Israelites Leave Egypt
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wilderness? ... It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than
that we should die in the wilderness.”
True, there was no possibility of deliverance unless God Himself
should interpose for their release; but having been brought into this
position in obedience to the divine direction, Moses felt no fear of the
consequences. His calm and assuring reply to the people was, “Fear
ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will
show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye
shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace.”
The hosts of Israel, lacking discipline and self-control, became
violent and unreasonable. Their wailings and lamentations were loud
and deep. The wonderful pillar of cloud had been followed as the
signal of God to go forward; but now had it not led them on the wrong
side of the mountain, into an impassable way? The angel of God
appeared to their deluded minds as the harbinger of disaster.
As the Egyptian host approached them, the cloudy column rose
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majestically into the heavens, passed over the Israelites, and descended
between them and the armies of Egypt. The Egyptians could no longer
discern the camp of the Hebrews and were forced to halt. But as night
deepened, the wall of cloud became a great light to the Hebrews.
Then hope returned to the hearts of Israel. “And the Lord said unto
Moses, ... speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: but
lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide
it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst
of the sea.”
As Moses stretched out his rod, the waters parted, and Israel went
into the midst of the sea, upon dry ground, while the waters stood like
a wall upon each side. The light from God’s pillar of fire lighted the
road cut like a furrow through the waters.
The End of Pharaoh’s Army
“The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the
sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And
it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the
host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and
troubled the host of the Egyptians.”