[Exodus 14] The Believer Crosses Over. In this chapter we read of the passage of the people over the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh. Thus begins the wilderness journeyings of Israel which are a profound type and shadow of the journeying of the believer toward God’s ultimate promise for their lives.
[Exo 14:1-31 KJV] 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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]: 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. 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 Egyptians, 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.
God instructs Moses to have the people camp at Pihahiroth by the Red Sea. This is the third encampment of the people in their sojourn out of Egypt toward the promised land. In Numbers 33 you can find a complete list of all the encampments or stations of the children of Israel on their way to Canaan. They number 42 in all. This is interesting because Matt. 1:1-17 tells us there are 42 generations in all from Abraham to Jesus. Is this just trivia or co-incidence? No, because when you count the generations in Matthew 1:1-17 you will see that only forty-one are mentioned and that it doesn’t say forty-two generations to Jesus it says 42 generations to Christ. Is this a contradiction in the Bible? No, because 1 Cor. 12:27 says we are the body of Christ and members in particular, in other words we are the 42 generation begun in Abraham, established by Jesus and consummated in the corporate body of Christ that He died to bring about as the writer of Hebrews declares:
[Heb 10:5, 9 KJV] 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: … 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Thus as we read of the wilderness wandering we now know they are not random but they speak something to us of the purposes of God in the earth and in our own lives. The begin with the people camping at Ramses and end with the encampment at the plains of Moab. Ramses represents Pharaoh and the world, as the believer coming out of sin and exiting the wilderness at Moab (which means “associated). Moab represents the believer exiting the wilderness of life when they finally break all worldly associations, forsaking all and entering in at last to God’s land of promise. Note that God led them but He didn’t take them. In other words they had to walk through each of these encampments and overcome the obstacles represented thereby.
In v. 3 Pharaoh sees the children of Israel on the banks of the Red Sea and is glad for in his view they are entangled in the land. The mention of land speaks to us of the earth from whence we come (the flesh). When the enemy sees that we have heard the gospel he is not intimidated for every one of us begin this Christian life entangled in the flesh, with fleshly relationships, habits, plans, culture, beliefs etc.. Satan is therefore confident that regardless of the fact that you have received the Passover lamb (a type of salvation) you nonetheless will soon be back in the slavery of sin making bricks without straw.
When Pharaoh pursues the Israelites as they are entangled in the land, what armament does he employ? In v. 7 we see that he takes six hundred chariots and the captains over everyone of them. 6 is the number of man and 100 represents “fullness” in scripture. This speaks to the total depravity of man in his fleshly nature, completely dominated by sin. The chariots are the vehicle representing the flesh and the captains are the demonic principalities and powers that hold sway over all those who have not come to the death of self or the self nature on the Cross.
The Egyptians pursue and the people cry out to Moses. Moses declares (v. 13-14) that the people should fear not because now they shall see the salvation of the Lord. It doesn’t say they will be saved, for they are already saved (by the type and shadow of the Passover, a foreshadowing of the New birth). They ARE saved but now they shall SEE the salvation of the Lord. How does this salvation come? By the rod of God in the hand of Moses. The armies of Pharaoh represent the ongoing temptations of sin, the pull of the world, the snare of worldly associations that descend upon a new believer but our deliverance is by trusting in the Jesus and the work of the Cross as the people on the banks of the Red Sea trusted in Moses and the Rod of God.
When Moses lifted his rod with the people looking on at that very moment the cloud of God came between the people and Pharaoh and the angel of God rose up to protect them. What is the angel? It is the angel of God’s presence. Every born again believer even if they have just given their life to Jesus they are aware of the presence of God living in their heart. Sin may tempt and the principalities the captains of temptation may surround them but the presence of God comes between us and the temptation to return to our worldliness and the life of transgression. The die is cast. We are not our own. We are bought with a price and we will not turn back but go forward.
How shall we go forward? Because God not only protects us from going back, He opens they way for us to go forward, following Him we know not where we just no that our ultimate destination is the place of promise that the scriptures affirm to us is our portion. When the first footfall moved out upon the dry ground of the sea bed, Pharaoh’s fate is sealed and the very path of deliverance for the believer becomes the path of destruction for the enemy, but his heart like Satan’s himself is hardened. He cannot but pursue even though he knows failure and destruction are his only outcome. Thus the chariot wheels of the flesh fall off and the captains and demonic soldiers of the flesh nature are drowned in the sea that represents the baptism of the believer into the death of the Cross only to be raised to new life in Christ.
