Commentary - Exodus 14:30-31

Bird's-eye view

This brief, potent summary serves as the grand conclusion to the central saving event of the Old Testament. The preceding verses have been filled with terror, panic, and impossible circumstances. Israel was trapped, with a raging sea before them and the most powerful army on earth thundering down behind them. But God, through Moses, does the impossible. He splits the sea, leads His people through on dry ground, and then collapses that same sea upon the armies of Egypt. These two verses, then, are the denouement. They describe the immediate aftermath and the effect this mighty act of salvation had upon the people of Israel. It was a salvation that was total, visual, and decisive. It resulted in a twofold response from the people: a right and proper fear of Yahweh, and a corresponding belief in Him and His chosen instrument, Moses. This event becomes the paradigm for all of God's saving acts to follow, a real, historical picture of the greater spiritual salvation that would be accomplished at the cross.

What we see here is the anatomy of true conversion, writ large on a national scale. God acts first, unilaterally and with overwhelming power, to save His people when they are utterly helpless. This divine action produces a response. The sight of God's power and justice leads to a holy fear, which is the beginning of wisdom. And this fear is not a cowering terror that drives them away, but one that draws them in, leading directly to faith. They believe God, and they believe the one God sent to mediate that salvation. The whole gospel is here in seed form: God's mighty act of redemption, the resulting fear and awe in the hearts of the redeemed, and the faith that lays hold of God through His appointed mediator.

Outline

Context In Exodus

These verses are the capstone of the entire Egypt narrative, which began with the enslavement of Israel in chapter 1. The ten plagues were God's escalating judgments against the gods of Egypt, demonstrating His supremacy and compelling Pharaoh to release His people. The Passover in chapter 12 was the act of redemption through substitutionary sacrifice, marking Israel as God's own. But the Red Sea crossing is the definitive act of deliverance. It is the moment Israel is finally and irrevocably severed from their bondage in Egypt. This is not just an escape; it is a salvation. The event is so foundational that it will be referenced throughout the rest of the Old Testament as the primary example of God's power to save (e.g., Psalm 106, Isaiah 51:10). It is the historical bedrock upon which the covenant at Sinai will be established. God will preface the Ten Commandments by identifying Himself as "Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exodus 20:2). This deliverance provides the basis for all of God's subsequent claims upon Israel. Immediately following this event, in chapter 15, we get the Song of Moses and Miriam, the first great hymn of praise in the Bible, which celebrates this very victory.

Key Issues

Salvation You Can See

We live in an age that tends to spiritualize everything, often to the point of abstraction. Salvation is an internal feeling, a private decision, a transaction that happens somewhere in the ethereal realm. But the Bible consistently presents salvation in a much more robust and tangible fashion. Here, at the Red Sea, salvation was something you could see with your own eyes. It had a visual component. The Israelites didn't just feel saved; they saw the objective evidence of their salvation floating in the surf.

This is crucial. God does not save us by whispering sweet nothings in our ear. He saves us through mighty, historical, objective acts. For Israel, it was the division of the sea and the destruction of their enemies. For us, it is the cross of Jesus Christ and His empty tomb. These are not ideas; they are events that happened in real time and space. The faith of Israel was not a leap in the dark. It was a response to an undeniable, visible demonstration of God's power and faithfulness. They saw the dead Egyptians. They saw the great hand of God. And therefore, they believed. Our faith is likewise a response to the historical evidence of Christ's death and resurrection. Christianity is not a philosophy; it is a testimony about things that have been seen and heard.

Verse by Verse Commentary

30 Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

The verse begins with the central declaration: Thus Yahweh saved Israel. The subject is Yahweh, the action is salvation, and the object is Israel. This is the grammar of grace. Israel did nothing to contribute to this victory. Just moments before, they were panicking, accusing Moses of leading them out to die (Ex. 14:11-12). Their salvation was entirely a divine accomplishment. And it was a salvation from the hand of the Egyptians, a Hebrew idiom for power and control. They were not just delivered from a geographical location, but from the oppressive power that held them. This was a political, military, and spiritual liberation, all at once.

And the proof was undeniable. Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. This is a stark, even grisly, detail. God wanted them to see it. He wanted there to be no ambiguity. The threat was not diminished; it was eliminated. The army that had been the terror of the known world was now just so much flotsam. This was not a truce or a temporary retreat. This was a final, decisive judgment. For Israel to see the corpses of their former masters was to see the totality of God's victory and the security of their new freedom. God's salvation is not a partial measure; He deals with our enemies completely. What the cross accomplishes is not a parole for our sins, but their execution.

31 Then Israel saw the great hand which Yahweh had used against the Egyptians; and the people feared Yahweh, and they believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses.

This verse unpacks the internal response to the external event. First, their sight is interpreted. They did not just see dead bodies; they saw the great hand which Yahweh had used. They connected the effect (dead Egyptians) with the cause (God's power). This is the beginning of theological reflection. They understood that this was not a freak tidal event or a lucky break. This was the personal, powerful intervention of their covenant God. The "great hand" signifies overwhelming strength and sovereign action.

This sight of God's power produced the right response: the people feared Yahweh. This is not the shrieking terror they felt when they saw the chariots coming. That was the fear of man, which leads to bondage. This is the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom and the foundation of true liberty. It is a soul-shaking awe, a profound reverence and respect for the God who can command the seas and topple empires. It is the realization that this God is holy, just, and terrifying in His power, and that it is an infinitely good thing to be on His side. This kind of fear is not opposed to love and faith; it is their necessary prerequisite. You cannot truly trust a God whom you do not take seriously.

And this holy fear immediately gives way to faith: and they believed in Yahweh and in His servant Moses. The fear did not drive them away; it drew them in. To believe "in" Yahweh here means they trusted Him, they relied upon Him, they committed their future to Him based on what He had just done. Their grumbling unbelief was, for the moment, washed away with the Egyptian army. And notice, this faith is directed not only to God but also to His appointed mediator. They believed in His servant Moses. They finally accepted Moses's role as God's representative. They trusted the word he spoke because they had seen it vindicated by the power of God. This is a crucial pattern. We believe in the invisible God by believing in the visible, accredited mediator He has sent. For them, it was Moses. For us, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate servant and Son.

Application

The story of the Red Sea is our story. We were all, by nature, slaves in Egypt, in bondage to sin and to the fear of death, with Pharaoh, that is, the devil, as our cruel taskmaster. We were utterly helpless to save ourselves. Before us was the sea of God's righteous judgment, and behind us were the thundering chariots of our own accumulated guilt and condemnation. There was no way out.

But God, in His mercy, made a way where there was no way. He sent a greater Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ, who walked through the waters of death for us. On the cross, Jesus absorbed the full flood of God's judgment against our sin. He was swallowed by the waves of wrath so that we could pass through on dry ground. And in His resurrection, He emerged on the other side, having decisively defeated our enemy. The power of sin and death is broken, drowned in the sea of God's forgetfulness, and we can see their dead bodies on the seashore. The empty tomb is our proof.

What should our response be? Exactly the same as Israel's. We are to look at the "great hand" of God displayed at Calvary and in the empty tomb, and we are to fear Him. We are to be filled with awe that God would go to such lengths to save us, and that His power over sin and death is so absolute. And that healthy, holy fear should lead us to faith. We are to believe in Yahweh, to trust this God of awesome power and saving grace. And we are to believe in His servant, the Lord Jesus. To trust in Moses was Israel's only path to safety. To trust in Jesus Christ is ours. We cannot separate faith in God from faith in the Mediator God has sent. The sight of God's salvation in Christ should banish our craven fears and establish in us a profound and joyful fear of the Lord, which is the only true foundation for a life of faith.