Exodus 14

Exodus 14:1-31

Exodus 14:1-31 The Miraculous Passage of the Children of Israel over the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-31) Exodus 14:1-31 shows God’ s wonderful intervention in the behalf of His chosen people. The weakness of Israel and the strength of God are beautifully set forth (Exodus 14:1-14). The miraculous passage of the children of Israel over the Red Sea is what may be called a natural miracle. If God did not supersede the forces of nature in this instance, He certainly manipulated them in a way unknown to man. The waters were a wall on either side of Israel and between Israel and the Egyptians. The Egyptians themselves (Exodus 14:25), even as Pharaoh (Exodus 9:27), recognized that this was a supernatural manifestation. This is evident too from the fact that man has no part in the song commemorating the crossing of the Red Sea. This last thought is especially emphatic when we remember that in the victory of Jael, Jael receives praise; in the victory over Goliath, David receives praise; in the victory over the Philistines, Saul receives praise; in the victory over the Midianites, Jonathan receives praise; for in each one of these instances man had played some part.

God alone operated, however, in the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea. So we are told the people “ believed in Jehovah,” which is a remarkable statement because they had believed in Him already. It was by faith they forsook Egypt; it was by faith they kept the Passover; it is now by faith in this new manifestation of God that they cross the Red Sea (Exodus 14:30-31; cf. Hebrews 11:27-29). To Pharaoh, as well as to the Israelites, it seemed as though God had blundered in leading His people into such a perilous position. They apparently were entrapped in the wilderness between the sea and the mountains. It was doubtless this thought that led Pharaoh to pursue Israel. He may have imagined that God was not a God of war, just as later the enemies of Israel thought that Jehovah was a God of the hills but not of the valleys (1 Kings 20:23; 1 Kings 20:28). Pharaoh learned, as Miriam’ s song later declared, that Jehovah is a Man of war (Exodus 15:3). Exodus 14:15-31 show that it is no longer Pharaoh and Israel, but Pharaoh and Jehovah who are the principal actors in the scene. We do not have to fight our own battles. God is responsible for our whole salvation. It is for His own name’ s sake that we are delivered. The Lord’ s reply to Moses, “ Wherefore criest thou unto me?” leads to the question, Is there a time when prayer is out of place? The answer would seem to be, Yes, when God’ s will is revealed as to what we should do; Yes, when some duty is left undone (cf. Matthew 5:22-23).