Commentary - Exodus 14:26-29

Bird's-eye view

In this tremendous climax to the Exodus, we see the finality of God's judgment against His enemies and the totality of His salvation for His people. This is not a near miss; it is a definitive and categorical deliverance. For generations, Egypt had been the furnace of affliction for Israel, and Pharaoh the very image of arrogant, hard-hearted rebellion against the Almighty. Here, at the shores of the Red Sea, God brings the entire conflict to its crashing conclusion. The waters that stood up as a fortress for the redeemed now become the very instrument of wrath for the rebellious.

This passage is a stark portrait of two humanities, two destinies, and one sovereign God who orchestrates both. On the one hand, you have the Egyptians, swallowed by the chaos of the sea, a watery grave for all their pride and military might. On the other, you have Israel, walking through the valley of the shadow of death on dry ground, protected and preserved. The same event means utter destruction for one group and glorious salvation for the other. This is a foundational picture of the Gospel. The cross of Christ is either the instrument of your salvation or the rock upon which you are broken. There is no middle ground.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 26 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen.”

The action begins where all true action begins, with the Word of God. It is Yahweh who speaks, and it is His decree that sets the final scene in motion. Notice the agency. Moses is the instrument, but God is the actor. God did not say, "Moses, figure out a way to deal with the Egyptians." He said, "Stretch out your hand." This is the same hand that held the staff that brought the plagues, the same hand that was stretched out to part the sea in the first place. God delights in using ordinary human instruments to accomplish His extraordinary purposes, so that no flesh may glory in His presence. The command is specific: the waters are to come back over the Egyptians. This is not an accident, not a freak tide. This is a targeted, precise, military strike from the throne of Heaven. The judgment is aimed squarely at the pride of Egypt, their chariots and horsemen, the very things in which they trusted.

v. 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

Moses obeys. Simple, uncomplicated obedience is the proper response to the command of God. He stretches out his hand, and the laws of nature, which serve their Creator, respond. The sea returns to its "normal state." The miracle was not just in the parting, but also in the returning. God is Lord over the spectacular and the mundane. And notice the timing, "at daybreak." As the light of a new day dawns for Israel, it is the light of judgment for Egypt. They are fleeing, but their flight is futile. They are not fleeing from the sea, but "right into it." Their path of escape is the very epicenter of their destruction. This is the irony of all rebellion against God. The sinner, trying to escape the consequences of his sin, runs headlong into the very judgment he fears. And the text is explicit again: "Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians." This was not a natural disaster. This was a divine overthrow, a toppling of a pagan empire by the King of kings.

v. 28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh’s entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.

The thoroughness of God's judgment is breathtaking. The waters covered everything. Not just a few soldiers, not just the vanguard, but the "chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army." The very symbols of their worldly power became the instruments of their drowning. God has a way of judging us with our idols. The thing we trust in for our salvation apart from Him becomes the millstone around our neck. And the final clause is stark and absolute: "not even one of them remained." This is total, complete, annihilating judgment. When God judges, He does not do things by halves. This is a terrifying reality for those who stand in opposition to Him, but it is a profound comfort for those who have taken refuge in Christ. The enemies of God's people, sin, death, and the devil, have been decisively and completely defeated at the cross. Not one of them remains to hold any final claim over the redeemed.

v. 29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Here is the great "but," the hinge upon which salvation history turns. "But the sons of Israel..." While the Egyptians were drowning in a maelstrom of divine wrath, the people of God were walking on dry land. The very same place was a tomb for one and a highway for the other. This is the doctrine of election in living color. The path of salvation is a miraculous one, a path where there ought to be no path. They walked "through the midst of the sea," a place of chaos and death, yet they were untouched. The waters that were a torrential force of destruction for Pharaoh's army were a "wall to them on their right hand and on their left." This is a beautiful picture of how God's power and law operate for the believer. For the unbeliever, the law of God is a crushing force, a ministry of condemnation. But for the one in Christ, that same law becomes a wall of protection, guiding and securing him. This entire event, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10, was a baptism. They passed through the water, leaving their old life of slavery to Egypt dead and buried behind them, and emerged on the other side as a new nation, ready to receive the law and worship their Deliverer.

Application

The application of this passage is as clear as the water was deep. First, we must recognize the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation and judgment. It is God who commands, God who acts, and God who distinguishes between the saved and the lost. Our confidence is not in our own ability to find a path through the sea of this life, but in the God who makes a path for us.

Second, this is a picture of our baptism into Christ. In baptism, we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection. We pass through the waters, and the Egypt of our old sinful nature, with its pharaonic pride and enslaving passions, is drowned. We are raised to walk in newness of life. The forces that once held us captive have been utterly defeated. "Not even one of them remained."

Finally, we must live in light of this great deliverance. The Israelites went on to sing the song of Moses, a song of triumph and praise to their warrior God. We too have a song to sing, the song of Moses and the Lamb. We are to live as a people who have been rescued from certain death by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. We are not to fear the chariots and horsemen of this world, for we have seen them overthrown. Our task is to walk the dry path God has made for us, between the walls of His protection, and to give Him all the glory for our great salvation.