Bible Commentaries
Exodus 14

Verses 1-31

The first movement of the emancipated people was to march into the place of danger. It eventuated in the trial of their faith, as we shall see, but the divine meaning of it was told to Moses and it is full of solemnity. Pharaoh's final judgment must be carried out in such a way as to make its justice evident. The people were brought to a place where it would appear to the proud heart of the obstinate king that he could overcome them in spite of all previous divine intervention. Were ever the madness and blindness of sin persisted in more manifest than in the proud preparation of chariots and armies to overcome and destroy a people for whom God had so wondrously appeared?

The panic of the people is hardly to be wondered at when we think of their circumstances. Moses confronted them with magnificent courage and faith. The story of their deliverance needs no comment. It is full of life and color and dramatic power. The one great truth illustrated is that under divine government there can be no obstacles which cannot be overcome. What solemn awe must have inspired the hearts of the multitudes of Israel as they marched in silent companies along the strange highway, with the cloud of the divine Presence acting as their rear guard and the walls of the sea towering above them on the right hand and on the left. The new nation walked through a threatened death toward a new life in a consciousness of the presence and power of Jehovah from which they could not escape.