Exodus 14

God’s instructions on where to camp (vs. 1-4)—Jehovah told Moses that He wanted them to camp “before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea” (v. 1). The exact location of many of these ancient places has been lost to us. The Lord had one last mighty act of power He wanted to show the Israelites concerning Pharaoh, and that would take place at this location.

Pharaoh’s change of heart (vs. 5-9)—The man never learned. After all he had seen and all that had happened, “the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, ‘Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’” (v. 5). So he took ”six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them” (v. 7), and took out after the children of Israel.

The frightened people (vs. 10-14)—When the Israelites saw the Egyptians approaching, they were no doubt frightened, but as they often did, showed no faith in God. They complained to Moses and said they would rather had stayed in Egypt: “Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness" (v. 12). Most told them not to be afraid, that they would “see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today” (v. 13). This would be the last time they would see the Egyptians.

The crossing of the Red Sea (vs. 15-31)—The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me?” (v. 15), probably as a rebuke to the people—“Why are you complaining?”, again, an evidence of their lack of faith. He told Moses to stretch his hand over the sea and it would be divided (v. 16). And then the Israelites could cross. The Egyptians would foolishly try to follow but the Lord would “gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen” (v. 17), one last evidence to both peoples of the power and might of Jehovah. Until the Israelites could cross, an “Angel of God” came between the two camps, and gave darkness to one and light to the other, “so that the one did not come near the other all that night” (v. 20). The Lord again protects His people.

The waters of the Red Sea were parted, which must have been an incredible sight. The Lord used a powerful east wind to keep them in place all night (v. 21). And “the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left” (v. 22). The Lord then allowed the Egyptians to pursue (v. 23), to their own doom. He initially discomfited them by removing their chariot wheels, which made movement extremely difficult (v. 25), and then, once all Israel was safely on the eastern side of the sea, He returned the waters to their “full depth” (v. 27), and the army of Pharaoh was destroyed. “Not so much as one of them remained” (v. 28). “So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” (v. 30). For the moment—and only for the moment, “the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses” (v. 31). This group that left Egypt was one of the most fickle, aggravating body of people who ever lived, as we shall sea. And only two of them would receive God’s promise to enter the Promised Land.

A note about the Red Sea. The Hebrew name for it is yam suph, which actually is better translated “Sea of Reeds,” and a lot of modern Bible scholars are using that translation. Where it got the name “Red Sea” is unknown, because the waters certainly aren’t that color. The name perhaps came from its banks, or from a nearby tribe who was called “the red people.” The sea is about 1400 miles and, at its greatest width, 210 miles. It stretches all the way down to the Gulf of Suez. Actually, today, the Suez canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez. Until the canal was built, the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Suez did not fully connect by water, so ships had to circumnavigate Africa to get from Europe to the Far East. The Suez Canal cuts that journey down by thousands of miles.