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Summary
We are reminded of God’s spectacular deliverance of Israel at the Sea of Reeds, examining Exodus 12–14. This passage teaches us that God orchestrates even seemingly hopeless situations to display His glory, test His people’s faith, and fulfill His covenant promises.
Key Lessons:
- God’s promises are certain — 70 people became 2 million in 430 years, exactly as He declared to Abraham, proving His faithfulness across generations.
- Biblical reasoning must start with Scripture — when scholars dismiss the 600,000 figure or the miracle itself, they reveal their unbelieving assumptions, not flaws in God’s Word.
- God engineers impossible situations on purpose — He led Israel into a trap at the sea so that His deliverance would be undeniable and His glory unmistakable.
- Miracles alone do not change hearts — Israel believed after crossing the sea yet complained again soon after, warning us against a shallow faith that holds back from full surrender to God.
Application: We are called to reason from Scripture, fear God with holy reverence, and trust Him when circumstances seem hopeless — going forward in obedience even when there is no visible way out, confident that God will act before He ever proves unfaithful.
Discussion Questions:
- Where in your life are you currently reasoning from cultural assumptions rather than from Scripture? What would it look like to rebuild your thinking on God’s Word?
- Israel saw miracle after miracle yet kept doubting. In what areas do you find yourself repeating the same patterns of unbelief despite past evidence of God’s faithfulness?
- How do you assess whether your faith is the saving, deep-rooted kind versus the surface-level belief that fades under trial? What practical realities does the Bible point you to?
Scripture Focus: Exodus 12:37–41 (Israel’s departure and God’s fulfilled promises to Abraham); Exodus 13:17–14:31 (the sea crossing — God’s pillar of cloud and fire, the parting of the waters, and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army); Genesis 15:5–14 (the Abrahamic covenant promises shown to be fulfilled); Hebrews 11:29 and Acts 7:36 (New Testament references to the crossing).
Outline
- Introduction
- Israel Departs Egypt
- Trusting Scripture Over Scholarship
- Reading Exodus 13–14: The Sea Confrontation
- God’s Route and the Pillar of Cloud
- Who Is the Angel of God?
- Did Pharaoh Survive?
- Was This a Natural Phenomenon?
- Where Did the Crossing Occur?
- Applications: Reason, Fear, and Trust
- Discussion: Miracles and Hardened Hearts
- Discussion: The Spectrum of Unbelief
Introduction
Well, good morning. Welcome back to Sunday school.
It’s good to be back with you. I’m glad to see our brother back with us. Welcome back, Bruce. I’m pleased to see you back with us today.
Special thanks to Pastor Mark and Pastor Crumbley for leading Sunday school in my stead over the last few weeks. I trust that you had an edifying time watching the Patterns of Evidence Exodus DVDs as well as studying the final of the 10 plagues and the inauguration of the Passover.
However, as we continue in our study of Exodus and Moses, we see that God is not done with Pharaoh. Pharaoh has finally let Israel go. But Pharaoh and the Egyptians as a whole still have one final role to play in bringing glory and in testing the faith of the people of Israel.
Today we’re talking about God’s marvelous deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea. You’ll notice the little asterisk on the title next to Red Sea. That’s because there’s a bit of an interpretation question as to whether the deliverance recorded in our text actually took place at what we call the Red Sea today or was it somewhere else.
We’ll talk about that. This is another one of the more well-known events of the Bible, which means we’ll need to pay extra close attention so that we hear what God’s word actually says rather than what we’ve seen depicted in movies or what we’ve imagined.
Why did God lead Israel out of Egypt to this confrontation by the sea? How did God bring about deliverance? What is the significance of these events for us today? Let’s pray and we’ll begin to answer these questions.
Lord God, you are the great and glorious God. Your ways so often are inscrutable, but you are determined to magnify your glory and to teach your people to trust you, to revere you, to take the humble position of dependence before you. I pray that would be accomplished through my teaching this morning. Speak to your people by your word in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Israel Departs Egypt
All right, let’s begin by returning to where we left off in Exodus, the final plague, the death of the firstborn. Open your Bibles back to Exodus 12.
Pharaoh and the people have just told the Israelites to leave Egypt quickly.
By this point, the Israelites have requested and have been granted various treasures from their Egyptian neighbors.
Weighed down with plunder, so to speak, we now see the nation of Israel leave Egypt. Read with me Exodus 12:37-41.
Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock. They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread, for it had not become leavened since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. And at the end of 430 years, to the very day, all the hosts of the Lord, that is Yahweh, went out from the land of Egypt.
As always, let’s begin our analysis by making simple observations of the text.
Notice in verse 37, the people of Israel journey from Ramses to Succoth. Now, Ramses was in the land of Goshen just southeast of the Nile Delta in Egypt.
The Size of the Exodus
And there have been various sites proposed for ancient Sukoth. I should say that we have a good idea of where Ramses is, but there have been various sites proposed for ancient Sukoth. It appears that it was a location southeast of Ramses.
Notice also in verse 37 how many people are said to have traveled from there: 600,000 men.
Now the people of Israel often took numbers of themselves only in terms of men. We see this even in the gospels in Jesus’ day when it talks about when he fed a certain number of thousands of people. It just records the men.
This doesn’t mean that there were only men, obviously, or that the women and children weren’t important. It’s just the way the Hebrews numbered things. The number of men was particularly important for knowing Israel’s readiness for battle. These are the people who could fight.
But from this number of men, we can estimate the number of Israel as a whole as it comes out of Egypt. If there are 600,000 men, there likely are about one and a half to two million Israelites leaving Egypt. Probably closer to two million.
If that sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. Remember how many people came down to Egypt in the beginning with Jacob? Seventy. But now we have two million.
And how long did this take? Well, notice verses 40 to 41 say that Israel was in Egypt for exactly 430 years.
In 430 years, God caused 70 persons to become two million.
“In 430 years, God caused 70 persons to become 2 million.”
God’s Fulfilled Promises to Abraham
Has God not kept his promise to multiply the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Oh, he certainly has. In fact, notice how much of what has been declared to Abraham back in Genesis 15 is demonstrated as fulfilled in this chapter of Exodus.
To remind you, Genesis 15:5. And he, that’s God, took him, that’s Abraham, outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars if you were able to count them.” And he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
Genesis 15:13-14. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, for they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years, but I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.” It’s exactly what God said. God has brought these promises to pass.
And if he brought these promises to pass, then surely he will also bring about the promise of Genesis 15:7 as well. Genesis 15:7. And he said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of the Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”
“God has brought these promises to pass. Surely he will also bring about the promise of Genesis 15:7.”
You see, what’s happened at the end of Exodus 12 is just the start of God’s bountiful outpouring to his people.
Not only will God provide miraculously for his people as they go into the wilderness, he will also give Israel’s cities and farms and vineyards that they did not buy and they did not build. He’s going to give them all the land of Canaan.
The Mixed Multitude
Back to Exodus 12. Notice one other detail here in verse 38. It says, “A mixed multitude went up with them.” A mixed multitude means that some non-Hebrews went up with them. This probably refers to other Semites, other Semitic peoples, but it may also refer to Egyptians or people from other people groups.
All sorts of people are realizing the power of Israel’s God, and they even want to go with Israel. I’m going to stick with them.
Some of these tag-alongs, however, will cause trouble for Israel later on.
“All sorts of people are realizing the power of Israel’s God, and they even want to go with Israel.”
Then in about 1445 BC, about 2 million men, women, and children—mostly Hebrews but some non-Hebrews—along with abundant livestock and treasure, all depart from Egypt.
Amazing.
Trusting Scripture Over Scholarship
But with these observations, let’s now consider two interpretation questions.
First, many modern biblical scholars and archaeologists scoff at the idea of the Israelite population being so large at the time of the Exodus. They suggest that the number 600,000 is an exaggeration meant to glorify God and emphasize the growth of Israel.
They suggest that we should infer some copyist error or maybe it’s an exaggeration or maybe it’s a copyist error—not 600,000 really, but 60,000 or even 6,000 that seems more reasonable.
These suggestions are born out of the belief that a horde numbering 2 million is simply too large. They claim there is no archaeological evidence of such a large group living in or leaving Egypt. And two million people cannot reasonably be expected to travel successfully through the wilderness, the deserts between Egypt and Canaan. So we need to revise that number.
Considering these objections, but also considering what we’ve observed in the passage, how should we interpret this number 600,000?
Is that what the scriptures say? Just take it as given. Believe the scriptures. Yes, take it straight up.
There are several good explanations as to why archaeological evidence might be lacking. One of which you learned about recently is that people are looking at evidence in the wrong period. When you assume that the Exodus, if it took place, took place around 1,200 BC, anything from an earlier time you say that’s not the Exodus.
And there actually is evidence from an earlier period, which the documentary went through. Most people do date the Exodus much later than what the Bible indicates.
But there are no clues in this text or in other texts that indicate that 600,000 is an error or symbolic of some smaller number.
Besides, how could exaggerating the number of people that were delivered by God glorify God? If you must cover for God’s shortcomings, aren’t you shaming God rather than glorifying him? I don’t even think the people are considering the full logic of this. Yet these are the explanations offered by serious, prestigious scholars.
Really the key issue is what is considered reasonable. For all reason must rest on a foundation.
Biblical Christians start with the Bible to determine what is reasonable. Here’s our trustworthy, authoritative source. Whereas unbelievers and Christians influenced by unbelieving thinking use man’s popular ideas to determine what is reasonable. There’s their starting point. There’s their authoritative source.
Truly, there is nothing unreasonable about 600,000 men and then 2 million people leaving Egypt in the Exodus. This is what the Bible says. The Bible is God’s word and is therefore trustworthy.
“Biblical Christians start with the Bible to determine what is reasonable.”
And we’re going to hear later on that God provides miraculously for them in the wilderness. Yes, normally this would be impossible. Even as we read in the text, they took no provisions with them because they didn’t have time.
How are they going to survive the journey? God’s going to have to provide. That’s God’s whole point. So we can and we should take 600,000 in its normal sense.
In light of this fact, my second question is: what does this text at the end of Exodus 12 emphasize to us about God?
He’s faithful and he fulfills his promises. What else?
He keeps his covenant.
Okay, so along the same lines, he keeps covenant, Danny. Yes, he is all powerful. He is sovereign and he is good. He is good to his people. Even through hardship and the unexpected, he is good and he brings about a mighty deliverance.
Okay, so this Exodus is wonderful. But as I said at the beginning, God is not done showing forth his glory. He never is.
“God is sovereign and he is good. Even through hardship and the unexpected, he is good and he brings about a mighty deliverance.”
Reading Exodus 13–14: The Sea Confrontation
The Israelites may be expecting that everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. But God has something different, something better, something more glorious in mind.
Let’s skip down to Exodus 13 into chapter 14, specifically 14:31. This is a much larger section, but I want to read the whole thing: Exodus 13:17-14:31.
Let’s read this whole section and then we’ll take a closer look. Starting in Exodus 13:17.
Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near. For God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea.
And the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt.
Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. For he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”
Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. Yahweh was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Now Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pihahiroth between Migdol and the sea. You shall camp in front of Baal Zephon, opposite it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’
Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” And they did so.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him. He took 600 select chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. And the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army. And they overtook them camping by the sea beside Pihahiroth in front of Baal Zephon.
As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened. So the sons of Israel cried out to Yahweh. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear. Stand by and see the salvation of Yahweh which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. Yahweh will fight for you while you keep silent.”
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.
As for me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they will go in after them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army through his chariots and his horsemen.
Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I am honored through Pharaoh through his chariots and his horsemen.”
The angel of God who had been going before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. And the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. And there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night, so that the one did not come near the other all night.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. At the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and he made them drive with difficulty.
So the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting for them against the Egyptians.” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.”
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it. Then Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them. Not even one of them remained.
But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left. Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
When Israel saw the great power which Yahweh had used against the Egyptians, the people feared Yahweh and they believed in Yahweh and in his servant Moses.
God’s Route and the Pillar of Cloud
Let’s make some observations on this incredible account.
The Israelites leave Egypt, making sure to grab Joseph’s bones, and then they follow God’s direction.
If you go back to Exodus 13:21, notice that Yahweh appears in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead Israel while they travel.
If you just notice the next verse, Exodus 13:22, it says that this cloud never leaves Israel, but is always there to guide and reside with them.
“Yahweh appears in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night — never leaving Israel, always guiding them.”
If you look down to Exodus 14:19, notice that the angel of God is said to be the one leading Israel and that this angel moves behind Israel with the pillar of cloud at a certain point in the confrontation with the Egyptians.
Now, in which direction do Yahweh and the people of Israel go?
As I said, it appears that they were generally going southeast from Goshen to Succoth, and so on. But there is considerable debate about how the rest of the journey plays out, the full route of where Israel goes. We have a pretty good idea of where Ramses and Succoth are, or rather were, but the rest of the locations in this chapter are more difficult to identify. Successful discernment of the correct locations comes down to one central question.
Where was the sea that the Israelites crossed?
We’ll talk more about that in the interpretation step.
One thing we can say based on Exodus 13:17 is that God does not lead Israel by the way of the Philistines, by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though that route was near. What’s the reason? God says that route would cause Israel to see war, which might cause them to want to turn back, and God sought to spare them from this temptation.
Now what was the way of the land of the Philistines? Well, where did the Philistines live primarily?
They were part of Canaan but in a particular section of Canaan. Does anyone know the Gaza Strip? That’s basically where the Philistine cities were. Which means they were next to what body of water?
The Mediterranean Sea. They were right on the coast. This route is actually well known to historians and archaeologists as the Via Maris, or the way of the sea. It was the quickest route from Egypt to Canaan. However, because it was the quickest, it was also the most fortified route. There were several Egyptian fortresses along this route as well as Canaanite strongholds.
If you’re going that way, you are going to see a lot of warfare quickly and constantly.
God did not want that for the Israelites. So he takes them a different and longer direction.
Pharaoh Pursues Israel
Now, God leads them this other direction, but then he turns them back and has Israel encamp in front of a sea.
This is not a random course of action. This action has a certain goal. It is intended to cause Pharaoh to believe something according to Exodus 14:3, namely that the Israelites are lost and they are blocked in by the desert.
Indeed, in Exodus 14:5, when Pharaoh hears news of Israel, he and his servants have a change of heart. Yahweh hardens their hearts and Pharaoh and his servants sent out with the army to attack Israel, which means that Egypt is coming to kill and enslave God’s people.
But God ordains that this would happen.
He ordains this change of heart and attack on Israel. And he even tells Moses why before it happens. The reason is given in Exodus 14:4: “This is so that I will be honored in deliverance and judgment and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. That is, I am Yahweh.”
“God ordains this confrontation so that he will be honored in deliverance and judgment and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.”
That is the covenant name of God.
Notice in Exodus 14:6 and 7 that Pharaoh indeed goes after them with 600 select chariots along with other chariots and horsemen. Verse 6 says that Pharaoh himself got in his chariot and he led these other chariots and horsemen after Israel.
Notice in the Old Testament that the Hebrews are often quite hesitant to go into battle against chariots. Why is that? Well, chariots were a feared war machine in ancient times. For the Egyptians, they apparently functioned as mobile archery platforms with plenty of arrows.
The chariots would get close, shoot precisely at various targets, and then when the soldiers come after them, the chariots just turn around and flee. So the soldiers have no way of stopping these chariots, or they’re picked apart by their arrows.
Now, Exodus 14:8 says that the Hebrews left Egypt boldly.
But when Pharaoh’s army is visible on the horizon, how did the Hebrews react? They are terrorized and they complain in desperation against Moses.
But how does Moses react? Notice verses 13 and 14 of chapter 14. Moses exhorts them to trust in God’s deliverance. Yahweh will fight for you.
He says, “They’ve got war machines, but we have a greater warrior than they do.
The Parting of the Sea
But how will Yahweh fight for them?
He will use the sea. Notice how Yahweh parts the sea for Israel in Exodus 14:21. He has Moses lift up his staff, stretch his hand over the sea, and then God uses a powerful wind to divide the waters all night while the people of Israel walk across on dry ground with a wall of water on both sides.
“They’ve got war machines, but we have a greater warrior than they do.”
Now, do wind and water normally respond to the hand and staff of a man?
No. Can wind normally cause water to stand up continually in a wall like this text indicates?
No.
Does wind normally cause the seafloor to become instantly dry?
No.
Certainly, it will take time for two million Israelites to cross in this channel of salvation. Though I doubt any of the Israelites were dawdling. I mean, would you dawdle if you had water on both sides of you and chariots behind you?
Let’s scoot right through there as quickly as I could.
Still, how will God prevent the Egyptians from crossing into the same channel and attacking the Israelites from behind?
Well, verses 19 and 20 of chapter 14 tell us that the angel of God and the pillar of cloud come behind Israel and stand between Israel and Egypt. Verse 20 mentions that the cloud had darkness and light, perhaps indicating that the cloud was darkness for the Egyptians but light for the people of Israel.
Note that this sea crossing is happening at night. The Egyptians and the Israelites would need light. But the light of God’s cloud was sufficient for Israel to see and to make this crossing.
Now, we might think that such an obviously supernatural display would cause the Egyptians to give up, but apparently not. Such were their hardened hearts.
Notice Exodus 14:22-24. It says, “Toward morning, when Israel had finished the crossing, God removes himself as a barrier between Egypt and Israel. God allows the Egyptians to advance after the Hebrews have crossed.”
However, during the morning watch, which would have been sometime between 2 and 6:00 a.m., God does something that finally convinces the Egyptians to turn back and flee. Verse 25 of chapter 14 says, “God causes the chariot wheels to swerve and the chariots to drive with difficulty, thus bringing the Egyptian army into confusion.”
What good are war machines, even the most powerful war machines, when they don’t work? That’s what God caused to happen. This would be like nations rolling out tanks and planes and missiles and then suddenly seeing all those machines and their engines suddenly sputter and die. They won’t move or they won’t move the way that the drivers need them to.
At this, the Egyptians realize God, Israel’s God, is fighting against them.
The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Army
And they turn to flee out of the waters.
But verses 26 and 27 indicate it’s too late. God commands Moses to lift his hand over the seas again to bring the waters back into place. And the waters fall on the fleeing Egyptians, this crushing wall of water right on top of them. And how many of Pharaoh’s army survives?
Not one. Verse 28. Not a single one.
In fact, notice the series of contrasts presented towards the end of the passage in verses 28 to 30. Israel walked through on dry land, but God brought the waters on the Egyptians. The Hebrews were saved, but the Egyptian dead washed up on the seashore.
“Israel walked through on dry land, but God brought the waters on the Egyptians. The Hebrews were saved, but the Egyptian dead washed up on the seashore.”
A three-fold result appears in verse 31.
After Israel sees Yahweh’s great power, it says, “The people feared Yahweh. The people believed in Yahweh. And they believed in Yahweh’s servant Moses.”
Who Is the Angel of God?
Okay, that’s just simple observations in the text. Let’s now take those into some questions of interpretation. Who is the angel of God?
This must be Yahweh himself. I even hear some of you saying Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. Why do we say this is Yahweh?
Well, in other Torah passages, even ones we’ve covered in this series, we’ve seen that the angel of God and the angel of Yahweh is Yahweh, though also distinct from Yahweh. This is consistent with the New Testament’s clearer teaching on the Trinity. This is the plurality of the one God made manifest even in the Old Testament.
What detail in this passage confirms that the angel of God is God?
The angel moves, right? And what else moves at the same time? The cloud, which was also said to be where Yahweh was. When the angel moves, the cloud of God’s presence moves.
And this is because the angel is God.
“When the angel moves, the cloud of God’s presence moves — because the angel is God.”
Which member of the Trinity is the angel of Yahweh? It makes sense to say it’s the Son. The Son is uniquely tasked in the economy of the Godhead—the way the Godhead interacts with creation—with representing and explaining God to man.
We see this explicitly stated in John 1:18.
This falls in line with what an angel does. Does anybody remember what “angel” literally means? Messenger. It’s somebody who declares, who makes known revelation. So the angel of God makes sense as the explainer of God. John 1:18 and the Son—it’s the same as the angel of God.
This is not to say that other persons of the Godhead cannot be manifest in a temporal way into our temporal world. You can’t say the Father would never make himself known or the Spirit would never appear in the world. Remember that the voice of the Father was heard from heaven at Jesus’s baptism and the Spirit descended in some visible form like a dove.
The Son in the Old Testament
Nevertheless, in terms of roles, the son serves primarily as the representative and mediator between God and man. It is a strong inference to say this is the sun.
This little discussion helps us answer a certain Christmas-related question: What was the son doing before his incarnation?
A lot. He’s all over the Old Testament if we’re understanding the son as the angel of God and the angel of Yahweh. God is always active. Every person of the trinity is always active.
But even in biblical history, we can see that God the Son as the angel of Yahweh was very involved in the lives of the patriarchs and with the nation of Israel. It’s not like God the Son was an overeager junior varsity athlete just saying, “Put me in, coach.” No, the son was already in. The son was leading and serving and helping and protecting and even avenging Israel as we see in our passage.
“God the Son as the angel of Yahweh was very involved in the lives of the patriarchs and with the nation of Israel.”
Next question.
Did Pharaoh Survive?
Did Pharaoh survive the destruction of his army?
No. We have no reason to believe this.
Despite what you might see in movies, I think Pastor Mark mentioned The Ten Commandments, a very famous movie from the mid-20th century. I think I can still see the scene where Pharaoh’s looking at the side of the water and he just sees his whole army dying and he’s just like, “Okay, that’s nice and dramatic.” But that’s not what the Bible says.
Kings often led armies personally in those days. We do see that throughout the Old Testament. Exodus 14:6 says that Pharaoh himself got in his chariot to chase Israel. And then later in the passage, it says no one survived.
So Pharaoh must have been killed along with the rest of his army.
“Kings often led armies personally. Exodus 14:6 says Pharaoh himself got in his chariot — and later, not one survived.”
What is the main message or purpose of this passage?
I would say it’s to cause all people to do the same as the original audience: to fear Yahweh and his great power, to believe in Yahweh, to trust in his promises, and to follow Yahweh’s chosen leaders and teachers.
God did just as he promised to do to Egypt.
And what a terrifying picture of the utter destruction awaiting God’s enemies.
At the same time, what a comforting example of the complete vindication and rescue awaiting God’s own.
Here is a seemingly hopeless situation that God himself explicitly brought about. But then at the last minute, an amazing provision, an amazing deliverance, and an amazing display of God’s glory.
I often think about this when I reach certain points in my life and I’m just like, there’s no way out, God. There’s no way forward. It’s like that’s exactly what God did at the sea. He said, “There’s no way out, but all of a sudden, here it is.”
But why didn’t God have mercy on the Egyptians? The Egyptians were already fleeing by the time God moved Moses to destroy them. Why not just let them get away?
What would you say?
He gave them chances.
That’s true. So part of the answer is, I say, God didn’t show them mercy at all. Why didn’t he do that? He’s been showing them mercy the whole time by even letting them get this far. So in some ways, this question has perhaps a wrong assumption in it.
I think I saw your hand too, Danny.
That’s right. God is determined to glorify himself. He determined that he would glorify himself in the death of the wicked ones and oppressors.
In this instance, let’s remember one of the truths that the Torah emphasizes, and we’re certainly going to see it: God says that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He is not obligated to show mercy to anyone, but he does choose to show mercy according to his own good pleasure at times.
In many ways, as Joma pointed out, God has been merciful to the Egyptians, even to Pharaoh and his army. I mean, all those judgments. And yet they still want to go against God and attack his people.
So God says, “I’m done showing mercy to you. Now it’s time for me to glorify myself in judgment.” You say, “But couldn’t he have just given him one more chance?” God does what seems good to him. He chose exactly the right way. He said, “The time for mercy is over. Now I’ll be glorified in judgment.”
We must let God be God. Let him do what seems good to him.
And remember, he was not just showing judgment on the Egyptians, but taking vengeance on behalf of his people.
There’s something that God promises to do again and again in his Old Testament. He says, “You who are being oppressed, you who are being mistreated, take heart. I will avenge you. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I will repay. Don’t take your own vengeance.”
Was This a Natural Phenomenon?
Now, the text says that a wind drove back the waters. Could this splitting of the sea simply have been some wonderful natural phenomenon that the Israelites just took advantage of?
Absolutely not. No way. Why not?
Nature doesn’t work that way.
Exactly. If you’re just paying close attention to the details of the text, this can’t happen naturally.
Instantaneous change of water that corresponds to Moses’ hands. A unique wind that kept water held back on both sides. I mean, we might imagine like a super strong wind. It just keeps pushing and pushing and pushing the water. But no, this is like a little channel. What wind does that?
And there’s the dry ground. Even if there were a wind that suddenly pushed back the sea, you’re not going to get instant dry ground. And yet the text says multiple times, they crossed on dry ground. They crossed on dry ground. They crossed on dry ground. And good thing because otherwise that crossing would have been a lot harder, maybe even impossible.
This was a miracle. This was a display of supernatural power. This is not a natural phenomenon.
“This was a miracle — a display of supernatural power. This is not a natural phenomenon.”
Where Did the Crossing Occur?
Okay. Question I alluded to earlier.
Where did this miracle occur?
Did this miracle take place at the Red Sea as is traditionally believed?
This is a tricky question to answer, and I’ll lay out some of the reasons why.
The name Red Sea refers to the Persian Gulf area. The modern day Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aquaba would both qualify as part of the Red Sea.
However, though we see “Red Sea” in our English translation of Exodus 13:18, “Red Sea” is not what the Hebrew says. The Hebrew words are “yamsuf,” which translates to “sea of reeds.”
So not “Red Sea” but “sea of reeds.” Now that sounds very similar in English, but it’s not in Hebrew. They’re totally different words.
If it says “sea of reeds,” where did we get “Red Sea” from?
Well, it first appeared in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. The Septuagint translation is the Old Testament into Greek, which took place around the 2nd century BC.
Why did the Septuagint translators choose to translate “yamsuf” as “Red Sea”?
It is a mystery.
Moreover, two New Testament writers also use the term “Red Sea” to refer to this sea of the miraculous Old Testament crossing. We see Luke do this in Acts 7:36, and we see the author of Hebrews do this in Hebrews 11:29.
Even if the Old Testament doesn’t say “Red Sea,” the New Testament does. Doesn’t that confirm “Red Sea”?
We might be able to excuse the New Testament writers if they were indeed in error by saying they’re simply referring to the Septuagint translation. They’re just going back to the Old Testament that was in common use at that time—the Greek translation of the Old Testament—and they just used that title, “Red Sea.”
Then to add one more wrinkle to this issue, the topography of Eastern Egypt was different in ancient times than it is today.
Archaeologists and geologists have discovered evidence that the Nile Delta used to be wider in antiquity with another eastern branch of water that no longer exists today. There were also several lakes and marshes on ancient Egypt’s eastern border that either are reduced today or no longer exist.
In fact, ancient pharaohs apparently dug a series of canals between these bodies of water and formed something like a wall of water on Egypt’s eastern boundary. This boundary would have been quite stark visually—on Egypt’s side, lots of greenery; on the other side, dusty desert and wilderness.
But this watery boundary no longer exists today due to failure to upkeep the canals, changes in the environment, and human manipulation of the Nile River.
It is possible that the Sea of Reeds, which was such an obvious obstacle to the ancient Israelites, was unknown later, even by the time of the Septuagint translation, because the environment had changed.
Therefore, the translators of the Old Testament into Greek were trying to figure out what sea this text was talking about. The only one that they could figure was the Red Sea, which is why they put in that term, even though that’s not what “yamsuf” means.
Now, remember the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament is not inspired. Even though Jesus affirmed it as the word of God, it doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be any mistranslation or misleading translation in there, just like our Bible text today.
You can see that the issue is complicated. There’s reason to say “Red Sea,” and there’s reason not to say “Red Sea.” So where did it actually take place?
Well, all sorts of sites have been suggested. You might not be able to see it so clearly on this, but you can refer to the slide later. All sorts of sites have been suggested for this Red Sea crossing, even the Gulf of Aqaba, which is pretty far away and pretty wide.
Answers in Genesis prefers the Gulf of Suez as the site of the Red Sea crossing. Right on the edge of the Red Sea, if you can see the map on the right there, it’s location one. It fits the southeast direction, it isn’t too far to cross in one night, and at least from what we can see today, that site has a relatively shallow sea floor—only about 40 feet below where the water is today.
However, this site might be too far from the Wilderness of Shur, which is mentioned right after in Exodus 15:22, as the land where the Israelites resumed their journey after their crossing.
The John MacArthur Study Bible leans to site two on the map—just a little bit north of site one, the Bitter Lakes. They would infer that rather than “Red Sea,” this would be the Sea of Reeds.
The Bitter Lakes is the original Sea of Reeds. It fits the southeast direction and could also be crossed in one night. It would have featured a relatively shallow and flat sea floor. Answers in Genesis objects, however, that this site may have been more of a swamp than a lake in ancient times and would not have served as a site fitting the description of Exodus 14.
I lean toward the Bitter Lakes area as the true Sea of Reeds, the site where this happened. But wherever the Sea of Reeds was, God used the site to show his loving faithfulness to his people and his powerful vengeance against his enemies.
Sorry if that doesn’t totally resolve the question for you. I’ve just laid out the controversy and showed you the direction in which I lean. It did happen, wherever it did happen.
“Wherever the sea of reeds was, God used the site to show his loving faithfulness to his people and his powerful vengeance against his enemies.”
Applications: Reason, Fear, and Trust
Now then, how can we apply what we have seen and heard today? As always, our Bible study is not finished until we’ve seen how the truth ought to work in our lives. Let me suggest to you a few ways to apply the account of God’s deliverance at the Red Sea.
Number one, reason from the scriptures. You often hear people talking today about faith versus reason, but this is a false dichotomy. Faith is not opposed to reason. Both operate on something else as their foundation.
When both our faith and our reason are founded on God’s sure word, we see reality clearly.
But when we base our faith and our reason on the world’s wisdom or on our feelings or on the flesh, we will see a distortion and we inevitably will question, reject or reinterpret parts of the Bible.
Is your thinking based on the scripture? Do you have a biblical worldview, or do you start with the scriptures and stay with the scriptures and interpret everything else according to that?
“When both our faith and our reason are founded on God’s sure word, we see reality clearly.”
If not, what kind of anti-biblical assumptions do you need to discard from your mind?
You have to realize that with all these scholars and experts who come to the Bible and say that’s not reasonable. It’s the assumptions they bring to it which, without any evidence, they bring to the Bible and reject it. They say, “Oh, there’s no such thing as a miracle. Oh, there’s no such thing as a God or we can’t know him.” Well, how are you going to interpret the Bible with that kind of assumption? You’re not going to believe it.
Reason from the scriptures. Number two, fear God. There is a reason that God did these works, and it’s stated in the text: so that people might fear him with holy fear.
Do you fear God? Do you truly revere him? Do you live before him in sincere regard of what he thinks and what he requires?
Or do you test the Lord by living rebelliously or living indifferently before him?
The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, the Bible says. And this wisdom leads to life.
“The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and this wisdom leads to life.”
Number three, trust God when a situation seems hopeless. God specifically led Israel into an impossible situation so that God could accomplish a great deliverance.
How might God do the same in your life? I’m sure some of you could give testimony about how God has done the same in your life.
How might your obedience to God be like you backing up against a sea with a murderous army pursuing you?
If something hasn’t already happened like this in your life, it will. But when it does, what should you do? Trust in God’s promises.
He will do a miracle before he proves unfaithful to you. It’s just like Abraham sacrificing his son. It’s the most unthinkable, unreasonable thing for God to require of Abraham. He says, “You’re going to multiply my descendants.” And he says, “This is the chosen descendant to do that.” And now he says, “I should kill him.” Well, God will have to bring him back from the dead because God is faithful. But I’m going to be obedient. And God vindicated Abraham for that.
So it is for you. So it is for me.
You say, “There’s no way forward. If I go in obedience, I’m toast. I’m ruined.” God says, “I will do a miracle. I’ll even bring someone back from the dead before I prove unfaithful to you.” So keep going. Go forward and trust that I will provide.
“God will do a miracle before he proves unfaithful to you. Keep going — go forward and trust that I will provide.”
Wait for deliverance in God’s way, in God’s time. And remember, just as the triune God delighted to protect, lead, and avenge Israel, so he will do for you if you are his child, if you have come to him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
All right, that’s it for my prepared lesson. Questions or comments on what you’ve heard today?
Discussion: Miracles and Hardened Hearts
Yes, Glenda. What I think from this series we’ve been doing is all the miracles that Egypt shows don’t change God.
So they were seeing the miracles but their hearts were really not changed. And that’s a good observation, Glenda, and it fits with what comments we see in the New Testament. To repeat for everyone and to repeat for the recording: Glenda pointing out that there’s all these miracles that Israel witnesses in Egypt and on the way to Egypt, or various things that God did with Israel, and yet they’re still fearful whenever they show up to the sea.
We might look at that and be like, “Come on, he just killed all the firstborn in Egypt and brought you out, and now you’re like, what are we going to do? How are we going to get through this?” It’s like, is your God with you? Do you see the pillar of cloud? Do you see the pillar of fire over there? Like, he’s going to bring you through.
But as you point out, Glenda, that’s because miracles don’t automatically change hearts. You actually need a further miracle. You need God to change your heart. You need a circumcised heart, as Moses will say later to Israel.
Because you can see evidence after evidence, miracle after miracle of why you should trust God. But your heart is so hard and wicked that you won’t, unless God softens it. Unless God changes it.
I was going to say something else related to that. But if God has changed your heart, then you can profit from the miracles like you absolutely should. You should say, “God did do this deliverance and he did show his faithfulness. So even though I’ve come to a new situation that’s slightly different than before, but just as dangerous, I can trust God.”
One of the things that really impacted me was a study of the book of Hebrews in seminary. The professor emphasized what I think the book emphasizes: the author says, “Don’t be like Israel who never progressed from their unbelief. They saw evidence after evidence after evidence and they just kept sinning and unbelief and rebellion.”
And he says, “What did God do? He laid them low in the wilderness. It wasn’t just like, you did it again, but I’m merciful.” It says God—what’s the exact phrasing of the Psalms?—he took no pleasure in that generation. Rather, he swore, “If they ever enter my rest,” that’s the way the psalm ends. Their rest is implied. “If they ever enter my rest, let me be undone.” He swore they will never enter my rest.
The author of Hebrews is saying, let that sober you. Don’t be like, “I didn’t believe again. I sinned again. God’s so merciful.” No, don’t be like Israel. Don’t keep testing the Lord, but rather progress from your unbelief. Put aside those proud or fearful notions and say, “I can trust God. I can follow God.”
“Miracles don’t automatically change hearts. You need God to change your heart — a circumcised heart.”
Deuteronomy chapter 14 says they believed in God. Explain that.
Yeah, it’s a great observation, Danny, because we come to the end of chapter 14 and we’re like, “Yes, Israel finally got it. They believe.” Wow.
But it’s not going to be too long where they’re complaining against God again and complaining against Moses. As we go through the book of Exodus and we go to the book of Numbers, it’s just rebellion and complaint and sin and unbelief again and again and again. I thought they believed.
I think one of the things to say about that is that there is, from a human perspective, a level of belief, even a level of repentance that people can experience and exhibit which doesn’t go deep enough and ultimately doesn’t save.
Maybe you’ve seen this in your life, maybe personally or maybe in other people around you. Somebody gets in trouble, they repent. Or somebody has a terrible life circumstance and they believe. And there is something to that belief. There’s a new deal for God.
They start witnessing about God or they put off a certain bad habit, but it doesn’t last. A little bit of time goes by and they go back to it or they forget about God. I’ve seen this personally with some close relationships in my life. How did this person go back? They believed in a sense?
Yes. In a sense, no. We have to beware of a belief and a repentance that doesn’t go deep enough, that doesn’t really give everything to God but is holding something back. That says, “Yeah, yeah, I repent. I believe. I don’t want this consequence.” But this thing is still my treasure instead of God.
So I think that’s what we see: not that every single person in Israel was an unbeliever who didn’t truly trust God—we will see some very notable exceptions—but as a people, we’re going to see that this belief doesn’t go deep enough.
This is similar to what you’ve been following along in our Gospel of John study over the last two years or so. This is what we see with Jesus in Israel again and again. When he goes to cleanse the temple in Passover in John 2, it says many believed in his name, but he himself was not believing in their belief. He was not entrusting himself to them because he knew all men and he knew what was in man.
So, as I’ve tried to emphasize, there is such a thing as a belief in Jesus, a belief in God that doesn’t save. And we have to be aware of that.
Discussion: The Spectrum of Unbelief
Yes, Steve.
Yeah. It seems like there’s a spectrum of unbelief dealing with online. About God being good to everybody, but the Egyptians God was merciful to them, but he destroyed the whole Egyptian army.
What about you going through constantly complaining and they were the benefactors of God’s deliverance?
So you see where do you fit in this whole line of thinking? Sit back and say God is going to be God and he’s working all things according to the counsel of his will and are part of that great. Yeah, so you’ve said a number of good things, Steve. I’ll try and encapsulate some of it in my repetition but pointing out that there appears to be a spectrum of unbelief and I think that’s biblically accurate.
That will even come up whenever we talk about when we resume. We won’t do it today in the sermon, but probably next time when we resume the trial of Jesus and we look at Pilate. One of the things you’ll notice is that Pilate doesn’t want to kill Jesus. He’s actually trying really hard to release Jesus, but eventually he gives up and he gives in.
So is he as guilty of putting Jesus to death as the Jews, the Jewish leaders were? Like, “Kill him, kill him, kill him.” In a sense, yes, they’re both guilty of sin. Jesus does say, “The ones handed you over to me have the greater sin.” But Pilate is still culpable.
Here’s the sobering truth. There are people who violently hate God. And there are people who in many ways love God, but they haven’t really given themselves over to God. And they ultimately serve themselves. And both of them are going to hell.
Very religious, very moral people are in hell right now. There’s a spectrum of unbelief, but it’s all unbelief in the end. And God says, “If you don’t believe in my son, if you don’t believe in me with saving faith, true repentance faith, you don’t belong to me. Get away from me. I never knew you.”
Now, unless we go totally over introspective and be like, “Oh, am I one of those people? Oh, no. I’ll never be secure in my salvation.” Remember, the Bible points you to very practical realities to assess your salvation.
“There are people who violently hate God and people who in many ways love God but haven’t given themselves over to him — and both are going to hell.”
Do you love the Lord? Do you believe in the Lord? And do you obey him? If you say, “I don’t love the Lord,” or “I don’t believe the Lord,” or “I don’t obey the Lord,” that’s a red flag. You need to get right with God.
But if you are doing those things, there’s no reason for you to be like, “Oh, but maybe I’m not saved.” No, God, his spirit actually assures you through those things so that you can, as 1 John says, be assured that you have eternal life.
So I want to give that reminder every now and then when it comes to assessing whether you really are in the Lord. Look to the practical realities and don’t endlessly question yourself and introspect. All right, that’s it for our time today.
Thank you for those comments.
We’ve seen today God mercifully delivered the fearful and complaining Israelites. And as a result, the Israelites believed in God. But Israel would soon prove, as we just alluded to, they would soon prove unfaithful when God tested them with other difficult circumstances.
Rather than trusting God to provide in the new troubles, they doubt God, they doubt Moses, and they complain. We’ll talk about those complaints next time and how God responds to them. Close in prayer.
Lord God, we don’t want to be like uncircumcised in heart Israel who whenever we see your fresh deliverance, we say, “Oh, I believe God.” But whenever the next trial comes up, we say, “God, you’ve abandoned me. God, I blame you. God, I’m going to sin against these people around me.”
God, Lord, forgive us where we have done that. But let the repentance go to the level that it needs to. Show us our sin. Show us the idols that we yet cherish in our hearts.
Help us to stop hiding behind excuses which don’t deal with the real issue. It’s not a matter of information. It’s not a matter of more evidence. It’s a matter of pride. It’s a matter of humbling ourselves before you.
So God, I pray that as we think through this lesson, as we continue to apply it after this morning, that we would humble ourselves before you, that we would revere you with holy fear, and that we would trust you. We would believe in you and wait for your provision and deliverance.