Read Exodus 14 here or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
14:1-14 {p} Pharaoh pursues Israel/ Israel complains/ YHVH’s assurance of deliverance
14:15-25 {p} The Red Sea divided; Israel goes through on dry ground
14:26-31 {p} YHVH overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea
Chapter 14 makes a Chiastic Structure:
Notice the A pair.
1A Exo 14:1-21
1) The Egyptians pursued Israel into the wilderness; Exo 14:5-9
2) Israel saw the Egyptians marching after them; Exo 14:10a
3) Israel feared Pharaoh; Exo 14:10b
4) Israel cried out to YHVH in terror and anguish; Exo 14:10c-12
2A Exo 14:30-31
1) The Egyptians pursued Israel into the sea; Exo 14:23-30a
2) Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore; Exo 14:30b
3) Israel feared YHVH, and believed Him and Moses; Exo 14:31
4) … Stay tuned tomorrow …
The structure gives us the clue that if, after the deliverance, Israel feared YHVH and believed Him, then before the deliverance, Israel feared Pharaoh because they did not believe YHVH. YHVH had told Israel repeatedly that He would deliver them from slavery, but they told Moses when faced with this trial, that it would have been better for them to remain slaves. Israel had just gone through a miraculous deliverance, where they witnessed ten mighty plagues poured out onto Egypt. Everything YHVH had said up until that point had been completely accomplished. How quickly they forgot who YHVH was – the same YHVH who had turned the Nile into blood and kept sunlight shining in Goshen, while thick darkness prevailed in Egypt. The same YHVH who had just slain all the firstborn of Egypt but redeemed all the firstborn of Israel.
The fear of man is the fruit borne by the root of unbelief.
Now lest we despise them, don’t we do the exact same thing? When we take our eyes off of YHVH and who He is and what He has said, and what He has done, the Egyptians who might be pursuing us can look terrifying! When we experience the fear of man, we have our eyes fixed on the wrong thing.
If there are questions, these are good resources:
The Red Sea Miracle, Parts I and II – Thinking Man Films
The Lost Sea of the Exodus – Dr. Glen Fritz
“The fear of man is the fruit borne by the root of unbelief.
Now lest we despise them, don’t we do the exact same thing? When we take our eyes off of YHVH and who He is and what He has said, and what He has done, the Egyptians who might be pursuing us can look terrifying! When we experience the fear of man, we have our eyes fixed on the wrong thing. ”
This! Was A LOT of perspective, to me! I have been living in fear of man, of so many other “cares” of this world that I have completely taken my eyes of of Him! There lays my problem.
Put my eyes back on YHVH!
My strong tower!
Thank you for an of your feasting on this site, Christine. It has given me “a little MORE, true perspective!”
Thank you for your kind comments, Veronica. Please do come back again! <3