An Exposition of Exodus 14
Introduction
One of the greatest truths a believer will ever learn is that, rather than only one side, there are actually two sides to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The first side has been illustrated in Exodus 12. What a picture of substitution! The innocent spotless lamb died in the stead of the firstborn that he might be delivered from the sentence of death that was upon his head. He was redeemed by blood! Centuries later Peter wrote of believers being redeemed with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18–19). Paul explained: “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). This is the basis of our Salvation. It is the ground of our deliverance from the sentence of eternal death that is upon us.
Just as surely as the one side is illustrated in Exodus 12, so the other side is illustrated in chapter 14. Here Israel is redeemed from bondage by the most remarkable Old Testament display of God’s power. The drama unfolds in three scenes. First,
The Pursuit of Pharaoh 14:1-12
Up to this point, the Israelites have been journeying in a southeasterly direction toward the wilderness. It must have seemed strange indeed when God directed them, through Moses to “turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea” (14:2). This was a southwesterly direction. In a short time, the great Red Sea would be between them and the wilderness.
When Pharaoh heard of the changed direction of the Israelites to the south and southwest, he probably concluded that the Israelites had lost their way and were wandering in the desert in complete confusion. Noting this situation and having been encouraged by his own people (v. 5), Pharaoh took six hundred of his best chariots and charioteers and began a pursuit of the children of Israel (v. 7). [2]Word of the intentions of Pharaoh soon reached the Hebrews. Somehow it is not hard for most of us to identify with Israel here. They were overcome with disappointment and fear. Their hopes were crushed, their dreams were destroyed. And what was their response to this crisis? It does not surprise most of us. Their first reaction was to cry out unto the Lord (v. 10). Then in cold unbelief and fearful anxiety they turned on Moses. With bitter sarcasm and irony they said:
Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness (Ex. 14:11–12).What a remarkably short memory. Already they had forgotten the humiliation, despair, and hopelessness of their plight in Egypt. They had forgotten the display of supernatural power which had been sufficient to deliver them and was surely sufficient to care for them. They had forgotten His promise: “I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession” (Ex. 6:8).
John J. Davis helpfully observes:
The reaction of the Hebrews is quite typical of those whose spiritual perspectives are those which are conditioned by the present alone. Without a historical consciousness of what God has done and a deep-rooted faith in what God will do, one is easily moved by the emotion of a given situation. The shallow responses of the Hebrews should be a warning to all of those who put all their emphasis on the present. [3]Look back; then look forward. Here is our basis for hope in every present distress. Moses is a remarkable example to us. His response leads into the second scene of our story.
The Crossing of the Sea 14:13-22
In response, Moses issues a threefold exhortation. What a giant of a man this Moses was. His spiritual and emotional maturity surges to the surface. He commands:
- Do not fear!
- Stand by and
- See the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today (14:13).
The Illustration
Apparently it was late in the day when the Egyptians reached the vicinity of the Hebrews’ camp. As a protective device the cloud moved from before Israel to behind them. It separated between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. By means of a strong east wind, the waters are severed, or broken open, or divided. All night long the wind blew. According to verse twenty-two this special wind created a passage of dry land through the waters leaving a wall of water on either side as they traveled eastward.
The Nature of the Crossing
Critics have had a field day speculating as to the actual nature of the crossing. Some deny its historicity outright. The event is explained as mere mythology.
George Rawlinson regards it as a result of the combination of a strong natural wind and the ebb tide.
Professor Angelos Galanapoulos of Athens University ascribes it to a violent volcanic eruption which occurred somewhere in the tenth century b.c. He claims the explosion set off air waves 350 times more powerful than those of a hydrogen bomb and produced, not only the plagues of Egypt, but also the dividing of the Red Sea.
The Interpreter’s Bible expresses the most popular view by far. It is that the Hebrews crossed in a generally shallow and marshy district which was easily cleared of water and made dry by the normal action of a strong wind.
Yet, none of these satisfy the text. We are distinctly told in verse twenty-two that “the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” There were two walls; one to the north and one to the south. Such a walled effect would be accomplished only by a special wind.
Davis is perceptive when he asks:
If this were a natural wind capable of moving enough water so as to provide a depth to drown the Egyptians, could the people have walked through such an area, assuming that a natural wind would have come through the area with tremendous velocity? [4] (p. 165-66).Not only the mechanics of this event but the timing also required supernatural intervention. This was a work of God. It is one of the great miracles of the Old Testament. The Psalmist says: “Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength” (Psa. 74:13).
The Application
What an instructive scene this is. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he pursued the Israelites. This triggered a trial of their faith. With the pursuing Egyptians behind them and the impassable sea before them their faith was tested. It wavered and failed. But true to His word, at the appropriate moment, God supernaturally made a way of escape. It is this very imagery which is behind one of the great texts of the New Testament.
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13).The God who brings our trials also brings the way of escape. He who makes the one makes the other. In due course, at the right time, God will bring the way out.
Christians are never in a box. God can make the walls of the box fall flat like the walls of Jericho. He can open the lid and reach down with His mighty hand and support one through the test; or He can make the bottom fall out. Whatever way of escape God may provide…we may trust that the way out will come as surely as the problem itself. Knowing that there will be a way out, an end to the problem, is itself reassuring. One can endure anything…if he knows that it has an end. [5]But the way of escape for the Israelites was the way of destruction for the Egyptians. This is the third scene of our drama.
The Destruction of the Egyptians 14:23-31
The Type
According to verse twenty-four, it was about the time of the morning watch, that period of time from 3:00 a.m. until sunrise, that the Egyptians resumed their pursuit of Israel. Down into the passage through the sea they came. The Lord, however, brought them into confusion. He made the wheels of the chariots give way. It was with great difficulty that they attempted to pursue. Immediately they perceived the hand of Yahweh and cried out, “Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against the Egyptians” (14:25).
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen” (14:26).
As Moses obeyed, the sea returned to its normal state. The entire Egyptian force was destroyed. As the daybreak dawned, the dominion of Pharaoh over Israel was broken. Their redemption was complete. By this spectacular display of the power of God they were redeemed from the oppressive forces of Egypt.
Here they were redeemed not by blood, but by power. Here they were redeemed not from the sentence of death, but from the bondage of Egypt. At the Red Sea Israel was:
- Delivered from the bondage of Pharaoh.
- Separated from the life of Egypt.
- Introduced to a whole new sphere of life.
The Antitype
The other side is that We Died with Christ and Were Raised Together with Him: “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20).
Before time ever began, the Father gave some people to the Son (Jn. 6:37). These are the elect. Upon the cross He not only died as substitute for the elect (Jn. 10:11), but also as representative of the elect (Rom. 5:12–19). Christ died as the representative or federal head of the new creation, the elect of God. As our Federal Head, we were so identified with Him that when He died, we died with Him just as surely as we vote when our representative in Washington casts a vote. Just as clearly and surely as the New Testament teaches substitution, it also teaches identification. We died with Him.
The supreme display of the power of God came when God raised His Son from the dead. In Him, our representative Head, we too were raised from the dead to a new sphere of life. Just as Israel went down into the Red Sea and emerged to a new life on the wilderness side, so the believer in His Representative Head has gone down into death and has been raised to a new sphere of life.
Deliverance from Bondage
By virtue of our identification with Him in His death, we have been delivered from bondage.
- The bondage of the sin nature has been broken.
- Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin (Rom. 6:6).
- Sin shall not be master over you (Rom. 6:14).
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God (Rom. 7:4).
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (Rom. 7:6).The Law has claim over us no longer. We are freed from our obligation to the ancient law of Moses.
What a glorious redemption is ours. It includes deliverance from bondage! This is ours by virtue of our identification with Him in His death. Take a good look at Israel on the far side of the Red Sea. That is where every believer stands in Christ — delivered from slavery, freed, redeemed. But there is more.
Separated from the World
By virtue of our identification with Christ in His death, we have been irrevocably separated from the world.
But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14).As the Red Sea stood between Israel and Egypt, so the cross stands between the believer and the world. We are no longer part of it. It is no longer part of us. We have been translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. We are citizens of a new community. The whole world is in the grip of the evil one (1 John 5:19). It is under the sentence of judgment. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life sum up its way of life (1 John 2:15). Praise God that between us and the world stands the cross. What a wonderful redemption is this redemption of ours. But there is more.
A New Sphere of Life
By virtue of our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, we have been introduced into a whole new sphere of life.
If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1).
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Gal. 2:20).
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11).It is a life where there is the potential for godliness, holiness, and righteousness. It is a life that is lived not by self-effort, not by suppression, not by gimmicks, but by faith. As we take God at His word and believe that we are dead to sin and alive to righteousness and accept by faith the deliverance and victory that is ours in Christ, then the Spirit of God makes it a reality in our lives. He makes the new life which is ours positionally, ours practically and experientially.
Again, what a redemption is ours. A whole new sphere of life is now open to us, to be claimed by faith.
Conclusion
There are two sides to the cross of our Lord Jesus.
The one is the basis for salvation. It is the ground for Deliverance from the just sentence of eternal death. It emphasizes Substitution. It says: Christ died for me. If I but take God at His word, if I believe this truth, if I trust His substitutionary work as the basis for my forgiveness and salvation, I will be delivered from the sentence of death and will be saved forever. Redeemed by blood! May God enable you to believe this now.
The other is the basis for sanctification. It is the ground for Deliverance from the bondage of the sin nature and the Law. It emphasizes Identification. It says, I died with Christ. If I but take God at His word, if I believe this truth, if I trust His representative work as the basis for my sanctification, I will be delivered from bondage, separated from the characteristics of the world and walk in newness of life. Redeemed by Power! May God enable us to believe this today and every day for His glory and His name’s sake.
Notes
- Emmaus alumnus Bill McRae, well-known Bible expositor, author, and educator, presently serves as Chancellor of Ontario Bible College and Seminary. This is the eighth in a series of expositions on the book of Exodus.
- John J. Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1986), 168.
- John J. Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, 169.
- John J. Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, 173–74.
- Jay E. Adams, Competent to Counsel (Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1970), 135.
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