The Man Moses #6

The Lord said to me,.."I will test my people with a plumbline. Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

The Man Moses #6

J. C. Sheridan, II

Pharaoh finally permits Moses and the Hebrew people to set out for the Promised Land. However, Pharaoh’s release was short lived. He gathered his army with horses and chariots and began to pursue the Children of God.  One might think after all the disastrous happenings demonstrated by God against Egypt that a lesson would have been learned. Not so. 

Exodus 14:13 (NKJV) 13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.

The great consternation of the Israelites is somewhat astonishing, considering their vast superiority in numbers, but their deep dismay and absolute despair at the sight of this pursuing army frightened God’s people.

Their fearless leader, Moses, said, … Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord—Never, perhaps, was the fortitude of a man so severely tried as that of the Hebrew leader in this crisis, exposed as he was to various and inevitable dangers, the most formidable of which was the vengeance of a seditious and desperate multitude; but his meek, unruffled, magnanimous composure presents one of the sublimest examples of moral courage to be found in history. How and where did his courage arise? He saw the miraculous cloud still accompanying them, and his confidence arose solely from the hope of a divine intervention. 

The miraculous cloud:  the angel of God -- that is, the pillar of cloud check this Exodus 13:21 (NKJV) 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. The slow and silent movement of that majestic column through the air, and occupying a position behind them must have excited the astonishment of the Israelites Isaiah 58:8 (NKJV) 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.  It was an effectual barrier between them and their pursuers, not only protecting them, but concealing their movements. Thus, the same cloud produced light (a symbol of favor) to the people of God, and darkness (a symbol of wrath) to their enemies (compare 2Co 2:16).

Moses stretched out his hand, -- The waving of the rod was of great importance on this occasion to give public attestation in the presence of the assembled Israelites, both to the character of Moses and the divine mission with which he was charged.

The Lord caused . . . a strong east wind all that night -- Suppose a mere ebb tide caused by the wind, raising the water to a great height on one side, still as there was not only "dry land," but, according to the sacred scriptures, a wall on the right hand and on the left (Ex 14:22).  Without a doubt divine intervention is an absolute imperative in his event.

The Lord looked . . . through . . . the cloud, and troubled them -- We suppose the fact to have been that the side of the pillar of cloud towards the Egyptians was suddenly  illuminated with a blaze of light, upon the dense darkness which frightened the horses of the Egyptians that they rushed confusedly together and became unmanageable. "Let us flee," was the cry that resounded through the broken and trembling ranks, but it was too late; all attempts at a get-away were frustrated.

There remained not so much as one of them -- It is surprising that some intelligent writers can maintain there is no evidence of the destruction of Pharaoh himself -- Psalms 106:10-11 (NKJV) 10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 11 The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left.

Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. -- The tide threw them up and left multitudes of corpses on the beach; a result that brought greater infamy on the Egyptians, but that tended, on the other hand, to enhance the triumph of the Israelites, and doubtless enriched them with arms, which they had not before. The locality of this famous passage has not yet been, and probably never will be, satisfactorily fixed.

Exodus 14:30-31 (NKJV) 30 So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.