Exodus 14:13-3113And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 15And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16But 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. 17And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 19And 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: 20And 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. 21And 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. 22And 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. 23And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And 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, 25And 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. 26And 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. 27And 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. 28And 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. 29But 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. 30Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 31And 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. (Exodus 14:13‑31).
IN front of the children of Israel, the sea, beating its waves on the sandy shore; behind them was the Egyptian army. The Israelites were not trained soldiers, but just newly freed slaves. They had said to Moses, Why bring us out here to be killed? They had not thought of God, had they? Had He forgotten them, or did He not care what happened?
Let us turn back a few pages in our Bibles to the third chapter, and read verses seven and eight again.
“I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Would God then leave them on the road to die? Has He ever been untrue to His word? No, never! God does what He says He will, always. Yes, the people thought about their troubles and fears, but you won’t find in verses eleven and twelve that they said anything about God. But He was just going to deliver them, and as Moses said, they were to “fear not,” to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” which He would show to them that day, for they would not see the Egyptians any more again for ever.
The angel of God, who went before the camp, went between them and the Egyptians, and the pillar of the cloud took its place there too, to be a cloud and darkness to their enemies, and to be a light by night to the people. That closed the way behind; —what about in front of them?
The twenty-first verse answers: Moses, at God’s word, 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 a dry road across to the other side before morning. This was God’s answer to their fears, making a way where there never had been one before, and never would be again.
Into the midst of the sea on the dry ground late that night walked the men, women. and children, and the flocks and herds, the waters standing still as only God could make them, like walls on either side of the road. How strange it all was, but it was God’s way for them. The Egyptians after a while, early in the morning, found out what had happened and tried to follow. Even to the middle of the channel of the sea their army drove, but God was not on their side. He troubled them, took off their chariot wheels so that they wanted to get back to the Egyptian shore. Let us flee, the Egyptians said, for the Lord is fighting for Israel against us, but it was not to be. Moses, at God’s word, stretched out his hand over the sea which rolled back where it had been before, covering chariots and horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that had come into the roadway from shore to shore; not one was spared. One party was saved, and one was lost. That is solemn, isn’t it? Not an Israelite lost, not an Egyptian saved!
ML 01/29/1922