Israel Leaves Egypt
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I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied upon
them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst
blow with thy wind, the sea covered them. They sank as lead in the
mighty waters.
“Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou
stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in
thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou
hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people
shall hear, and be afraid. Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of
Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men
of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them. All the inhabitants of
Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the
greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone, till thy people
pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
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Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine
inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to
dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.
“The Lord shall reign forever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh
went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the
Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children
of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.”
Pharaoh, who would not acknowledge God and bow to his au-
thority, delighted to show his power as ruler over those whom he
could control. Moses declared to Pharaoh, after he required the people
to make brick without straw, that God, whom he pretended not to
know, would compel him to yield to his claims, and acknowledge his
authority, as supreme ruler.
The time had come when God would answer the prayers of his
oppressed people, and would bring them from Egypt with such mighty
displays of his power that the Egyptians would be compelled to ac-
knowledge that the God of the Hebrews, whom they had despised,
was above all gods. He would now punish them for their idolatry, and
for their proud boasting of the mercies bestowed upon them by their
senseless gods. God would glorify his own name, that other nations
might hear of his power and tremble at his mighty acts, and that his
people, by witnessing his miraculous works, should fully turn from
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their idolatry to render to him pure worship.