The Sea Divided: Exodus 14:5-31

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!

Pharaoh's grief faded. His son was dead, but so was his workforce. The calculation returned: we lost our slaves. What have we done?

So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

The pursuit launched. Six hundred elite chariots. The rest of Egypt's chariot force. Officers commanding. The might of Egypt rolling toward the fleeing slaves.

The Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.

Terror. The dust cloud of approaching chariots. The thunder of hooves. The glint of weapons. Behind them, Egypt's army. Before them, the sea. No escape visible.

They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?

The accusation, dripping with sarcasm. Egypt had plenty of graves—we saw them every day. Did you bring us out here to add to them? At least in Egypt, we would have died as slaves, not as free corpses.

Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Stand firm. Be still. See deliverance. The Lord will fight. Moses' faith against a million fears.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Move on. Stop praying and start walking. Raise your staff. The sea will divide. Dry ground will appear. Go.

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.

The pillar moved. From front to rear. The cloud that had led now protected. Darkness fell on Egypt while light shone on Israel. The armies could not approach each other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided.

The east wind blew. All night it blew. The sea yielded. Waters divided. Dry land appeared where waves had rolled. The impossible became visible.

And the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Through the sea. On dry ground. Walls of water on both sides. Not shallow ford but miracle corridor. The path between liquid walls.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.

Pursuit continued. Into the divided sea. The same path the Israelites walked, the Egyptians entered. Chariot wheels rolling on the seabed.

During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving.

Confusion struck. Wheels jammed. Chariots stuck. The Egyptian army, elite and terrifying, suddenly helpless in the middle of the sea.

And the Egyptians said, Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.

Too late they understood. The LORD fights for them. Retreat became the only thought. But the sea was about to close.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place.

The hand stretched again. The waters returned. At daybreak—just enough light to see the wall of water collapsing.

The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

Not one. The army that had terrorized nations, drowned. The chariots that had pursued, submerged. Pharaoh's might, swept away.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The contrast repeated. Israelites: dry ground, walls of water, safe passage. Egyptians: watery grave.

That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.

Dead on the shore. The bodies washed up. The equipment scattered. The evidence of deliverance visible, tangible, undeniable.

And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

Fear and trust. The mighty hand that divided waters and drowned armies now held their allegiance. They believed—for now.

The sea that should have been their grave became Egypt's. The barrier became a road. The trap became deliverance. The LORD fights for his people.