Through it would be more convenient for the Israelites to travel through the land of the Philistines, God had them go in a roundabout way toward the Red Sea. This way they will not experience war and wish to return to Egypt. Despite this, Exodus 13.18 tells that the Israelites prepared for battle anyway.
Moses brings Joseph’s bones along, because he had required an oath from the Israelites, saying:
“God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.” (Ex. 13.19)
This is fairly accurate. Compare to Genesis 50.24-25:
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.”(Gen. 50.24-25)
The Israelites set off from Succoth and camp at Etham. The Lord leads them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, so that they can travel with light all the time.
Important Stuff
Red Sea: Also, Reed Sea. We don’t know if it was actually the Red Sea that the Israelites crossed. It might have been one of the bitter lakes, or even a marsh or lagoon off the Mediterranean Sea (a “sea of reeds”). This label may have been given because it was easily recognizable to a vast audience. Few of the other locations in Exodus are known today.
This section gives the first glimpse of one of the many characterizations of God: God as divine warrior. God fights for his people Israel against the forces of evil. The divine warrior motif will feature prominently in later books, so keep your eye out for it. Notice also that at times God acts independently of Moses, and sometimes with Moses as an intermediary. This also occurred throughout the plague narrative. God does not seem to need Moses to work miracles, but it certainly seems to help to have someone on the ground communicating for you.
God orchestrates a wonderful show here: baiting Pharaoh before destroying his entire Army. His intention is to show Egypt his power, and in the process creates a wonderful story for the Israelites, one that is undoubtedly passed down for gener– oh hey, we’re reading it today!
The Story
The Lord tells Moses to tell the Egyptians to double back so that Pharaoh believes the Israelites are lost in the wilderness. God will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he pursues Israel. As with the plagues, the result is that God proves his greatness to Pharaoh and the Egyptians:
I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord…(Ex. 14.4)
Pharaoh is told that “the people had fled” and realizing along with his officials that he has made a mistake, Pharaoh sets out to pursue him. [The fact that the Israelites flee, rather than being hurried out, may indicate a separate tradition. Of course, it might also indicate that Pharaoh simply realizes the Israelites have been gone more than three days (as requested) and in fact have no intention of returning]
Pharaoh sets off with his army and 600 “picked” (designated?) chariots as well as... well, the rest of the chariots of Egypt (Ex. 14.7). The Lord hardens Pharaohs heart for the pursuit.
The Israelites see Pharaoh bearing down on them and cry out o the Lord. They also cry to Moses in harsh words:
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”(Ex. 14.11-12)
This sort of complaint will be made often throughout Exodus, but it has the same effect as other repeated motifs, such as the promise of offspring and Moses’ bargaining with God. It helps to establish the mood of the people and the frustration of living with a God that does not act exactly the way you want him to act. This is, of course, how God seems to act: not caring much for you. But God does care, the Bible tells us. It’s just that sometimes it takes a while. In fact, God’s response in Exodus is very quick. The Israelites seem to think that God is not watching out for him, and whenever this is expressed, it is quickly corrected. God, it seems, is now watching his people carefully.
In any case, Moses responds to the people the Lord will deliver them; they need only to stand firm and not be afraid: “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still” (Ex. 14.14).
Though it was the people that cried out to God, the Lord responds to Moses directly: “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward” (Ex. 13.15). The Lord then tells Moses to lift his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea; the same action that was used to invoke many of the plagues. In this way the sea will divide so that the Israelites may gross on dry ground. God will then harden the Egyptians’ hearts so that they will follow and God can make his coup de grace and win glory for himself. The Egyptians will then know of God’s greatness.
The Israelites have prepared for battle, and are then fittingly portrayed as an “army.” This characterization helps to invoke the motif of the divine warrior. God, as divine warrior, will fight for Israel:
The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.(Exodus 14.19)
Exodus 13.21 states that the Lord leads the Israelites in a pillar of cloud and fire. Here, however, it is the angel of God in the pillar. In fact, the first sentence can be read as verse, with parallelism that typified Hebrew poetry. The angel of God and the pillar are the same entity, moving together. The second phrase parallels the first and is synonymous with it.
Moses stretches out his hand and the Lord drives the Red Sea back with an east wind all night. The Israelites cross on dry ground, with walls of water on either side. The Egyptians pursue them, but the Lord sees and throws the army into a panic. Their chariot wheels clog as they try to flee.
The Lord tells Moses to stretch his arm over the sea again so that the waters may come back in, right on the Egyptians. At dawn the waters collapse back in and the Lord flings the Egyptians into the sea. Not one Egyptian remains.
The chapter ends:
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.(Ex. 14.30-31)
Tomorrow: Poetry.
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