Exodus 14:21, commentary and pictures

When Moses in obedience stretched out his hand and rod over the sea, the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all that night, made it dry land, and piled the waters up congealed like mighty walls on either side to leave a broad prepared path through the midst on which Israel walked dry shod. This took place when Israel was a helpless terrified multitude of slaves trapped with the sea before them, mountains on either side, and Pharaoh's army behind them with no human way of escape. Christ Himself, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, directed Moses and led the host as invisible Captain, while the cloud stood between the camps as darkness to the Egyptians and light to Israel and the way was lit through the night. The sea was rolled back and the path opened only after Israel obeyed the command to go forward and stepped into the waters in faith without waiting until the way was distinctly seen. God brought them into that danger to display His power, humble their oppressors, destroy Pharaoh's host in the very path prepared for His people, and give a pledge that the same mighty power will gloriously deliver His waiting people in the final crisis when earthly powers are arrayed against them.

Setting and Circumstances

Israel stood trapped with the Red Sea directly before them, inaccessible mountains on either side, and Pharaoh's pursuing army with horses, chariots and equipment for war pressing behind them. They were hedged in and surrounded on all sides, with their hearts failing them and no human way of escape open.

At that moment they were a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves standing against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe. Escape from the Egyptians seemed impossible, and God had brought them into that utter helplessness to show them their need of divine help. Their trust in God's word in that condition proves that faith receiving God's gifts withstands the power of the whole world and prevails against human power and policy in support of evil.

They had come out after a sojourn of nearly four hundred years in Egypt, where they had been held as slaves and grievously oppressed. They had gone down to Egypt to keep from starving, yet were treated as slaves by an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge God and refused to listen to His voice. Moses had raised them up as God's instrument of deliverance, and when they were trapped he assured the people that the Lord would save them and fight for them. God then commanded them through Moses to go forward, to lift up the rod God had given him and stretch out the hand over the sea and divide it.

More than a million people were to cross through the divided sea in escaping Egyptian slavery. That crossing occurred fifty days before Israel reached Horeb.

Miracle of Divided Waters

When Moses in obedience stretched out his hand and his rod over the sea, the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, made the sea dry land, and divided the waters. God Himself drove back the sea through the night and by His word made a dry passage and a plain path so Israel could cross safely, showing the Lord who led in the pillar of cloud was fighting for them. The opening of the sea took place as Israel went forward at His command, fifty days before they reached Horeb.

The divided waters rose up and stood congealed like mighty walls on either side, leaving a broad, plain, open path strangely and wonderfully prepared for God's people like a mighty furrow cut through the sea. Israel went down into the midst of the sea upon that dry ground and walked through dry shod, passing over safely. The dry path thus miraculously prepared delivered Israel from Egypt while it later became destruction to their enemies when the restraining arm was removed.

The crossing was made through the night, and the light from the pillar of fire shone upon the foam-capped billows and lighted the road cut through the waters, making the way forward visible and restoring hope. The pillar illuminated the broad dry path between the walls of water as the host crossed during the night.

While the way was being opened all that night, the cloud that was thick darkness to the Egyptians gave light by night to Israel and stood between the camps, so that one camp could not come near the other. The pillar of cloud moved behind Israel to stand between them and Pharaoh's pursuing armies, chariots and horsemen as a wall of protection, shielding them from sight so the Egyptians could not see the Hebrews. The cloud thus protected Israel while giving them light to cross safely with mighty signs and wonders.

Christ Himself, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, directed Moses to stretch out his hand and led the Hebrew host as its invisible Leader, Captain of salvation and Lord of hosts, the mighty wonderful Saviour and unerring guide and light in the wilderness wandering. The angelic host was present, and angels troubled and confused the Egyptian army when it tried to follow into the opened path. That dividing of the sea was one of the signs and wondrous works manifesting His glory and power to save and to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver.

God controlled the sea and held back its waters from following their natural course, keeping the walls formed until every Israelite was safely across. More than a million people were thus brought out of Egyptian slavery over the dry path made at God's command through Moses lifting the rod. The trembling Israelites walked that way though they could not see where they were going, girded every moment with His power and surrounded by His presence.

Purposes in Deliverance

God led Israel into peril at the sea to display His power in their deliverance, to humble their oppressors, and to prove whether they would trust Him after such tokens of His care and love and to rebuke their unbelief and murmuring. What they could do was to obey and advance toward the sea in faith, and what they could not do God then performed by dividing the waters and making a path, so that the very danger tested their faith and strengthened their trust in Him. After this deliverance He proved them to see if they would trust in Him, but they failed to endure the trial.

The dividing of the waters was the last display of His power before the Egyptians at the sea, for a dry path was miraculously prepared in the sea for the Hebrew host with high walls of water standing congealed on either side by His power. When the Egyptian army came up in the morning and saw Israel walking on that dry path, the exhibition only increased their rebellion, because they had so long resisted that they were hardened. In blindness they rushed into the path miraculously prepared for His people, and there met utter destruction while safely conducting Israel, those who tried to cross being drowned.

At His word the mighty arm that had held back the waters was removed, and the unrestrained walls flowed together with resistless power and returned to their natural course, overwhelming Pharaoh and his host who pursued into the opened path. Their hardened refusal to follow God's way brought their probation to an end, and their destruction there executed judgment against all the gods of Egypt. By these mighty acts He revealed Himself to the Egyptians as Ruler of the universe, greater than all heathen deities and above all the gods of Egypt, fighting against Pharaoh with power to create and to destroy after nearly four hundred years in which an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge God had held Israel as slaves and grievously oppressed them and refused to listen to His voice. That unmistakable evidence that He is the only true and living God was made known to the idolatrous nations on Canaan's borders during the years He spared the Amorites, leaving them without excuse if they kept idolatry and licentiousness instead of turning to serve Him, and the same exercise of power stands as the pattern for destroying the Amorites when their cup of iniquity became full.

The deliverance was given to remove unbelief, to draw Israel near, to impress upon them that His hand was leading them, and to teach obedience to their heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver. By bringing them into utter helplessness where escape seemed impossible He showed them their need of divine help, and His power and mercy revealed in saving them led them to love and trust Him with gratitude and confidence, binding them to Himself as their deliverer from temporal bondage. It was given in order that they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of His law, and its history was recorded for later generations to teach obedience to His commandments as the terms of securing life that measures with the life of God, showing that sorrow and suffering are always the result of transgression and that what He withholds He withholds for good.

Moses recalled at the close of his life this walking through on dry ground with waters as a wall as one of God's mighty miracles of power to deliver from oppression, as proof of His goodness and power showing His promises were sure and that when Israel was faithful and obedient no promised good was withheld. It was a mighty work they were to remember and trust in rather than murmur or rebel when later trials came. Yet despite having seen this deliverance with their own eyes and the destruction of their enemies, they failed the test and rebelled, murmuring against God and Moses because of difficulties in the way and because their depraved appetites for flesh meat were withheld for their own good, imagining trouble and anticipating evil, growing jealous of Moses as if he had led them out from selfish motives to let them perish and enrich himself, valuing the comforts and pleasures of Egypt above serving God and wishing to return.

Links to Other Scripture

The same power that divided the Red Sea later held back the Jordan, and the stopping of the Jordan recalled the earlier deliverance to teach that one divine power acted in both miracles. The Red Sea was divided forty years before Israel crossed the Jordan, when the waters were cut off to make dry land for the people to pass over. Many who crossed the Jordan as men of war fully equipped for battle had themselves passed through the Red Sea as children, and the Jordan miracle convinced the living generation that the power seen by their fathers still continued with them.

The memory of the parted sea lived on among the watchmen, rulers, priests and people of Jericho forty years later when Israel marched around their city. Joined with the passage just opened through the Jordan, that memory filled them with wonder, alarm, awe and terror at the majesty of Israel's ordered procession with the ark under Joshua. It convinced them their strong defenses might not save them, left them expecting further wonders, stopped mockery, and drove them to shut the city gates closely with mighty warriors guarding each gate.

The deliverance by a path through the sea with the destruction of Pharaoh's pursuing army should have reminded Israel that God could safely guide them and fulfill His promise to give them Canaan. They should have remembered that past demonstration of power when facing the Canaanites instead of acting as though victory depended only on human strength. The miracle proves nothing is impossible with the great Ruler of the universe, who bound the waters so they stood like a wall on either side while Israel passed through on dry land. Forgetting it to distrust His ability to provide meat for the whole host, to rain bread from heaven, or to bring water out of the flinty rock deserves rebuke.

The parting to make a way for Israel stands as an example of God again manifesting power to defeat enemies, as when a terrible storm scattered the Philistines.

Promise of Final Deliverance

The dividing of the Red Sea before Israel by His mighty power is a pledge that He can free and protect His people in the future crisis. Looking down the ages He fixed upon the crisis His people are to meet when earthly powers shall be arrayed against them and they, like the captive exile, will be in fear of death by starvation or by violence. That same mighty power will then be manifested to turn their captivity and gloriously deliver those who have patiently waited for Him and whose names are written in the book of life. He will not leave the righteous to fall to their enemies.

The opening of the Red Sea to set Israel free from Egyptian bondage where passage was impossible serves as a picture of spiritual deliverance. God breaks chains of oppression and opens seemingly impossible ways for His people, and the same deliverance is given through Jesus Christ when chains of spiritual bondage and oppression are broken and Red Seas of impossibility are opened before them. These temporal and spiritual blessings poured out through Christ rightly call for continual praise upon the lips of those set free.

Faith to Go Forward

The sea was rolled back and the path opened only after Israel obeyed the command to go forward and stepped into the very waters in faith. They did not wait until they saw distinctly the path opened, for waiting for certainty would have kept them from ever crossing. As their feet touched the water in obedience to God's word spoken through Moses, who looked in faith to the invisible Leader, the waters were divided and they went safely over on dry land. Their action was what they could do; God then performed what they could not, delivering them from their enemies while the pillar of cloud stood between the camps to shield them and angels troubled the Egyptians who tried to follow until at God's word the waters returned upon them. The danger tested their faith and strengthened their trust, for God had brought them there to display His power, humble their oppressors, and prove them after they had feared, forgotten His earlier works, and blamed Him and Moses.

God's people are to go forward and not one step backward, being led by Jesus and ready to obey His command when hedged in by sea and mountains. They are to do what they can by advancing, while God opens the way they cannot open for themselves. Refusing to advance until success is certain is unbelief that hinders the work and loses blessing. Obstacles that seem impossible give way when people go forward in duty, humbly trusting and obeying God.

The sea stands for the difficulties Satan presents to obstruct advance and hinder the work. The parting by the rod in Moses' hand at God's direction means God Himself clears the way when His people move ahead in obedience. He does not always make everything plain beforehand but tries the confidence of His people by bringing them into strait and trying places and bidding them go forward in faith when their feet seem to be touching the waters. Those who move forward without waiting until money is in hand, and whose prayers ascend to Him in earnest faith, find that He opens the way before them and brings them out into a large place. A Red Sea is a dangerous, impassable barrier where the choice is to go back or to go forward, and going forward in prayer brings safe passage to the other side, followed by praise for deliverance, with constant learning, extended vision, and no standing still in one place or fixed groove.

Trusting God's word though utterly helpless proves that faith receiving God's gifts withstands the power of the whole world. At the sea stood a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe, yet by that trust they withstood overwhelming human power. The power of God's word thus prevails against human power and policy in support of evil.

When the way seems impossible, God calls His people to move forward in faith before the way is clear, trusting Him even when they can see no way ahead. Earnest prayer and trust are met by His provision, help, and protection, with the waters standing like a wall to make dry ground and a safe path. Faith and cheerful obedience mean following His instructions with humility, prayer, and earnest effort, taking the next step in the path Christ marks out, and that moving forward strengthens faith and prepares for service. The same lesson applies to establishing His work, for He can do great things for His people in difficult circumstances and bring them through strait and trying circumstances into safety.

Coming to the sea means facing an apparently impossible crisis in the work, with empty treasuries, no one to borrow from, and yet a costly undertaking like buying land and building a school that must go forward. Crossing the sea means God Himself making a way through where no way can be seen, leading across by unseen paths. As the early work in America advanced step by step through poverty and hardship, God made a way, and those doing their part with perseverance, prayer, and trust can rely on Him to do what they cannot.

The blocked path with sea ahead and impassable mountains on either side does not excuse stopping, because God is with His people and blesses their efforts. Advance requires working by faith, praying, believing prayers are heard, and then working with perseverance. He will do as great things for His people now in their most difficult experiences as He did for Israel from Egypt to Canaan, and they are to have an educated faith that moves forward promptly to secure the advantages He points out, even making moves that call for investment of means without having the money in hand.

In the midst of the divided sea Israel was every moment girded with His power and surrounded by His presence, led by the mighty Saviour Himself as guide and deliverer in the most trying circumstances. That same power and presence girds and surrounds believers every moment just as really, at the right hand of those who trust Him as a child trusts its parents and obey Him. The Lord wrought wonderfully when He divided the sea and caused Israel to pass over with the waters standing as an heap, proving He kept His people by His power in the past and will do it again for the weak who cast the helpless soul upon Him to take hold of power and strength in God. This deliverance proves a present God who can still work with His people and calls for more trust and confidence, for standing where He can work, and for being in a position to honor Him in unknown times ahead.

The crossing showed God's mighty power to deliver, driving back the sea by a strong east wind to open a dry passage while the angelic host was present, keeping Israel safe and overwhelming the pursuing enemy who tried to follow, followed by a song of triumph. It gave Israel reason to trust Him during later trials and to remember His goodness rather than focus only on present hardships. That mighty deliverance from Egyptian oppression was a blessing and opportunity requiring grateful service, which Israel failed to repay, a failure completed when they refused Heaven's best gift in Jesus Christ.