THE RED SEA.
Exo 14:1-31.
It would seem that the Israelites recoiled before a frontier
fortress of Egypt at Khetam (Etham). This is probable, whatever
theory of the route of the Exodus one may adopt; and it is still
open to every reader to adopt almost any theory he pleases, provided
that two facts are borne in mind: viz., first, that the narrative
certainly means to describe a miraculous interference, not
superseding the forces of nature, but wielding them in a fashion
impossible to man; and second, that the phrase translated "Red Sea"[25]
(Exo 18:18, Exo 15:4) is the same which is confessed by all persons
to have that meaning in Exo 23:31, and in Num 21:4 and Num 33:10.
Checked, without loss or with it, they were bidden to "turn
back," and encamp at Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. And
since Migdol is simply a watch-tower (there were several in the Holy
Land, including that which gave her name to Mary Magdal-ene), we are
to infer that from thence their inexplicable movements were
signalled back to Pharaoh. It was the natural signal for all the
wild passions of a baffled and half-ruined tyrant to leap into
flame. We are scarcely able to imagine the mental condition of men
who conceived that a God Who had dealt out death and destruction
might be far from invincible from another side. But ages after this,
a campaign was planned upon the ingenious theory that "Jehovah is a
god of the hills but He is not a god of the valleys" (1Ki 20:28);
and plenty of people who would scorn this simple notion are still of
opinion that He is a God of eternity and can save them from hell,
but a little falsehood and knavery are much better able to save them
from want in the meanwhile. Nay, there are many excellent persons
who are not at all of opinion that the prince of this world has been
dethroned.
Therefore, when his enemies recoiled from his fortresses and
wandered away into the wilderness of Egypt, entangling themselves
hopelessly between the sea, the mountains, and his own strongholds,
it might well appear to Pharaoh that Jehovah was not a warlike
deity, that he himself had now found out the weak point of his
enemies, and could pursue and overtake and satisfy his lust upon
them. There is a significant emphasis in the song of Miriam's
triumph--"Jehovah is a man of war." At all events, it was through an
imperfect sense of the universal and practical importance of Jehovah
as a factor not to be neglected in his calculations, through exactly
the same error which misleads every man who postpones religion, or
limits the range of its influence in his daily life,--it was thus,
and not through any rarer infatuation, that Pharaoh made ready six
hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains
over all of them. And his court was of the same mind, saying, "What
is this that we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving
us?"
These words are hard to reconcile with the strange notion that
until now a return after three days was expected, despite the
torrent of blood which rolled between them, and the demands by which
the Israelitish women had spoiled the Egyptians. Upon this theory it
is not their own error, but the bad faith of their servants, which
they should have cried out against.
At the sight of the army, a panic seized the servile hearts of
the fugitives. First they cried out unto the Lord. But how possible
it is, without any real faith, to address to Heaven the mere
clamours of our alarm, and to mistake natural agitation for
earnestness in prayer, we learn by the reproaches with which, after
thus crying to the Lord, they assailed His servant. Were there no
graves in that land of superb sepulchres--that land, now, of
universal mourning? Would God that they had perished with the
firstborn! Why had they been treated thus? Had they not urged Moses
to let them alone, that they might serve the Egyptians?
And yet these men had lately, for the very promise of so much
emancipation as they now enjoyed, bowed their heads in adoring
thankfulness. As it was their fear which now took the form of
supplication, so then it was their hope which took the form of
praise. And we, how shall we know whether that in us which seems to
be religious gladness and religious grief, is mere emotion, or is
truly sacred? By watching whether worship and love continue, when
emotion has spent its force, or has gone round, like the wind, to
another quarter.
How did Moses feel when this outcry told him of the unworthiness
and cowardice of the nation of his heart? Much as we feel, perhaps,
when we see the frailties and failures of converts in the
mission-field, and the lapse of the intemperate who have seemed to
be reclaimed for ever. We thought that perfection was to be reached
at a bound. Now we think that the whole work was unreal. Both
extremes are wrong: we have much to learn from the failures of that
ancient church, in which was the germ of hero, psalmist, and
prophet, which was indeed the church in the wilderness, and whose
many relapses were so tenderly borne with by God and His messenger.
The settled faith of Moses, and the assurances which he could
give the agitated people,[26]
contrast nobly with their alarm. But his confidence also had its
secret springs in prayer, for the Lord said to him, "Wherefore
criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Israel that they go
forward."
The words are remarkable on two accounts. Can prayer ever be out
of place? Not if we mean a prayerful dependent mental attitude
toward God. But certainly, yes, if God has already revealed that for
which we still importune Him, and we are secretly disquieted lest
His promise should fail. It is misplaced if our own duty has to be
done, and we pass the golden moments in inactivity, however pious.
Christ spoke of men who should leave their gift before the altar,
unpresented, because of a neglected duty which should be discharged.
And perhaps there are men who pray for the conversion of the
heathen, or of friends at home, to whom God says, Wherefore criest
thou unto Me? because their money and their faithful efforts must be
given, as Moses must arouse himself to lead the people forward, and
to stretch his wand over the sea.
And again the forces of nature are on the side of God: the strong
wind makes the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass
over. History has no scene more picturesque than this wild night
march, in the roar of tempest, amid the flying foam which "baptized"
them unto Moses,[27] while
the glimmering waters stood up like a rampart to protect their
flanks; the full moon of passover above them, shown and hidden as
the swift clouds raced before the storm, while high and steadfast
overhead, unshaken by the fiercest blast, illumined by a mysterious
splendour, "stood" the vast cloud which veiled like a curtain their
whole host from the pursuer. This it was, and the experience of such
protection that the Egyptians, overawed, came not near them, which
gave them courage to enter the bed of the sea; and as they trod the
strange road they found that not only were the waters driven off the
surface, but the sands were left firm to traverse.
But when the blind fury of Pharaoh, "hardened" against everything
but the sense that his prey was escaping, sent his army along the
same track, and this after long delay, at a crisis when every moment
was priceless, then a new element of terrible sublimity was added.
Through the pillar of cloud and fire Jehovah looked forth on the
Egyptian host, as they pressed on behind, unable to penetrate the
supernatural gloom, cold fear creeping into every heart, while the
chariot wheels laboured heavily in the wet sand. In that direful
vision at last the question was answered, "Who is Jehovah, that I
should let His people go?" Now it was the turn of those who said
"Israel is entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in,"
themselves to be taken in a worse net. For at that awful gaze the
iron curb of military discipline gave way; their labouring chariots,
the pride and defence of the nation, were forsaken; and a wild cry
broke out, "Let us fly from the face of Israel, for Jehovah"--He who
plagued us--"fighteth for them against the Egyptians." But their
humiliation came too late,--for in the morning watch, at a natural
time for atmospheric changes, but in obedience to the rod of Moses,
the furious wind veered or fell, and the sea returned to its
accustomed limits; and first, as the sands beneath became saturated,
the chariots were overturned and the mail-clad charioteers went down
"like lead," and then the hissing line of foam raced forward and
closed around and over the shrieking mob which was the pride and
strength of Egypt only an hour before.
But, as the story repeats twice over, with a very natural and
glad reiteration, "the children of Israel walked on dry land in the
midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their
right hand, and on their left" (Exo 14:29, cf. Exo 14:22).
ON THE SHORE.
Exo 14:30-31.
After the haste and agitation of their marvellous deliverance the
children of Israel seem to have halted for awhile at the only spot
in the neighbourhood where there is water, known as the Ayoun Musa
or springs of Moses to this day. There they doubtless brought into
some permanent shape their rudimentary organisation. There, too,
their impressions were given time to deepen. They "saw the Egyptians
dead on the sea-shore," and realised that their oppression was
indeed at an end, their chains broken, themselves introduced into a
new life,--"baptized unto Moses." They reflected upon the difference
between all other deities and the God of their fathers, Who, in that
deadly crisis, had looked upon them and their tyrants out of the
fiery pillar. "They feared Jehovah, and they believed in Jehovah and
in His servant Moses."
"They believed in Jehovah." This expression is noteworthy,
because they had all believed in Him already. "By faith 'they'
forsook Egypt. By faith 'they' kept the passover and the sprinkling
of blood. By faith 'they' passed through the Red Sea." But their
former trust was poor and wavering compared with that which filled
their bosoms now. So the disciples followed Jesus because they
believed on Him; yet when His first miracle manifested forth His
glory, "His disciples believed on Him there." And again they said,
"By this we believe that Thou camest forth from God." And after the
resurrection He said, "Because thou hast seen Me thou hast believed"
(Joh 2:11, Joh 16:30, Joh 20:29). Faith needs to be edified by
successive experiences, as the enthusiasm of a recruit is converted
into the disciplined valour of the veteran. From each new crisis of
the spiritual life the soul should obtain new powers. And that is a
shallow and unstable religion which is content with the level of its
initial act of faith (however genuine and however important), and
seeks not to go from strength to strength.
FOOTNOTES:
[25] The Sea of Zuph, or reeds, the
word being used of the reeds in which Moses was laid by his mother
and found by Pharaoh's daughter (Exo 2:3, Exo 2:5), rendered "flags"
in the Revised Version.
[26] But his assurance is, "The
Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." When
Wellhausen would summarise the work of Moses, he tells us that "he
taught them to regard self-assertion against the Egyptians as an
article of religion" (History, p. 430). It would be
impossible, within the compass of so many words, more completely to
miss the remarkable characteristic which differentiates this whole
narrative from all other revolutionary movements. Expectancy and
dependence here take the place of "self-assertion."
[27] Not the adults only; nor yet
by immersion, whether in the rain-cloud or the surf.