14:1.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
14:2.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth,
between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye
encamp by the sea.”
Pi-hahiroth
means the mouth of wrath kindlings: the mouth of caves: Migdol, a
tower; and Baal-zephon, lord of the north. The meanings of all
of these places appear to be associated with evil, a fact that is clearly
evident in the meanings of Pi-hahiroth, for the significance of wrath is
readily apparent, while caves - commonly used as burial places - speak
clearly of association with death; and in the present evil context a tower
seems to indicate the power of evil. Baal-zephon likewise appears to imply
association with evil, for the north is the biblical direction that speaks
of human intelligence almost invariably functioning in opposition to God.
Incidentally
there are two Migdols: one on the northwestern coast of the Sinai Peninsula;
and the one presently being discussed, just a few miles west of the Bitter
Lakes.
The evil
associations would indicate that they combine to present a symbolic picture
of the evil world through which believers pass on their way home to heaven;
but since the sea represents the world’s unconverted masses, a further truth
being declared in Israel’s encamping there, is that we are to be God’s
witnesses to those unconverted multitudes amongst whom God has placed us as
His witnesses.
14:3.
“For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the
land, the wilderness hath shut them in.”
Pharaoh, still
unrepentant, and adamantly hardened against God and His people, and learning
of their wilderness location, determined to make yet another attempt to
destroy them; and so is it with Satan. In spite of his defeat at Calvary he
remains relentless in his determination to oppose God, and destroy those who
belong to Him.
14:4.
“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I
will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may
know that I am the Lord. And they did so.”
God made
permanent Pharaoh’s self-willed hardening of his evil heart, so that
repentance was impossible. He must now plunge on to his doom, as must every
man who crosses that fatal line that separates God’s mercy from His wrath.
“And they did
so,” refers to the Israelites encamping as God had commanded them.
14:5.
“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?”
The Egyptians
fear of God was short lived. They now had second thoughts about permitting
the Israelites to leave, as they considered what they themselves would lose
by thus depriving themselves of the free slave labor.
The
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary on this verse is, “Alas, how soon the obduracy of this
reprobate king reappears! He had been convinced, but not converted -
overawed, but not sanctified by the appalling judgments of heaven.”
14:6.
“And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:”
14:7.
“And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and
captains over every one of them.”
He took with
him not only six hundred of the best chariots, but also every other chariot
which Egypt could furnish, each manned by a captain and several regular
soldiers.
14:8.
“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.”
This continues
to be the reminder that the hardening of heart begun by Pharaoh’s self-will
had been made irrevocable by God. He had sinned away his day of grace, thus
placing himself for ever beyond hope of mercy. Hell is filled with
countless multitudes who have similarly crossed that same invisible line,
and who must therefore continue in torment, first in hell, and then for ever
in the lake of fire.
Israel’s going out with “an high hand” means that they left Egypt
fearlessly, confidently, under God’s guidance and protection, taking with
them much of the wealth of Egypt. So will it be at the Rapture of the
Church. The departure of the believers to heaven will leave the world
impoverished and doomed.
14:9.
“But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them camping by the
sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.”
See verse 1
for comments on Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon.
14:10.
“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.”
How quickly
the confidence of the Israelites evaporated! It is one thing to be
courageous when there is no enemy in sight, but quite another to be fearless
in the face of the foe. We are slow to learn that as long as we are
obedient we need fear nothing, God’s assurance being, “I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee,” Hebrews 13:5, “Lo I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world (age),” Paul adding the further assurance, “If God be
for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31.
14:11.
“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?”
They failed to
remember their recent preservation on the night of the Passover when God
spared their firstborn, but slew every firstborn Egyptian.
Keeping in
mind that Egypt represents the world of business and pleasure living in
independent defiance of God, the lesson He would teach us here is that the
new birth separates us for ever from that evil world which can neither
furnish anything for the promotion of our new spiritual life, nor can it rob
us of that new divine life.
14:12.
“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.”
They had much
to learn relative to their new relationship with Jehovah, and so have most
new converts. Their reasoning was wrong. It is better to die in service to
God than to live in bondage to Satan and the world of which he is presently
the prince.
14:13.
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the
salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”
As has been
declared by another, “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” Nor does He
require our assistance. The people were simply to “stand still,” i.e.,
“stand firm,” and so are we when the problem is beyond our ability to
solve. This same exhortation is given in 1 Corinthians 15:57-58, “But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord.”
That day
foreshadows the one now imminent when we too shall see no more those whom
the Egyptians represent: earth’s unconverted masses, for the Rapture will
translate us instantly from earth to heaven.
14:14.
“The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
“... hold your
peace” is also rendered forbear: remain quiet: keep still: you won’t need
to lift a finger.
14:15.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the
children of Israel, that they go forward:”
This wasn’t a
rebuke to Moses, but rather the assurance that the appeal was unnecessary.
Israel’s omnipotent God had already seen their plight, and was about to
deliver them. They were simply to march forward, and leave Him to deal with
their enemies. And so is it with us. What is beyond our power we are to
leave with Him, while we continue our march heavenward unperturbed.
14:16.
“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.”
This is a
double faceted typological picture: first, it represents the passage of
believers through this world as a separated company; and second, it
foreshadows the rapture of the Church, when the generation of believers then
living will enter heaven without dying.
14:17.
“And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall
follow them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host,
upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”
Most scholars
understand this hardening of the hearts of the Egyptians to be permitted by
God rather than compelled. It would be their own freewilled choice to
pursue Israel into the divided sea, and thus bring honor to God by
destroying them in the same waters which He had divided for the safe passage
of His redeemed people.
14:18.
“And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me
honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.”
What the
Egyptians had refused to learn by all the preceding miracles, they would now
learn by divine compulsion, but too late to save themselves. It is only
when they are overwhelmed in the waters of death, and too late to save
themselves, that the countless multitudes who daily die unsaved, learn with
unutterable and unavailing horror the folly of having refused to trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
14:19.
“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:”
14:20.
“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.”
The pillar
which guided Israel continuously as a cloud by day and as fire by night, now
changed its position and went behind them, separating them from the
Egyptians, still giving light to the Hebrews, but enveloping their enemies
in darkness. And so is it with the Scriptures which the pillar represents.
They instruct the saint, but are incomprehensible to the unbeliever, as it
is written, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Corinthians 2:14.
During this
world’s spiritual “night time” God also separates believer from unbeliever,
for the one walks on the narrow way to heaven: the other, on the broad and
crowded road to hell and the lake of fire, His command to His own being, “Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belieal? or what part hath he
that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God
with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God ....” 2 Corinthians
6:14-16.
14:21.
“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.”
14:22.
“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.”
As discussed
already, the east is the scriptural direction that speaks consistently of
evil and departure from God; and so here God caused the east wind to divide
the sea which is a type of earth’s unconverted masses, see Isaiah 57:20-21,
“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
That division
of the sea, for the safe passage of the Israelites, may be symbolic of God’s
preparing the way for believers to pass on their journey home to heaven
through the midst of the unconverted sea of humanity all around them. That
divine restraint of the waters is also the reminder that our enemies can do
no more to us than what God permits, and that knowledge is designed to
comfort believers in the midst of earthly trials.
1 Corinthians
10:1-2 declares Israel’s passage through the divided waters to be a figure
of the believer’s baptism, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should
be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the
sea.”
14:23.
“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.”
14:24.
“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,”
The very same
way that carried the Hebrews from death to life transported the Egyptians to
destruction; and so is it with the roadway of life: it too is the path which
believers traverse on their way through this earthly scene of death, to
eternal bliss in heaven, but for the unbeliever that same roadway ends in
hell and the eternal torment of the lake of fire.
The morning
watch is also translated the pre-dawn watch: around 6 a.m.; and
“troubled” is rendered discomfited: confused: panicked: doomed.
14:25.
“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.”
“... took off
their chariot wheels” is also translated restrained: stiffened: clogged:
locked. The damaged chariots rendered continued pursuit of the Hebrews
impossible, and it seems that in this the Egyptians recognized the hand of
Jehovah put forth against them on behalf of His redeemed people, with the
result that their pursuit of the Hebrews became instead a panic-stricken
route as they sought to save their own lives.
14:26.
“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.”
14:27.
“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.”
14:28.
“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.”
14:29.
“But the children of Israel walked upon the dry land in the midst of the
sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their
left.”
The sea,
opened by God’s omnipotent hand to be a way of escape for Israel, was now
closed again by that same hand and made the tomb of her foes. Nor was the
destruction of the Egyptians partial: they were destroyed to the very last
man. Not one escaped.
In connection
with this miracle the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the OT states,
“From this manifestation of Jehovah’s omnipotence, the Israelites were to
discern not only the merciful Deliverer, but also the holy Judge of the
ungodly, that they might grow in the fear of God as well as in the faith
which they had already shown.”
14:30.
“Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.”
14:31.
“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.”
We look back
to a greater miracle performed at Calvary when the Lord Jesus Christ, by
entering into the waters of death on our behalf, see Psalm 69:1-2, 14-15;
Psalm 88:6-7, 16-18, divided them, becoming thereby Himself the “new and
living way,” Hebrew 10:20, by which we, through faith in Him as Savior, have
passed from death to eternal life. The response of the Israelites should
surely be ours. As they feared the Lord, and believed Him, so should we
also walk daily before Him, not in slavish fear, but in the reverential awe
that is the truest expression of worship, as it is written in 1 Samuel
15:22, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the
fat of rams.”