01.27.2016 Old Testament: Exo 14.1–3

To read the Bible in a year, read Exodus 13–15 on January 27, In the year of our Lord 2016

By Don Ruhl

The Lord did an amazing thing when He led Israel out of Egypt, for He led His people to a place that would trap them, making them easy prey for the pursuing Egyptians, or so it seemed,

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in’” (Exodus 14.1–3). 

The Lord knew where He had led Israel, and the Lord knew what Pharaoh would think. The Israelites would come to the edge of the Red Sea with the mountains behind them, and with the Egyptians coming after them through a valley. Why would the Lord intentionally lead His people into such danger? He would show them something wonderful. He would work a work that the world had never seen, and not only save His people, but by the same process He would destroy the enemy when He opened the Red Sea for Israel, but closed it upon the Egyptians.