EXPLORE THE TEXT
We can know God is always in control.
23 The Egyptians set out in pursuit ?— ?all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen ?— ?
and went into the sea after them.
24 During the morning watch, the Lord looked down at the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud,
and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion.
25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty.
“Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back on the Egyptians,
on their chariots and horsemen.”
27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal depth.
While the Egyptians were trying to escape from it, the Lord threw them into the sea.
28 The water came back and covered the chariots and horsemen,
plus the entire army of Pharaoh that had gone after them into the sea.
Not even one of them survived.
Stretch out your hand
For the eighth and last time, God gave this command to Moses
(including twice when Aaron actually performed the action).
In every case except one (Ex. 4:4),
that hand held Moses’s staff.
The power, though, belonged to God alone.
He had built those towering walls of water to protect Israel, but now He released them to drown the Egyptian army.
Apparently, God stilled the east wind at daybreak so that Israel had light to see the collapsing walls swallow their enemy (v. 27).
Write the following questions on the board:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
review the content for verses 23-28 (PSG, pp. 50-52)
23) Set out in pursuit:
The Egyptians had seen things that should have convinced them to turn back.
A cloud of light had held them at bay.
The waters of the sea had stood up like walls.
Yet, Pharaoh’s army still set out in pursuit of the Hebrews into the sea.
24) The morning watch:
the night was divided into three “watches.”
The last, or morning watch, would stretch from about 2:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m.
This is when the Israelites crossed the sea and the pillar protected them.
When they were done, God moved from guarding Israel’s rear, but He wasn’t done watching over His people.
24) The Lord looked down:
The Hebrew wording suggests observing something from a great height.
Not about God's physical nature, but His position in the massive cloud that was blocking the Egyptians.
24) Confusion:
When God moved and the Egyptians renewed their pursuit of Israel,
they foolishly assumed the pathway through the sea would remain open (Ex. 14:17).
However, the Lord used two delaying tactics to cover Israel’s retreat.
One was to throw them into confusion, as He would do with other enemies of Israel
(Ex. 23:27; Josh. 10:10; Judg. 4:15; 1 Sam. 7:10; 2 Sam. 22:15).
25) Chariot wheels:
The Lord’s other tactic was to jam their chariot wheels (perhaps with seaweed or in the soft sand).
Scholars suggest He caused the wheels to swerve or even fall off.
The effect was to show the Egyptians that “I am the Lord” (Ex. 14:18)
and that He was fighting for Israel—as Moses had told Israel that He would
(see Ex. 14:14; Deut. 1:30).
28) Not even one of them survived:
Moses emphasized the totality of the destruction.
First, he highlighted chariots and horsemen for the sixth time in the chapter (see 14:9,17,18,23,26),
along with the entire army of Pharaoh.
Next, verse 28 concludes by noting that no Egyptian survived.
briefly discuss how God revealed Himself to Israel by the Red Sea.
no matter how crazy things seem, God is always in control.