Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 14:10 - 14:18

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 14:10 - 14:18


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The Great Fear of the Israelites

v. 10. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
As the attention of the Israelites was drawn to the pursuing host, they realized the desperate situation in which they found themselves: on the east of them, the sea; on the south, the mountains; on the northwest, the army of Pharaoh. Moreover, they lacked both the weapons and the courage for a successful stand against the armies of the tyrant. It was not a confident prayer which they sent up in this emergency, but a cry of terror.

v. 11. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
This was a mixture of bitter irony and unreasoning terror; for Egypt was rich in great sepulchers and monuments. They also forgot that they had received the revelations of Moses with grateful hearts and had willingly followed his directions.

v. 12. Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?
That had happened in only one case, Exo_5:21, whereas the Israelites had otherwise been eager to accept the advice of Moses. For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. These were unjust reproaches and foreshadowed the subsequent behavior of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

v. 13. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salva tion of the Lord which He will show to you today; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today ye shall see them again no more forever.
This heroic confidence of Moses stands out all the more splendidly by contrast with the cringing fear of the people, as the Lord had not revealed to him the form which His deliverance would take.

v. 14. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace,
Moses knew that the deliverance which the Lord would bring about would be of a nature to make the Israelites hush all their laments; they would, in fact, stand by in idle astonishment while the Lord glorified Himself before them.

v. 15. And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me?
Although Moses was outwardly silent, his heart was praying to the Lord with anxious cries. Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward; they were to march straight ahead.

v. 16. But lift thou up thy rod, the same shepherd's staff that had figured so largely in Egypt, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it.
He was not merely to cause an unusually low ebb-tide, together with a strong wind to hold the water back, but he was to separate, to cut apart, the waters of the sea, the purpose of the wind afterward being merely to assist in drying off the bottom of the sea. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

v. 17. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them,
in blind obstinacy, And I will get Me honor upon Pharaoh and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. God's judgment upon Pharaoh was to redound to the everlasting honor of His name.

v. 18. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten Me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
Thus the Lord strengthens those that believe in Him in the hour of danger and tribulation by giving them the assurance that He Himself will battle for them and deliver them from all their enemies.