Exodus 14:24, commentary and pictures

In the morning watch at daybreak the Lord himself acted from the pillar of fire and of the cloud against the Egyptian army as it pursued Israel through the midst of the divided sea. His looking was his troubling, sending angels through their host to take off their chariot wheels so they drove heavily, and seizing them with confusion, dismay and terror until they tried to turn and flee from before Israel. The cloud that had stood between the camps to shield Israel and hide them from sight became before their astonished eyes a pillar of fire reaching to heaven, whose light revealed the piled walls of water and Israel safe on the farther shore, amid thunder and lightning and trembling earth. Christ himself, enshrouded in the pillar, was Israel's invisible Leader and defense, holding back the sea by his own laws to make a dry path for more than a million slaves, then letting the waters return to overwhelm Pharaoh and all his horses, chariots and horsemen so that not one escaped. Brought to the sea where escape seemed impossible, a helpless multitude against the mightiest army on earth withstood the power of the whole world by trusting God's word, and that deliverance binds his people to him in love and reliance and stands as the pledge that he will again make a way through impassable barriers and turn their captivity when earthly powers threaten them.

Time, Place, and Pursuit

In the morning watch, after a night in which the Egyptians had triumphed believing Israel trapped before the sea, Israel was already halfway through the divided Red Sea on dry land with the waters standing like walls on either side. The morning revealed an unexpected dry path where entrapment had been expected, and the pursuers were disappointed and enraged at the sight. After waiting and hesitating, they decided to follow Israel into the midst of the sea.

Those who entered were all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen. They were a well-equipped army for war, including priests of idol gods, rulers, great men and the mightiest of Egypt. They had come to a place appointed for the last display of divine power.

Pharaoh had long hardened his heart against God's messengers and reasoned away the miracles and plagues, yielding only when the firstborn were slain. Then he relented and in blindness rushed after Israel with horses and chariots equipped for war, and persistent unbelief and obstinacy drove him to pursue them until he and his army perished in the sea. Long resistance had hardened the Egyptians, so the exhibition of power in holding the sea as a dry path with high congealed walls of water only increased their rebellion. Israel at that time was trapped with the sea before them and the Egyptian host behind them and was greatly terrified, while the Egyptians triumphed to find them in their power.

Pillar Looks and Troubles

The looking of the Lord was an acting in the morning watch, at daybreak, from the pillar of fire and of the cloud against the Egyptian army as it pursued Israel through the sea. The pillar stood to protect Israel and to separate the two camps, having moved from before Israel to behind them to shield them from Egyptian sight, while angels guarded Israel. Christ within the cloud directed the action.

The mysterious cloud that had been darkness to the Egyptians changed before their astonished eyes into a pillar of fire reaching from earth to heaven. Its light revealed the piled-up walls of water on either side and Israel safe on the farther shore. The intervention came amid pealing thunder, flashing lightning, pouring water, trembling and shaking earth, and the voice of an angry God in the wrath of the elements.

Troubling meant sending angels through the Egyptian host to remove their chariot wheels, so that they drove heavily with very slow and plagued progress. Troubling meant seizing them with confusion, dismay and terror, so that although they pressed on they tried to retrace their steps and flee from before Israel to the shore they had left. Under that plague they remembered the judgments brought upon them in Egypt to compel them to let Israel go, and concluded the Lord was fighting for Israel against them. They became terribly afraid He would deliver them into Israel's hands, and turned to flee.

Overthrow and Judgment

At the word of command Moses stretched out his hand and his rod over the sea, and the embanked waters that had been held back rolled on in their natural course to their strength and covered the Egyptian host. God had first commanded him to stretch out his hand and divide the sea to make a path of deliverance for Israel to pass over dry shod on ground miraculously prepared, and after Israel was safely across He commanded him to stretch forth his hand again. Christ, within the cloud, directed Moses in this act, holding back the impatient winds, controlling the tempests, calming the angry sea and rolling up the mighty deep into piled walls of water, not suffering the hurricane of waters to pursue its course until every soul of Israel was safely on the other side. Then at His word through the human agent lifting the rod, that simple stick, the impetuous waters rushed on as before in the morning watch to trouble and destroy the Egyptians.

The waters overwhelmed Pharaoh and all his host, horses, chariots and horsemen, in the very bed of the sea, and not one soul of that vast army escaped but all perished and were drowned. Israel was safely led through under God's protection while the Egyptians who tried to follow by crossing after them were drowned. The vast armies had ventured to traverse the sea by the same path in pursuit of Israel and pressed on despite the dark cloud before them, in determination to have their own way and to refuse God's way, and that occasion was the end of their probation. The troubling became utter destruction in fulfillment of the word to execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. Long resistance had hardened the pursuers so that the exhibition of power in holding the sea as a dry path only increased their rebellion, and in blindness they rushed into the path miraculously prepared for God's people to the place appointed for the last display of divine power.

The event mixes mercy in preserving His people with judgment in destroying their enemies, preserving those who love Him while punishing the wicked. God gives the sea its decree, working by His own laws as a God of order with the sequence of nature under His jurisdiction, to save more than a million of His people delivered from slavery and at the same time to slay Pharaoh and all his host.

God Revealed in Deliverance

Christ himself, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, was Israel's invisible Leader, unerring guide, light and defense in the deliverance from Egypt. That Leader answering the look of faith was the Captain of salvation, the Lord of hosts, who communicated God's will to a people blessed with great light and precious opportunities. In the pillar he stood between Israel and Pharaoh's pursuing army to shield Israel from sight, and he worked for them there as when he later gave food to the hungry and gave cool water flowing from the Rock to quiet murmuring. The passage through the sea, with the Lord looking out to trouble the Egyptians, revealed his power to save and to deliver, while turning against his appointed servants after such light passed the boundary of forbearance.

The Lord acted as ruler of nations with the sequence of nature under his jurisdiction, working by his own laws as a God of order who gives the sea its decree. Jesus held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempests, calmed the angry sea, rolled up the mighty deep and piled up walls of water to make a path for more than a million of his people being delivered from Egyptian slavery. He did not suffer the hurricane of waters to pursue 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, that simple stick, the impetuous waters that had been held back for Israel's saving rushed on as before in the morning watch to trouble and destroy the Egyptians, with not one soul of that vast army escaping.

By these mighty acts through the pillar to guide and protect his people and to trouble and destroy the army that sought to overtake them and enslave them again, God freed Israel after a sojourn of nearly four hundred years in slavery and grievous oppression. That oppression had been under an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge God and refused to obey his voice, and by deliverance God revealed himself to the Egyptians as Ruler of the universe, greater than all the heathen deities. The making of a way through the sea and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts showed that the Lord was above all the gods of Egypt, the same Lord who later spoke his law to Israel. He brought his chosen people out with mighty signs and wonders, laying the land desolate by plagues and slaying the firstborn to bring them deliverance.

He opened a path for them through the Red Sea, and in the pillar of cloud and fire stood as a wall of protection between his people and Pharaoh pursuing with armies, chariots and horsemen, until at the word of command the sea rolled upon the hosts of the Egyptians while Israel sang songs of triumph and praise. He brought them out so they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of his law, feeding them with manna in the wilderness and by a double miracle placing his seal upon the sacredness of the Sabbath institution. Then he came down in awful grandeur on Mount Sinai where the Son of God gave the Ten Commandments and proclaimed the rules and statutes of heaven and earth, because bondage had shaped Israel's religious life after the idolatrous customs of its captivity. The opening of the passage and God's own fighting against Egypt in judgment, because Egypt refused to let Israel go, was unmistakable evidence to the surrounding idolatrous nations that he is the only true and living God.

That evidence gave them light to know him and opportunity to turn from idolatry and licentiousness to serve him, which they spurned and rejected until their cup of iniquity was nearly full. It set the pattern for his later destruction of the Amorites who likewise defied his word and opposed the progress of Israel, and it was another display of power bringing fear and dread upon the peoples of the earth. That deliverance at the Red Sea is a precedent for God's future rescue of his people when earthly powers threaten them, for he will manifest his mighty power and turn their captivity. The deliverance was a mighty blessing to a people God had selected and claimed as his own, which they could never have repaid even by their best service.

Trust Taught by Deliverance

At the sea Israel was a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves standing against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on earth, utterly helpless in themselves, yet by trusting God's word they withstood the power of the whole world. Their deliverance proves the power of God's word against human power and policy in support of evil. God had led them to the sea where escape from the pursuers seemed impossible and brought them into apparent helplessness so they would recognize their helplessness and need of divine aid. By delivering them from temporal bondage He revealed His power and mercy and bound them to Himself as their deliverer, filling them with love, gratitude, confidence, trust and reliance on His power to help.

The event shows the Lord fought for Israel and can make a way through barriers that seem impassable, and His people are to trust and follow His leading. When faith was tested they could have seen His salvation if they had continued to trust the guiding hand that had led them. That powerful guiding and protecting deliverance, making a path through the sea and destroying Pharaoh's pursuing army, showed God's power and care and should have reminded them He could bring them safely into Canaan and give them the promised land rather than relying only on their own strength.

Forgetting this mighty work of opening the sea and destroying pursuers led Israel to distrust God, murmur and rebel when facing trials and hardship, to mourn and lament over themselves and give way to desperation when they accepted the false and cruel words of discouragement from the unfaithful spies. Remembering it requires gratitude and firm faith rather than repeating the sin of murmuring, rebellious Israel on the way to the heavenly Canaan. Although they witnessed this miraculous power with their own eyes, with waters standing as walls and Israel passing through on dry land while enemies perished, and saw deliverance despite unbelief and murmuring, they afterward continually rebelled, murmured, imagined trouble, anticipated evil, and were jealous of Moses as if he had led them out from selfish motives to let them perish and enrich himself. Their longing for Egypt's former comforts shows deliverance did not end their testing whether they valued His service and freedom more than slavery's indulgences, and their utter failure to make the most of such opportunities, a mighty blessing to a people God selected and claimed as His own which they could never have repaid even by their best service, led on to refusal of Heaven's best gift in Jesus Christ.

In the passage and all the wilderness experiences God was trying to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to save and deliver, with Christ Himself enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night as their unerring invisible Leader, guide, light and defense, working for them as when giving food and cool water from the Rock. He punished rebellion against His will and showed that sorrow and suffering always result from transgression of His laws. So their turning after great light and precious opportunities to suggestions against His appointed leaders Moses and Aaron and Joshua and Caleb passed the boundary of forbearance and awakened His anger.