The Parting of the Red Sea

After leaving Egypt, the Israelites journeyed through the wilderness, guided by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. But Pharaoh’s heart was not finished with its hardness, and the greatest test of their faith lay just ahead.

Pharaoh’s Pursuit

Back in his palace, Pharaoh paced restlessly in his chambers. The silence where once the cries of Hebrew slaves had echoed now tormented him. His advisors gathered around him, their faces grim.

“What have we done?” Pharaoh exclaimed, striking his fist against a marble pillar. “Why have we let Israel go from serving us? Who will build our cities? Who will make our bricks?”

His captain of the guard stepped forward. “My lord, they cannot have gone far. They travel with children and flocks - they move slowly.”

Pharaoh’s eyes gleamed with renewed determination. “Prepare my chariot! Ready six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with captains over every one of them. We will pursue them and bring them back!”

So Pharaoh made ready his chariot and took his people with him. The thunder of hooves and the rumble of wheels filled the air as the mighty Egyptian army set out in pursuit.

Trapped at the Red Sea

Meanwhile, the Israelites had camped by the Red Sea, near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. The vast body of water stretched before them, its waves lapping endlessly at the shore.

Children played in the sand while their parents set up tents. The flocks grazed on sparse desert grass. It seemed a peaceful place to rest after their long journey from Egypt.

But then a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon. The ground began to tremble with the sound of approaching horses and chariots.

“Look!” cried a young shepherd boy, pointing toward the desert. “Soldiers are coming!”

As the Egyptian army drew closer, the people could see Pharaoh’s golden chariot gleaming in the sunlight, followed by hundreds of war chariots with armed soldiers.

The Israelites were terrified. They were trapped - the sea before them, the desert on either side, and Pharaoh’s mighty army bearing down upon them from behind.

The People’s Fear and Moses’ Faith

The people cried out to Moses in their terror, their voices sharp with panic and accusration.

“Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?” they shouted. “Why have you dealt with us this way, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness!”

Moses stood tall before the frightened multitude, his face calm despite the approaching danger. The wind from the sea stirred his robes as he raised his staff.

“Do not be afraid!” Moses called out, his voice carrying over the crowd. “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 Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace!”

God’s Instructions

As Moses prayed, the Lord spoke to him: “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”

The Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.

All through the night, the cloud gave light to the Israelites but brought darkness to the Egyptians, so that neither came near the other.

The Great Miracle

As the first light of dawn began to appear, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land.

The waters divided in a sight that none had ever witnessed before. The sea split apart like a great curtain being drawn, revealing a path of dry ground stretching across the sea floor. On either side, the waters stood like walls - towering, solid walls of blue-green water that defied all natural law.

Fish could be seen swimming in the walls of water, and seaweed swayed gently, but the walls held firm by the power of God’s mighty hand.

“This is the way,” Moses declared, pointing to the miraculous path. “The Lord has made a way where there was no way!”

The Crossing

The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

What a sight it was! Families hurried across the sea floor, their feet treading on ground that had been under water moments before. The walls of water rose high above their heads, yet they walked in safety.

Children pointed in wonder at the fish swimming in the walls beside them. Elderly grandparents who had never imagined they would see such a miracle walked with renewed strength. Mothers carried babies across the sea floor, singing praises to God.

The pillar of cloud continued to protect them from behind as the entire nation - hundreds of thousands of people with their flocks and herds - crossed safely to the other side.

Pharaoh’s Destruction

When morning came, the Egyptians pursued them into the midst of the sea. All Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen followed after them.

But the Lord troubled the Egyptian army. He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty. The Egyptians began to panic as their chariots became mired in the mud of the sea floor.

“Let us flee from the face of Israel,” they cried, “for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!”

But it was too late. When the last of the Israelites had reached safety on the far shore, the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth. The Egyptians fled against it, but the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

The Song of Victory

On the shore of the Red Sea, the children of Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. They saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt, and the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea! The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him!”

Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them:

“Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

The great deliverance was complete. The God who had brought them out of Egypt had now brought them through the sea. The way to the Promised Land lay open before them, and they had learned that no obstacle is too great for the Lord their God.