We will pick up this lesson in Exodus 14:15 “And the LORD said
unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of
Israel, that they go forward:”
God never speaks retreat. His song “Onward Christians Soldiers”
is exactly what God expects from us. He does not want to hear our
whining. He wants us to go forth conquering, and to conquer, knowing
that He will open the way for us. God was saying, have faith and march
forward.
Exodus 14:16 “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine
hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go
on dry [ground] through the midst of the sea.”
Moses had the answer all the time, but it appeared that his faith,
as well as the Israelites’ faith, had faded to the point that he cried
for help. This was not a marshy area, as many would have us believe
today; this was to happen in the middle (midst) of the Red Sea. Moses’
hand represented the power of God. The power of God separated the Red
Sea. We see, here, the Divine Protection that God provides to those, who
trust Him. This entering of the Red Sea and coming up on dry land,
represents the obedience we, Christians, follow in water baptism. When
God does a thing. He does it perfectly. The land underneath this sea
was dry, when the children of Israel walked over.
Exodus 14:17 “And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the
Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon
Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his
horsemen.”
We see, an unusual thing. Pharaoh would be able to see that this
happened in the middle of the sea. He certainly would be able to
realize that this was a miracle of God, and that he (Pharaoh) and his
men should not pursue them, but Pharaoh and all his host of chariots
and people were blinded to the reality of this miracle. They rushed
into disaster. God had hardened their hearts, so that they did not use
good judgement, and God would be elevated above all of Egypt’s gods.
Exodus 14:18 “And the Egyptians shall know that I [am] the LORD,
when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon
his horsemen.”
All of this incidence of the Red Sea parting was to show the
remaining Egyptians, as well as these Israelites, that God had power
over everything in the earth, and in heaven, and under the earth; and that
these created beings, and things, the Egyptians had been worshipping
were the created, and not the Creator. God is all powerful. Everything,
and everyone, are subject to Him.
Exodus 14:19 “And the angel of God, which went before the camp
of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud
went from before their face, and stood behind them:” Exodus 14:20 “And
it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and
it was a cloud and darkness [to them], but it gave light by night [to
these]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.”
This Light, that God provided for Israel in their journey across
the wilderness, was total darkness to the Egyptians. God had blinded
the eyes of the Egyptians, and opened the Israelites’ eyes to His
Light. This Light, that God provided the Israelites, went with them and
lighted their way. God, Himself, built a wall of defense around His
people to protect them. He will build a hedge to protect us today, if
we will only trust Him. This, I say again, is Divine Protection.
Exodus 14:21 “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and
the LORD caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that
night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided.”
Moses followed God’s command, and did exactly as God said. The Red
Sea parted and left a wall of water, as protection on the right side
and the left side. The wind obeyed God’s voice, and on command, blew
this sea apart and dried the ground underneath for them to walk on.
This angel, spoken of here, was similar to the angel spoken of at the
burning bush and was actually a presence of the Lord, the Light of the
world. I believe that the word (Jesus as we know Him) is the doer part
of the Godhead. We read in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:2 “The same
was in the beginning with God.” John 1:3 “All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.” You see, Jesus
is the doer, because He is the Word.
Exodus 14:22 “And the children of Israel went into the midst of
the sea upon the dry [ground]: and the waters [were] a wall unto them
on their right hand, and on their left.”
We see, here, that God did exactly what He said He would do.
Exodus 14:23 “And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them
to the midst of the sea, [even] all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots,
and his horsemen.”
Sin blinds a person, and these Egyptians were no exception. No one
in his right mind, could overlook the fact, that this parting of the
sea was an act of God. These Egyptians’ hate had blinded them, because
God hardened their hearts to make examples of them. God would be
glorified to the Israelites, to the remaining Egyptians, and unto the
nearby countries.
Exodus 14:24 “And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the
LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire
and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,” Exodus
14:25 “And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them
heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of
Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.”
Notice, that this presence in the fire was the Lord. The Lord had
these Egyptians running in circles and their wheels fell off their
chariots. Suddenly, they realized they were not fighting the children of
Israel, but the Lord. God fights their battles for them. They were not
afraid of Israel, but they were afraid of God; and they broke and ran.
Exodus 14:26 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine
hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”
When Moses stretched his hand toward the sea, the waters returned
over the top of these Egyptians in chariots and on horseback, and they
were drowned. God defeated them.
Exodus 14:27 “And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea,
and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and
the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in
the midst of the sea.” Exodus 14:28 “And the waters returned, and
covered the chariots, and the horsemen, [and] all the host of Pharaoh
that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one
of them.”
This is very similar to the wrath of God, that will fall upon the
evil ones, after the Christians are carried away into heaven. We will
see the separation God makes between the evil ones and His own. In the
midst of this terrible calamity, which killed all of these Egyptians.
God protected and redeemed His own.
Exodus 14:29 “But the children of Israel walked upon dry [land]
in the midst of the sea; and the waters [were] a wall unto them on
their right hand, and on their left.”
We see that God did exactly what He promised He would do.
Exodus 14:30 “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand
of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea
shore.”
Their Redeemer was the Lord. Our Redeemer is the Lord. We see by
the Egyptians washing up on the sea shore, that this new theory of this
area being a marshy area is completely in error. How can a marshy area
drown perhaps 100,000 people and horses? Miracles cannot be explained
by things we can see. A miracle is an impossibility in man’s sight,
that God brings about.
Exodus 14:31 “And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did
upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the
LORD, and his servant Moses.”
These Israelites should know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the
Lord, He is God. We see, here, that they feared God. Fear of God
(reverence) is the beginning of wisdom. Now, they knew that every
message they received from Moses, was actually God speaking through him
to them. They not only feared God, but realized that He would fight their
battles for them.