Commentary - Exodus 14:15-18

Bird's-eye view

In this critical juncture of the Exodus narrative, we find Israel pinned against the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army closing in. The people are terrified, Moses is crying out to God, and the situation appears entirely hopeless from a human perspective. This is precisely the kind of stage God loves to set. He specializes in impossible situations so that His deliverance cannot be mistaken for anything other than what it is: a sovereign act of sheer power and grace. God’s response to Moses is not one of gentle reassurance, but a sharp, bracing command to get moving. He is not interested in their paralysis; He is interested in their obedience. This passage is a powerful demonstration of God's methodology. He commands His servants to act, using the ordinary means at their disposal, a shepherd's staff, and then He infuses that act of obedience with His own omnipotent power to accomplish the impossible. The ultimate purpose is not merely the salvation of Israel, but the magnification of God’s own glory. He will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and through this mighty act of judgment and salvation, the Egyptians, and by extension the world, will know that He is Yahweh.

The central theme here is the absolute sovereignty of God over every circumstance, every human heart, and every historical event. He is not a frantic responder to crises; He is the architect of them. He orchestrates the pursuit of Pharaoh, the terror of the Israelites, and the subsequent miraculous deliverance for one overarching purpose: His own glory. This is not cosmic vanity. God’s glory is the ultimate good for all creation, and when He acts to display it, He is acting for the ultimate benefit of His people. They learn to trust Him, the nations learn to fear Him, and the record of His mighty deeds becomes a foundation for the faith of all subsequent generations.

Outline

Context In Exodus

This passage is the climax of the deliverance from Egypt. For ten plagues, God has systematically dismantled the pantheon of Egyptian gods, demonstrating His supremacy over every aspect of their lives and worship. He has shown His power in judgment. Now, He is about to show His power in salvation. The Israelites have been led out by a pillar of cloud and fire, a visible manifestation of God's presence, yet their faith is brittle. At the first sign of real trouble, they revert to the slave mentality, preferring the familiar misery of Egypt to the terrifying uncertainties of freedom with God. Their grumbling against Moses is a recurring theme, revealing the deep-seated unbelief in their hearts. This moment at the Red Sea is a crucible. God is not just delivering them from an external enemy; He is beginning the long, arduous process of teaching a nation of slaves what it means to be the free sons of the living God. This event will become a cornerstone of Israel's identity, a constant reference point for God's saving power throughout the rest of the Old Testament.

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

15 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward.

God’s response to Moses is startling. We would expect a word of comfort, but what we get is a sharp, almost impatient, rebuke. “Why are you crying out to Me?” This is not a prohibition against prayer. The Scriptures are filled with commands to call upon the Lord. Rather, this is a rebuke against a particular kind of praying, the kind that becomes a substitute for obedience. The time for petition was over; the time for action had arrived. God had already given His promise of deliverance. Moses’s task now was not to beg God to do something, but to believe what God had said and to lead the people in obedience. This is a crucial lesson. There is a time to be on your knees, and there is a time to get up off your knees and march. Faith is not passive resignation; it is active trust. God then gives the command, “Speak to the sons of Israel so that they go forward.” Forward into what? Into the sea. From a human standpoint, this is lunacy. But from a divine standpoint, it is the only path of salvation. God often commands His people to walk into what looks like a dead end, precisely so He can blow the back wall out for them. He leads us to the edge of the cliff so we can learn that He is the one who parts the waters.

16 As for you, raise up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.

Here we see the beautiful interplay between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God does not say, “Stand back, Moses, and watch me work.” He says, “As for you, raise up your staff.” This is the same staff that was a simple shepherd’s tool, the same staff that became a serpent before Pharaoh, the same staff that struck the Nile. It has no inherent magical power. It is a piece of wood. But it is the ordained instrument of God’s power. God loves to use weak, ordinary, and foolish things to accomplish His purposes, so that no flesh may glory in His presence. Moses is commanded to act, to stretch out his hand. This is an act of faith. He must obey the command without seeing the result. And then God declares what He will do: He will split the sea. Moses’s obedience is the trigger, but God’s power is the bullet. The result is a miracle of the highest order: not just a path through the water, but a path on “dry land.” God does not do things by half measures. He does not just make a muddy, sloppy path for them to trudge through. He transforms the seabed into a dry road. This is a picture of the Gospel. God does not just make sinful man a little better; He makes him a new creation. He doesn't just offer a way to struggle through; He provides a path of perfect righteousness in Christ.

17 As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians with strength so that they will go in after them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

This verse is a theological bombshell and a profound offense to the modern sentimentalist. God explicitly states that He is the one who will harden the hearts of the Egyptians. This is not an afterthought or a passive permission. It is an active, sovereign decree. “I will harden the hearts.” He is not simply reacting to Pharaoh’s stubbornness; He is orchestrating it for His own purposes. Pharaoh has already hardened his own heart multiple times, and God is now giving him over to that hardness, strengthening him in his rebellion. This is a terrifying biblical principle: when men persist in shaking their fist at God, He will sometimes strengthen their arm so they can shake it all the harder, right before He breaks it. And why does He do this? For His own glory. “I will be glorified through Pharaoh.” God’s glory is the ultimate end of all things. It is displayed in the salvation of His people, and it is equally displayed in the just destruction of His enemies. Pharaoh and his army, in their arrogant pride, think they are pursuing a band of escaped slaves. In reality, they are pieces on God’s chessboard, being moved into a position of final checkmate. God will get glory from their chariots and horsemen, the very instruments of their pride and power, by utterly destroying them.

18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh, when I am glorified through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”

The final purpose is revelatory. God is not just flexing His muscles. He is teaching a lesson. “Then the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” This is the great theme of Exodus. Who is Yahweh, that Pharaoh should obey Him? Pharaoh asked the question in arrogance. He is about to receive his answer in the depths of the Red Sea. The knowledge spoken of here is not a saving knowledge, but a knowledge of dreadful reality. They will know that the God of the Hebrews is the one true God, the sovereign Lord of creation, just as they are being consumed by that creation. This knowledge will come too late for them, but it will be a testimony to the nations. The story of the Red Sea crossing would echo throughout the ancient world, as we see later when Rahab speaks to the spies in Jericho. God’s purpose is always evangelistic, even in His judgments. He demonstrates His power and His character so that the world might know who He is. His glory is the end, and the knowledge of that glory is the means by which His name is hallowed in all the earth.

Application

This passage is a potent antidote to the kind of timid, man-centered Christianity that is so prevalent today. We serve a God who is not safe, but who is good. He puts His people in impossible situations, not to torment them, but to teach them to trust Him utterly. When we are faced with our own Red Seas, whether it be financial crisis, relational breakdown, or cultural hostility, the command is the same: "Go forward." We are not to be paralyzed by fear, wringing our hands and crying out in unbelief. We are to take up the ordinary means God has given us, the staff of His Word and prayer, and step out in faith, trusting that He will do what He has promised.

We must also reckon with the hard truth of God’s sovereignty, even in judgment. Our God is the God who hardens hearts. He is not a celestial bystander hoping things work out. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and He is the sovereign orchestrator of history, including the rebellion of wicked men. This should not lead us to fatalism, but to a profound sense of awe and reverence. The same sovereign power that justly hardens the heart of the rebellious unbeliever is the power that graciously softens the heart of the chosen believer. Our salvation is not a product of our superior wisdom or moral insight; it is a sheer act of sovereign grace. Therefore, all the glory belongs to Him. Whether in the salvation of His people walking on dry ground or in the judgment of His enemies under the waves, the ultimate purpose is singular: that the world may know that He is Yahweh, and that His name would be glorified forever.