The Pulpit Commentaries
Exodus 14:23-31
EXPOSITION
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EGYPTIANS. As the rearguard of the Israelite host having entered the tract from which the waters had retired, proceeded along it, and left the western end of the isthmus vacant, the pillar of the cloud seems to have followed it up and withdrawn with it. The Egyptians immediately advanced. Notwithstanding the preternatural darkness, they had become aware, perhaps by means of their ears, of the movement that was taking place, and with early dawn they were under arms and pressing on the line of the Israelite retreat. They found the channel still dry, and hastily entering it with their chariot force, they hurried forward in pursuit. The first check which they received was wholly supernatural. "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" (Exodus 14:24). Details here are wanting; but less cannot be meant, than that some strange phenomena connected with the retiring "pillar" caused a panic and threw the ranks of the army into confusion. Then followed natural impediments. The Lord "took off," or "clogged" their chariot Wheels, and made them go heavily—i.e; the chariot wheels, not by miracle, but by the operation of God's natural laws, sank into the soft sand over which the Israelites had passed easily, having no wheeled vehicles, and the chariots were consequently dragged forward slowly and with difficulty. The double hindrance, from the confusion and the stoppage of the chariots, so discouraged the Egyptians, that after a time they resolved on beating a retreat (Exodus 14:25). They had set out on their return, when Moses, at God's instance, stretched forth his hand once mere over the sea, and the waters on both sides began at once to return. The Egyptians saw their danger, and "fled against" the advancing tide, racing against it, as it were, and seeking to reach the shore. But in vain. The waves came on rapidly, and (in the language of Exodus 14:28) there was not a man of all those who had entered the dry bed of the sea that was not overwhelmed and drowned in the waters. We should he wrong to press this language to the extreme letter. In graphic narrative the sacred writers uniformly employ universal expressions, where they mean to give the general fact or general result. The true meaning is, that the pursuit altogether failed. Not an Egyptian made his way alive across the strait. All that the Israelites ever saw afterwards of the army that they had so much dreaded (Exodus 14:10) was a ghastly mass of corpses thrown up by the tide on the Asiatic shore (Exodus 14:30).
All Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Here, as elsewhere, the word translated "horsemen" probably means the men who rode in the chariots. Observe that the Pharaoh himself is not said to have gone in. Menephthah was apt to avoid placing himself in a position of danger. Nor is any of the infantry said to have entered the bed of the sea.
In the morning watch. The "morning watch" of the Hebrews at this period of their history lasted from 2 a.m. to sunrise. Sunrise in Egypt, early in April, would take place about a quarter to six. The Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians. The description in Psalms 77:17, Psalms 77:18, is generally regarded as belonging to this point in the narrative of the Exodus, and may be considered as the traditional exposition of it. "The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound; thine arrows also went abroad; the voice of thy thunder was in the heavens; the lightning lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook." As Josephus says "Showers of rain came down from the sky, and dreadful thunders and lightning, with flashes of fire; thunderbolts also were darted upon them; nor was there anything, wont to be sent by God upon men as indications of his wrath, which did not happen upon this occasion" (Ant. Jude 1:2Jude 1:2.16, § 3). And troubled the host. Or "disturbed the host," i.e.," threw it into confusion.(συνετάραξε, LXX.).
And took off their chariot wheels. The Sept. has "clogged the axles of their chariots;" but this is from a reading not at present found in the Hebrew MSS. Most modern commentators, however, prefer the reading, which gives a good sense; whereas the existing text is unintelligible. As Kalisch observes, "if the wheels of the chariots had been broken off, the chariots would not have moved at all." That they drove them heavily. The marginal rendering, "and made them go heavily," is preferable. The wheels no doubt sank into the sand up to the axles, and were with difficulty extricated, again to sink a few yards further on. Progress was thus greatly retarded. So that the Egyptians said, "Let us flee." Literally, "And Egypt said, 'I will flee.'" The Lord fighteth for them. Compare the promise of Moses (Exodus 14:14). The Egyptians were convinced, by the various obstacles which they encountered, that Jehovah was lending his people active aid, and miraculously obstructing their advance. If this were so, it was of no use to persevere, and accordingly they began their retreat.
And the Lord said. God here interposed a new difficulty. Moses was instructed to stretch out his rod once more, and undo his former work. At the appointed sign, the east wind ceased to blow, and the waters of the Bitter Lakes, no longer driven to the north-west by its force, flowed back with something of a reflux, while at the same time, the tide having turned, the Red Sea waves came rushing on at unwonted speed. In vain the Egyptians fled. They were met by the advancing floods, which poured in on either side, overwhelming and covering up all those who had entered on the dangerous path.
The chariots and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh. Rather "The chariots, and the chariot men of all the host of Pharaoh." So Knobel correctly. Kalisch thinks—"We are not permitted to suppose that only the Egyptian chariots pursued the Israelites into the sea, while the infantry remained behind, so that the former alone were devoured by the waves." But even he admits that "both in this and in the following chapter, and in most other parts generally, the destruction of the chariots (chariot force?) and its warriors is chiefly alluded to, so that this particular stress would perhaps justify that conclusion." What is clear is, that no force but the chariot force is said to have entered the bed of the sea in pursuit of Israel. There remained not so much as one of them. On the proper understanding of this statement, see the introductory paragraph to the chapter.
Walked. Rather, "had walked." The waters were a wall. Rather, "had been a wall." For the meaning of the expression, see note on Exodus 14:22.
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. Josephus says (Ant. Jud. Exodus 2:16, § 6), that, after the passage of the sea by the Israelites, a west wind set in, which (assisted by the current) drove the bodies of the drowned Egyptians to the eastern side of the gulf, where many of them were cast up upon the shore. In this way Moses, according to him, obtained weapons and armour for a considerable number of Israelites.
And Israel saw that great work. The "work" was, at the least,
(1) the (almost) entire destruction of that arm of the service—the chariot force-on which the Egyptian kings mainly relied for success in all their wars; and
(2) the defeat and disgrace of the Egyptian king himself, in an expedition for which he was alone responsible, involving permanent discredit to his military capacity, and naturally tending to shake his authority over his subjects. It secured the Israelites from further persecution, mainly by the reminiscences which it left behind, but partly also by removing them to a distance from the natural course of Egyptian warlike or commercial movement. Though Egypt had mining establishments in the Sinaitic peninsula, at Wady-Magharah and Sarabit-el-Khadim, yet as these were avoided by the Israelites on their way to Sinai, and never afterwards approached, there naturally was no collision between them and the Pharaonic garrisons at those sites. Still more remote were they during their wanderings from the Egyptian military route, which proceeded along the coast from Pelusium to Gaza, and then ran northwards through the Shephelah. Thus the Passage of the Red Sea brought one phase in the life of the people to an end, and was the commencement of another. It separated them from Egypt until the time came when their king would hold communication with its monarch on equal terms (1 Kings 3:1). It secured their independence, and raised them at once into a nation. It further caused them to exchange the artificial life of a bureaucratical and convention-loving community for the open space and untrammelled freedom of the desert. It thus rejuvenated and reinvigorated the race, and enabled them to enter on that career of conquest which culminated in the Kingdom—may we not say the Empire?—of David. some writers have supposed that the blow to the Egyptian power was greater than here represented. They believe the entire warrior caste or class to have taken part in the expedition, and to have been destroyed in the Red Sea Thus they describe the calamity as "the total annihilation of the whole military force of the Egyptians" (Kalisch). They also believe the Pharaoh to have perished with his host. To the present writer it seems that the former opinion is contrary both to the text of Scripture, and to the after course of Egyptian history, for it is agreed on all hands that Egypt continued nearly as powerful as before, while the latter he regards as at least exceedingly doubtful. Psalms 86:15, is quoted as asserting it; but it appears to him
(1) that "overthrow" is not necessarily "death;" and
(2) that "Pharaoh and his host" may be put for "Pharaoh's host" by hendiadys. The absence of any prophecy that God would take the Pharaoh's life, and the entire silence of Moses on the subject in Psalms 14:1. and 15. seems to be scarcely explicable on any other theory than that he escaped, not having accompanied his chariot force in its rash pursuit of the Israelites.
HOMILETICS
God's dealings with the wicked and impenitent.
If the passage of Israel through the Red Sea shows conspicuously God's protection of his people in the time of trouble, the overthrow of the Egyptians indicates, at least as conspicuously, his execution of wrath upon the wicked.
I. First of all, IT IS NOTICEABLE HOW HIS EYE UPON THEIR HEARTS, LOOKING INTO THEM THROUGH THE CLOUD AND DARKNESS WHEREIN THEY ARE ENVELOPED, TROUBLES THEM. Bad men cannot bear God's eye upon their hearts. It sees through all veils, penetrates all disguises, detects all subterfuges. The bad man is a riddle, even to himself, and would feign continue an enigma, impenetrable, mysterious. But the searching eye of God turned full upon him, so illuminates every dark corner and unexplored cranny of his nature, that all becomes only too patent and clear. "All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Under that steadfast gaze the mystery melts away, like a summer fog, and the bad man sees himself revealed, without disguise as a very ordinary and commonplace offender.
II. IT IS WORTHY OF OBSERVATION THAT HE OFTEN CLOGS THEIR CHARIOT WHEELS, AND MAKES THEM TO GO HEAVILY. The enterprises which the wicked undertake are continually interfered with. God will not let them have the success which their framers anticipate, and which for their cleverness and ingenuity they may be said to deserve. He "clogs the wheels" of their various designs, and makes them drag heavily. One miscarriage follows another. This enterprise will not advance at all; that, by dint of great exertion, moves but slowly. It is as though the chariot wheels sank into quicksands. It is not often that they wake up to the conviction that "the Lord fighteth against the Egyptians;" though this may happen sometimes. Then perhaps they repent them of their vain attempt, and would feign retreat from it. But it is TOO LATE.
III. IT IS MOST NOTICEABLE HOW AT LAST GOD'S JUDGMENTS COME IN WITH AN OVERWHELMING FLOOD, WHICH THERE IS NO ESCAPING. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Upon the ungodly God at the last rains down "snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest—this is their portion to drink." "Sudden destruction comes upon them unawares." Now it is in financial ruin, now in utter failure of health, now in complete prostration of the spirit, and an intolerable sense of remorse and despair that the judgment descends—blow follows blow, failure succeeds to failure, all the old refuges and supports prove unavailing—angry floods pour in on every side—there is no reaching the shore—all is tossing surf, slippery rock, and entangling sea-weed—not a hand is stretched out to save. So they go down to the pit—the devouring waves swallow them up—the water-floods go up over their heads—they disappear, and their place knows them no more. The wages of sin is death; and the end of sin is death. The ultimate end of impenitent sin is eternal death. Let men, while there is time, turn away from sin, give up their wicked enterprises, retrace their steps—taking warning from the awful Red Sea calamity, and the terrible destruction there wrought.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
The overthrow of the Egyptians.
"The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea," etc. On this observe:—
I. THE INFATUATION OF THE PURSUERS (Exodus 14:23). We do not speak of the lessons they had already received as to the folly of contending with Jehovah. The plagues were past. The memory of them had been cast behind their backs. What we do wonder at is, that when the Egyptians reached the shore, and saw there what they did see, they were not deterred from proceeding further. What did they see?
1. They saw the sea divided. They could hardly mistake this for a merely natural phenomenon. The place where the Israelites crossed may have been, under special conditions, and to a limited extent, fordable. But it is safe to say that the division now effected was one the like of which had never been heard of before, and such as, occurring at this particular juncture, ought to have convinced the Egyptians that it was a result of God's special Providence, and intended for the protection of the Israelites. Special interpositions, on behalf of the Church, ought to arrest the attention of her enemies.
2. They saw the cloud that went with Israel move to the rear, obviously with the design of intercepting their pursuit (Exodus 14:19, Exodus 14:20). This, with the ominous darkness which enveloped them, was a second circumstance which ought to have warned them that Jehovah was fighting for his people.
3. There was the danger, which could not but present itself to them, of being overwhelmed by the returning sea. In whatever way the division of the waters was conceived Of, whether as a natural phenomenon, or as a fact of supernatural origin, it was plainly a perilous experiment to attempt the pursuit. Viewing it as the result of an ebb-tide, aided by a strong east wind, there was the risk of being caught by the returning tide; or if the wind abated, or changed its direction, of being immediately submerged. In the other case there was the danger, almost the certainty, of the supernatural power which restrained the waters permitting them to flow back on the pursuers. What infatuation, then, possessed the Egyptians, prompting them to enter the sea?
(1) A false sense of honour. Having engaged in the pursuit, it would be deemed a point of honour not to desist from it, so long as the faintest chance of success remained. They had gone too far to retreat now at the water's edge.
(2) Rage. Fury and disappointment would possess them, as, in the very hour of their fancied triumph, they saw their prey thus elude them. Was Pharaoh and his mighty host to be thus mocked and set at nought—thus suddenly reined up and baffled? What would Egypt think of her warriors, if, setting out on such an expedition, they returned humiliated and empty-handed? At all hazards Israel must be pursued.
(3) There was the chance of getting through. The distance was short; the way lay open; if Israel had got across, so might the Egyptians. On this chance, in the spirit of the gambler, they would stake everything. What havoc have these same motives—a false sense of honour (cf. Matthew 14:9), a spirit of uncalculating rage, the headstrong gambling disposition,—played in the history of the world! Together, or apart, they account for much of its infatuation. See specially in this conduct of Pharaoh, a picture of the infatuation to which the enemies of Christ's Church have so frequently been given over, and which will linger among them till the end. Compare e.g. the Apocalyptic gathering of the antichristian powers, to do battle with the Lamb (Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:11).
II. THE RECEPTION WHICH THEY RECEIVED FROM GOD.
1. In "the morning watch," and when the Egyptians were in "the midst of the sea," God looked forth upon them from the pillar of cloud (Exodus 14:23). The expression is a pregnant one. The look was a "fire-look"—some fire-appearance of a startling kind which issued from the cloud, and shed terror over the pursuers. It was accompanied with thunderings and lightnings (Psalms 77:18, Psalms 77:19). God's looks are potent. When God "looked" on Israel (Exodus 2:25), it meant that he was about to bring salvation to them. When he "locked" on the Egyptians, it was the prelude to their destruction. Through that pillar glares forth an eye which sends a separate dismay into each Egyptian heast and all is felt to be lost. We find two imitations of this in modern poetry—one by Coleridge, in his 'Ode on the Departing Year,' where he prays God to—
"Open his eye of fire from some uncertain cloud,"
and another (by Southey) in the 'Curse of Kehama,' where, after the 'Man Almighty,' holding his Amreeta Cup, had exclaimed—
"Now, Seeva, look to thine abode!"
it is added, when the cup is drunk—
"Then Seeva open'd on the accursed one
His eye of anger—upon him alone
The wrath beam fell He shudders, but too late."
(Gilfillan.)
2. God troubled their hosts (Exodus 14:24, Exodus 14:25). There is meant by this some supernatural exertion of power. It was not due to natural causes alone that the chariot wheels were "taken off," and that they drave heavily. It was God who, by his heavy hand upon them, was thus obstructing their progress. The invisible powers were fighting against the Egyptians, as "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera" (Judges 5:20). Those are sure to drive heavily, who drive in the face of God's inhibition, and under his ban.
3. God brought the sea back upon them (Exodus 14:26). Swiftly, fatally, at the stretching forth of Moses' rod, the sea returned in its strength, and utterly overwhelmed them. And such, in its main outline, is the reception which Jehovah must give to all his enemies. His wrath already rests upon them. His fiery look will one day scare them. Even now they are troubled and impeded by it, and by the resistance which he opposes to their plans. Finally, he will overwhelm them in the sea of his wrath. He will visit them with "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Hence—
III. THEIR COMPLETE DESTRUCTION (Exodus 14:27, Exodus 14:28). They perished suddenly, miserably, and all together. Type of the overthrow of God's enemies in the end (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 16:16, Revelation 16:17; Revelation 19:17; Revelation 20:9). The blow was a crushing one to Egypt, It filled up the measure of her punishment for the evil she had done to Israel. After the death of the first-born, there could remain nothing to Pharaoh and his servants, in the event of their still hardening themselves, but "a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation" (Hebrews 10:27). Does some one say, what a waste of human life—how unlike a God of mercy! Rather, surely, how striking a testimony to the reality of retribution—how sure a token of the righteous doom which in the end will infallibly overtake every obdurate transgressor! God will not permit sinners always to defy him. His wrath and power are resistless. The "ungodly and sinner" must expect to feel the weight of them (1 Peter 17, 18).
IV. RESULT (Exodus 14:30, Exodus 14:31).
1. Israel was saved.
2. The Egyptian dead were found strewn upon the shore. This—
(1) A memorial of God's vengeance.
(2) An awful satire on so-called human greatness.
(3) A pledge of security to Israel.
3. The people were filled with gratitude and fear. They "believed the Lord." The wonder is that after so marvellous a deliverance they could ever again doubt him.—J.O.