Exo 14:1-31  For the Egyptians whom you have seen Today, you Shall see them Again no more For Ever

[Study Aired June 20, 2022]

Exo 14:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 14:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 
Exo 14:3  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 
Exo 14:4  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so. 
Exo 14:5  And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 
Exo 14:6  And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 
Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 
Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 
Exo 14:9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. 
Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. 
Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 
Exo 14:12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. 
Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 
Exo 14:15  And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 
Exo 14:16  But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 
Exo 14:17  And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 
Exo 14:18  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 
Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. 
Exo 14:21  And 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 dry land, and the waters were divided. 
Exo 14:22  And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 
Exo 14:23  And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 
Exo 14:24  And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 
Exo 14:25  And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 
Exo 14:26  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 
Exo 14:27  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 
Exo 14:28  And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 
Exo 14:29  But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 
Exo 14:30  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 
Exo 14:31  And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. 

This chapter deals with the relentless pursuit of the people of Israel by Pharaoh and his Egyptian army and their final demise in the Red Sea. This chapter is about the crossing of the Red Sea, which is the Lord’s way of demonstrating to us how to war against the flesh.  That is, this fight against the flesh is the Lord’s work, and we have no part to play in it. All we have to do is to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. This means we believe that what the Lord has started in us regarding the subduing of the old man or the beast within, symbolized by Pharaoh and His army, He is able to bring to completion!!

Deu 3:22  Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.

Deu 20:4  For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 

2Ch 20:17  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. 

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Exo 14:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Exo 14:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. 

Pihahiroth is the site of the final Israelites’ encampment in Egypt before crossing the Red Sea. Pihahiroth means ‘place where sedge grows’. Sedge is a type of grass, growing typically in wet ground. We know that grass represents the flesh as shown in the following:

1Pe 1:24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

The Israelites’ final encampment in Egypt, being Pihahiroth, therefore symbolizes the fact that before our exit from Babylon (Egypt), we must come to the realization that Babylon is the breeding ground for the flesh. It is in Babylon that our flesh grows (Pihahiroth) and occupies completely the throne of our hearts, claiming himself to be God. As a result, we become worse off in Babylon.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Exo 14:3  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. 

The Lord entices our old man (Pharaoh) as he occupies the throne of our hearts to think that we (Israelites) are entangled in this world. In this sense, the old man continues to think that he has dominion over us. This is all part of the Lord’s way of creating an opportunity to come and deal with our old man as with Pharaoh, as we shall see later in the story.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Exo 14:4  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so. 
Exo 14:5  And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 
Exo 14:6  And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 
Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 
Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

Verses 4 to 8 are written to caution us that it is not an easy road to overcome the old man or the flesh due to the hardening of Pharaoh’s (the old man) heart. However, at the end of the day, it all works for our good as the resistance of our old man provides the occasion for the Lord to perform His signs and wonders (the plagues) to work a great salvation for us!!

Exo 11:9  And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 
Heb 2:4  God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, or our old man, by the Lord is for our benefit.

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

So, the Lord hardening Pharaoh’s heart, or causing the old man within us to resist Him, is for us to appreciate the mercies of the Lord and to learn to show mercy as a result. This is not obvious when we are frustrated by our old man within us as we resist the Lord. However, in the final analysis, we shall come to know His mercies. One of the qualities that the Lord is inculcating within us is being merciful. This is because it is through the mercies we have received that we can show mercy to the masses of humanity which will result in the ultimate salvation of the whole world. Therefore, inasmuch as we need the Lord’s mercy, we must also show mercy to others in our daily lives.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Another lesson we can learn from the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is that we come to see that this battle against the flesh is not our fight. It is the work of the Lord to deliver us from the old man or the flesh. By ourselves, we can do nothing. As we can see, the resistance put up by Pharaoh is incomprehensible. That is why the beast within or the old man is compared to a mountain. A mountain can only be removed, not by might nor by power, but by the spirit of the Lord!! It is the word of Christ that destroys this mountain or the old man.

Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Exo 14:9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. 
Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. 
Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 
Exo 14:12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

The resistance of the old man, or the beast within us to submit to the rulership of our Lord Jesus, makes it clear to us that no one comes to the Lord willingly. We have to be dragged by the Lord to bring us to Himself. This is obvious from what the Israelites said to Moses when they saw Pharaoh and his chariots and horses drawing near to them. In verse 11 and 12, the Israelites made it clear to Moses that they had preferred being under bondage in Egypt than to pursue the Lord’s agenda in the wilderness.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

The word “draw” used in John 6:44 above, is the Greek word “Helko” (G1670) which means to drag. None of us came to the Lord willingly. We all are being dragged by the Lord daily to Himself. This is affirmed by the following Bible verse:

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

If sinning is not done willingly as Romans 8:20 suggests, then serving the Lord cannot also be done willingly or in our strength. We don’t choose to serve the Lord; He chooses us to serve Him in this life. If we are able to understand this, then we are ready to be delivered from the flesh as we shall see shortly with the Lord making a way in the Red Sea for the Israelites. In the final analysis, all creatures (all humanity) will be dragged to the Lord at the appropriate time appointed by God.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 

Verses 13 and 14 make us aware that we do not contribute anything to our salvation. The Lord does everything for us. During our time in Babylon, we were taught that we play a key role in our salvation. When we come out of Babylon, we bring along this mindset of playing a key role in our salvation. A lot of people who believed in Jesus asked Him one day what they should do to do the works of God. The Lord responded that all they had to do was to believe in Him, not work.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Even this belief in Christ is not of our own self. The Lord gives us the faith of the Son of God to believe in Him. Our victory in overcoming the flesh is standing still and believing that the Lord will fight our battles for us. What He starts, He is able to bring to completion!!

Pro 20:3  It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

If we think that we are responsible for our salvation and that we are required to work for it, then the reward we are to receive is not a gift but something God owes us!! However, we know that the Lord owes no man!!

Rom 4:3  For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 
Rom 4:4  Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 
Rom 4:5  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (ESV)

Exo 14:15  And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 

This verse is another way of saying that we must forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. Whatever success we have achieved or whatever failures we have gone through should not become a constraint to us from moving forward or looking ahead.

Php 3:13  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 
Php 3:14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 
Php 3:15  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (ESV)

Exo 14:16  But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 

The rod here is Christ, and when Christ is lifted up in our lives, the flesh (sea) is overcome (divided). The lifting up of Christ in our lives is the work of the Lord together with the dividing of the sea by the stretching forth of the hand of the Lord signified by that of Moses.

Isa 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

When we are able to learn that the dividing of the sea is the work of the Lord, then the Lord has accomplished the lesson we need to learn from the Israelites’ experience of crossing the Red Sea, that is, He has trained our hands to war!!

Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Exo 14:17  And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. 
Exo 14:18  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

Here we are given another reason why the Lord makes the old man or the beast within us so stubborn. Through all our struggles with the flesh, we come to honor Him as Lord of everything, both good and evil.

Rev 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. 

The angel of God here is Christ, and He is the word of God. In the church or camp of the elect, the word of God is a light unto our path and a lamp unto our feet. However, to the people of the world, including our brothers and sisters in Babylon, the word of the Lord is darkness. This darkness serves as a chasm between the people of God and the people of the world such that one cannot cross easily to the other.

Psa 119:105  NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

1Sa 17:3  And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

Exo 14:21  And 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 dry land, and the waters were divided. 
Exo 14:22  And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, but it was the Lord who caused the sea to roll back so the Israelites walked on dry ground. So, Moses’ hand here is the hand of the Lord which caused the east wind to make a way for the people of Israel through the Red Sea. The east wind here represents the Lord’s judgment of our sea of flesh which results in the destroying of its influence in our lives, making us walk through this world unhindered to serve the Lord.

Jer 18:17  I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

Psa 48:7  Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

The crossing of the Red Sea was a type of baptism just as the passing of Noah’s ark through the flood was also a type of baptism.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 
1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 
1Pe 3:21  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 

This baptism signifies that we were dead as we passed through the “Red sea” but have been made alive as we come out of the “Red Sea.” Being alive means we no longer wallow in the mud of sin but are now ready to serve the Lord with good conscience as a result of the resurrection of our mortal bodies by the Spirit of Christ.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

Exo 14:23  And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 
Exo 14:24  And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 
Exo 14:25  And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

The destruction of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his horsemen signifies the destruction of the old man or the beast within us. Verses 24 and 25 show us clearly that it is all the work of the Lord. The Israelites did not play a part in the destruction of Pharaoh’s army.  This is to demonstrate to us (the Israelites) how to war, that is, depend entirely on the Lord alone in our battles with the flesh.

Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 

2Ch 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

Exo 14:26  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 
Exo 14:27  And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 
Exo 14:28  And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. 

This water, which saved us on one hand, also destroyed Pharaoh and his Egyptian army. The Egyptians being overthrown in the midst of the sea signifies that it is in this age of the dominance of the flesh (Sea) that the old man (Pharaoh and his army) will be overthrown in the lives of all those called and chosen (Israelites). Later in the lake-of-fire age, the old man (Pharaoh and his army) shall be overthrown in the lives of all humanity.

2Sa 14:14  For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.  

Exo 14:29  But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 
Exo 14:30  Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. 
Exo 14:31  And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. 

Through this experience of crossing the Red Sea, the people of Israel saw the great works of the Lord and believed in the Lord and His servant Moses. The whole experience of the crossing the Red Sea brings to remembrance the fact that it is the Lord who raised the storm by causing Pharaoh and his army to pursue the Israelites after leaving Egypt. This caused the Israelites to come to their wits’ ends and as a result cried desperately to the Lord for help, and He heard them and brought them to their desired haven.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 

These things which happened to the Israelites were written for us to show us the pattern of how the Lord works so that we may have hope in Christ that He will not leave us alone!! If He had done it for the Israelites, then He will surely do it for us upon whom the ends of the world are come!! Amen!!

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

[The author may be reached at abarnes @ semcapitaladvisors. com for questions or comments.]