Exodus 14:23, commentary and pictures

The Egyptians pursued Israel into the midst of the Red Sea on the dry path God had opened, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen following after them between walls of water. After triumphing through the night that Israel was shut in with no escape, they were disappointed and enraged to find an unexpected way opened, waited a while to decide, then ventured in darkness and confusion to overtake Israel and force them back to slavery. Pharaoh pursued after burying his dead and hardening his heart against God's judgments, gathering a vast, well-equipped army to redeem Egypt's glory and compel Israel back to service. God stood between Israel and the pursuers in the pillar of cloud and fire, troubled the Egyptians with confusion and failing wheels, then at His command Moses stretched out his hand and the waters rolled back and engulfed the whole host so that not one escaped. Christ Himself was Israel's invisible Leader enshrouded in the cloud and fire, holding back wind and sea until every soul was safely across, proving that trusting God's word withstands the power of the whole world and that He will again rescue His people from captivity and danger.

Pursuit into the Sea

The verse means that all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen pursued Israel and went in after them to the midst of the Red Sea on the dry path God had prepared for His people. Through the night the Egyptians triumphed because Israel was shut in with the sea before them and the army behind them with no escape and no possibility of deliverance. In the morning when they reached the sea they found the waters divided and standing like a wall on either side, with a dry path opened and the children of Israel already halfway across walking on dry land.

They waited a while to decide what course to pursue, disappointed and enraged that an unexpected way of escape had opened when the Hebrews were almost in their power and sure prey. Then they decided to follow them into the sea, daring to venture in a bold undertaking into the path God had miraculously prepared for His people. They pressed into the exposed bed between walls of water in darkness and confusion, unaware they were hemmed in by walls of water on either side. They pressed on confident of victory and expecting to overtake Israel, intending to force them back to slavery after nearly four hundred years of grievous oppression as slaves in Egypt.

Pharaoh pursued after burying the dead, refusing to admit the death of the firstborn was God's judgment and explaining it away. When the judgments ceased he regretted letting Israel go, and through long withstanding of God and hardening his heart against His mighty wondrous works he was left blind and rushed blindly into the path God had opened. His repeated resistance to the evidence God gave him hardened into obstinacy, and his pursuit brought the harvest of the unbelief he had chosen. He gathered a vast, well-equipped army for war, with horses and chariots equipped for war, including rulers, great men, mighty warriors, counselors, and priests of idol gods. He came to intimidate Israel with a display of power, to redeem Egypt's glory before other nations, and to compel Israel back to service.

Deliverance and Destruction

The same sea that opened a dry path to safety for Israel became the trap where the pursuers were overthrown, so that Israel crossed safely while the Egyptians who followed after them into the divided waters perished. The way God opened looked impassable, yet it became the means of deliverance for those who followed His leading, while to those who entered it in pursuit it became the place of destruction. Israel passed through on dry land with the waters standing as walls on either side, and witnessed the deliverance with their own eyes.

God stood between Israel and the pursuers in the pillar of cloud and fire as a wall of protection, opening the path through the sea and shielding His people. In darkness and confusion the Egyptians pressed into the exposed bed between walls of water unaware they were hemmed in, confident of victory, until God troubled them with confusion and failing chariot wheels. When the cloud became a pillar of fire they saw Israel safe on the farther shore and tried to retreat, but were left trapped when the waters returned and engulfed them, while Israel sang songs of triumph and praise.

Once the whole force of horses, chariots and horsemen was in the midst of the sea, at God's command Moses stretched out his rod and hand over the sea. He had held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempest, calmed the sea, rolled up the mighty deep and piled up walls of water to make a path for more than a million people, not letting the hurricane of waters follow its natural course until every soul of Israel was safely on the other side. Then at His word through the human agent lifting the rod, a simple stick, He let the walled, impetuous waters that had been held back for Israel's saving rush on as before to their natural course and engulf the army.

Not one man of that vast army escaped; Pharaoh and all his host were slain. Their destruction marked the end of their probation and the harvest of the unbelief they had chosen by persistently refusing God's way and determining to have their own way, for Pharaoh's repeated resistance to the evidence given him had hardened into obstinacy. Though they saw Israel walking on a dry path with high walls of congealed water on either side, the display only increased their rebellion, and in pressing in hardened by long resistance their pursuit fulfilled God's word that against all the gods of Egypt He would execute judgment, manifested in the utter destruction of the host. By this mighty act God delivered His people from an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge Him and refused to listen to His voice, revealing Himself to the Egyptians as Ruler of the universe, greater than all heathen deities, the only true and living God with power to create and to destroy, showing mercy mixed with judgment by giving the sea its decree to shield His people and to destroy their pursuers.

Christ's Leadership and Power

The pursuit into the midst of the sea reveals Christ's power to save, for Christ Himself was Israel's invisible Leader, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He was their unerring guide and light through the wilderness wandering, communicating to them the will of God and blessing them with great light and precious opportunities to know Him. God Himself stood as Israel's defense against Pharaoh's vast army.

In opening the path Jesus exercised God's rule over nations and over nature, for nature stays under His jurisdiction and works by His own laws of order. He held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempest, calmed the sea, rolled up the mighty deep and piled up its walls of water to make a path for more than a million people delivered from Egyptian slavery. He did not suffer the hurricane of waters to follow its natural course until every soul of Israel was safely on the other side.

In the deliverance from affliction in Egypt and the passage through the sea God was trying to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver. The history was recorded for the benefit of those in later generations, and faithfully studied with the Word of God as counselor it teaches obedience to the commandments of God as the terms of securing life that measures with the life of God. Through that obedience comes partaking of the divine nature and escape from the corruptions in the world through lust, while rebellion against Him, going contrary to His will, and persisted determination to have one's own way bring punishment and judgments that teach that sorrow and suffering are always the result of transgression of the laws of God.

Israel's Identity and Calling

Through this deliverance Israel was acknowledged as God's church, for the Hebrews camped before the sea were led safely through on dry land under divine protection while the army that entered after them perished in the waters. That passage from oppression proved the choosing of Israel as God's people by a mighty blessing they could never repay even with their best service, a service they failed to give and crowned their failure by refusing Jesus Christ.

The deliverance was given so that Israel might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of the law. God brought the people into a crisis where escape seemed impossible, with the pursuers behind and the sea before, so they would recognize their helplessness and need for divine help. He opened a path through the sea and stood between Israel and the pursuers in the pillar of cloud and fire as a wall of protection, then at the word of command the sea rolled back upon the Egyptian hosts and destroyed them while Israel sang songs of triumph and praise. That rescue from temporal bondage filled them with gratitude, love, confidence and trust and bound them to Him as their deliverer.

The freedom thus gained tested whether the people valued God's service and release from slavery more than the pleasures they had enjoyed in Egypt. It showed God's power and care and should have led them to trust He would fulfill His promise to give them Canaan, for the God who had brought them thus far would certainly give the promised land. Forgetting it led them to distrust Him, while remembering it should have kept them from leaving God out, from depending solely on power of arms, and from despair and unbelief before strong peoples, dangers, and walled cities. The facts of that opening of the sea and destruction of Pharaoh's host in judgment for refusing to let Israel go were made known to the idolatrous nations around Canaan as unmistakable evidence that they might turn from idolatry to serve the living God. By it He was revealed as the only true and living God with power to create and to destroy, a lesson Pharaoh learned by experience after asking who the Lord was that he should obey Him, and it stands as the pattern for God's exercise of power to destroy the Amorites when their cup of iniquity was full.

Faith Lessons for Believers

At the sea Israel was a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves confronted by the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe, yet by trusting the Word of God they withstood the power of the whole world. Their stand proves the results of faith and the power of God's word against human power. Their faith was tested there as the Egyptians pursued them into the sea, and trusting the same guiding hand that had led them would have enabled them to see God's salvation.

As God divided the sea before Israel, so He will again use His mighty power to rescue His people and deliver them from captivity and danger. That deliverance joined opening the Red Sea before Israel with destroying the pursuing foes in the sea and freeing them from Egyptian bondage. Forgetting that mighty work breeds distrust of God, mourning, lamentation, and desperation, and to murmur after it is ungrateful forgetfulness and rebellious sin not to be repeated. So it was when Israel received the false and cruel discouraging words of the unfaithful spies, feeling abused and falling into desperation, while remembering calls for gratitude and firm faith instead of repeating that sin.

Israel witnessed this deliverance with their own eyes, passing through on dry land between waters standing as walls while their enemies dared to venture in after them, and they saw the judgment of their oppressors. Even after that wondrous deliverance with great light and precious opportunities to know Him, they were ever ready to turn away and follow opposing suggestions against their appointed leaders. They turned to idolatry and followed Satan's suggestions against Moses and Aaron and against Joshua and Caleb, showing that even after wondrous light and opportunity people may turn back.