Context & Key Themes
Exodus 14 is the parting of the Red Sea — the defining miracle of the Exodus and one of the most celebrated acts of God in all of Scripture. Pharaoh changes his mind and pursues Israel with his entire army. Israel is trapped between the sea and the approaching chariots. God tells Moses to stretch out his hand. The sea divides. Israel walks through on dry ground. The Egyptian army follows and is destroyed. The themes are salvation through impossible circumstances, the command to stand still and see, God fighting on behalf of those who cannot save themselves, and the awe that comes from witnessing what only God can do.
Key Verses
“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” — Exodus 14:13–14
“And Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” — Exodus 14:31
Summary
God tells Moses to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. Pharaoh will think Israel is wandering in confusion, trapped by the wilderness. God will harden Pharaoh’s heart and he will pursue, and God will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host. The Egyptians shall know that He is the Lord.
Pharaoh is told the people have fled. His heart is turned against them: what have we done, letting Israel go from serving us? He takes six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt and pursues Israel. He overtakes them encamped by the sea. When Israel sees the Egyptians marching toward them they are terrified and cry out to the Lord. They say to Moses: is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you brought us here to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not what we said when we were in Egypt — 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.
Moses says: fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. The Egyptians you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
The Lord tells Moses: why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. The angel of God and the pillar of cloud move from before the people to behind them, standing between the Egyptian army and Israel. The cloud is dark to one side and gives light to the other, so neither comes near the other all night.
Moses stretches out his hand over the sea. The Lord drives the sea back by a strong east wind all night and makes the sea dry land. The waters divide and Israel goes into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall on their right and left. The Egyptians pursue them — all Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and horsemen. In the morning watch the Lord looks down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud and throws it into panic. He clogs their chariot wheels so they drive heavily. The Egyptians say: flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against Egypt.
The Lord tells Moses to stretch out his hand so the waters return. Moses does, and the sea returns to normal at daybreak. The Egyptians flee into it and the Lord throws them into the midst of the sea. The waters return and cover the chariots and horsemen — all the host of Pharaoh. Not one remains. Israel sees the Egyptians dead on the seashore. They see the great power the Lord used against Egypt. The people fear the Lord and believe in the Lord and in Moses his servant.
Reflection
Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. This is the hardest instruction God ever gives to a human being, and He gives it here to six hundred thousand people standing between an army and a sea with nowhere to go. Every instinct says run, fight, surrender, negotiate. God says: be still. I will fight. You watch. The salvation belongs to the Lord, and it will be accomplished without your military assistance, your clever strategy, or your personal heroism. You have only to be silent.
The pillar moving from before Israel to behind them is the image of God placing Himself between His people and what is pursuing them. He is not watching from a distance while they manage the situation. He is the rearguard. He is the darkness between the army and the nation, and the army cannot get through Him all night. What follows is not Israel fighting Egypt. It is Israel walking through what God has opened while God stands behind them, and then God closing what He opened over the army that tried to follow.
Not one remained. The army that had enslaved Israel for generations, that had drowned their infant sons in the Nile, that had pursued them to the sea — not one. Dead on the shore. And Israel believes. They have believed before — in chapter 4 they bowed their heads and worshipped when they heard the news. In chapter 5 they stopped believing when the bricks got harder. Here, on the far shore, having walked through walls of water, they believe in the Lord and in His servant Moses. Faith shaped by what the eyes have just seen is a different thing than faith shaped by what the ears have merely heard. The sea made it undeniable.