The passage does not say they were never afraid again. A few days later, in the next chapter, “the people murmured against Moses” (Exod 15:24).
Twice God said he would get honor over Pharaoh, and “the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” (Exod 14:4, 18). The exodus was not just a group of slaves escaping. It was so that both Egypt and Israel would know who God is.
Once they were on the other side, Moses and Israel sang a song: “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously” (Exod 15:1). That was how Israel remembered this day.
This lesson does not promise that every sea will part in front of you. It shows you this: the Israelites were afraid, and they complained, and God did not stop saving them because of it. God told them to stand still, and he told them to go forward.
This week: Think of one thing you cannot get past right now. This week, tell one person about it and ask them to pray for you. Then, in that matter, take the one small step you are able to take.
Scripture: World English Bible.