1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.
21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
26 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
View All Exodus Chapter 14 Comments...
GiGi's Exodus Chapter 14 comment on 2/28/2022, 6:46pm...
.....continued.
The pillar kept the two peoples apart all night. God stood between His chosen and the enemy. He does this for us. He's "got our back", He is at our sides, and goes before us. He is above us covering us with His protection in every way. The next time I am in a fix I will remember what the Angel of the LORD and the pillar did here.
That night, Moses stretched out his rod and hands over the sea. God brought forth and strong wind from the east that caused the sea to stack up on two sides, exposing a land bridge for them to walk across. The wind was extremely strong and the land became dry for them to walk on. So, no mucking through mud or going down to the depths, but over a land bridge conveniently created by God in the past to be used at this specific time. The water was like tall walls on either side of the Israelites. God made a way where there seemed to be no way!
But there is more! In the early morning watch (2:00-6:00 a.m.) God looked out from the pillar and "troubled" the Egyptians, by making the wheels of their chariots fall off. The Egyptians were fearful, admitting the God of the Israelites fought for them. Ol' Zephon-god of the sea and storm was no match for YHWH! The Egyptians turned around to run back to the west shore from where they came. By now all of the Israelites had crossed onto the other shore. God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea once more so that the waters would return to its place and drown the Egyptians. The text says that the waters were returned to their normal depths from west to east, causing the Egyptians to flee right into it! Not east to west to push them back to the western shore, but from west to east to engulf them as they ran away from what God was doing with Moses.
It does not say that Pharaoh tried to cross after the Egyptians. Most likely he commanded from the shore. Every Egyptian that pursued them into the sea were drowned. The Israelites saw their dead bodies as they were washed ashore. Yeah!
GiGi's Exodus Chapter 14 comment on 2/28/2022, 5:55pm...
..., continued
God told Moses that Pharoh's heart will be hardened once more and that he will come to pursue them in order to recapture them. But God says that He will gain honor over Pharaoh. Perhaps meaning that he will humble Pharaoh and glorify Himself to the Egyptians and the Israelites.
Pharaoh commented, "Why did we let them go?" He was not wanting to lose these people as servants so he got in his chariot and many went with him plus 600 choice chariots with the top soldiers and captains. They overtook the Israelites in their camp by the sea, striking fear in the Israelites. They cried out to YHWH and they complained to Moses saying that it would be better to stay in Egypt as slaves than to die in the wilderness. They had very little faith in Moses or God. They even said that they had told Moses to leave them alone so they can serve their Egyptian masters when Moses first came for them.
But despite their unbelief and fear, Moses stood up and boldy proclaimed that YHWH will save them so do not be afraid. He proclaimed that they will never see the Egyptians again after they experience what YHWH will do for them that day. And in an admonition he said, "The LORD will fight for you, so hold your peace. Up until now God had not told Moses how He would save the Israelites, but Moses knew that God would indeed save them.
God now instructs Moses on how He will deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. He tells Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea and divide it. God says that the Israelites will cross the sea on dry land, but the Egyptians' hearts will be hardened and pursue the Israelites through the divide. I guess the Egyptians did not consider that the God of the Israelites had made the sea divide for the Israelites, not for them.
At this point the Angel of the LORD and the pillar moved from the front of the Israelites to the back, between them and the Egyptians. The pillar made it dark upon the Egyptians and light upon the Israelites.
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