Exodus 14:15 - Meaning and Application

Here we have:

I. Direction given to Israel’s leader.

1. What Moses must do himself. For the moment, he must stop praying and turn to his duty: “Why do you cry to me?” (Exodus 14:15). Moses was sure that God would bring them through this trouble, yet he did not stop praying. We are not told his exact words, but he lifted his heart to God, and God understood and noticed that prayer. Moses’s quiet prayers of faith moved God more than Israel’s loud cries of fear (Exodus 14:10). Prayer, when it is true prayer, is a cry to God. It shows both deep need and earnest desire. God also tells Moses to act, because he has other work to do. He must command the host of Israel, and he needs to be at his post. Everything is beautiful in its proper time.

2. What Moses must tell Israel to do. “Tell the people to go forward.” Some think Moses had prayed, not mainly for their rescue, since he was already sure of that, but for the forgiveness of their murmuring. If so, God’s command for them to move ahead would be a sign that they were forgiven. There is no real comfort in moving forward unless we know we are at peace with God. Moses had already told them to stand still and wait for God’s order, and now that order comes. They may have expected to be sent to the right or left, but God says, “Tell them to go forward,” straight toward the sea, as if transport ships were waiting there for them. When we are doing our duty and meet hard things, we must keep going and not stand frozen in fear. We should do the work in front of us and leave the outcome with God. We must use the means he gives and trust him with what follows.

3. What Moses may expect God to do. The children of Israel are to go as far as they can onto dry ground, and then God will divide the sea and make a way through it (Exodus 14:16-18). God means not only to save Israel, but also to destroy Egypt, and his plan fits that purpose. He will show kindness to Israel, and the waters will part so they can pass through (Exodus 14:16). He could have frozen the water so they could walk over it, but perfect wisdom chose to divide it and let them pass through, because the way of salvation God chooses is often the one that humbles us most. This is why Scripture later says, with reference to this event, that he led them through the deep like a beast going down into the valley, and so made himself a glorious name (Isaiah 63:13-14).

He will also win honor over Pharaoh. If the rightful honor due to the great Lord, from whom we receive our lives and blessings, is not given, he will take it by force and recover what is his. God will lose nothing through any man. So he says, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 14:17). The way this is said is worth noticing: “I, yes I, will do it.” This is the language of his rule, because he has the right to do it. We must never help harden anyone’s heart, or fail to do what we can to soften it. But God’s grace belongs to him alone. He has mercy on whom he chooses, and he hardens whom he chooses. It is also the language of his power, because only the Almighty can make a heart soft (Job 23:16), and only he can make it hard. And it is the language of his justice, because it is right for God to leave under the pressure of his anger those who have long refused his grace. The words also carry a note of triumph over this stubborn and proud rebel. God says, in effect, “I myself will deal with him. He will break, since he would not bend.” It is like the words, “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies” (Isaiah 1:24).

II. A guard is set over Israel’s camp, where it was most exposed, in the rear (Exodus 14:19-20). The angel of God, whose service was used in the pillar of cloud and fire, moved from the front of Israel’s camp to the rear. They no longer needed a guide, because there was no danger of losing their way through the sea, and no other command was needed except to go forward. But they did need protection, because the Egyptians were close behind and ready to seize the last of them. So the angel became a wall between the two camps. He helped Israel by protecting them and lighting their way through the sea, while at the same time he confused the Egyptians so they lost sight of their prey just when they were about to seize it.

God’s word and providence have one side that is dark and heavy for sin and sinners, and another side that is bright and kind for true Israelites. What is life to some is death to others. This was not the first time the God who separated light from darkness at the beginning (Genesis 1:4), and still makes both (Isaiah 45:7), gave darkness to the Egyptians and light to Israel at the same time. It was a small picture of the lasting difference he will make between the inheritance of the saints in light and the outer darkness that will be forever the lot of hypocrites. God will always separate the precious from the worthless.