Exodus 14:10-22
In the text before us, we see a picture of a fearful people. The chariots and horsemen and army of the Pharaoh are bearing down upon the children of Israel and there is no escape route. The children of Israel cried out to the Lord (v. 10).
Their cry was not a cry for help; it was a cry of anguish. They saw their impending doom. They blamed Moses (and the Lord) for placing them in a life-threatening position. They most certainly were not looking to the Lord for deliverance.
It is human nature to cry out in anguish when one is hopelessly trapped as Israel was hopelessly trapped. Their cry was one of regret. They openly stated that they wished that they had never listened to Moses (see v. 11, 12). The children of Israel had followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; and now, they were trapped.
Moses, too, had followed the pillar of cloud and fire but he had a far different response. Moses instructed Israel to fear not, to stand still and to see the salvation of the Lord. Moses looked to God for deliverance.
When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, He told Moses that He would bring the children of Israel up out of Egypt into Canaan (Ex. 3:17). Moses believed that God would be true to His promise to lead the children of Israel into Canaan. Moses instruction for Israel to stand still in verse 13, however, is contrary to what the Lord wanted Israel to do (see v. 15). God did not want Israel to sit and watch. God wanted Israel to act upon His word; God wanted Israel to move forward.
God revealed His plan to Moses in verses 16-18. Moses was to raise his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea. The sea would divide and the children of Israel would go on dry land through the sea. God would harden the hearts of the Egyptians and they would follow, and then, “I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen” (v. 17).
Every Bible believer knows how that God used Pharaoh and his host and all that were with them to lift up His name to all peoples. Just how that God would “get me honor” is not fully revealed to Israel until verse 28. The beginning of “how” is recorded in verse 19.
The angel of the Lord whose presence is manifested by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night moved from before the camp of Israel to the rear of the camp. The angel of the Lord became a barrier separating the children of Israel from the Egyptians. The pillar (the angel of the Lord) was a light to God’s people and darkness to the Egyptians.
The imagery of this scene shouts out to New Testament believers. Throughout Old Testament scriptures, the angel of the Lord manifests the preincarnate Christ. We see our Lord and Savior separating us (God’s people) from past sins which enslaved us (Egypt). The Son is a light to all who believe and a stumbling block to them who reject Him.
New Testament believers have been given the Comforter who teaches us all things and brings all things into remembrance (Jn. 14:26). Those who do not have the Comforter are without instruction and without knowledge of God. The unsaved falter in darkness.
The next portion of “how” God would lift up His name is revealed in verse 21. Moses stretched out his hand as God had directed and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind. Some Bible scholars believe that the sea was a portion of the present day Red Sea while others believe that the sea was a different body of water. The text before us states that the water on the left of Israel and the water on the right of Israel was pushed back by a strong east wind. In the natural course of cause and effect, an east wind cannot push back water on the left and water on the right unless the sea is of a V-shaped configuration in which the V points eastward. God led Israel as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to a place where a strong east wind could and did part the waters before them. God directed a natural phenomenon (an east wind) to get “honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”
The east wind blew all night and made a dry path through the sea. Israel went through the sea on dry ground. God provided Israel with an escape path. God glorified His name.
God placed Israel between a rock and a hard place but He did not leave Israel there. God provided Israel with a way of escape. To escape, Israel had to move forward. Israel did as the Lord instructed and the name of the Lord was lifted up. We might look back to the second verse of Chapter 14 and note that God caused Israel to encamp at a location which would cause Pharaoh to believe they were entangled in the wilderness without a means of escape. God had a plan of escape in place before Israel had need of escape. God’s ways are marvelous. The Holy Spirit moved Peter to reveal that God’s plan that men should be redeemed by the blood of Christ was in place before He laid the foundations of the earth (I Pet. 1:19-20).
New Testament believers possess a knowledge that Israel did not possess. We know that His name shall be lifted up if we do as He has said. Let us love one another as He loves us. Let us go and teach and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost such that others may be delivered from the entanglements of this world. God has a wondrous plan for all who shall call upon His name believing.
