The Crossing of the Red Sea

Israel had just left Egypt when God gave a strange order: turn back and camp between Pi-hahiroth and the sea, right in front of Baal-zephon. From where they stood, they looked trapped — and that is exactly what Pharaoh thought when he saw them: 'They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in' (Exodus 14:3). He changed his mind about letting them go and set out after them with six hundred chosen chariots and all the army of Egypt.

When the people looked up and saw the Egyptians closing in, terror gripped the camp. Trapped between the most feared army of the age and a sea with no bridges or boats, they cried out to the Lord — and turned on Moses too, saying they would rather have died as slaves in Egypt. Moses did not argue with their fear; he simply pointed to the only way out. 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord... The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace' (Exodus 14:13-14).

Then God acted. The pillar of cloud that went before the people moved behind them, standing between the two camps — darkness for the Egyptians, light for Israel, and all night long neither side came near the other. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind all that night, opening a dry path through the middle of the waters. The children of Israel crossed with a wall of water on their right and another on their left — and the Egyptians, trying to recapture them, went in after them right into the sea.

At dawn, God looked down on the Egyptian camp through the pillar of fire and cloud, and everything turned to confusion: the wheels of their chariots locked up, and the Egyptians realized too late that it was the Lord fighting for Israel. Moses stretched out his hand once more, and the sea returned to its full strength, covering chariots, horsemen, and all of Pharaoh's army — not one of them survived. Israel walked through the sea on dry ground and saw the Egyptians dead on the shore; that day, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him and in Moses His servant.