Exodus 14:9  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.

Our text today begins with the small but significant word “but”. We ended yesterday’s devotional with the fact that the LORD led the nation of Israel out of Egypt proper with a high hand. However, Israel was not yet out of the possible clutches of Egypt. They needed to trust the LORD to continue that which He had begun. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were in for more surprises yet.
We see that Pharaoh and his servants pursued after the Hebrews with the plan of bringing them back to continue to serve them as slaves.
We read that Pharaoh and his armies overtook the Hebrews at the shores of the Red Sea. They assumed they had them trapped. The Sea was ahead of them, and Pharaoh and his armies were behind them. However, we already noted that God provided protection for Israel through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. No one was going to touch them without God’s permission. God was not going to grant permission to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He was going to do another great work.
In verse 10 we read that the children of Israel could see Pharaoh coming up behind them. The pillar of cloud did not keep them from seeing what was going on. The sad fact is that the children of Israel did not see the greatness of God. He had demonstrated His greatness already, but the children of Israel were quick to dismiss all that the LORD did when they saw some danger approaching. There is no doubt that this army that was kicking up the dust behind them, would be a formidable enemy. The children of Israel knew how cruel Pharaoh could be. They failed to see that Pharaoh and his armies were there, but they were no longer a threat.
In verse 11 we see the continued record of Israel accusing Moses without dealing with the facts. Pharaoh had made life difficult for Israel in the past. The children of Israel had complained to Moses about what they were facing. However, the LORD kept working and He brought them out of the bondage they had been in. He would do the same here, but the children of Israel would rather complain to Moses than trust in the LORD for His next move.
In verse 12 the children of Israel even tried to remind Moses of the words of warning they had given him earlier while they were still in bondage in Egypt. They failed to acknowledge the fact that their words were empty words. God had delivered them. Their demands were unjustified.
In verse 13 we see that Moses was not intimidated by the threats of the children of Israel. He encouraged them with the facts. They would see the salvation of the LORD. They did not know what He was about to do, but they would soon see it. God expects His children to walk by faith, not by sight.
The LORD had already been fighting for Israel, and He was going to continue to do so. They did not need to lift a finger against Pharaoh and his armies. All they needed to do is trust the Lord.
In verse 15 the LORD rebuked Moses for crying unto Him. He needed to increase his faith in the LORD and he needed to command the children of Israel to move forward. The Red Sea was no hindrance to the LORD.
There are those who want to suggest that the Red Sea was just like a swamp. If that were true, but it is not, then what we read would be quite the miracle. Pharaoh and his armies were soon going to drown in the waters of the Red Sea. If it were just a swamp it would be quite something that the water would stand as walls on either side of the children of Israel as they crossed to the other side. That same wall of water would come crashing down upon Pharaoh and his armies.
I choose to believe the Word of God. The Red Sea was a great body of water that was impassable until the LORD opened a way for the children of Israel.
In verse 16 we read that Moses was to take the rod that he had and stretch it out over the sea. God would divide the waters as Moses obeyed Him. The children of Israel would cross through the midst of the sea on dry ground. This was certainly a miracle. Generally the bottom of the sea would be muddy. All those feet walking across it would have made it quite muddy by the time they were all over. However, God parted the waters and He also dried the ground so that they could cross on dry ground.
This was quite a scene for the children of Israel to witness. It required faith on their part that would result in obedience. However, this faith was not a blind faith. This faith was in the LORD who had already proved Himself to be able to do the impossible.
God does not need to lay out a plan in full detail for us. He has a plan. He knows exactly what He is doing and what He will do. He gives us all the information we need. All that we need to do is trust Him. We will never trust Him unless we know Him. We can know Him and the longer we walk with Him, the more we will trust Him. The key is to be saved. Often we have noted that God called the Hebrews “the children of Israel”. They were the descendants of Jacob. However, most of them were not the children of the LORD. They never came to know Him as their God and Redeemer. They were too invested in visuals. Thus an entire generation would end up dead in the wilderness. Only two men of that generation entered the land of promise.
The walk of faith is not a blind walk. It is a walk that requires trust in the true God Who cannot and does not lie. He is completely trustworthy. Today as well, we must trust in the true God if we want to know His peace in our hearts. Millions of people are missing out on that peace today. Be sure you are not one of them. We have God’s Word. We can know Him and we can rest in Him.
Pastor Bartel