1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children
of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol
and the sea, over against Baalzephon:before it shall ye encamp by the
sea.
3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
4
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and
I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the
Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.
And they (the children of Israel) did so.
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?
6
And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:7 And he
took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and
captains over every one of them.
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.
9
But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of
Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by
the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
(God
has set this in an impossible way ... The people of God have their back
to the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his 600 chariots charging toward them.)
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.
(But
their crying out was not in faith in God but their crying out was
complaining against Moses and Aaron who had gotten them into this mess
by making them leave Egypt where there was plenty of food ...They forgot
the afflictions they suffered in Egypt and how they cried out to God in
their suffering asking for deliverance. Now they just wanted back in
Egypt.)
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?
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 also forget how Pharaoh had required them to kill their male babies because they were multiplying above the Egyptians.)
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 to day:for the
Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for
ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
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. 17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the
Egyptians, and they shall follow them:and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host,
upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon
his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
(God is saying: When I kill the Egyptians and destroy them, then they will know I am the Lord. When God performs that which no man can do by parting the Red Sea, all will know God is God.)
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:
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 (to the children of Israel):so that the one came not near the other all the night.
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. 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.
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.
(Pharaoh thinking, "You can do this. I can do this ..." Lack of humility is way of destruction.)
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 Egyptian,
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.
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.
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.
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. 29 But the children of Israel
walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall
unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
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.
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.
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Comments by Joan Boney
Today we have the miracles from God surrounding us. We have the sun, the moon at night, the stars, the rain, the wind, the hail, the lightening, the thunder, the earth we stand upon, the trees and the plants that grow in the earth ... all created by God!
And all the stories in the OT are for our benefit that we might have faith in God and keep our faith in God and not in ourselves and other men whose breathe leaves them and they return, in time, to the earth.
Keep your focus correctly placed. These examples in Bible help greatly as the events of this world would try to overtake us, if we let them.
The things of God are eternal.