The cloud which had been before the children of Israel moved and stood behind them, and became darkness to Pharaoh and his army. Yes, the Word of God, which gives light and instruction to us, is a dark book to the unsaved. They cannot see any light in its blessed pages, and they hate it because it is a book of judgment to them, just as that glory cloud spelled judgment to the Egyptian host. Then, too, it kept them separate from one another all night. If we walk in the light of God’s Word we will be separate from the world all through the night of Christ’s absence.
Moving Forward
When the morning came, the children of Israel were told to go forward in the path which God had made for them through the Red Sea. The water was a wall to them on the right hand and on the left. Every step they took, they were reminded that it was only the power of God which kept them from being drowned in the Sea. No doubt as they looked at those walls of water, they marveled at the goodness and power of God which had made a way of deliverance for them.
Perhaps the Egyptians took all this to be a natural phenomenon. They did not seem to realize that it was the power of God, and so they decided that they too would try to pass through the Sea. If Israel could do it, why couldn’t they? This reminds us of thousands of professing Christians around us in the world today. They go to church, they are baptized, and they take the sacrament. They follow the Christian way of doing things, but there is vast difference between them and those who are truly saved, just as there was a vast deliverance between the Israelites and the Egyptians. It was not because the Israelites were better — not at all — there was one thing which made all the difference. The Israelites had been sheltered by the blood, and the Egyptians had not. The Israelites were a redeemed people; the Egyptians were not. The Israelites were headed for Canaan, the Egyptians were doomed to perish in the waters of the Red Sea. The Egyptians had no faith and no blood, and there was no other way of escape from judgment. God’s way was the only way, whether the Egyptians thought so or not, and they were soon to find this out to their eternal loss. If you aren’t saved, we plead with you to take warning now, and find shelter under the precious blood of Christ. Soon the day will come when what might have been for your salvation and blessing will become the basis of your condemnation and judgment.
The Lord Fights for His People
When the Egyptians had followed the Israelites part of the way into the sea, the Lord began to fight against them and took off their chariot wheels. The Egyptians then realized that trouble was ahead and so they decided to turn back, but this did not make things any better; it only made them worse. This is like many professing Christians today. They are willing to follow the faith of others as long as it is to their advantage, but they have no living faith in their own hearts, and when trouble comes they soon turn back. They have no real love for the Lord Jesus and cannot bear any tribulation for His sake. What a “fearful looking for of judgment” (Heb. 10:2727But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:27)) is ahead of them. It’s far, far worse than that which overtook the retreating Egyptians.
Further Meditation
1. Why might the Egyptians have charged into the Red Sea after the Israelites?
2. Where else in Scripture did the Lord fight for His people when they were trapped?
3. Christian Position, Conflict, and Hope is a relatively challenging but worthwhile pamphlet on the exit from Egypt as well as the journey through the wilderness and in to the promised land.