God led the Israelites out of Egypt by what
appeared to be a pillar of fire. The fire became
a pillar of cloud during the day. God didn’t lead
them straight to Canaan along the most direct
route, but took them out into the wilderness
toward the Red Sea.
He told Moses to have the people camp at
a certain location next to the Sea. He said, “I’m
going to make Pharaoh stubborn one more
time, and he’ll chase after you. After that, the
Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”
Pharaoh saw that the Hebrews had gone
to the Red Sea, and were hemmed in and
vulnerable. He said to his servants, “Why did we
let our slaves go? They should be here, serving
us.” So he took his army and chased after them.
The people of Israel saw this and yelled at
Moses. “Why have you brought us here to die?
If we were still serving the Egyptians, they would
let us live. But now, because of you, we’re about
to die.”
Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid!
Watch and see what God is about to do. He’ll
fight your battle for you. Look at the Egyptians!
You’ll never see them again after today.”
God said to Moses, “Lift your shepherd’s staff
in to the air, and point your hand out over the
sea. The people of Israel are going to the other
side – on dry ground.”
Then the pillar of cloud that was in front of the
Israelites moved behind them – between them
and the Egyptians. It stayed there the rest of the
day and into the night.
Moses pointed his hand toward the sea.
And when he did, God caused a strong wind to
sweep back the waters, so they formed a wall
on the right side and on the left. And then the
wind blew on the path between the two walls for
the rest of that day and into the night – until the
ground became dry.
That night, God told Moses and the Israelites
to cross over to the other side, using the path
between the walls of water. The people moved
across the sea throughout the night.
Once they were across, God allowed the
Egyptians to chase after them, using the same
path. When they were in the middle of the sea,
God caused them to be totally confused, and
their chariot wheels started to break.
Suddenly, the Egyptian army saw the
seriousness of their situation. They shouted,
“Run! The Lord is fighting for the Israelites!” They
turned and tried to run for safety.
God said to Moses, “Point your hand out over
the water.” So Moses pointed his hand toward
the sea just as the sun was about to come up.
Suddenly the walls of water crashed together,
covering the entire Egyptian army. Not one of
them survived!
The Israelites watched the power of God from
the other side of the sea. And as the sun rose
that morning, they saw the dead bodies washed
up on the shore. Then the people worshiped the
Lord with singing. They had seen the power of
God and believed in Him, and they believed in
His servant Moses.© God Child