Exodus 14
McGeeCHAPTER 14THEME: Pharaoh and his army pursue Israel; God’s victory over Egypt
Exodus 14:1
PHARAOH AND HIS ARMY PURSUE ISRAELIt is impossible to locate these places definitely, but they were somewhere between the Nile River and the Red Sea.
Exodus 14:3
Pharaoh has spies watching the children of Israel. The movement of perhaps two and a half million people would be difficult to conceal anyway. Pharaoh expects the Israelites to move up the coastal route and through the land of the Philistines. When they head toward the wilderness, he thinks they are lost and do not know where they are going. God says that when he thinks they are trapped, he will pursue them. It is obvious that Pharaoh let the Israelites go reluctantly. God is not through with this man Pharaoh yet.
Exodus 14:4
You would think that the Egyptians had experienced enough disaster, but something even more profound is going to take place that will convince them.
Exodus 14:5
The host of Egypt moves against the children of Israel with six hundred chariots. You can imagine what that number of chariots could do to a poor, helpless, defenseless peopleespecially women, children and cattle. They would make havoc and hash of them!
Exodus 14:8
The Red Sea is ahead of the Israelites, and the hosts of Egypt are behind them. These poor defenseless people are caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea. From a natural viewpoint, the Israelites are in a bad spot.
Exodus 14:11
This is a rather ironic statement, and I am sure it was even more so in that day. The great pyramids stood as monuments to the burial places of kings. Mummies were all over the place in Egypt; it was a great burying ground. The children of Israel were saying, “Did you bring us all the way out into the wilderness to die because there was not room to bury us in the land of Egypt?” The Israelites are sure they are going to be slaughtered out in the wilderness.
Exodus 14:12
The Israelites, when they were in the land of Egypt, cried out for deliverance. God provided the opportunity for them to leave; but the minute they were in danger, they wanted to return to Egypt. Now notice what God is going to do for His people. They are helpless and hopeless without the aid of God. If they are to be redeemed, God will have to do it. I wish we could get that objective viewpoint of ourselves today because we are just like the Israelites. If we could go with the astronauts to the moon and look down on this little earth of ours, we would see people lost in sin. Actually our world is a pretty hopeless place; a great burying ground.
In Rom_5:12 Paul tells us, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Man has been on the march for over five thousand years. Where is he marching to? Man is marching to the grave. It isn’t pretty, but it is true. Man is the most colossal failure in God’s universe.
Exodus 14:13
GOD’S VICTORY OVER EGYPTLook at these children of Israel. Unless God moves on their behalf, they are doomed. And you and I could never be redeemed unless God did it, friends. Redemption is the work of the Lord. Jonah said, “…Salvation is of the LORD” (Jon_2:9); King David made the same statement, and that is the message of the New Testament. The Lord will work in behalf of His people; all they have to do is accept and receive His salvation. They are to stand still and God will do the work. Remember, you cannot lift a little finger to work out your salvation. All you have to do is accept what God has done for you.
Exodus 14:14
God will bring salvation to His people and will bring the peace that comes from having sins forgiven.
Exodus 14:15
The Israelites are to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. But when it is wrought they are to lay hold of His instructions by faith. Their faith will be evidenced in whether or not they will go forward. Many natural explanations are offered as to how the children of Israel crossed the sea. First, I believe it is well established by reputable, conservative historians and theologians that the exodus of Israel is a historical fact. The problem for most people comes in trying to figure out how they crossed the Red Sea. Some say that the wind blew the water back. But there was a wall of water on both sides of the path. Others say that some sort of a natural phenomenon rolled back the sea. Still others claim that an earthquake took place at the exact moment they were ready to cross the sea. The thing that must be faced here is that a miracle took place. You either accept it or you do not. God, by a miracle, opened the sea and the Israelites walked through it on dry ground. When the Israelites crossed the sea, they crossed to the other side dry-shod. There was not even enough water for them to get their feet damp. It would be difficult to explain this apart from a direct miracle.
Exodus 14:17
Had you been at the water’s edge when Pharaoh started to follow the children of Israel across the Red Sea, you would have said to him, “I suppose that you recognize that you are doing this because your heart and the hearts of your people are hardened by God, and you really don’t want to do it.” I think Pharaoh and his army would have laughed at you and replied, “We are chasing the Israelites because we want to.” The fact is that God is forcing the Egyptians to do the thing that is in their hearts.
Exodus 14:18
There are several things to take note of in this passage. First of all, the Egyptians mentioned in verse Exo_14:18 are the people who are left back in the land of Egypt. Israel will cross safely to the other side of the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his army will perish in the waters of that sea, and the Egyptians left in the land will know that the God of the Israelites is the Lord. In verse Exo_14:19 the “angel of God” is mentioned. I believe the Angel of God was none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. It was God Himself who stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites. When a strong east wind came, it caused the sea to go back. A natural wind could never have made a wall of water on both sides.
Exodus 14:22
As God works out His plan to deliver His people, once again we see that He worked through the pillar of fire and the cloud, which I believe represent the Holy Spirit. They were led, as the child of God should be led today, by the Spirit of God. It becomes clear to the Egyptians that what is happening to them is certainly supernatural. They want to retreat and escape the forces which are against them.
Exodus 14:26
This account needs close observation because it is a miracle. There is no natural way to explain what happened. Many conservative men, although they believe in the Word of God and are saved by faith alone in Christ, try to explain the crossing of the Red Sea in some natural way. When you read this record, it is impossible to explain it naturally. God says it is a miracle and you either take it or leave it.
Exodus 14:29
This is a miracle. Twice, now, this has been made clear to us. They walked on dry land through the midst of the sea. The waters were a wall to them on the left side and on the right side. You cannot explain it on a natural basis.
Exodus 14:30
These two verses state the purpose for God’s deliverance of Israel. At the beginning of their wilderness march they saw the power of God when He delivered them by blood out of Egypt. Now at the Red Sea He demonstrates His power again by taking them safely across the sea and by destroying the Egyptians pursuing them. God delivers His children by power.