Exodus 14: The Parting of the Red Sea, Israel's Deliverance, and Egypt's Destruction
I was in the garage last Saturday, planing a piece of walnut that had a knot right where I did not want one. The grain ran around it in a tight swirl, and every pass of the plane either caught on the edge or skipped over it. I set the tool down and looked at it for a minute. You can work against a knot or you can work with it. The piece will tell you which one it wants.
I have been thinking about that while reading Exodus 14. The Israelites were in a knot of their own making, and the Lord worked with it.
Why Did God Lead Israel Into a Trap in Exodus 14
The chapter opens with the Lord telling Moses to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. From a military standpoint, it was a terrible position. The wilderness on one side, the Egyptian army behind them, the water in front. Pharaoh saw it and said exactly what the Lord knew he would say. They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in.
It looked like a trap because it was a trap. But the trap was for Pharaoh.
The Lord says it plainly in verse 4. 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. The setup was not about Israel. It was about Egypt. The Lord wanted a decisive demonstration, one that left no room for doubt about who had delivered them.
I think about this when I find myself in a tight spot and wonder why I am there. Sometimes the answer is that the situation is not about me. It is about what God is showing to someone else through it.
What Does It Mean to Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord
When the Egyptians appeared on the horizon, the Israelites panicked. They cried out to the Lord and they cried out to Moses. Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? It is a raw moment, and fear does not produce gratitude.
Moses told them something that sounds impossible. Fear ye not. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today.
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. (Exodus 14:13)
Standing still is harder than it sounds. It means stopping the internal scramble, not running back to Egypt, not throwing yourself into the sea, not doing anything that fear tells you to do. It means waiting long enough to see what God is doing before you decide what to do.
But standing still is not the same as doing nothing. In verse 15, the Lord says to Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. The stillness was for the people, and the forward movement was for Moses. Both were needed.
How to Overcome Fear During a Crisis in Exodus 14
The pillar of cloud moved from the front of the camp to the rear. It stood between the Egyptians and Israel, giving light to one side and darkness to the other. All night, the cloud held the army back while a strong east wind drove the sea apart.
That is the part I keep coming back to. The wind blew all night. While the people were afraid, while they were complaining, while Moses was stretching out his hand, the wind was working. The miracle was not instantaneous. It took hours, and the sea did not part in a moment. It receded slowly, steadily, through the dark.
I have had nights like that. Times when I could not see what was happening but could hear the wind. The answer was still hidden, being prepared in the dark.
When morning came, the sea was dry ground. The Israelites walked through on a path that had not existed the night before. Behind them, the Egyptians followed, and their chariots bogged down in the mud. The wheels came off, and the speed that had made them dangerous became their undoing.
Practical Lessons from the Crossing of the Red Sea
There are a few things in this chapter that I keep turning over.
The first is that the Lord does not always remove the obstacle. Sometimes He makes a way through it. The sea did not disappear. It parted, and the water was still there, held back by wind and will. The Israelites walked between walls of it, trusting that the walls would hold.
A second thing is that the past does not have the last word. The Egyptians that the Israelites saw that morning, they never saw again. The army that had chased them for generations was gone by sunrise, and the old masters were dead on the seashore.
A third is that deliverance is not just about getting out. It is about knowing who got you out. The chapter ends with Israel seeing the great work and fearing the Lord and believing. The miracle was for them, but it was also for everyone who would read about it afterward.
I wrote about Exodus 13 a while back, about the pillar that never left them. That pillar was still there in chapter 14, moving between them and the army. The same God who led them into the wilderness was the one who held the Egyptians back while the sea opened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did God lead the Israelites to a place where they were trapped by the sea and the army?
He wanted a victory that could not be explained away. If Israel had slipped past Egypt unnoticed, Pharaoh could have claimed they escaped. But a sea that parted and an army that drowned left no room for alternative explanations. The trap was for Egypt, not for Israel.
What does the phrase "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" mean in a practical sense?
It means resisting the urge to panic and fix things yourself. It does not mean total inactivity. Moses still had to stretch out his hand, and the people still had to walk forward. But the stillness is about the heart. You stop scrambling long enough to see what God is doing.
What can we learn from the Israelites' desire to return to Egypt after seeing Pharaoh's army?
Fear makes the past look better than it was. Egypt was slavery, but it was familiar slavery. The wilderness was freedom, but it was unknown freedom. We do the same thing when we romanticize old hardships because the new ones feel overwhelming. The trick is to recognize the pattern and keep moving forward.
What is the featured verse for Exodus 14?
Exodus 14:13. Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today.
How long did it take for the Red Sea to part?
The text says the east wind blew all night. That suggests the sea receded over several hours. The miracle was not instant. It was a slow, steady work that required patience and trust through the dark.
I put the walnut piece aside for a day. When I came back to it, I saw that the knot was not a flaw. It was the strongest part of the board. The grain had grown tight around it, and if I worked carefully, that spot would hold better than any other.
The Red Sea crossing reads the same way. What looked like a dead end was the place where God did His best work. The knot was the point.
-- D.