Exodus 14:26, commentary and pictures

After Israel had crossed safely to the farther shore on dry ground, the LORD told Moses to stretch out his hand and rod over the sea as the signal for the piled-up waters to fall back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. When he obeyed, the sea returned to its strength at the appearing of the morning against the fleeing host, and its hissing, roaring walls rushed together and swallowed them in the depths so that not one of Pharaoh's vast army remained, and morning showed their bodies cast dead upon the shore. The one commanding was Christ, Israel's invisible Leader enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire, who by orderly law held the sea from its natural course until every soul was across and at His word through the lifted rod released it. In that one night He fully saved the vast helpless multitude out of nearly four hundred years of slavery while dashing their pursuers in pieces, ending their probation for persistent rebellion and proving Himself Ruler above all the gods of Egypt. Israel saw the great work, feared the LORD and believed Him and His servant Moses with songs of triumph, which stands as assurance that helpless trust in His word overcomes human power and as a call to remember, trust, and obey the heavenly Guide.

Setting Before the Command

The Egyptians dared to follow Israel into the midst of the sea on the dry path God had prepared for His people, where the sea had been opened with high walls of water congealed and standing on either side by His power. Pharaoh came with a well-equipped army of priests of idol gods, rulers, great men, and the mightiest of Egypt to intimidate Israel with power and greatness and to redeem Egypt's glory. Long resistance had hardened them so their rebellion only increased, and in blindness they rushed into the path made for God's people.

In the morning watch the LORD looked upon the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and troubled their host, and angels removed their chariot wheels so they drove heavily and moved very slowly. Amid thunder, lightning and the wrath of the elements in which they heard the voice of an angry God, the Egyptians were seized with confusion and dismay. Remembering the judgments God had brought upon Egypt, they concluded the LORD was fighting for Israel against them and became terribly afraid.

They were turning to flee from Israel toward the shore they had left when the order was given. Pharaoh's hardened opposition had led him into the path God had opened for Israel's escape.

Israel was a vast, helpless, terrified multitude of slaves with the sea before them and the army behind them, set against the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on the globe. God had brought the Hebrews into that strait before the sea to manifest His power in their deliverance and humble the pride of their oppressors, choosing this way to test their faith and strengthen their trust. They walked trembling on dry ground along the path Providence had prepared though they could not see where it led.

Command Given Through Moses

The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand and his rod over the sea as the signal for the piled-up waters to come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. The order was given at the moment the Egyptians, who had dared to follow Israel into the dry path God had prepared for His people, were turning to flee. In the morning watch the Lord had looked upon them through the pillar of fire and of the cloud and troubled their host, and angels had removed their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily and moved very slowly. Remembering the judgments God had brought upon them in Egypt, they knew the Lord was fighting for Israel against them, and seized with terrible fear they were turning to flee from Israel toward the shore they had left. Their destruction came because they persisted in rebellion and chose their own way over God's, and the closing of the sea marked the end of their probation.

The command came after Israel had crossed safely to the other side, when the restraint laid upon the sea was to end. The sea's course and the timing of its release were under God's control, for He held the waters back from their natural course until every soul was across. He calmed the angry sea, rolled up the mighty deep and piled the waters as walls to make a path that brought more than a million Israelites out of Egyptian slavery safely to the other side, not letting the hurricane of waters pursue their course until all were over. Then at His word the impetuous waters that had been held back for the saving of Israel rushed on as before upon the Egyptians, their chariots and horsemen.

The One who gave the command was Christ, Israel's invisible Leader enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night as their unerring guide and light. Present in that pillar He communicated the will of God and gave great light and precious opportunity to know Him, revealing His power to save by the deliverance from affliction in Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea. He rules nations and nature, working by orderly law to hold the sea back and to calm it. At His word, given through the human agent lifting a simple rod, Moses stretched out his rod and the piled-up waters rushed together to overwhelm the Egyptian army, including Pharaoh and all his host. That history was recorded for the benefit of later generations to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver, and obedience to the commandments of God as the terms of securing the life that measures with the life of God.

Waters Return in Judgment

When Moses obeyed and stretched out his hand, the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared, even as the Egyptians fled against it, and the LORD overthrew them in the midst of the sea. The piled-up waters, hissing and roaring as eager for prey, rushed together and swallowed them in the black depths as they tried to flee to shore. The command had come at the moment they were turning to flee, after they had dared to follow Israel into the dry path prepared for God's people and had been troubled, slowed, and terrified in the morning watch.

The waters covered the chariots and the horsemen and all Pharaoh's host, so that not one man of that vast army escaped or remained. Pharaoh himself perished with his host in the overthrow of the oppressors. Morning revealed their mail-clad bodies cast upon the shore, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Their destruction came because they persisted in rebellion and chose their own way over God's, determining to oppose Him and refusing His way. Pharaoh was not compelled to disbelieve, but by rejecting God's warning he sowed unbelief and reaped its consequences, until the sea closed over his horses, chariots, and men of war. The closing of the sea over the pursuers marked the end of their probation.

The utter destruction of the Egyptian host was God's last and closing display of power against the Egyptians at the Red Sea. It was His manifested judgment, fulfilling that against all the gods of Egypt He would execute judgment. By it He proved His authority surpassed all others.

Israel Delivered and Believing

Israel had crossed safely on dry ground with the waters standing as a wall on the right hand and on the left, and stood safely on the farther shore while the sea was released upon their pursuers. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of Egypt after nearly four hundred years of long, grievous treatment as slaves under an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge God and refused to listen to His voice. That same nation had sought to overtake them to enslave them again, but the command to let the waters return covered the pursuing army while Israel was already brought through.

Seeing the Egyptians dead upon the seashore, Israel saw the great work that had been done and feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. Their hearts were turned to gratitude and faith, and they broke forth in songs of triumph and praise for the path opened through the sea and the deliverance wrought at His word of command.

In one night Jehovah alone brought complete deliverance to the vast helpless throng that had stood with the sea before them and the army behind them. If they had held back when bidden to advance He would never have opened the path, but because they marched to the water believing the word spoken by Moses and did all in their power, God divided the sea for their feet and then closed it over their enemies.

God's Power and Purposes

The command to turn the waters back shows mercy that fully preserves God's people joined with judgment that dashes enemies in pieces. Israel was brought safely through the sea while the Egyptians who tried to cross after them were drowned. Christ ruled nations and nature by orderly law to hold the sea back from its natural course, calming the angry sea and piling the waters as walls to make a path that carried more than a million Israelites out of slavery safely to the other side, not letting the hurricane of waters pursue their course until every soul was across, then at His word through the human agent lifting a simple rod the impetuous waters rushed on as before upon the Egyptians, their chariots and horsemen, so that Pharaoh and all his host were slain and not one soul of that vast army escaped. It came after Israel had sojourned in Egypt nearly four hundred years under long, grievous treatment as slaves, and it was deliverance from an idolatrous nation that did not acknowledge God and refused to listen to His voice. By it God manifested His power to guide and protect His people and to destroy the Egyptian army that sought to overtake them and enslave them again, another display of His power in rescuing His people and destroying their pursuers.

By these mighty acts God revealed Himself to the Egyptians as Ruler of the universe, greater than all heathen deities. Their destruction was the last and closing display of His power before the Egyptians, proving His authority surpassed all others and carrying out judgment against all the gods of Egypt. It proved He is the only true and living God with power to create or to destroy. The same God who rescued Israel by making a way through the sea and overthrowing Pharaoh and his forces then spoke His law to them, showing the Lord was above all the gods of Egypt.

It fulfilled His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to deliver Israel from slavery, fulfilling the word spoken to Abraham about delivering His people after four hundred years. With mighty signs and wonders He laid the fertile land of Egypt desolate by plagues and slew the firstborn to rescue the people He had chosen as His own. In awful grandeur He delivered them from the Egyptian host that pursued them, opening a path through the Red Sea and standing in the pillar of cloud and fire as a wall of protection between them and Pharaoh with his pursuing armies, chariots, and horsemen, and at His word of command the sea rolled back upon the hosts of the Egyptians while Israel sang songs of triumph and praise, so that not one who entered the Red Sea in pursuit was saved. He brought them out in order that they might keep the Sabbath day holy and fulfill the precepts of His law.

With the flood upon the antediluvian world and the destruction of Jerusalem, the returning of the waters upon the Egyptians, their chariots, and horsemen proves that God displays His authority as God against transgression. He keeps strict account of every lie and secret devising and rewards every transgressor according to his works. He cannot pass by with silence the injustice in the world, the masterly power man has taken to himself, and oppressive, man-made unions that bring confusion, violence, and strife. Bible history is to be repeated, so the same retribution will follow in most awful, most unexpected calamities of earthquake, fire, and flood that destroy cities full of transgression and make accumulated riches as nothingness, unless churches heed God's warnings, repent, and return to allegiance to His law.

The dividing of the sea before Israel stands as assurance that God will use His power to deliver His people from death, violence, and oppression in their coming time of trouble. That display, with the other wonders of the Exodus and wilderness, gave unmistakable evidence to the idolatrous nations on the borders of Canaan, who knew these facts and could have turned from idolatry and licentiousness to serve the living God. Their spurning of that light filled their cup of iniquity, and the same power that fought against Pharaoh and his hosts would be exercised to destroy the Amorites who stood in defiance of His word to oppose Israel's progress.

God had brought the Hebrews into the strait before the sea to manifest His power in their deliverance and humble the pride of their oppressors, choosing this way to test their faith and strengthen their trust. With escape seeming impossible, the people were brought to a place of utter helplessness to recognize their helplessness and need for divine aid. Through this deliverance revealing His power and mercy He bound them to Himself as their rescuer from temporal bondage and led them to love and trust Him.

Trust Remember and Obey

The command to release the waters belongs to God's deliverance of Israel through an apparently impassable barrier, and His people are to trust and follow His leading even when they cannot see the way forward. At the sea they were a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves facing the mightiest army of the mightiest nation on earth, yet their deliverance is an example of trusting God's word and standing against overwhelming human power. That trust by those utterly helpless to withstand the power of the whole world proves that trust in God's word overcomes human power and policy in support of evil.

Israel's faith was tested at the sea, and they would have seen God's salvation if they had continued to trust the hand that had guided them. God made a path through the sea and destroyed Pharaoh's pursuing army, cutting a path through the waters and overthrowing those hosts as a manifestation of mighty power in behalf of His chosen people. That mighty act proved that He who had brought Israel thus far would certainly give them the land of promise, and it should have been remembered and reasoned from in later danger rather than forgotten while leaving God out and depending solely on arms. Israel should have remembered it as evidence that God could fulfill His promise to give Canaan, instead of repeating their earlier error and limiting confidence in His power when fear later led them to distrust Him.

The opening of the sea and the destruction of the pursuing foes were mighty acts of deliverance from which Israel was to remember God's power and care. The sea was commanded to return over the Egyptians, their chariots and their horsemen, completing deliverance by defeating the pursuers. Israel was wrong to forget those works when later trials led them to distrust God, and the event remains a reason not to forget His mighty works.

Although Israel had witnessed this deliverance, with the sea parted and the waters standing as walls while Israel passed through on dry land and their enemies dared to venture in after them, they afterward rebelled in the wilderness. Because their depraved appetites for flesh meats were withheld for their own good, they murmured continually against Moses, imagining trouble and anticipating evil, and jealously accused him of leading them out from selfish motives to let them perish and enrich himself with their possessions. Despite unbelief and murmuring God had opened a way through the waters and delivered them from their oppressors, bringing the Egyptian army including Pharaoh to destruction while fulfilling His word spoken to Abraham about delivering His people after four hundred years. That rescue was one of the great blessings, light and precious opportunity God gave to Israel as His chosen people, with Christ Himself as their invisible Leader enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night as their defense, showing signs among them and wondrous works alongside providing food when hungry, quieting murmurings with cool water from the Rock, and manifesting His glory. Yet they failed to make the most of it even by their best service, believed Satan's suggestions against Moses and Aaron and against Joshua and Caleb, passed the boundary of His forbearance and patience, dishonored Him at the border of the promised land by unbelief, and completed their failure by refusing Heaven's best gift in Jesus Christ.

That history of miraculous deliverance from Egypt, with deliverance from affliction and passage through the sea revealing Christ as the unerring guide and light with power to save, was recorded for later generations to teach obedience to the heavenly Guide and faith in His power to deliver. It teaches obedience to God's commandments as the terms of securing the life that measures with the life of God. The freedom God gave was later used to test whether His people valued His service more than the pleasures they had known in Egypt. Pharaoh's hardened resistance, ending when the sea returned and covered his army after Israel had crossed safely, stands as a lesson about slaveholders who even when forced to release the enslaved would remain oppressive, so that only God could wrench the enslaved from their power.