Exodus 14 Devotional Bible Study

Exodus 14 Chapter Summary

God told Moses to turn the Israelites around to make Pharaoh think they were lost.

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them.

But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army,

and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

- Exodus 14:4

 

When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army approaching, they were terrified.

 

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

-Exodus 14:13-14

 

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

-Exodus 14:19-20

 

Once the Israelites were hidden from the view of the Egyptians, God told Moses to raise his staff over the waters of the Red Sea, and it divided so that the Israelites could walk through on dry ground. God divided the waters with a “strong east wind” so that there was a “wall of water” on the right and left of the Israelites.

 

Near dawn, the Egyptians saw the Israelites crossing the Sea and pursued them. God looked down from the pillar of fire and jammed the wheels of the Egyptians’ chariots. Then He told Moses to stretch out his staff over the sea from the other side, and the waters flowed back to their place and drowned the Egyptians.

 

The Lord is Tricky

Exodus 14:1-4

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.

Think about all the Lord’s enemies throughout history. Think about all the Lord’s enemies today. They all think they’re winning – until the Lord defeats them.

Now, our loving Heavenly Father warns His enemies time and time again. He is long-suffering and gives them ample time to repent. Sometimes, we believers get impatient with the Lord because we want Him to defeat our enemies sooner, but He’s being gracious to them by waiting.

If they persist in making themselves His enemies, however, He will punish them. No one can stand against Him once He decides to act. He has never lost a fight and never can. As Scripture teaches, the wicked person will think he is doing well, but “disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy” (Proverbs 6:15).

 

So Quick to Lose Faith

Exodus 14:10-14

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

I do not want to be like the Israelites here. I don’t want to have a crisis of faith every time some new bad or scary thing happens. I want to trust my Heavenly Father, remembering that He took care of me last time and knowing that He will take care of me this time.

I want to be still before Him, not complaining, not taking matters into my own hands – patiently waiting to see what He will do.

 

MOVE!!!

Exodus 14:15

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”

When God has said something, move forward with it. He’s not going to change His mind on what the plan is. There is no better way. There’s no sense in complaining or hesitating in fear when you know what the Lord has told you to do.

 

God Protects Us

Exodus 14:19-20

Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

When you’re afraid, picture this scene of God moving as a cloud to stand between you and your enemy. Maybe that enemy is another person. Maybe it’s Satan. Maybe it’s anxiety over a situation in your life. Your Heavenly Father will not allow it to overtake you. He will keep you in the light, while your enemy remains in the dark.

 

God Makes a Narrow Way

Exodus 14:21-22

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

God made a way through the waters for the Israelites to be saved. But it was a narrow way, wasn’t it? If the Israelites had strayed to the right or to the left, they would have drowned in the piled-up water. It reminds me of the path we have to take. God has made a way for us to be saved, but we have to stay on the narrow path, following Jesus exactly as His disciples. If we stray, we’ll be destroyed.

Matthew 7:13-14 - “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

 

Learning from Negative Examples

Exodus 14:30-31

That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

When the Israelites saw how God punished the Egyptians, they feared Him.

We didn’t see the punishment first-hand, but we’ve read about it, haven’t we? We’ve also read how our God the King punished the Canaanites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and even the Israelites when they sinned. Throughout history, we’ve seen Empires rise and fall. We’ve seen individuals brought low when their sin catches up to them.

God is patient, but He will not let sin go unpunished. Will we learn from others’ negative example and turn from our sin so that God doesn’t punish us?