Exodus 14 – May 31

There is perhaps no event more iconic in the Old Testament than the parting of the Red Sea. It is the final nail in the coffin as the Lord was completing the absolute humiliation of the Egyptians. There have been many attempts throughout history to claim that the Israelites did not actually walk through what we think of the Red Sea today. Skeptics instead believe that Moses led the Israelites through the boggy swamps near the northern tip of the Red Sea. In order to believe that, you must completely disregard many statements in this chapter. In order for the sea to create walls on both sides of them, and for the sea to crush in and drown Pharaoh and his entire army, it must have actually been the real Red Sea. In Job 38:8-11, God asks Job a series of rhetorical questions. “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” It should be no surprise that God can do something as incredible as parting the Red Sea. The Israelites were literally walking through the most literal version of the valley of the shadow of death I can imagine. Yet, they feared no evil for the Lord shepherded them through on dry land.  

The Lord had one more ‘god’ of Egypt to unmask: Pharaoh himself. Notice the two-fold purpose of God stated in verse 4. “And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, AND the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” But, there is a third result that was certainly part of God’s purposes that we find in verse 31, “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.”

When David fought Goliath, he famously said, “The battle belongs to the Lord.” Where did he get that idea? Likely from this very declaration from Moses to the people in verses 13-14. “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Notice that the people of Israel were completely passive in what God refers to as the “salvation of the Lord.” It is God who accomplished the entirety of what was necessary to save them. He tells them that their only job is to watch silently as He did the work.

From this point forward, the Old Testament refers back to this pivotal moment in the Exodus hundreds of times. It is a picture of God’s incredible power of deliverance. There is no enemy powerful enough to stop the Lord from freeing His people. Jesus, the greater Moses, came to deliver us from an enemy worse than Pharaoh. Our salvation from sin and its consequences came to us by Jesus opening what seemed an impossible avenue. By way of the cross, He defeated our greatest enemy and set us free!