Crossing the Red Sea
Crossing the Red Sea
The Wilderness Road
When the pharaoh sent the people away, God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was close by. He thought, “Otherwise, the people will change their minds when they see war. Then they’ll return to Egypt.” So God sent the people around by the road through the wilderness near the Red Sea.
The Israelites left the land of Egypt in an orderly manner, and Moses took Joseph’s bones with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. “God will certainly come to you, and you must take my bones with you from this place.” They journeyed from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
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Several caravan routes led out of ancient Egypt. The northern route, later called the Via Maris (“Way of the Sea”), followed the coast of the Mediterranean straight to Philistia in Canaan.1 This provided the closest and shortest possible road for the Israelites. But Yahweh rejected this road because of several Egyptian fortifications along it.2 He knew the Israelites, who had played no role in their own escape from Egypt, were not yet prepared for the adversity that comes with freedom. At the first sign of conflict, they’d flee back to the comfort of familiarity—slavery and all.3
So Yahweh led the Israelites southeast along the road to Etham, on the edge of the Wilderness of Shur.4 From there, the road led into the Sinai Peninsula by skirting the northern end of the Gulf of Suez, part of the Red Sea.5 The Israelites left calmly and in an orderly manner, acting like free travelers, not fleeing slaves. They rested in the assurance that Yahweh was fulfilling his vow to their ancestors. Likewise, Moses ensured the Israelites fulfilled their ancestors’ vow to Joseph by taking with them Joseph’s sarcophagus so they could bury him in Canaan.6
The Pillar of Cloud and Fire
Yahweh himself went in front of them as a pillar of cloud to lead them on the road during the day and as a pillar of fire to give them light during the night. In this way, they could travel by day or by night. During the day, the cloud pillar didn’t depart from in front of the people. Neither did the fire pillar during the night.
Image by Bible Pathway Adventures from Free Bible Images
As the Israelites traveled, Yahweh, not Moses, led them on the right road. The Israelites had witnessed his power. Now they witnessed his presence. During the day, Yahweh took the visible form of a pillar-shaped cloud. At night, the cloud became fire so the Israelites could see and even travel in the cooler temperatures. The pillar stayed with the Israelites day and night until they entered Canaan.7
Both fire and cloud commonly symbolize God’s presence.8 By appearing in this form, Yahweh could guide and speak to his people while hiding his face, which sinful humanity cannot survive seeing.9 Because the pillar never left the people, neither did Yahweh. Despite all their rebellion, his presence remained.10
Turning Around
Yahweh told Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn around and camp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea near Baal Zephon. Camp across from it, by the sea. The pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites have lost their way. The wilderness has shut them in.’ I’ll make the pharaoh obstinate so he’ll pursue them. Then I’ll glorify myself through the pharaoh and all his warriors, and the Egyptians will know I am Yahweh.”
The Israelites did so. When the king of Egypt heard that the people had fled, he and his servants changed their minds. “What have we done! We sent the Israelites away from serving us!”
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
With the Israelites camped on the edge of the wilderness, only a short distance away from entering the Sinai Peninsula, Yahweh issued a shocking command. “Turn around.” In obedience, the Israelites left the road and instead headed south along the plain between the Gulf of Suez and the hills of Egypt’s Eastern Desert.11 Migdol means “watchtower” in Hebrew, likely indicating an Egyptian outpost in the hills.12 At Yahweh’s command, the Israelites trapped themselves.
Yahweh revealed to Moses his plan to glorify himself through the obstinate pharaoh one more time. Through the ten wonders, he had revealed himself to the Israelites and freed them from bondage. He had defeated all the false gods of Egypt.13 Now he would single-handedly defeat the elite forces of Egypt’s formidable military. This last act would prove to the Egyptians beyond any doubt that he is Yahweh, the only God who is.14
When word of the Israelites’ departure reached the pharaoh and his officials, they regretted the decision they made in a moment of panic. Determined to retrieve their lost workforce, and likely seeking a measure of revenge, they decided to pursue the Israelites. Yahweh made the pharaoh obstinate so he would order the attack. But the Egyptians who followed the pharaoh did so of their own free will. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Yahweh’s power and authority, most of the Egyptian officials still chose to oppose him.
The Pharaoh’s Chariots
So [the pharaoh] readied his chariot and took his people with him. He took six hundred of his finest chariots along with all the standard chariots of Egypt, with officers on them all. Yahweh made the pharaoh, king of Egypt, obstinate so he pursued the Israelites as they left defiantly. So the Egyptians pursued them. All the pharaoh’s horse-drawn chariots, with his charioteers and warriors, overtook them while they camped by the sea, by Pi Hahiroth near Baal Zephon.
As the pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up. There were the Egyptians moving toward them! So the Israelites were terrified and cried out to Yahweh. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because of a lack of graves in Egypt that you’ve brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out from Egypt! While in Egypt, didn’t we tell you to leave us alone to serve the Egyptians? It would be better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
The pharaoh assembled his chariotry, both elite and standard units. Egyptian chariots carried two passengers, a charioteer to guide the horse and a warrior to do the fighting.15 In this case, each chariot carried a ranking officer. The pharaoh took no risks to recapture the slaves who dared defy his power and authority. The Israelites wouldn’t stand a chance either fighting or trying to outrun such a force.
The Egyptians caught up with the Israelites by the seashore, exactly where Yahweh had placed them. When the Israelites saw the chariots charging toward them, they cried out to Yahweh in terror. They also turned against Moses. Anticipating defeat and death, they sarcastically lamented their newfound freedom! Yet while the pharaoh called on his chariots, the Israelites called on their God.16 Despite their weak faith, he would answer.
Acting on Faith
Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation Yahweh will accomplish for you today. The Egyptians you see today, you’ll never see again. Yahweh will fight for you. You keep silent.”
So Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch your hand out over the sea to divide it so the Israelites may enter the sea on dry land. I will make the Egyptians obstinate so they’ll enter behind them. I’ll glorify myself through the pharaoh and all his warriors, chariots, and charioteers. The Egyptians will know I am Yahweh when I glorify myself through the pharaoh, his chariots, and his charioteers.”
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
While other Israelites panicked, Moses stood firm in his faith. He told his people to stand still and watch Yahweh rescue them once again. They should expect victory, not defeat. Yahweh would fight against the pharaoh’s chariots and wipe them out himself so they could never pursue his people again. Moses’s words reflect a strong faith tempered through his conflict with the obstinate pharaoh. But he forgot one key element of godly leadership. He neglected to ask God what he should do.
Though Yahweh can and does act independent of his chosen representatives, he prefers to act through them. He created humanity to rule the earth alongside him, and the Israelites had to learn to act on their faith.17 So with a mild rebuke, Yahweh called out Moses’s passive attitude and commanded him to move.18 By raising his staff, the symbol of his God-given authority, Moses would divide the sea and lead the Israelites through on dry land.
Yahweh would act only after Moses and the Israelites obeyed. Once they entered the sea, Yahweh would compel the Egyptians to follow them. This time he would make all the Egyptian warriors and charioteers obstinate, not just the pharaoh. Because they chose to defy Yahweh by pursuing the Israelites, they had lost their opportunity to repent.19
- Constable, Exodus, 129; Kaiser, “Exodus,” 438.
- Oswalt, “Exodus,” 382; Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, Bible Background Commentary, Exodus 13:17.
- See Exodus 14:11–12; Numbers 14:3–4.
- Exodus 15:22.
- Most scholars debate the traditional identification of the Hebrew yam-suph (literally “Sea of Reeds”) as the Red Sea. But Numbers 21:4, 1 Kings 9:26, and Jeremiah 49:20–21 associate the yam-suph with Edom. The only body of water that bordered both Egypt and Edom was the Red Sea.
- Genesis 50:25–26; Joshua 24:32; see Joseph’s Death.
- Deuteronomy 31:14–15.
- Exodus 3:2; 24:15–17; 2 Chronicles 5:13–14; 7:1; Acts 2:1–4.
- Exodus 33:18–20.
- Exodus 33:1–3, 15–17.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, “Eastern Desert,” last modified October 12, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Eastern-Desert.
- None of the locations mentioned in this passage have been identified.
- Exodus 12:12.
- Exodus 7:5; see The Name.
- World History Encyclopedia, “Ancient Egyptian Warfare,” by Joshua J. Mark, October 3, 2016, The Army of the Empire, https://www.worldhistory.org/Egyptian_Warfare/.
- See Psalm 20:7.
- Genesis 1:26; James 2:14–18.
- Joshua had to learn the same lesson early in his leadership. Joshua 7:10–12.
- See Abscesses.