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OK, you can turn to Exodus chapter 
14. Just a reminder of where we've 
been. We see the 10 plagues, specifically in chapters 7 to 
12. Chapter 12 records not only Passover and the Unleavened Stuff. I'm going to go ahead and get 
started. I'm going to stop sharing my 
screen now. I'm going to stop sharing my 
screen now. I'm going to go ahead and get 
started. I'm going to go ahead and get 
started. All right. The. all his army, that the Egyptians 
may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. Now it was told 
the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh 
and his servants was turned against the people. And they said, why 
have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariot 
and took his people with him. Also he took 600 choice chariots, 
and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one 
of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of 
Egypt. And he pursued the children of Israel. And the children of 
Israel went out with boldness. So the Egyptians pursued them, 
all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his 
army, and overtook them, camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, 
before Baal-zaphon. And when Pharaoh drew near, the 
children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians 
marched after them. So they were very afraid, and 
the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said 
to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you 
taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us 
to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we 
told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the 
Egyptians? For it would have been better 
for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the 
wilderness. And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation 
of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians 
whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The 
Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. And the 
Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the children 
of Israel to go forward, but lift up your rod and stretch 
out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of 
Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 
And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and 
they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh 
and over all his army, his chariots and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians 
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for 
myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the angel 
of God, who went behind the camp of Israel, moved and went behind 
them. And the pillar of cloud went 
from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the 
camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a 
cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to 
the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that 
night. Then 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 into dry land, and the waters were 
divided. So the children of Israel went 
into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters 
were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 
And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst 
of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 
It came to pass in the morning watch that the Lord looked down 
upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and 
cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians, and He took 
off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty. 
And the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, 
for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. And the 
Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that 
the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots 
and on their horsemen. And Moses stretched out his hand 
over the sea. And when the morning appeared, 
the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were 
fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians 
in the midst of the sea, and the waters returned and covered 
the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that 
came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained, 
but the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst 
of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right 
hand and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that 
day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians 
dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work 
which the Lord had done in Egypt, So the people feared the Lord 
and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. Amen. Well, such 
a significant event, it's replicated or duplicated in chapter 15. 
Basically, you have the same rehearsal of the same material, 
but in poetic or in song form. So the children of Israel are 
rejoicing over the judgment of God on their nemesis, the Egyptians. So as we look at this particular 
chapter, we want to look first at the plan of God in verses 
1 to 14, and then secondly, the power of God in verses 15 to 
31. I suggest, or I would imagine 
that a lot of people look at the latter half and call it the 
deliverance of Israel, and it certainly is. But conspicuously, 
God's honor is on display throughout this chapter. That's the driving 
force or one of the primary themes in the chapter. It is God's expressed 
theme that his honor be gained over Pharaoh and over all his 
army. So we have the plan of God, verses 
1 to 14, sort of the prelude, and then secondly, the power 
of God in verses 15 to 31. Notice in the first place, in 
terms of the plan, we have the announcement given to Moses in 
verses 1 to 4. So you have this direction given 
in verses 1 to 2, where they are supposed to go. Remember, 
from where they begin, the most direct route would have been 
just ahead, east along the coastline, right up into the land of Canaan. But that was Philistine territory. 
Back in chapter 13, we see that God did not want them to go that 
way. If you look at verse 17, it came 
to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not 
lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although 
that was near. For God said, lest perhaps the 
people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. They would see war and they would 
go or have this desire to go back to the peace and safety 
of slavery that they had in Egypt. So verse 18 says, God led the 
people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children 
of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 
So in verses 1 and 2, we get the direct route, or rather the 
route, that God wants them to take in terms of their pursuit 
of the promised land. Now notice the response by Pharaoh 
in verse 3. For Pharaoh will say of the children 
of Israel, they are bewildered by the land. The wilderness has 
closed them in. God knew all too well, because 
God is sovereign in his degree, what precisely was going to take 
place. So God has them engage in this 
particular route, knowing good and well that Pharaoh would see 
the opportunity to recapture the children of Israel. He would 
see them hedged in. Notice, they are bewildered by 
the land. They really don't know where 
they're going, and the wilderness has closed them in. In other 
words, Pharaoh would see them as sitting ducks. They would 
be prime targets for an ambush, and they could go in and recapture 
the children of Israel, take them back, and use them as their 
slave force. And in all of this, we see primarily 
the purpose of God. Verse 4, then I will harden Pharaoh's 
heart. This has been a recurring theme 
in the narrative up until this point. Remember, it's not the 
case that Pharaoh was an innocent person. He wasn't a guy who craved 
righteousness. He wasn't a guy that really had 
a desire to do the right thing, but God in his pesky ways would 
just harden his heart. He was a wicked man. He was an 
oppressor of Israel. His predecessors had killed the 
firstborn in Israel by drowning, and he had been a slave master 
to these people. So the hardening of Pharaoh's 
heart is God's justice. It's similar to what Jesus does 
in Matthew chapter 11, when he praises the father because the 
father has revealed these things to babes, but he has hidden them 
from the wise and prudent. People read that and they say, 
well, that's not fair. It's absolutely positively fair. Even more than 
that, it's just. For God to hide gospel truth 
from wretched sinners is not only not unfair, but it is just 
with God to do that. And that's the same emphasis. 
So God gives them direction. He understands that Pharaoh will 
seize upon this opportunity to ambush the children of Israel, 
but God's purpose is specified in verse four, then I will harden 
Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them and I will gain honor 
over Pharaoh and over all his army that the Egyptians may know 
that I am the Lord and they did so. So go back for just a moment 
to chapter 12 at verse 12. God said, I will pass through 
the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn 
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the 
gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. So that 
same sort of motif obtains here. God wants to demonstrate that 
he alone is the living and the true God. And he will do that 
through the vindication and salvation of his elect, of his children, 
of his people. And he will do that through the 
punishment, the damnation, and the judgment of those who are 
his enemies. Now notice, after the announcement 
given to Moses, we see the regret of the Egyptians in verses 5 
to 9. This explains why they would 
seize upon this opportunity in terms of where Israel is presently 
located to ambush them and to try to recapture them in order 
to bring them back to Egypt. They were not happy with, and 
they're second guessing, their decision to have let Israel go. So notice what the regret of 
the Egyptians in verses 5 to 9. You see their attitude in 
verse 5. It says, It was told the king of Egypt, that the people 
had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against 
the people. And they said, why have we done 
this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? So the heart 
of Pharaoh and his servants were still turned against Israel, 
and they had regret over having let the Israelites go. Now, I 
would suggest that one of the reasons for this was completely 
practical. You would notice that the workforce 
in Egypt had drastically declined. This would create a much harder 
task in terms of Egyptians trying to maintain the infrastructure 
in that nation without their slave force. So Egypt is upset 
or has regret in their heart that they have let the children 
of Israel go. Matthew Poole comments, they 
who never truly repented of their sins now heartily repent of their 
only good action. The only good thing they had 
done was let Israel go, and now they second-guessed that, and 
they regret that. Now notice their preparation, 
or rather their actions, in verses 6 to 9. We see their preparation 
for the pursuit in verses 6 and 7. So he, Pharaoh, made ready 
his chariot and took his people with him. Also, he took 600 choice 
chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every 
one of them. Now you may be thinking, wasn't 
there a plague on the livestock? Wasn't there a plague of hail 
that destroyed a bunch of the livestock? Yes, those that were 
in the field. Most likely, if you had horses 
that were trained for chariots, they would have been kept inside. 
So most likely, that's what's in view here. It's the remaining 
horses that were utilized for the chariots. So he prepares 
these, verse 70, took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots 
of Egypt with captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened 
the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children 
of Israel. And the children of Israel went 
out with boldness. Now here, this judicial hardening 
by the Lord is explanatory, not only of his judgment upon the 
Egyptians, but also to provide the rationale as to why trained 
charioteers would ever take their chariots into the sea. This was 
a crucially bad decision on their part. If you go for just a moment 
to Judges 4, you see a similar instance with reference to the 
Canaanites. The enemy here, it's Canaanite 
oppression. Jabin is the king, and Sisera 
is his henchman. He is the commander of the army 
of Jabin, the king of Canaan. And what we have, essentially, 
is an assault upon Israel. And God vindicates his people 
through the agency of his judge, Barak. Deborah is not a judge. Deborah was a prophetess. It's 
not Deborah, that's the judge, who Barak helps. But Barak is 
the judge, and Deborah is the prophetess. And so we have, say, 
for instance, in verse 8, Barak said to her, if you will go with 
me, then I will go. But if you will not go with me, 
I will not go. I think I've shared before, there's 
a feminist sort of reading on the book of Judges. And here 
it says that Barak is dependent upon this woman, Deborah. Deborah 
was a prophetess. Barak is simply showing forth 
not only horse sense, but good godly wisdom. He doesn't want 
to go into battle without the prophetess who brings the word 
of the living God. And so notice what happens down 
at verse 14. Well, verse 7, God says He will 
deliver him into your hand. And then notice in verse 14, 
Deborah said to Barak, up, for this is the day in which the 
Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone 
out from before you? So Barak went down from Mount 
Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera 
and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the 
sword before Barak. And Sisera alighted from his 
chariot and fled away on foot. So whatever the situation was, 
the chariot not only became not useful, but it became a positive 
hindrance. Well, when you look at the song 
of Deborah in Judges chapter 5, you'll notice that God used 
nature. God used a storm. Notice in 5.4, 
Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the 
field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens poured, the clouds 
also poured water. And then again over in verse 
21, the torrent of Kishon swept them away. That ancient torrent, 
the torrent of Kishon. Oh my soul, march on in strength. So the same sort of idea is present 
in Exodus chapter 14. You would have had to been a 
nut or you would have had to be under the judicial hardening 
of God Most High to take a chariot down into the Red Sea. What's 
going to happen? Most likely, your wheels are 
going to get stuck. Most likely, you're not going 
to have mobility. Most likely, you're going to 
be a sitting duck and worthy to be overcome. And so this is 
why I believe verse 8 indicates once again, the Lord hardened 
the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children 
of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 
Now notice in verse 9, Now as you reflect upon this, not only 
is it odd, not only is it amazing that they're actually contemplating 
taking chariots down into what will probably be sort of a marshy 
swamp, But the fact is, do they not 
recall the 10 previous plagues? Talk about walking by faith. 
These Egyptians and their allegiance to Pharaoh outshines most Christians 
and their allegiance to Jesus Christ. Pharaoh is asking them 
to do outlandish things and they just willingly and happily submit 
and do precisely what they're commanded. So when it comes to 
this, they had seen all of the plagues of God culminating in 
the death of the firstborn, that many of those men would have 
buried themselves in terms of their own family. Calvin says 
this is the stupidity of the wicked, that they only dread 
God's present hand and immediately forget all that they have seen. So we've got the announcement 
to Moses in verses 1 to 4. You've got the regret of the 
Egyptians in verses 5 to 9. Thirdly, the story wouldn't be 
complete without the complaint of the Israelites. I mean, as 
we've come to expect, and as we'll see as we move along with 
this group, they're never shy against whining and against complaining. Notice in the first place, in 
verses 10 to 12, the Israelites survey the situation. Verse 10. And when Pharaoh drew near, the 
children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians 
marched after them. So they were very afraid, and 
the children of Israel cried out to the Lord." Again, brethren, 
if the Egyptians were not as cognizant of the fact as they 
should have been, neither are the Israelites. They had witnessed 
the 10 plagues, they had watched everybody in Egypt have to bury 
their firstborn whom the Lord had killed, but nevertheless 
they are very afraid. Stuart says accordingly, when 
they actually saw the Egyptian chariotry coming at them and 
realized their helpless position from a human point of view as 
a poorly armed, untrained, unprepared army encamped with its back to 
the sea, they panicked. To their credit, they at least 
cried out to the Lord, showing that they regarded Him as the 
one to save them. That is, to their credit, they 
did cry out to the Lord. But as we move through this particular 
section, notice again that they continue to complain. They complain 
to Moses in verses 11 and 12. They act as if they had not seen 
the ten plagues, and they had not watched the Egyptians bury 
their firstborn. Notice in verse 11. Then they 
said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have 
you taken us away to die in the wilderness? This is just whining, 
garden variety complaining. This is sniveling. This is the 
sort of thing Paul tells us as new covenant believers we're 
not supposed to do in Philippians chapter 2. What do you think 
Paul has in his mind or Paul has in the background? Most likely 
the whining and the murmurings that we find in the nation of 
Israel in the Old Testament. So because there were no graves 
in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why 
have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? You see what they're saying? 
We would rather be slaves in Egypt than take our chances as 
free men out here in the wilderness. Brethren, be mindful of that 
mindset because it's not always the best way to live. You will 
see that it paralyzes the first generation when they come to 
spy out the land. We talked a little bit about 
this last time after we closed the actual session. I think it 
was Andrew that asked about the wilderness generation. Remember 
it was when they spied out Eureka on the land. that the negative 
report came back. You had two spies, Joshua and 
Caleb, saying, the land is great, let's go take it. Yeah, there's 
giants in the land, but we can take out the giants because Yahweh 
has promised. Well, the ten spies, they whine, 
they complain, they say, well, you know, the land's not that 
great, and there are these giants, and we're certainly going to 
be bested in the land. So, of course, the congregation 
of Israel sides with who? Not Joshua, not Caleb, but the 
ten whining spies. So the same sort of mindset is 
here. Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we 
told you in Egypt saying, let us alone that we may serve the 
Egyptians? We don't have any record of that, but it's not 
hard to believe, is it? We don't have any record of that 
up to this particular point, but it doesn't surprise us that 
they would say to Moses, remember when we were back in Egypt? We 
want to just be left alone. We embrace the status quo. We'll 
go ahead and stay in slavery rather than go out into the wilderness 
and serve Yahweh as free men. Notice, for it would have been 
better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the 
wilderness. Now, not only are they whining and complaining 
and grumbling, but they're also completely misreading the situation. They conclude that the Egyptians 
simply want to slaughter them. But that's not what the Egyptians 
want. The Egyptians simply want to bring them back. The Egyptians 
simply want them back to work the machines, to work the fields, 
to build the buildings. So they have completely misread 
this situation in terms of what is actually happening. But then 
notice this reminder of what they had previously in their 
complaint to Moses. They do this again in Numbers 
14, and they'll do this again in Joshua 7. In other words, 
the mindset seems to be something like this. Now, let me just indulge 
you for a moment and just ask you to put yourself into the 
shoes of the Israelites here. When there are present challenges, 
Isn't it tempting to look back on the good times in the past? 
Of course it is, right? Oh, it wasn't like this at my 
old church. It wasn't like this when I actually 
had friends. It wasn't like this back in the 
good old days, right? When I was in the military, you'd 
always have that inevitably. You get a new guy at your base. 
Well, at my old base, we didn't do things like this. You're not 
at your old base anymore. If you love your old base so 
much, go back to your old base. It's always better some other 
place and in some other time. That's precisely what they're 
thinking of. But brethren, they've got the promise of God on several 
occasions that they're going to go to a land flowing with 
milk and honey. It may be difficult presently, 
but the end game is worth it all. The end game is most excellent, 
it's most glorious, it's most wondrous. This isn't an isolated 
promise up until this point in the scriptures. I mean, we've 
only gotten to Exodus chapter 14. How many times have we heard 
the land promise given by God first to the patriarchs and now 
to Moses and to the children of Israel? This isn't a pipe 
dream. God did bring 10 plagues. He broke the back of Egyptian 
oppression. He has demonstrated His power. 
He has demonstrated His glory. He has demonstrated His might. 
He has demonstrated His love and His goodness and His kindness 
to these people. And yet it's always, the grass is always greener 
somewhere else. There are times, brethren, that 
through the current situation, we have to be steadfast, we have 
to persevere, and we have to be diligent to overcome instead 
of whining about the way things used to be. It may be the case 
that things will never be the way they used to be. And so we 
need to make the best out of this present situation, persevering 
unto God, knowing that what He holds out is most excellent and 
most glorious. One other observation before 
we leave the complaint of Israel. Notice verse 10. And when Pharaoh 
drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, 
the Egyptians marched after them. Excuse me for a moment. So they 
were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 
How do you think this cry was? Do you think it was a cry, an 
expression of our dependence upon you, God? Was it a cry of 
repentance? Oh Lord, obviously we've done 
something wrong along the way, please forgive us. No, the cry 
is obvious because they engage in complaint following on the 
heels of the cry. Their cry is not a good cry, 
Right? There's times we might cry out 
to God. Oh, Lord, please deliver us. We want to confess our sins. 
We want to repent of our evil. We want to just get things right 
with you. There's other times where we're 
in severe distress and we just want it to end. That's precisely 
what their distress was. They just wanted to end. They 
don't want Pharaoh. They don't want Egyptians. They 
don't want the headaches and the heartaches associated with 
being hunted so that they can be recaptured and brought into 
slavery. Here's the point. God hears their cry and God blesses 
in spite of their lack of good motivation. In other words, when 
we come to the Scriptures, the God that we find, the God with 
whom we have to do, is far more gracious, far more benevolent, 
far more generous, and far more kind than you and I ever deserve. And so their cry was not a good 
cry, but God's ears received it, and He blesses them. So notice, 
now, fourthly, under the plan of God, we have the confidence 
of Moses in verses 13 to 14. This is one of Moses' most epic 
speeches in its brief compass. It's a small section, but up 
to this point, this is as good as Moses has been. Not suggesting 
he hasn't been good, But in terms of a leader's speech and how 
to sort of promote morale among the people, this is great. Notice, 
Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. That's the exhortation. The exhortation given to the 
Israelites. Well, first, even before that, what's the basis 
for the exhortation? Even prior to this exhortation, 
which is do not be afraid, what's the basis? It's the fact that 
God had already spoken to Moses in chapter 14, verses 1 to 4. 
In other words, Moses believes God. The children of Israel should 
have believed God as well. The section ends beautifully. 
They believe the Lord and they believe his servant Moses. What 
was a great lesson that this crossing of the Red Sea taught 
them. But at this point, notice, he understands, he believes the 
word of the living God, and he tells the people, do not be afraid. See, fear will paralyze you. 
Fear will not cause you to keep going. Fear will stop you dead 
in your tracks. What's the antidote to the fear 
of man? It is the fear of God and faith 
in His promises. When we believe God, that will 
hopefully displace the fear of man that we carry in our hearts. 
I don't know that it's the case that any of us will ever be without 
fear as we conduct our stay here in this lower world. There's 
always something to perplex us, there's always something that 
brings anxiety, there's always something that brings a degree 
of distress to the hearts of God's people. And yet over and 
over and over again in Scripture we see, do not fear, do not fear, 
do not fear, be not afraid, trust in me, trust in me. So when we 
trust in God, the idea is that that then displaces the fear 
that we carry in our hearts. And so Moses understood that. 
Fear paralyzes. We're not going to make this 
advance. We're not going to cross the Red Sea. We're not going 
to go through the wilderness of Sinai. We're not going to 
make our way back up to the land of Canaan. We're certainly not 
going to break things and kill Canaanites when we enter into 
the land if we're paralyzed with fear. That's the most crippling 
thing that can come upon the people of God. Do not be afraid. That's the best exhortation that 
Moses could have given these people. They're afraid, so what 
does Moses do? Does he say, well, poor babies, 
I want to coddle you. No, don't be afraid. He says, 
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish 
for you today. Moses doesn't doubt. Moses doesn't 
have unbelief. Moses hears the Word of God. 
Moses has witnessed the signs of God. And Moses walks by faith. And so he exhorts the people 
to do the very same thing. Calvin says, moreover, by bidding 
them not to fear and to stand still and see the salvation of 
the Lord, he implies that as long as fear has possession of 
our minds, they are blinded and confounded in their stupidity 
so as not to receive the help of God. In other words, he has 
the resources available. He has promised the blessing 
to His people. And yet we're so crippled by 
and paralyzed by fear, we'll never step out in faith to take 
the blessings that He has offered to us. And I'm not talking Benny 
Hinn type stuff. I'm talking about basic Christian 
life kind of stuff. Now notice the reason for the 
exhortation. One, he will accomplish salvation 
for you. Two, he will put down your enemies. 
And three, he will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. 
I think the margin is good in the New King James. It says, 
be quiet. In other words, you won't do 
anything. It's not going to be your will. 
It's not going to be your work. It's not going to be your effort. 
But it's going to be God Most High. Again, the parallels between 
this and Judges 4 are very clear, obviously. And then Judges 5, 
the Song of Deborah, just like Exodus 15, the Song of Moses. But back to verse 14. Notice, 
"...the Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." 
So that is the exhortation given to the Israelites, and then the 
reason for that. So that's the plan. They're prepared, 
they're ready to go, they've been steeled by the promise of 
God, as come through the servant of God, namely Moses. Now let's 
look at the power of God, and there's three points here, specifically. 
First, You have the divine promise, verses 15 to 18. Secondly, the 
divine protection, verses 19 to 20. And then thirdly, the 
divine plan in verses 21 to 29. But notice in terms of the promise, 
verse 15. And the Lord said to Moses, why 
do you cry to me? Nothing in the record indicates 
that Moses cried to God. The best possible interpretation 
is that when the children of Israel cried, it's as if God 
heard it and he addresses Moses as the representative of the 
children of Israel. So then notice the specific instruction 
given to him. Verse 15, why do you cry to me? 
Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Great lesson here, 
right? Don't be afraid, go forward. Don't be crippled, don't be paralyzed, 
don't be a whining, complaining, sniveling brat, but rather man 
up and do what God calls you to do. That needs to be the marching 
orders for the church today. We need to take seriously the 
pastoral epistles. You know, theologians and commentators 
in the history of the church have typically looked at the 
church in two ways. They've seen the church militant, 
and they've seen the church triumphant. And typically church triumphant 
refers to the latter-day glory, refers to the eschaton, it refers 
to the eternal state, where the church is triumphant because 
she's now with her blessed Lord. Well, the church on earth has 
always been referred to as the church militant. I would suggest, 
brethren, that we could do with a great deal of militancy in 
our day. Now, hear me, what I'm not saying, 
saying we're going to buy guns and march on Ottawa in the name 
of Jesus and shoot people, but the church militant means trusting 
God, not being afraid of men, and going forward in the fear 
of the Lord. It's that great statement concerning 
the churches of Judea and Samaria in Acts chapter 9, specifically 
at verse 31. They continued in the fear of 
the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. That's a great 
motif with reference to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So 
notice, why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to 
go forward. Don't you just love God? He doesn't 
say, well, just, you know, have a therapy session and whine and 
complain and moan and get in touch with your feelings. No, 
stop being afraid and go forward. That's what you're supposed to 
do. Now to Moses specifically at verse 16, lift up your rod 
and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. The rod 
is not magic, but it's symbolic. It was utilized in the first 
plague in chapter 7 at 17 to 20, and then in the second plague 
at chapter 8 verses 1 to 15. So notice again, verse 16, lift 
up your rod, stretch out your hand over the sea and divide 
it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through 
the midst of the sea. It's a blessed promise, isn't 
it? Imagine that. You're standing there, you see 
Egypt and all her hordes coming, charioteers, men with weapons. You don't have weapons. You're 
not really trained or skilled in the art of war. I mean, this 
is a bad situation they are in, humanly speaking. What do we 
do? Do we turn around and face these foes, or do we swim for 
it? God says, Moses, raise your rod. I'm going to cause a great east 
wind to blow. I'm going to wall up the water on either side, 
and the children of Israel are going to march through on dry 
ground. Again, brethren, we walk by faith. God speaks it through 
His servant. They need to pay attention. Notice 
in verse 17, And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, 
and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh, 
and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians 
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for 
myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. Now you might 
say, well, all of them would be dead. Yeah, and what would 
be their last dying thoughts? that there is a God in Israel, 
the God of heaven and earth. So that is a primary theme in 
this chapter, is that he may gain honor for himself over Pharaoh, 
his chariots, and his horsemen. Now notice, secondly, under the 
power of God, the divine protection. Well, we'll back up just for 
a moment. Verse 17, or verse 18, then the Egyptian shall know 
that I am the Lord when I have gained honor for myself over 
Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. He doesn't say here, 
but we know it's going to happen, that he's going to cause that 
same water that was walled up for the children of Israel to 
march between to ultimately collapse on the nation of Egypt and destroy 
them. John Gill says, by the utter 
destruction of them in just retaliation for the many innocent infants 
that had been drowned by them in the River Nile. God is not 
mocked, brethren. The Lex Talionis is real. Eye 
for eye, tooth for tooth, strike for strike, burn for burn, life 
for life. These people murdered Israelite 
babies in the River Nile. What more fitting way than for 
God Most High to drown every last one of them? Now notice 
the divine protection in verses 19 and 20. To go understand that, 
we go back to chapter 13, verse 21. The Lord went before them 
by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in 
a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and 
night. He did not take away the pillar 
of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before 
the people." So now in verses 19 and 20, the angel of God, 
I think I described or explained last week, many see that as the 
pre-incarnate Christ. Paul's statement, 1 Corinthians 
chapter 10, that Jesus is with them in the wilderness certainly 
corroborates this. So when you have in the New King 
James a capital A angel with the article The, or the definite 
article The, then typically, at least most of the older commentators, 
take that as a reference to the second person of the Trinity. 
And so you have the angel of God who went before the camp 
of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud 
went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between 
the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was 
a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to 
the other, so that one did not come near the other all that 
night. So we have the presence of God among His people, not 
in the pillar and cloud. It's not that God is the bush 
of chapter 3. It's not that God is the pillar 
and cloud of chapter 14. It is rather a symbolic representation 
of His presence among them, just like when they build the tabernacle, 
and the Shekinah glory of God comes down upon that doesn't 
mean that God lives in the tabernacle, but it's the visible representation 
of His presence among them. So now notice what we conclude. 
The presence of God equates to His protection over His people. So it's not just that he's with 
us, but that he protects us. It's that he watches over us, 
and that much is obvious at the end of verse 20. Thus it was 
a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to 
the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that 
night. So, God not only was present 
among the children of Israel, but He's also protective of the 
children of Israel. And this gives confirmation, 
validation, to Moses' exhortation in verse 13. Do not be afraid. Why should you be afraid? We've 
got God Most High in the camp with us, and He has covenanted 
Himself to protect us and bring us to the promised land. Now 
notice the divine plan in verses 21 to 29. We have the crossing 
by the Israelites in verses 21 to 22. The east wind was utilized 
in the eighth plague with reference to the locusts in chapter 10 
at verse 13. So notice at verse 21, then 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 
into dry land and the waters were divided. So the children 
of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, 
and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and 
on their left." Absolutely incredible. Absolutely marvelous. Breathtaking 
that God would do it in this manner. That this wind would 
come, it would wall the waters up, and they would be able to 
walk through on dry ground. Now notice the confusion of the 
Egyptians in verses 23 to 25. So verse 23 says the Egyptians 
pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's 
horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Again, brethren, they're 
following orders. They're not going to go back 
to Pharaoh and say, you know what? These children of Israel, they walked 
right along dry ground, but we weren't going to chance it. No, 
you get back down in there and you chance it. But we're on chariots, 
sir. Well, if it was dry ground for 
them, it'll be dry ground for you. And these guys are walking 
by some serious faith. Now, notice in verse 4, Now it 
came to pass in the morning, watch, that the Lord looked down 
upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and 
cloud. Again, this is spoken in the manner of men. God isn't 
like us. He doesn't investigate things. 
He doesn't have to look over the bush to see that there's 
a deer over there. It's speaking to us in a way 
that we understand. The Lord looked down upon the 
army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, 
and he troubled the army of the Egyptians. It's just here that 
I imagine there were rumblings among those Egyptians. This maybe 
wasn't a good idea. Are we sure about this? You know, we watched the 10 plagues, 
we buried our own firstborn, and now we're going to actually 
step into the Red Sea while these walls of water are on either 
side of us? And then notice that God increases 
this in verse 25. And He took off their chariot 
wheels so that they drove them with difficulty. So, imagine 
that. You're in this already precarious 
position, and then your chariot wheels fall off. Now, the Hebrew 
is a bit difficult, but most commentators agree that it was 
either that, that the wheels fell off, or that they were stuck. They were not able to gain purchase, 
they were not able to get out of that particular mire. So now 
they finally come to their senses, and they've seen rightly what's 
going to happen to them. If not the walls of water collapsing 
on them, they know they are sitting ducks. If Pharaoh thought that 
in verses 1 and 2, Israel would be ripe for ambush, there was 
no better ambush than what was set up at this particular point. 
So notice what they now say. The Egyptians said at the end 
of verse 25, let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord 
fights for them against the Egyptians. Boy, that's a bit too little 
and too late, isn't it? That's the wrong time to make 
that discovery. These guys are in a whole heap 
of hurt. Now notice the drowning of the 
Egyptians by God. Stuart, who's a wonderful commentator, 
says the sea drowned the people. No, God drowned the people using 
the agency of the sea. Notice verse 26. Then the Lord 
said to Moses, could you imagine the tension and the scene at 
that time? You ever just kind of not, you 
know, think in terms of Charlton Heston in the movie, but you 
think about what it must have actually been like to be delivered 
by God in such a dramatic way. And then to see that wall of 
water collapse on your enemies again, brethren, they weren't 
saying, oh, that's too bad. And that's unfortunate. These 
men were part of the system that killed their babies. that threw 
them into the Nile, that discarded them like they were so much trash. 
So the Lord said to Moses in verse 26, stretch out your hand 
over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians 
on their chariots and on their horsemen. And Moses stretched 
out his hand over the sea. And when the morning appeared, 
the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were 
fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians 
in the midst of the sea. Robert Alter makes a comment 
similar to what John Gill does. The male warriors of the nation 
that had sought to drown every Hebrew male child now meet a 
fate of death by drowning. And then notice the extensiveness 
of it in verse 28. Then the waters returned and 
covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that 
came into the sea after that. Not so much as one of them remained. Later commentary in Psalm 106 
at verse 11. The waters covered their enemies. There was not one of them left. And, of course, the narrative 
goes on to specify that in terms of the children of Israel, verse 
29, they passed through absolutely, positively unharmed. They made it safe. The Lord God 
had blessed them. The Lord God had delivered them. 
And in the deliverance of His children, that necessarily entailed 
the judgment upon His enemies. And the appropriate response 
is found in verses 30 and 31. In other words, this is the Romans 
12 to the Romans 1 to 11. If what Paul says in Romans 1 
to 11 is absolutely true, and it is, then Romans 12 1 and 2 
necessarily follow. Because you have been blessed 
by God, therefore, by the mercies of God, I beseech you to present 
your bodies as a living sacrifice. This is the gratitude to the 
grace expressed by God Most High. So verse 30, So the Lord saved 
Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel 
saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the 
great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people 
feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. Gil says, in terms of this fear, 
it's not that sort of fear where, you know, they're shaking and 
quivering, though that's part of it, because our God is that 
fearful, but it's also filial. It's the fear of a child, the 
reverential awe toward his parent. And Gil says, they had an awe 
of his power and greatness upon their minds, and a sense of his 
goodness to them upon their hearts, which influenced their fear of 
him and caused them to fear him with a filial and godly fear. So when they witnessed this, 
they saw the great work which God had done, they feared him, 
and they believed the Lord. But not only the Lord, they believe 
his servant Moses. Everything Moses has said to 
them is true, it's valid, and it's accurate. So going forward, 
they're going to always just listen and always just obey, 
right? No, that's not what they're going to do. But at this particular 
point anyways, they believe the Lord and His servant Moses. Psalm 
106.12 says, Then they believed His words, they sang His praise. And that's precisely what we'll 
find in chapter 15 in verses 1 to 20. But in conclusion, we 
see first that the plan of God is clear. The salvation of Israel 
necessarily involves the damnation of His enemies, the judgment 
of His enemies. In other words, it's not the 
case that God just brings them out and just, you know, leaves 
the enemies to do their thing. No, that's one of the blessings 
in redemption. Not only does God vindicate His 
elect, but He also punishes His enemies. There is a day coming 
when the children of God, when the church of Jesus Christ, will 
be vindicated. We will have cause to sing a 
fourfold hallelujah over God's judgment upon His enemies. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
the conduct of God's people in this chapter and do just the 
opposite. I mean, it's good what they do 
in verse 31, but in terms of the fear, in terms of the complaint, 
in terms of the whining, and in terms of the sniveling, that's 
unacceptable. Notice that the presence of complaint 
ultimately demonstrates a lack of faith. Not the complete absence 
of it, but the lack of faith. The desire for the past reveals 
discontent concerning the present. Again, it may be the case that 
the present isn't that great, but whining about how good it 
used to be isn't typically the way to go forward. And the exercise 
of faith displaces fear in the people of God. And then, as I 
said, we need to make sure we capture the primary theme in 
the chapter, and that's the glory of God. Yes, Israel is delivered. Yes, the enemies are judged. 
But ultimately, it's that God may gain honor, and that His 
enemies may know that there is a living and true God in heaven 
and on earth, and He is the God of Israel. Again, they may not 
have had it for 20 years, for 30 years, but they had it for 
the last 20 seconds while they're gasping in that last breath of 
life. They knew that we messed with 
the wrong God, the only true and living God. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we thank You 
for Your power displayed in passages like these. God, we confess at 
times our little faith in terms of our own situation and the 
grace that we need to persevere and the desire we have that You 
would do things like this. But we know, God, You're not 
duty-bound to perform for us when we have a desire for a display 
of power. Help us to feed our souls on 
these displays. Help us to encourage our hearts 
with the reality that You are God present with His people, 
and a God who does protect His people. And may You just increase 
our faith, and increase our courage and our strength, and increase 
our desire to go forward. We ask now that You would bless 
and strengthen and encourage our hearts, build us up in our 
most holy faith, and enable us to glorify You in the rest of 
this week. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, 
any questions or comments? We have just a few minutes here. 
I should say there's a lot of technical issues in terms of 
the chapter. You know, the time involved, 
there's various ways to explain, you know, some question in terms 
of the sea and where all that was. There's just simply not 
time in the day to deal with all of that stuff. So if there's, 
you know, further study that you want to do, it's a wonderful, 
wonderful chapter of Holy Scripture that does demand or pays rich 
dividends to those who invest some time in it. Yeah Yeah, yeah, it's a And I mean, I'm saying it like, 
oh yeah, no problem. I got the same fears, brethren, 
the same concerns and anxieties and anxiousness, but the same 
thing or the same idea is that we need to appreciate that it 
really does betray a lack of faith or confidence in God, that 
he is the powerful I am and the one who's promised to never leave 
us nor forsake us. But yeah, that is a theme replete 
in scripture. Don't fear. And what do we do? We fear. They cried out to him, not with 
great motivation, but he nevertheless hears and he nevertheless delivers. 
Now that doesn't mean go out and pray to God with terrible 
motivation, but it does mean that God is good, he is kind, 
he is the God that the Bible tells us he really is. And that's 
Old Testament. So, you know, people say, oh, 
the God of the Old Testament. You see how patient he is, long-suffering, 
with the children of Israel. I mean, really, you think about 
the signs that he did. It wasn't like, you know, how 
can we know these things are true? You saw frogs, you saw 
mice, you saw darkness in their part of the world, but not in 
your part. You saw their firstborn killed. You've seen all these things, 
and yet you think God's just brought you out to the wilderness 
to leave you to die? Yes? The New Testament talks 
about all were baptized with Moses. 1 Corinthians 10. Okay, 
why is it called baptize there? That's a great question that 
I'm not prepared to answer. I think it actually, you know, 
it's utilizing the word baptism as it should be translated, immerse. The experience, you know, Jesus 
talks in Luke 12, I think it's at verse 50, I have a baptism 
to undergo. Well, he's talking about being 
overwhelmed by death is what the idea is. So I think it's 
association with Moses. I think the imagery of going 
through the Red Sea is suggestive of baptism too. So I think there's 
a few of those things going on. But then later on in that section 
around verse four, it speaks of that rock, which was Christ. 
That's why so many commentators on verses 19 and 20, with the 
angel of God that's in the pillar of fire, say that's the pre-incarnate 
Christ, which I think is a good way to understand that. Yes? I didn't catch it. Yes. You know, the so-called modern-day 
scholars are always trying to describe I wish I had that earmarked, 
but a couple of years ago I was watching this documentary group 
of Christians, and they were over there trying to find out 
where this crossing was. They had trouble getting permission 
on this property to do it, but anyways, they had video coverage 
of where they found that where it was, because they were underwater 
with all these cameras, and there was actually Have you ever heard 
of J. Vernon McGee? Oh yeah. I remember hearing him one time. He said there was a little boy 
who was in Sunday school and went down to Liberal Church and 
the Liberal the liberal teacher lady said oh yeah you know it 
was just shallow and and you know it was easy for the children 
of Israel to walk across and this little boy cried out praise 
the Lord and she said didn't you hear me I said it was shallow 
and it was easy for the children of Israel to just walk across 
and he said oh yeah praise the Lord that he was able to kill 
all those Egyptians with so little water All right.