Exodus 14-The Lord Destroys Pharaoh And The Egyptian Army At The Red Sea
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 18, 2011
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 14-The Lord Destroys Pharaoh And The Egyptian Army At The Red Sea
Lesson # 15
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 14:1.
Exodus chapter 14 is divided into ten sections: (1) The Lord promises that He will be honored through Pharaoh (verses 1-4). (2) The Egyptians regret releasing the Israelites and pursue them (verses 5-9). (3) The Israelites panic at the sight of the Egyptian army (verses 10-12). (4) Moses’ confidence in the Lord in the face of adversity (verses 13-14). (5) The Lord directs Moses to divide the sea (verses 15-18). (6) The angel of the Lord stands between the Egyptians and the Israelites (verses 19-20). (7) Israel crosses the Red Sea on dry land (verses 21-22). (8) The Lord causes the Egyptian army to panic (verses 23-25). (9) The Lord drowns the Egyptian army (verses 26-28). (10) The Israelites place their faith in the Lord after He delivers them from the Egyptian army (verses 29-31).
Exodus 14:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. (NASB95)
Exodus 12:37 and 13:20 indicate that the Lord was leading the Israelites in an east southeast direction.
Now Exodus 14:1 tells the reader that the Lord instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to reverse direction and thus travel in a north or northeast direction.
In Exodus 14:3-4, the Lord gives his reasons for issuing these instructions.
He wants the Israelites to appear confused to the Egyptians who He knows will regret releasing the Israelites and will pursue them.
By reversing the direction of the Israelites and causing them to appear confused, the Lord will draw Pharaoh and his army into a trap, which will end in their destruction in the Red Sea.
This, the Lord says would bring Him honor and glory.
The Lord tells Moses to “camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.”
The exact location of these places mentioned in verse 2 cannot be identified with certainty.
Undoubtedly, Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon were out of the way places that were small.
This sight provided the Israelites a place to set up camp and to feed their flocks and herds.
It must have had adequate water as well.
This location is undoubtedly somewhere along the coast of the Red Sea.
Stopping here would convince Pharaoh and his army that the Israelites were petrified to go into the wilderness and were turning back in confusion.
Exodus 10:19, 13:18, 15:4 and 22 reveals that “the sea” mentioned by the Lord in Exodus 14:2 is the “Red Sea.”
The exact location of the crossing of the Red Sea has been disputed by historians because of the failure to locate any area in Egypt that corresponds to the description furnished by Exodus 14.
This chapter reveals that the Israelites reversed direction going northward from their original direction.
Thus, it would not make sense to look for the location in a southerly location where the northern most shore of the present Red Sea is found, which is at the latitude of Memphis.
This would have been considerably to the south of Migdol and Pi-hahiroth.
Also, we know for certain that the Sea of Reeds was a distinct body of water from what is called today the Red Sea and was not a marsh as some claim but a large body of water at that time.
It must be noted that there are other factors which need to be reckoned with which do not suggest that the Reed Sea was a shallow marsh which diminishes the miracle that the Lord performed to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians.
First of all, the variability of the precipitation cycle and the tendency to stratigraphic uplift in areas subjected to continental shift must be taken into consideration.
Both Egypt and the land of Canaan were subjected to major earthquakes during Old Testament times, which would at times affect the altitude of the landscape.
For example, the Dead Sea originally emptied out of the Gulf of Aqabah until a later uplift kept the waters of the Jordan River from progressing any farther than the shore of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thus, the Reed Sea could have been deep enough in the days of Moses to drown Pharaoh and his army.
It did not dry up until later because of seismic disturbances.
Exodus 14:5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. (NASB95)
These verses tell the reader that Pharaoh and the Egyptian people regretted releasing the Israelites who were their slave labor.
Notice the passage does not say they were seeking revenge but actually they were seeking to enslave the Israelites once again having realized the implications of releasing the Israelites.
This would have an adverse affect on their already destroyed economy.
Amenhotep II undoubtedly must have received reports from his military patrolling Egypt’s borders.
The irregular movements and seemingly confused movements of the Israelites motivated Pharaoh and the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites and overtake them.
The Egyptians took six hundred select chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
The chariot was a formidable weapon in the ancient world.
The chariot was employed in various major battles in the ancient Middle East.
They were of course only suitable for flat terrain and useless for mountainous terrain which David often fought on.
Also, wet and muddy ground would render the chariot useless.
Exodus 14:10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not 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.” (NASB95)
These verses record that fear, panic and anxiety gripped the Israelites when they saw the Egyptian army furiously approaching them.
This caused them to forget that the Lord had just delivered them by means of the exertion of His divine omnipotence through the ten plagues.
Their complaint is not against Moses but against the Lord since He initiated their deliverance and brought it about by means of His power.
Exodus 14:13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” (NASB95)
In contrast to the Israelites, Moses does not enter into fear, worry and anxiety.
He does not panic and enter into complaining either to the Lord or the Israelites.
Instead, he demonstrates his faith by expressing his confidence in the Lord’s promises to him and the Israelites that He would deliver them from the Egyptians.
He tells the Israelites the Lord will fight for them and that they will never see the Egyptians again since the Lord will kill them in the Red Sea.
Moses is conducting himself this way because he remembers what God had just accomplished in Egypt with the destruction of Egypt by the ten plagues.
Exodus 14:15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.” (NASB95)
The Israelites erroneously assumed that they were trapped between the sea and the Egyptians.
Moving toward the sea did not appear to be an option.
In fact, the situation seemed impossible but they are about to learn that what is impossible for man is possible with God (Matthew 19:26; Luke 1:37).
Through their human impotence and weakness, God would glorify Himself by exerting His power to divide the Red Sea so as to give the Israelites a way of escape.
Then once the Israelites were safely on the other side, the Egyptian army would attempt to pursue them but the Lord would drown them by causing the sea to be restored to its normal state.
Notice something in verse 15 in that the Lord rebukes Moses for crying out to Him when verse 10 says that the Israelites cried out to the Lord.
What this reveals is that Moses is an intermediary between God and the Israelites and thus Moses is identified with the Israelites.
Thus, he had to endure criticism from the Lord, which is leveled at the Israelites.
Even though Moses was responsible for the Israelites bad behavior, he had to accept criticism from the Lord since he was their intermediary between themselves and God.
Also, Moses knew that what God said to him personally was actually directed at the Israelites.
Therefore, verse 15 is actually a rebuke of the Israelites for their lack of faith since the passage clearly demonstrates Moses was exercising faith in the Lord and the Israelites were not.
The question arises as to why the Egyptians would pursue the Israelites with their chariots when they knew full well that chariots and mud don’t mix and is a recipe for disaster? (Judges 4:1-17)
First of all, the Egyptian army was given orders by Pharaoh to capture the Israelites who to them were a defenseless mob of people wandering aimlessly in confusion.
They were not fighting another army but rather a helpless group of people who were once their slaves.
Lastly, the Lord lured them into this situation by exploiting this arrogant and presumptuous attitude towards the Israelites.
Exodus 14:19 The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. (NASB95)
The angel of the Lord is the preincarnate Christ.
This is called a “theophany,” or a “Christophany,” which is a theological term used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the Son of God before His incarnation in Bethlehem (Gen. 32:29-30; Ex. 3:2; 19:18-20; Josh. 5:13-15; Dan. 3:26).
At this point we have a visible appearance because the Lord is appearing in the pillar of cloud during the day and pillar of fire at night.
It is also an audible manifestation of the Lord’s voice since Moses hears the Lord speak to him.
Exodus 14:20 tells the reader that the Lord prevented the Egyptians from capturing the Israelites.
In the pillar of cloud, the Lord moved from in front of the Israelites to behind their camp in order to do this.
This verse says that throughout the night, the pillar of cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side so that the Egyptians could not go near the Israelites all night long.
This is important because it would have taken many hours for the Israelites and the entire evening to break camp since they numbered over two million people.
So this maneuver by the Lord provided the Israelites enough time to break camp.
Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (NASB95)
The Lord simply exercised His divine omnipotence and swept back the sea with a strong east wind all night, which resulted in a path of dry land in which the Israelites could escape to the other side.
What the Israelites thought was impossible to accomplish, the Lord accomplished.
The east wind parted the sea with a wall of water on one and another wall on the other side, thus, when the Israelites walked through on dry land they would see a wall of water on either side of them.
Exodus 14:23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.” (NASB95)
This passage reveals several factors that resulted in the defeat of the Egyptians.
First, the Lord caused the Egyptian army to become disoriented.
Secondly, he caused their chariots to malfunction and not work properly.
The bottom of the sea floor was soft and thus the metal-bound chariot wheels would become bogged down in the mud.
Lastly, they were self-condemned and were aware that the Lord was fighting against them, thus, in their minds they had lost already.
Psychologically, they were defeated.
Exodus 14:26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. (NASB95)
These verses record the final act of the Lord which completed the Israelites’ deliverance from the Egyptians.
Never again in Exodus to do we read of the Egyptians being a menace to the Israelites.
Exodus 14:29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. (NASB95)
Verse 29 echoes verse 22 and verse 30 describes this event in general terms.
Verse 31 tells the reader that this great miracle produced reverence for the Lord and faith in Him as well as confidence in Moses as their leader.