God will fight for you; you only need be still.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Exodus 14:19-31
There is enough obscure and supernatural in this passage that it has become a magnet for skeptics and anti-Christians, but we have no reason to doubt that these events happened as they are described in Exodus. God miraculously saved His people and demonstrated His power over every false god in the region. We can put our trust in this God.
“Let’s get away from Israel,” the Egyptians said, “because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” (14:25)
Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year!
This week's lesson will be taught on December 29, so there's a lot of fun and festivity that might be running through everyone's minds. Enjoy it! But there's a lot in this week's passage that could be helpful in thinking about the new year, so save plenty of time to go through it.
We studied this passage in 2017:
You can find some things in that post that I just mention below:
The power of God in nature
Pharaoh's army
Water depth
Is the book of Exodus trustworthy?
Getting Started: Things to Think About
What's Your "Red Sea" in 2025?
And More to the Point, How Are You Handling It?
For future readers, we are studying this passage on the last Sunday of 2024. A lot of people spend the final week of the calendar year "looking back" and "looking ahead", so we may as well try to capitalize on that.
This week's passage is the famous parting of the Red Sea. We rightly think of it as God's amazing victory over His enemies and the salvation of His people. But let's read how God's people approached this event:
Ex 14:9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army—chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
What are the big, potentially scary things you have coming your way in 2025? What's your outlook on them? Are you boldly confident in God's leadership in your life through those challenges? Or are you whining like the Israelites? Be honest.
A follow-up might be to look back on 2024. What scary things did you face in 2024? Has enough time passed for you to realize God's presence or leadership through those events? How might your experiences in 2024 encourage someone facing a rough 2025?
What's Your Most Frightening Experience with Water?
I grew up close to Galveston, and we went to the beach pretty regularly. I've never had a fear of the beach or the ocean.
Incidentally, my parents never let me watch Jaws.
That movie created some real (and severe) phobias of the ocean and of sharks for a lot of people. Are you afraid of the open water?
That's not to say I haven't had scary experiences with the ocean. I can think of two experiences with rip currents that were very unpleasant. And one time when I didn't realize just how far downshore I had drifted. But most of my experiences are positive. I've never been on the water during a big storm. I've never been in a boating accident. Before I learned to swim, I was afraid of pools, and once my parents realized that they put me in swimming lessons.
That said, I have no idea what these Israelites would have thought when they approached the sea. "Water recreation" was not a part of their childhood.
Praying for 2025
Whatever you do, take some time during your morning together to pray for everyone's 2025. You might have already talked about the obstacles on the horizon. What are the things you want your group members to be praying for you (and for each other)?
Special Emphasis: The Armor of God
Right before our passage, Moses says this to the people:
Ex 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.
That sounds inviting, doesn't it? See the end of this post for more on this.
This Week's Big Idea: Where Was the Exodus?
Lifeway includes this map in their Sunday School materials, and it's both extremely helpful and extremely confusing -- all at the same time -- while also illustrating the debate/challenge surrounding the exodus from Egypt.
Goodness gracious, what a confusing map! How many routes can one people take?
It reminds me of this wonderful meme which circulated on election night, captioned as "The latest electoral college update".
Here's the short of it: we don't know exactly where the Israelites went on their exodus from Egypt, and that has encouraged Bible skeptics to claim that "The Exodus" never really happened.
Challenge #1: We Don't Know These Places
The Bible mentions places like "Etham on the edge of the desert" and "Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea" which we don't know where they are because they aren't clearly identified in other documents. The same goes for points along the way (like "Elim" and "Rephidim").
To make matters harder, their starting point ("Goshen" and "Raamses" in particular) and their ending point ("Mount Sinai") are both still hotly debated, even among conservative Bible scholars.
Challenge #2: We Don't Know How Long They Took
According to some Jewish traditions, the people crossed the Red Sea 7 days after Passover. And Josephus said it took 3 days for them to reach the Red Sea. But the Bible doesn't say any of that. In fact, the most helpful time reference I can find is 19:1, where we learn that the Israelites arrived at the "Desert of Sinai" three months after they "left Egypt", which is still rather open-ended.
Challenge #3: The Lack of Archeological Evidence
You'll see this one a lot. I believe that there were some 2 million Israelites on this trek, not to mention their herds. Surely they left all kinds of evidence behind -- all sorts of broken pottery or animal bones or tent pegs or whatever? But no such evidence has been found. Might this suggest that this event didn't happen the way we think it did?
Challenge #4: The "Red Sea" / "Yam Suph"
Here's "The Big One" for skeptics -- the term used in the Bible to describe the Red Sea (yam suph) can be translated "sea of reeds". Not very specific. And in other parts of the Bible (like 1 Kings 9:26), that same phrase is used of a body of water that is most certainly not what we call the Red Sea. Simply put, a lot of bodies of water in that region had reeds in them. (But be certain, that phrase is used to describe what we call the Red Sea.)
Why Do We Care?
Well, you might not care, and that's your prerogative. But in the world of anti-Christians and anti-Jews, these challenges are used to claim
the Bible is not factual;
the Bible is full of errors;
the exodus did not happen.
So, to some people, this is a big deal.
Why Am I Personally Not Bothered by These Challenges?
To be sure, I love maps. I love details. I love the idea of "walking the Bible". And if we aren't exactly sure where the exodus started, where it ended, or where they stopped along the way, that just doesn't mesh with my preferences. And we don't even have time markers to eliminate possibilities.
But there's a wide gap between "we aren't sure where they traveled" and "clearly the whole thing is a hoax and the Bible is a fairytale".
Place names change over time. Most importantly, Egypt wouldn't have consulted with Israel when cities or other locations would have had name changes over time, and we know that names change over the course of thousands of years.
Archeologists are always finding new proof of the Bible. Every year, it seems, there is another discovery that validates a previously-disputed Bible fact. In the future, we might find an ancient census that includes these place names.
The Suez Canal irreparably changed this region. Even if we think we might have found some new details about any part of the geography of the exodus, the actual locations were almost certainly buried/affected by the extensive canal work in the region.
Their sandals didn't wear out. Seriously -- read Deuteronomy 29:5. If God miraculously preserved their sandals and their clothes, and they meticulously packed up their camp every time they moved, why would we expect to find mounds of remains?
The ancient world didn't ask the modern world what to call their locations. I'm thinking specifically of "the Red Sea" here. It seems pretty obvious that everything connected with what we call the Red Sea was considered "the Red Sea" in ancient times, including what we now call the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba.
With all of that said, let me re-share the map I used when we studied this passage in 2017:
It's almost identical to the Lifeway map, just less busy.
The route for the exodus that one agrees with depends on where you think Mount Sinai is. I believe that Mount Sinai is in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula, which is why I like this map and more-or-less agree with that solid line.
Some people believe that Mount Sinai is in Arabia (Jebel al-Lawz). Those tend to follow the dotted line through the middle of the map.
A small number of scholars believe that Mount Sinai is further north at Jebel Helal (Jabal al-Halal), and they tend to follow the northern dotted line that runs along the Mediterranean.
We will talk more about Mount Sinai is a couple of weeks. Just be aware that where you think Mount Sinai is affects where you think the exodus went.
If you want to know more, here are a couple of pages that give a more thorough explanation of the options:
Where We Are in Exodus (+ Which Red Sea?)
Immediately after the last event we covered (the Passover and the Final Plague), this happened:
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road to the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearby; for God said, “The people will change their minds and return to Egypt if they face war.” 18 So he led the people around toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness. And the Israelites left the land of Egypt in battle formation.
20 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people. 14:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.
This tells us two important things:
God intentionally took a wandering path so as to draw out Egypt's army;
consequently, the Red Sea crossing could have taken place just about anywhere.
About the Red Sea
Some people, who apparently don't like the supernatural, have suggested that the Red Sea crossing was actually through a reedy marsh somewhere in the Nile River Delta. They liken it to the storm surge ahead of Hurricane Irma which produced some amazing water-removal along the coast. (This picture is truly shocking.)
Then, when the water returned, it was like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people.
So, yes, that's a possibility. But it doesn't explain this:
14:21 So the waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.
I believe the Bible describes what actually happened. This suggests that wherever they crossed whatever body of water, it was a substantial amount of water.
[Note: just 1 foot of fast-flowing water can push a car off of a road, so it doesn't have to be very deep to be catastrophic.]
With all of that said, let's finally get to this week's passage.
Part 1: God's Deliverance (Exodus 14:19-22)
19 Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.
This is where the movie geeks should go nuts.
This description is so cinematic. So awe-inspiring.
Start with the "pillar of cloud". During the day, God ("the angel of God") appeared as a pillar of cloud; at night as a pillar of fire. It led the people on their journey and told them when it was time to camp.
In this instance, it no longer needed to go before them -- they only had one path! So instead it stayed behind them so as to prevent the Egyptian army from getting too close.
(Aside: if you're wondering how the people who SAW THIS HAPPEN could ever doubt God, I'm right there with you.)
This verse gives us two useful clues:
it was a "strong east wind", which suggests a north-south oriented body of water;
the water was on their left and right, suggesting a lake/sea not a river.
In the next section, we get two additional clues:
Pharaoh's army didn't attempt to flank them, meaning the body of water was large enough that they didn't try to go around it;
Pharaoh's entire army was destroyed in the water, meaning it must have been wide enough to bring them all in.
I personally think they crossed either what we now call the Gulf of Suez or the Great Bitter Lake, though the geography of the region has changed so much that I can't point to anything on a current map.
Aside: The Logistics of 2 Million People
What all of the movies get wrong about this event is the number of people involved. The Bible says that 600,000 men came out of Egypt (Ex 12:37), meaning a full 2 million people in total. How long would it take 2 million people (plus all of their possessions plus their livestock plus the very old and very young) to walk through a seabed, however dry it might be? Well, days. Days. In my opinion, this is the thing that makes the exodus so hard to believe ... and also the thing which makes it truly miraculous. Think about it -- if it were an easy-to-believe miracle, would it be something that's the basis for the entire Old Testament? Jesus Christ rising from the dead is a pretty incredible miracle, and it's the basis for the entire New Testament.
This is why you will read a lot of people (including some well-intentioned Christians) who try to shrink the number of Israelites. Would it be a big deal for a group of 10,000 or 20,000 people to escape from Egypt? Sure, of course. But we can wrap our heads around that. But 2 million? Now we're talking about a miracle that is near-impossible to fathom.
Put me on the side of the bigger miracle.
"Waters like a Wall"
The Lifeway material suggests an activity where you blow into straws to try to push water back. That's fun (and goofy), but pretty meaningless. The wind that can produce a storm surge of 18 feet can also tear houses off of their foundations. So for people to be able to walk alongside these walls of water means that the "wind" isn't actually what's holding the waters up -- it's a miracle of God. (Yes, "wind" is another translation for "Spirit", but the context is of a terrestrial wind.)
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Put yourself in the head space of an Israelite. On one side, they see a sea (perhaps for the first time). On the other side, they see Pharaoh's army. I realize why they panicked. To them, they had nowhere to go!
We think of this as being between a rock and a hard place. You have two options, and both seem bad. (The Israelites could jump into the sea, which they probably believed would kill them, or run at the army, which they knew would kill them.) Are you in any situations like that?
God is not limited by our options. God removed the sea and destroyed the army. The Israelites could not have imagined that outcome. Likewise, we really can imagine how God will overcome our situation; we can't imagine God's options.
I have seen versions of this sign in lots of places (including my own house!):
What a fun sign! How might that help you approach your day? But I always want us to be able to think critically through any pop culture theology -- how might that sign give you the wrong impression about what God will do in your life?
Part 2: God's Victory (Exodus 14:23-28)
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.
This passage is why I tend to believe that God supernaturally gave the Israelites a firm, clean, smooth path along the seabed. The soldiers would have seen this massive, ragtag bunch walking along without any troubles, so when they tried to follow and quickly got stuck in mud/ruts that couldn't have been there before them, they would have believed some miraculous power was at work.
The cloud would have held the soldiers at the shore until the Israelites were enough through that the army could "charge in" after them. God would have wanted them to travel so quickly that they would all be drawn in to the trap together.
Pharaoh had "600 chariots" (which may be exact or symbolic) which would have charged ahead. How could 600 chariots intimidate 2 million people? The Israelites weren't soldiers. Plus, the chariots would have been supported by infantry who would have been close behind. A few thousand (or probably more) soldiers. Pharaoh's entire army. And it seems like it took them several hours to get into the sea (the "morning watch" was probably 2:00-6:00 am). This was no small body of water!
The point is simply that God fought for his people. They would have been unable to defend themselves, and they didn't need to. God took care of their "problem".
What are ways you have seen God take care of your problems?
Here are two examples from my life -- I'm intentionally vague with the details because I don't know who reads these posts. In one church, I could see a major interpersonal conflict coming that would be very destructive, and I prayed and prayed what to do. Then all of a sudden, that person got transferred to another city. And that was that. And in a more humorous memory, an activity that one of my kids was involved in was not going well. I could see hurt feelings and much misery on the horizon. And I prayed how to make the best of it. And all of a sudden, that activity got canceled.
In both situations, the "solution" was (1) an option I had never considered, and (2) an option I had no control over.
How about in your life?
I do want us to be careful and respectful in this discussion. Egyptians died as a part of God saving His people -- Egyptians who were on their way to kill God's people! So that situation is a bit more serious than "my kid is going to be sad if something doesn't change". God can and will handle any type of problem, but some solutions are costlier than others.
Final question: why did God have Moses stretch out his hand? Couldn't God have done this without Moses? Of course Moses' hand was purely for appearance's sake. But why do you think God thought it was important for Moses to be seen as involved in this event?
Part 3: God's Power (Exodus 14:29-31)
29 But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses.
Verse 31 gives the answer to the question I just asked. God wanted the people to see Moses as the leader God appointed for them. This would be very important for the next 40 years.
God has more than once already explained the purpose of this gruesome event:
14:4 Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
Because of this event, because there could be no explanation for it apart from the almighty power of God, God's people would know that He alone is God, and He alone is supreme among the so-called gods.
But there is one other purpose -- the Egyptians needed to know that God alone is God. Can't you imagine a world in which a year later, two years later, when Egypt was having a hard time getting their work done that they wouldn't be tempted to go and find and re-capture the Israelites? Well, that would not be a problem for a long, long time.
Here are three questions from my Serendipity Bible that you might find useful:
1: Comparing your spiritual journey to the Israelites' escape, where would you say you are right now?
[] living in bondage
[] chased by enemies
[] trapped and confused
[] doubting God
[] stepping out in faith
[] safely on the other side
2: What led you to put your trust in God?
[] a miracle
[] God's deliverance of me
[] a godly leader
[] I've not taken that step yet
[] other
3: From what do you need God's deliverance right now?
[] problems at work
[] financial pressures
[] spiritual struggles
[] a bad habit
[] difficulties in a relationship
[] other
Goodness, they're just better at writing questions than I am.
Again, we're studying this passage on the last Sunday of 2024, so it's a good "looking back/looking ahead" moment. I really like the way the Serendipity Bible puts these events in the style of our personal spiritual life (though it might be a bit too abstract for some of your group members). Let's finish off 2024 with a strong gospel presentation for our group -- what better way to enter 2025 than with the sure knowledge that God has saved you from sin and hell and will be fighting your battles for you in this life?
Closing Thoughts: The People Feared the Lord?
I know what you're thinking: the people fear the Lord? The people believed in Moses? Not according to the rest of the Bible!
So, let's end this time with a big picture question: Have you had times of strong faith followed by times a doubt and rebellion? What took you from faith to doubt?
In my experience, faith is something that must be continuously exercised, like any muscle. The enemy of God's people -- Satan -- is always looking for ways to distract, discredit, and dismay us, so we must always be on the ready.
Paul gives us some timeless instruction for us on this front:
Ephesian 6:10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Why don't you take some time at the end of your lesson to help everyone in your group "pray the armor of God" for themselves and their families. If you need to, explain how one can do this. We studied this passage a few years ago: