Exodus 14:1-14
The Red Sea Crossing
1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ 4 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.
5 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?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 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. 9 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 Zephon.
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. 11 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? 12 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.”
13 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. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
The LORD fought for the salvation of, the deliverance of His people, by defeating the following Egyptians who let His people go to worship Him, but then broke the promise and pursued them afterwards. This was God’s plan to exalt His name and fame throughout the whole world as He hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Romans 9:17, 22-23) and drove him to think that the Egyptian army could trap Israel by the Red Sea and annihilate them. This would fail and the onlookers and hearers afterwards would know and confess the LORD for His mighty power and works to deliver His people from bondage in the defeat of their enemy. We also have the Lord Jesus Christ as our deliverer from sin’s bondage whose work on the cross for us we testify to the world as our salvation that they might confess Him and His work as well for their own deliverance from sin’s wrath of due judgment (Romans 3:23, 6:23) as they join in honoring Him. We see how Pharaoh heard Israel fled the country and then he and the people of his realm asked, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” They realized their cheap labor source had vanished and regretted letting them go after previously wanting them gone (Exodus 12:33) after suffering under the ten plagues of judgment which culminated in the death of their firstborn. Their army charged hastily after the released prisoners and pursued them with their entire fleet of six hundred chariots until they had them trapped against the sea, thinking there was no way for them to escape or fight back. It seemed that the victory was theirs until God fought for His people to deliver them through the symbolic baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) of passing through the Red Sea that was at their backs. The people of God saw the approaching army and lost faith in God’s ability to deliver them, even after witnessing the hand of God in the miraculous plagues of judgment worked by the hand of the Almighty. They even moaned how it would have been better to go back to bondage in Egypt and serve that master instead of their heavenly Master. How easily we can lose faith and hope in adversity if we take our eyes off of the Lord and place them precariously aimed at our circumstances! Moses reminded the people of the LORD that they did not have to work their salvation, but had only to stand still and observe the salvation of the LORD who fights for them. He promised that they would not have to see or fear their enemies ever again after that. He told them to hold their peace and have faith in God to save them. We likewise see how His Son fought for our deliverance from sin’s penalty of eternal death apart from God’s presence by putting death to death on the cross of the curse of our sin once and forever for all who believe His work and trust by repentance to faith that receives (John 1:12) His work of deliverance from the plague of the final judgment we are due (Romans 3:20, 23) by His grace for we whom He calls out of the bondage of darkness and into His marvelous light of His goodwill towards us in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ fought for our salvation on the cross and defeated death (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54-55, 56-57) forever for our salvation; we did not and were not able to work for or earn our deliverance of any effort or good work we could ever attempt to muster. It is all by God’s work of grace in which we can stand (Romans 5:1-2, 1 Peter 5:12) that we are able to stand still in awe and wonder! It is not by our works to gain salvation from the judgment on our sin, but we are to likewise stand still and observe the salvation of our Lord who fought for us to set us free (John 8:36) indeed!