Sarah Henry

February 2, 2025

Rebels for the Kingdom!

Icebreaker: When have you felt overmatched by an opponent?

Exodus 14

Crossing the Red Sea

14 Then the LORD said to Moses: 2 Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’ 4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD. And they did so. 

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6 So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; 7 he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.” 

15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16 But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. 17 Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.” 

19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. 

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.” 

The Pursuers Drowned

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the LORD tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses (NRSV).

Reflection

How did Pastor Sarah's sermon speak to you concerning this passage and how it applies to your everyday life?

The Israelites had started on their journey from Egypt to the promised land. They could have taken a short cut along the coast into Canaan, but that stretch was well fortified with Egyptian forts. The other road wasn’t really a road at all. It crossed the Red Sea into the desert area where Moses had spent forty years (Coleman, 106).

14:2 TURN BACK. God instructed Moses to turn north in the direction of their escape. The Lord’s strategy for his people was not to maneuver a simple flight. Like a commander, God misled the enemy (v. 3) and planned their destruction (v. 4).

CONSIDER (VV. 1–4): How would you summarize God’s motives in these verses?

14:14 THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU. Both the victory and the glory belonged to God. The people were to proceed in faith.

FOR GROUPS (VV. 13–14): Divide your group into smaller subgroups of three or four people each. Direct each subgroup to discuss these questions: When have you felt like God was on your side? When have you felt like God was actively fighting for you? (Breaking into smaller groups will make it easier to open up for those group members who are uncomfortable sharing in front of the entire group.)

14:20 DARKNESS, IT LIT UP THE NIGHT. The pillar of cloud that guided the Israelites now protected them. God’s presence stood between his people and their enemies, putting the Egyptians in darkness and the Israelites in light. Jesus reminded the people of this contrast in Jn 8:12.

14:21 THE LORD DROVE THE SEA BACK. Many differing opinions make the exact location of this sea impossible to determine. Nonetheless, God controlled nature to produce a strong east wind to divide the waters and deliver his people. The Lord had used the east wind previously to bring in the plague of locusts (10:13).

14:22 ON DRY GROUND. In this miraculous deliverance, God showed his great love by delivering the people from bondage and then saving them from destruction.

14:25 THE LORD IS FIGHTING. Even the Egyptian soldiers realized that God was fighting for the Israelites (v. 14). They panicked and fled as God showed his power, just as God predicted they would (v. 4). God made the hunter afraid of the prey.

14:27 INTO THE SEA. The Lord rules over nature and everything in it. As the sea had opened to allow the Israelites to pass through, so it closed to stop their pursuers.

CONSIDER (VV. 26–28): How do these verses compare and contrast with your picture of God? What do these verses teach us about God?

APPLY: If you were to compare your spiritual life right now to the Israelites’ journey, where are you right now? Still in Egypt? Checking the map? Looking for the pillar of fire? Backed up against the Red Sea? Sticking your toe in the water? Seeing the waters part?

14:31 BELIEVED IN HIM AND IN HIS SERVANT MOSES. Prior to this miraculous deliverance, the Israelites had a morbid fear of the Egyptians (v. 10) and little respect for Moses (v. 11). Now they enjoyed a healthy fear of God and new trust in Moses’s competence.

CONSIDER (VV. 15–31): When you first heard this story, what were you told about the main message it communicates? What do you currently think is the main message and purpose of this story? Where do you see evidence of God’s sovereignty throughout these verses?

WORSHIP (V. 31): The fear of God has always been an important element of worship. Make a list of all the reasons you have to fear him. How does your fear of God lead you to believe in him, as the Israelites did? How else does your fear of God influence your life? (Coleman, 106–108).

When God moves, I move!