Exodus 14:22, commentary and pictures

The children of Israel walked into the middle of the sea on dry ground with the waters standing like congealed walls on their right and on their left and not overflowing. At God's command Moses stretched his rod and hand over the sea, and the Lord drove it back by a strong east wind all night to make a broad dry path and hold the waters from their natural course until every soul was safely across. Jesus Himself led them enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire, which moved behind them to stand between the armies as light to Israel and thick darkness to the Egyptians so one camp did not come near the other all night. The sea that had seemed an impassable barrier became the divinely prepared way that freed Israel from bondage, while the Egyptians who hardened themselves and rushed in after them were covered when the waters returned to their strength, with not one escaping. Israel obeyed the command to go forward in faith before a path could be seen, and the crossing proves nothing is impossible with God and teaches His people to trust and obey when duty looks barred by insurmountable obstacles, for He still opens the way and brings them into a large place.

How the Sea Opened

Israel stood shut in with the Red Sea directly before them and impassable mountains on either hand, while Pharaoh pursued behind with chariots and horsemen and armies equipped for war. Escape seemed impossible and no human way of escape appeared, and the people were greatly terrified as the Egyptians shouted in triumph to have them completely in their power. They were camped before the sea with the pursuing army behind them and the sea blocking their path, trembling as Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen closed in.

At God's command Moses was to bid Israel go forward and to lift up the rod and stretch his hand over the sea to divide it. At the touch of the rod God had given Moses the waters parted and left a plain path for Israel to travel. Moses stretched his hand over the sea and the waters parted and stood like a wall on each side, opening a path so strangely and miraculously prepared that the host stepped down into it in obedience.

The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land with the waters divided. He held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempests, calmed the angry sea and rolled up the mighty deep, working by His own laws as a God of order with the sequence of nature under His jurisdiction. He did not suffer the hurricane of waters to pursue their natural course until every soul of Israel was safely on the other side.

The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground, passing over dry shod to safety. A broad, dry path was opened through the sea, cut like a mighty furrow through the waters and lighted by the pillar of fire, running on until it disappeared into the darkness of the far shore. The sea that had seemed an impassable barrier became by God's deliverance a way of escape from the pursuing army.

The waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left and did not overflow. They rose up and stood like congealed, piled-up walls on either side while Israel walked through between them. Foam-capped billows stood piled on the right hand and on the left along the road cut through the sea.

Divine Guard Around Israel

Jesus Christ Himself, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, led Israel through the divided sea as a mighty General of armies and Captain of salvation, the invisible Leader defending them against Pharaoh's vast army and working wondrously to bring them through. He was the unerring guide and light of Israel, directing Moses to stretch out his hand over the waters, and the passage was a revelation of His power to save after affliction in Egypt, meant to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver. His angels walked on either side of the people and were on the battlefield troubling the Egyptian host that attempted to follow, so that no harm could come to Israel. As the waters stood around Israel, believers today are every moment girded with His power and surrounded by His presence just as really, with Him as guide and deliverer in the most trying circumstances and at the right hand, never proving false and never deceiving, to be trusted as a child trusts its parents and obeyed with firm and abiding confidence.

The cloud that had gone before Israel rose high above them and moved behind them to stand between the two armies as a wall of fire and protection. It was thick darkness to the Egyptians so they could not see the Hebrews, but gave light by night to Israel, so that one camp did not come near the other all night. The pillar of fire lit the path through the sea while the cloud concealed the Israelites from the Egyptians, and the sea itself formed a barrier between them and their pursuers. The crossing was thus shielded on every side, made possible as Israel obeyed the command to go forward and trusted His word.

The light from the pillar of fire shone upon the foam-capped billows and lighted up the road cut like a mighty furrow through the waters of the sea. God opened a broad, dry path through the Red Sea, and the people entered it in obedience to the command to go forward after Moses stretched out his rod, with the waters standing like walls on both sides. That road ran and disappeared into the darkness of the far shore. Yet the trembling people went forward along it though they could not see where they were going because the light did not shine on their way.

The whole vast army of more than a million people went safely over on the dry path and not one soul of them perished. The Lord, as Ruler of nations with the sequence of nature under His jurisdiction, working by His own laws as a God of order, held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempest, calmed the sea and rolled up the mighty deep, and did not suffer the hurricane of waters to pursue their natural course until every soul of Israel was safely on the other side.

Escape and Egyptian Overthrow

The sea that had barred all passage became the very road of deliverance, a divinely prepared way of escape opened through waters that had seemed an impassable barrier. By that crossing on dry ground, with the parted waters standing like a wall beside them, Israel was delivered from pursuing Pharaoh and his army and from Egyptian bondage and slavery. It was release after a sojourn of nearly four hundred years in grievous oppression by an idolatrous nation, when no human way of escape appeared possible. When God's people faced what looked like an impassable barrier, He prepared a way forward and protected them as they followed His direction to go forward.

In the morning the Egyptian army overtook the Hebrews and beheld the whole host walking on the dry path prepared in the sea. High walls of water stood on either side, held congealed by the power of God. This was the last display of God's power before the Egyptians at the appointed place.

Pharaoh had so long withstood God and hardened his heart against His mighty wondrous works that the sight did not soften but only increased the rebellion of the Egyptians. Having long resisted such manifestations, they were hardened and in blindness rushed with horse and chariot, equipped for war, into the path miraculously prepared for God's people. Trapped before with the sea in front and the shouting host behind who counted Israel completely in their power, Israel had passed over dry shod while the Egyptians in triumph pressed into that same divided sea.

When Moses was again commanded to stretch his hand over the sea, the released waters returned to their strength and covered the Egyptian host in the midst of the sea. The pursuing army that dared to follow was troubled by angels, thrown into confusion, and utterly destroyed, with not one soul escaping. Israel reached the farther shore safely while the Egyptians who tried to follow were overwhelmed and drowned when the sea returned. In that utter destruction God brought judgment against all the gods of Egypt.

What the Crossing Revealed

The passage through the sea displays God's mighty power over the waters and proves that nothing is impossible with Him, that His hand is not short and His word will come to pass. The same power that divided the sea and bound the waters so they stood like a wall on either side while Israel passed through on dry land could rain bread from heaven, bring pure water out of the flinty rock, and provide meat to feed six hundred thousand footmen for a whole month. It was a mighty miracle to deliver Israel from oppression after the plagues had made Pharaoh willing to let the people go, revealing His goodness and power and proving His promises sure, so that when faithful and obedient no promised good thing was withheld, and in Him is power and strength to take hold of in time of weakness to keep His Word in the past and again. Forgetting this miracle and distrusting His power brings rebuke, for Moses himself forgot these wonders with the bread and water and was rebuked for distrust.

The deliverance manifests God as Ruler of the universe and of nations, greater than all heathen deities, who guided and protected His people while destroying the pursuing Egyptian army that sought to overtake and re-enslave them after a sojourn of nearly four hundred years in grievous slavery and oppression by an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge Him and refused to listen to His voice. By these mighty acts He revealed Himself to the Egyptians as superior to the gods of Egypt in overthrowing Pharaoh and his hosts. The God who thus made a way through the sea as guide and deliverer is the same God who later spoke His law at Sinai.

God displayed His power in the parted sea with waters risen up and standing like congealed walls to prove His people whether they would trust Him after tokens of His care and love for them and to rebuke their unbelief and murmuring. That deliverance from slavery and pursuers was meant to remove unbelief, bring them near to Himself, and impress upon them that He was leading them. It taught them their helplessness and need for divine aid. Yet though they themselves saw the Red Sea parted with waters as walls while enemies dared to venture in after them, they afterward rebelled and murmured against Moses in the wilderness, imagining trouble and suspecting selfish motives even though flesh meats were withheld for their own good.

The deliverance revealed God's power and mercy, filled Israel with love, gratitude and confidence in His help, and bound them to Him as their deliverer from temporal bondage. It was given so they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of His law, after He brought His chosen people out with mighty signs and wonders, laying the land desolate by plagues and slaying the firstborn, opening a path through the sea while standing in pillar of cloud and fire as a wall of protection between Israel and Pharaoh pursuing with armies, chariots and horsemen, then rolling the sea upon the Egyptians while Israel sang triumph and praise. By this safe passage He acknowledged Israel as His church and took them to be a nation from another nation by signs, temptations and wonders.

The event joins mercies with judgment, in which God as a God of order ruling nations and the sequence of nature by His own laws preserves those who love Him while punishing the wicked. That opening of a passage and destroying of Pharaoh's host after judgments for refusing to let His people go was unmistakable evidence to the idolatrous nations around Canaan that He is the only true and living God. The Amorites and others knew the facts of the Red Sea together with the other wilderness wonders, the bread sent from heaven, the pure water brought from the rock, and the punishment of the rebellious in Israel. That light was enough for them to know the truth and turn from idolatry and licentiousness to serve the living God if willing, but they were left as free moral agents and not compelled to believe against their will, and by spurning the light their cup of iniquity became full for destruction as Pharaoh's had been.

The crossing was meant to assure Israel that He who had cut a path through the sea to deliver them from oppressors and destroyed Pharaoh's pursuing hosts would certainly give them Canaan. That deliverance should have been remembered and reasoned from as proof He who brought them that far would give the promised land. Instead they forgot what He had done, left God out of the question, and acted as if victory depended only on their own strength and power of arms.

Echoes in Later History

The same power that held back the Red Sea for the fathers held back the Jordan forty years later, stopping the waters and making a dry way for Israel. Many who crossed the Jordan as men of war equipped for battle had passed through the Red Sea as children, and the display at the Red Sea had been given forty years before and seen by the fathers. Passing over the Jordan on dry land convinced that generation that the waters of the Jordan were subject to that same power, and it greatly increased their faith. The later crossing by the same kind of miracle recalled the earlier miracle and showed that the same divine power had stayed both waters.

The Red Sea parted before Israel forty years before Israel marched around Jericho to open a dry-ground passage through the midst of the sea. The watchmen and rulers of Jericho remembered that parting together with the passage just prepared for Israel through the Jordan when they saw the ark in splendor, the priests, and the host of Israel under Joshua compassing their city. The memory filled them with wonder, alarm, awe and terror behind their shut gates and guarded walls, so they kept the gates of the city closely shut and set mighty warriors to guard each gate. Though they were left too terrified to mock, some still ridiculed the idea that the city could be taken in that manner.

The parting was remembered as one of God's wonders worked for them and as evidence that He might do further wonders for Israel. Moses rehearsed this manifestation of power in opening a passage through the Red Sea together with the leveling of the walls of Jericho before the people were given into the charge of Joshua. That rehearsal came when their wandering tent-life was about to cease and they were to take possession of Canaan.

The deliverance at the Red Sea, when Israel camped before the sea with Pharaoh's army pursuing and God divided the waters so Israel passed through on dry land while the Egyptians who followed perished, belongs with God's choosing of Israel as His people. It stands together with bringing them out of Egypt and freedom from Egyptian oppression, the proclamation of His law from Sinai, the opening of a path through the Jordan, and the mighty working at Jericho. These were blessings Israel could never repay even with their best service, yet Israel did not make the most of these opportunities but utterly failed. When Heaven's best gift of Jesus Christ was sent they would not accept Him, for pride and ambition and love of applause and display had hardened their hearts and blinded their minds so they could not discern Him.

Going Forward by Faith

Israel obeyed the command to go forward before any path could be seen, advancing in faith to the water and stepping into it, and as their feet touched the water the sea was rolled back and a dry path opened by Providence. The word to go forward given through Moses was echoed by the captains of the different divisions, and in obedience the host went down into the midst of the sea upon dry ground along a road cut like a mighty furrow through the waters. After they did what they could by moving to the water, God divided the sea and made a way for them, so that obedience did not wait until the way ahead was visibly clear.

Their passage shows that faith obeys despite danger and uncertainty and that such obedience brings victory, for the advance tested faith in order to strengthen trust and free them from their enemies. If they had continued to trust the guiding hand they would have seen salvation, and the testing of their faith at the sea illustrates the testing of Advent believers in the disappointment. God 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 when their feet seem to touch the Red Sea waters. When at such times prayers ascend in earnest faith He opens the way before them and brings them out into a large place.

His people are to have an educated faith that follows instructions without hesitation in the most difficult experiences, and the same great deliverance from Egypt to Canaan He will do now. That includes moves calling for investment of means without money in hand and the upbuilding of His work amid overwhelming difficulties, as at Loma Linda, for Go forward is His command. When those seeking to follow duty are assailed by doubt and unbelief and the way is barred by apparently insurmountable obstacles, they are commanded to go forward and do duty at any cost rather than yield to discouragement. Though Satan puts many difficulties to hinder advancement, those who keep extended vision and let the given light shine will move forward, and the sea of trouble threatening to overwhelm opens to reveal a safe path so that dreaded trials vanish as they advance humbly trusting.

When His people come to a Red Sea place where going forward looks dangerous and impossible and turning back looks safer, with a barrier before them and no human way apparent, they are to work by faith trusting that God is present and blesses effort, praying while venturing on and believing prayers are heard. When with moral courage, earnest effort, self-denial and perseverance they do their part, walking humbly and trusting and praying rather than in their own strength, God does His part, answers prayer, works with their efforts, opens the impossible way, and leads step by step from poverty and weakness to strength and victory. The verse therefore teaches that when God's people face what appears an impassable barrier or an unseen path through danger and difficulty, He can prepare a way forward, remove obstacles, make a plain broad dry path, and protect them as they follow His direction and serve Him.

The sea that had seemed impassable became a way of escape, and the crossing illustrates that God may call His people to act before the way is clear, trusting Him in the difficult place until He brings them into safety. A helpless terrified multitude of slaves trusted the word of God and by that trust withstood the power of the whole world, even the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe. That witness against human power and policy in support of evil belongs to the world's true nobility and royal line which youth today are called to join. Setting Israel free from Egyptian bondage through the opened sea pictures relief from spiritual bondage through Jesus Christ, with chains of oppression broken and Red Seas of impossibilities opened before God's people among temporal and spiritual blessings calling for continual praise.

Remembering this mighty deliverance should strengthen trust and keep God's people from murmuring and rebellion in later trials. Yet Israel failed the proving that began when God took them to be a nation from another nation by signs and wonders; they murmured because of difficulties, wished to return to Egypt, rebelled against Moses despite seeing deliverance, murmured at Marah, distrusted about Canaan, fell into idolatry, and imagined trouble and selfish motives even when flesh meats were withheld for their good. When tempted to believe suggestions against Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb despite great light, they passed the boundary of forbearance. That same dividing of the sea assures God's people that He can free and protect them in a future crisis when earthly powers are arrayed against them and they fear death by starvation or violence, for the same mighty power will turn their captivity and will not leave the faithful to fall into enemies' hands.