Exodus 13:18
But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
God did not take Israel by the nearer direct road through Philistine territory, but turned them about by the longer wilderness road toward and along the Red Sea, southward toward Canaan and out of Egypt. He chose that longer wilderness way so they would face less opposition and avoid war with the Philistines and other enemy armies. War was certain because the Philistines would regard Israel as fugitives escaping their rightful masters. Israel was not ready for such a war, being unarmed and unaccustomed and untrained for war, discouraged by long bondage, encumbered with families and herds, and weak in faith, since the Egyptians had kept them from joining their armies. Seeing war would have frightened them into turning back to Egypt. This roundabout leading shows God as compassionate as well as a God of judgment, sparing weak faith while suiting the path to their circumstances.
The wilderness route still moved toward a confrontation in which God would gain honor over Pharaoh and his army, for He already knew Pharaoh would pursue and directed where Moses should encamp before the sea. Though they left Egypt in haste, they went up harnessed in order, divided into companies each with a leader. Their departure was under God's personal guidance as He led them in the pillar of cloud as their invisible Leader to be obeyed. He led them away from the Egyptians into the wilderness so that through its education and discipline they could know God and Jesus Christ and become His peculiar people, a living testimony to all nations of the divine will as a controlling power. Divine leading therefore moves forward away from Egypt toward Canaan, not back toward Egypt, so restoring arbitrary authority to control all the publishing houses is going back toward Egypt instead of on to Canaan.