Exodus 14-15

What’s Happening?

God has just rescued his people from Egyptian slavery, and now he is guiding several hundred thousand Israelites towards the homeland promised to their ancestors (Exodus 13:17-22). But God isn’t only interested in freeing or leading his people; God wants glory. He wants all of Egypt to know that he is more powerful than Pharaoh and deserves to be worshiped. So God baits Egypt’s leader into attacking his people while they make camp on the shore of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-9).

When Israel first sees the glint of chariots in the distance, they’re terrified and wonder if it would have been better to be slaves in Egypt than die in the desert (Exodus 14:10-12). But Moses encourages his people; God has lured Pharaoh from his capital to gain glory over him by destroying him. And Israel won’t have to lift a single sword in their defense (Exodus 14:13-14).

This moment was foreshadowed 80 years ago when Moses was placed in a basket on the River Nile and brought up out of the water by none other than Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:5). So God sends a cloud to block the Egyptian army and protect his people from death by Egyptian spears (Exodus 14:15-20). Meanwhile, the Red Sea parts, leaving a road of dry land that Israel begins to pass through (Exodus 14:21-22). When Pharaoh realizes God’s people are escaping, his chariots skirt the cloud, hoping to kill the Israelites before they cross. But God jams the chariots’ wheels in the mud. The hardened soldiers scream that God is attacking them. Then, in poetic justice for the untold numbers of Hebrew sons Pharaoh had killed in the Nile, God causes the walls of water to collapse on Pharaoh and his army and climactically proves he is more powerful than Pharaoh (Exodus 14:23-28).

God’s people are free. God has demonstrated his glory. Pharaoh has been destroyed, and everyone in Egypt and Israel knows God is far more powerful than Pharaoh and deserves to be honored, obeyed, and worshiped (Exodus 14:29-31). In response, Moses writes what we might call Israel’s national anthem. The anthem celebrates how God rescued them from Pharaoh’s army by closing the Red Sea on top of their enemies (Exodus 15:1-10). It also expresses hope that God will continue to fight their battles, strike terror into their enemies, and bring them safely to their homeland (Exodus 15:11-18). Moses’ sister then leads the women of Israel to remember how God has proven that he is the most glorious God in all the world (Exodus 15:20-21). Their God has conquered Pharaoh, and he will never rise from his watery grave (Exodus 15:19).

Where is the Gospel?

For 80 years, God planned to save his people, triumph over Pharaoh, and prove himself more glorious than any ruler in the ancient world. And all Israel did to experience rescue at the hand of their great God was to be still, trust, and sing (Exodus 14:14, 31). The most remarkable thing about the Exodus story isn’t that God split a sea. The most noteworthy thing is that the Israelites did nothing to earn their place in God’s victory. They trusted him (Hebrews 11:29). This is how God always works, partly because this is how God gets the most glory. When God defeats all our enemies for us, and when we never lift a finger in our defense, God is proven to be the greatest God in all the world.

God saved Israel when they trusted him and walked with Moses through the waters of the Red Sea. And now God promises to save us from our enemies when we trust and walk with his people’s final leader, Jesus. More miraculous than splitting a sea, Jesus made a path through death itself. Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. But Jesus split open the wall of his tomb, conquered his enemies, and proved he is more powerful than even Death itself (Colossians 2:15). Jesus did all this without our help. Jesus has triumphed over death and proven his glory over the grave. Jesus has proven he is the most powerful and glorious God in all the world (Ephesians 2:8-10). And the way that we give this God glory is by trusting him to save us. Just as Israel followed Moses through the sea, we follow Jesus through his death. Jesus calls us to do this through the ritual of baptism. Under the water, we join Jesus in death, knowing when we trust him with our lives, we will join Jesus in his glorious victory over death forever (Romans 6:3-11). And like the Israelites on the opposite bank of the sea, we can sing of God’s victory over all our enemies.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who is more glorious than our enemies. And may we see Jesus as the one who leads us through water into eternal life.