SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 4 - Ex. 14:13-28 - VICTORY
INTRODUCTION: Last week in Ex. 12:13-28, we covered the story of the First Passover and heard God's detailed instruction's telling Moses how to prepare and protect the Israelite households from the tenth plague, which would kill every firstborn in Egypt, both human and animal. They were to select a male lamb, unblemished and free from defect, sacrifice it at a precise hour, take the blood, roast and eat all the edible parts of it, and smear the blood on the doorposts and lintels of the house. When God sent the "destroyer," it passed-over all the houses marked with the blood of the lamb and killed every firstborn in Egypt. Pharaoh finally broke and let the people go. The broad principle we learned from this is that God redeemed all of those who showed faith in the Blood of the Passover Lamb. We also learned that the Passover Lamb foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, so that for all who believe, God's Judgment will pass over our sin and give us life eternally.
This week, in Ex. 14:13-28, we find that Moses and the Israelite people have departed from Egypt, led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, until they encamped near the upper part of the Red Sea between Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula (see map) at Migdol (Ex. 13:17-22). In the first 12 verses of Chapter 14, we find that God informs Moses that He had hardened Pharaoh's heart to pursue the Israelites so that, "I will be honored ( or "glorified") through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD" (Ex. 14:4). Pharaoh then gathered his army, which included 600 chosen chariots and they overtook the Israelites at the sea. Verses 10-12 report that when the Israelite people saw Pharaoh's armies converging on them, they basically panicked and cursed Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. This is where we come into today's lesson.
Read Ex. 14:13-14 - SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD
13 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever. 14 The LORD will fight for you, while you keep silent."
v. 13a: "But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD - Notice that Moses makes no assertion that the Israelites can withstand the Egyptian attack by their own human efforts. Such a claim would be ridiculous; and would destroy his credibility with the people. Instead, he shifts the focus from the obvious disparity between them and the oncoming armies to the "the salvation of the LORD," the same God who just saved their firstborn from the "destroyer."
v. 13b: "which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever.' - Moses may not have fully known at this point how God planned to deal with the Egyptian army, but he was confident enough to say, "you will never see them again, ever."
v. 14: "The LORD will fight for you, while you keep silent" - Moses already knew God had a plan and basically tells the people to be quiet and watch what God is getting ready to do. Moses had learned by this time to never second guess God and trust Him completely for the outcome.
Read Ex. 14:15-18 - REACH OUT WITH YOUR HAND OVER THE SEA AND DIVIDE IT
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen."
v. 15a: "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? - The "you" who were "crying out" refers to the Israelite people, not Moses. They clearly saw themselves as trapped, with no way out. But they are about to learn a lesson. As one commentator aptly put it, "When God is all you have, you will find out that God is all you need."
v. 15b: Tell the sons of Israel to go forward" - While God directed His rebuke at the people, He commands their leader, Moses, to get them back under control. God's order telling them "to go forward" defied human logic because there was literally no place to go, except into the sea; to obey, they must ignore what their eyes are seeing and move forward on faith alone.
v. 16a: "As for you, lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it" - You should remember from previous lessons that Moses' "staff," a long rod that probably has a hooked neck, is an important symbol that God uses to work His power through Moses. I still can picture the bearded Charleton Heston doing this in vivid Technicolor on a movie screen.
v. 16b: "and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land" - The sea would not only be divided into a clear pathway, but the ground before them would be completely dry and free of mud. (Scholars est. crossing area about 10 miles wide; 16.3 x length of lake Norfolk Bridge). Note: v. 16 is an instruction; they haven't reached the shore, where Moses divides the sea in v. 21.
v. 17a: "And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them" - (This is a word-for-word repeat of v. 4 [tautology]. Also, note that when God says, "As for you" (v. 16), He's simply telling Moses what to do, but when He says, "As for Me," He's revealing His purpose for doing it.) At this point, God knows that the Egyptians will be taken aback when they see Red Sea inexplicably divide and will have serious reservations about following the fleeing Israelites onto the sea bed. But here, God hardens their hearts so that they will throw all caution aside.
v. 17b-18: "and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen." - I will be "glorified" is a better translation of these two phrases. Since the beginning of the Exodus saga, one of God chief purposes has been to show Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and all the surrounding nations that He is the one true, living God, and that all of the lesser gods they worship are false and powerless. God's witness of this profound truth to an unbelieving world is still as valid today as it was 3,500 years ago, and His invitation to believe in Him by accepting His Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is still open-for now.
Read Ex. 14:19-25 - THE ANGEL OF GOD MOVED AND WENT BEHIND THEM
19 Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Therefore the one did not approach the other all night. 21 Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 But at the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians each said, "Let me flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians."
vv. 19-20: "Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night' - In these two verses, the "angel" represents God's presence. Up to this point, it has been going before God's people as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, to show them their path, but now, it has repositioned itself to form a barrier between the Egyptians and the fleeing Israelites. Scholars also say this was a "cease and desist-or else" warning to the Egyptians.
v. 21: "Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided" - As Moses stretched his staff, God's awesome power moved through it to create a localized "east wind" of such velocity that it parted the sea in opposite directions. God could have done this by Himself, but requires Moses to demonstrate faith by reaching out with his hand.
v. 22: "So the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left" - Notice that the people "went" with no urging-they immediately saw that this supernatural canyon through the sea was the only way of escape. This brings to mind again the old movie, with shimmering vertical walls rising hundreds of feet on each side. And the seabed over which they walk is dry, with no mud to slow them down.
v. 23: "Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea" - The Egyptians, acting on Pharaoh's orders, plunged headlong onto the seabed without hesitation to pursue and attack the escaping Israelites. To proceed with such haste into unknown danger suggests that the Egyptians were either blinded by pride or feared Pharaoh's retribution for cowardice.
vv. 24-25: "But at the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians each said, "Let me flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians" - The "morning watch" was between 2 a.m. and dawn, the darkest hours. So, even before the water walls vanish, God instigates panic among the Egyptian soldiers. Imagine the feeling of being trapped between massive wall of water. As to the difficulties with the "chariot wheels," scholars speculated that the sea floors turned into a quagmire of muck and mire. At this point, it finally dawns on the Egyptians that they aren't fighting flesh and blood but the all-powerful God of the Israelites, and they run for their lives. (Note: the text seems to imply that the walls of water were trickling down slowly to create the mud.)
Read Ex. 14:26-28 -THE WATERS RETURNED TO NORMAL
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." 27 So Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.
v. 26: "Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out with your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." - The next three verses are companions to vv. 21-25, where Moses "reached out his hand" and set in motion the series of events that we just covered. Now, Moses once again will "reach out his hand" to instigate the finale.
Note: The text isn't entirely clear on the actual sequence of events in these verses: It appears that the Israelites were still walking across the seabed and had yet to reach the far shore and dry land when God issued the command of v. 26. So, it appears that God must have kept the sea partially divided past the location of Egyptian army until all of the His people could reach the shore. But the sequence of events really isn't material: God's people were saved by God's power-the same divine power that can save people from certain death-eternal death-today.
v. 27: "So Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea" - In the first instance, Moses reached out his hand to effect a rescue of God's people from the certain death or enslavement the Egyptians intended to inflict on them. But now, this second time, Moses will reach out his hand to visit God's judgment on the Egyptians. The walls of water suddenly and with great force came crashing down on them. The boots and armor that protected them in battle now became dead weight making it impossible to swim.
v. 28: "The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained" - The phrase, "The waters returned," implies a completed action in which the water returned to normal sea level instantly. One minute the soldiers are standing on the muddy seabed and the next they are under approximately 1,500 feet of water (according to Internet data). Death would have been quick. This verse informs us that "not even one of them remained." In addition to the loss of manpower, the Egyptian army would also have lost all of its equipment, weapons, chariots, and horses. So, in just a matter of days, the kingdom of Egypt had been transformed from a mighty power to a virtually defenseless nation. And God's action and power weren't lost on the Israelites. Verse 31 states: "When Israel saw the great power which the Lord they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses." In other words, if Yahweh could do this, the people had faith that He could certainly fulfill all of His other promises.
APPLICATION-The Basics of Following God's Leading:
PRAYER: God, our Father in heaven, we come before your throne this morning with thankful hearts, praising You for the love, mercy, and grace You constantly show toward us as individual Christian believers and as a Church. We thank You also for allowing us the freedom and opportunity as a class to learn and apply to ourselves, the fundamental truths of Your holy Word. I pray, Lord, that this great lesson of Exodus today will remind and convict every one of us that we enjoy the same sovereign power and protection that gave to those Israelites all those years ago, and that right now You are controlling every event in human history. I pray, Father, that like Moses, when we encounter all of the various trials and tribulations of life, that we will follow Moses' example and trust Your power and Your timing for the outcome. I pray, too, that you will guide all of our steps in the coming weeks, as we seek the man You have called to be the Shepherd of this good church. We need Your help. And I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our precious Lord and Redeemer, AMEN.
