INTRODUCTION:

(Deuteronomy 4:2 [KJV])
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

(Proverbs 30:5, 6 [KJV])
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

(Isaiah 28:10 [KJV])
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

(Isaiah 28:13 [KJV])
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

(2 Peter 1:20 [KJV])
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

All of the studies found here, whether book studies or topical studies, are done with research with mainly two things: The KING JAMES BIBLE and a plain old, 1828 Webster's Dictionary. Why? Outside of actually studying secular and Jewish history, archaeology, one needs nothing more. You do not need foreign, dead languages that no one speaks, nor lexicons, nor concordances, nor commentaries, because they differ not only with one another and with the KING JAMES BIBLE, they create division, confusion, debate, and unbelief, apostasy, and a falling away from God Himself. We do not need them. That Word of God written and preserved for us in our own language is supposed to be enough, like the Old Testament was for the Jews, and as the New Testament was for the early Christians in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, etc.

Tyndale Bible
Coverdale Bible
Matthew's Bible
Great Bible
Geneva Bible
Bishop's Bible
King James/Authorized Bible

There are studies within as tangents on words, subjects found within the two testaments, as to broaden the scope of the study, to learn more, deeper truths. This is not an intellectual site with PhDs, theologians, and no worldly wisdom.. Check everything out, everything. Not just here, but with everything you read and see and hear. Be Bereans:

(Acts 17:11 [KJV])
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

(1 Thessalonians 2:13 [KJV])
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Always research for yourself, use all of the context, and never privately interpret!

Start of study

Exodus Chapter 14: SETTING THE TRAP AND SETTING IT OFF

(Hebrews 11:29 [KJV])
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

In the last chapter, God instructed them how to separate themselves from the other nations, for good, by separating their firstborn and sanctifying that to Him. They already had the circumcision, now the firstborn. In this chapter, we see the final separation from Egypt in God setting the trap for Pharaoh, by having Israel go the long way around the land of the Philistines, rather than through them, and straight in to the barrier of the shore of the Red Sea, where He will drown Pharaoh and his army, removing them once and for all as a world empire because, in the ancient world, as today, when one loses their military as a defense, all of the surrounding nations then walk in and take over. This is a miraculous escape, God parting the Red Sea and people by the millions, horses and chariots crossing through on dry land, not soggy like at low tide, not loaded with a foot of algae and dead, mucky debris from dead fish

That said, many things can be learned from this record:

God uses the hardness of people's hearts to allow themselves to destroy themselves (Exodus 14:4)

God gets the Glory and is Sovereign over the hearts of men (Exodus 14:4)

Evil often regrets what it is doing, when it is too late-OOPS! (Exodus 14:5)

Egypt's pride will be overthrown (Exodus 14:27-28)

Israel will be afraid, groaning, moaning, complaining, whining, purloining (Exodus 14:11-12)

There is a time to talk to God and a time to act, to move (Exodus 14:15)

Our enemies in this world will blindly seek us out to destroy us, so we need an all consuming fire to protect us (Exodus 14:19)

God is omnipotent and can make the Red Sea dry land, make water into walls, take down those walls at His Will

(Exodus 14:1-3 [KJV])
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

This is the first part of setting the trap, to lure in Pharaoh, making it look like Israel is unable to escape
In the worldly realm, there would be no way to escape, without God
This is why God will show Himself Mighty, Strong for Israel, doing the miraculous, the impossible, making a way when there is no way, making a way when there is no other way
Because Pharaoh was worshipped and worshipped himself as a god in Egypt, God is about to show Pharaoh WHO GOD IS!
The more difficult the struggle, the stronger the chains of the captivity, the harder the battle, the greater the miracle, nothing for God to do, a lot for Israel, Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh-and us-to witness

(Exodus 14:4 [KJV])
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

So, again, Pharaoh hardens his heart and God hardens Pharaoh's heart, both being true
All the Egyptians who stayed home, all of the army, Pharaoh, all of Egypt will suddenly find out Who God is

(Exodus 14:5 [KJV])
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

Those who wield extreme amounts of power over large amounts of people will blame the people when things go wrong, today as well as then
Because Pharaoh blamed them, because they revered him, they believed him when he blamed them for this
They now realize that they will have to do all of the work that the Israelites did just yesterday
It must be remembered that these same people lost their firstborn child, the firstborn of all of their cattle, and now are angry with who, exactly?

(Exodus 14:6-7 [KJV])
And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

In those days horses were wealth, chariots were wealthy power
By number, over a million people can be overtaken and destroyed with six hundred chariots, thousands of soldiers
By number, it is not a million plus people who will destroy Egypt's army, but only God Who will destroy Egypt's army, by Himself on Israel's behalf

(Exodus 14:8 [KJV])
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

The chase is on, because Egypt chased them away "with a high hand", as in the highest level of officers of the kingdom, Pharaoh and his court ordering this deportation, and then regretting doing so
The children of Israel fled fast, to make sure that they got away, far away and fast, soon, from Pharaoh
In the worldly realm, this would not matter, as the armies, the horses, the chariots, cannot be outrun on foot with even one person, let along men, women, children, over a million of them.......but God....

(Exodus 14:9 [KJV])
But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

It is certain that this did not take very long with horses and chariots, at all
The Egyptians were an all man army, no women, no children to hinder their speed, their pursuit, their progress

(Exodus 14:10 [KJV])
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.

You can hear their cry if you listen to the Word of God, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
In the worldly realm, they can only think that God is not about to save them after releasing them from captivity, not trusting Him still

(Exodus 14:11 [KJV])
And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

Today we would say, "Yer tryin' ta kill us, aren't you, Moses?"
Add to that, "WHY?? Why are you trying to kill us?"
They are simply looking to the left and seeing Pharaoh, looking to the right and seeing the Red Sea, looking down, downtrodden, seeing the ground that they would then be buried in, just not looking up and seeing God, about to move and save them with His Might Power, His Hand

(Exodus 14:12 [KJV])
Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

In the worldly realm, this is understandable, as they were at least alive and not about to be killed
"We warned you this would happen, but did ya listen to us? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
They did not want to trust God and get ready to leave while in Egypt before the miracles and now, having seen the miracles, God protecting them through them, they STILL want to stay in bondage to Egypt, because they STILL do not trust God's way of the route He leads them through to get away
The world says, "Seeing is believing", which applies person to person in the world and of the world, because man breaks promises. But, nevertheless, and yet ... God says, "Believing is seeing!"
In God's realm, this is a great miracle about to surprise everyone in Israel, everyone in Egypt, just maybe not Moses and Aaron

(Exodus 14:13-14 [KJV])
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

They were in fear, antsy, shuffling their feet, fighting, pushing, shoving each other, closing in on Moses and Aaron to get at them, get past them to return, not even thinking about how much WORSE it would be now that Pharaoh had changed his mind and would not want them to now EVER, EVER leave
God, however, is in control, doing the impossible, according to His Word, His plan, His promise to their very own forefathers, which no doubt they were aware of in their own Scriptures

Charlton Heston as Moses in Ten Commandments

(Exodus 14:15 [KJV])
And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

We are weak wimps, even Moses, Aaron, when our own turn on us and we cry out to God
There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent
There is a time to speak to God and a time to do, letting Him guide us

GOD USES MANKIND

Pharaoh hardened his own heart; God hardened it. God parted the Red Sea, Moses parted the Red Sea with the rod. Both are true, God ultimately doing on our behalf, using us, using the unbelievers who do not even acknowledge Him. Currently, in fulfillment of the last days prophecies, God is letting the world's leaders fulfill His plan for the end of the world, using unbelievers who think, like Pharaoh, that they are gods, "the elite" who are evil, corrupt. But, without God allowing this, they would go no further. The Sovereign God, Creator of the heaven and the earth, is orchestrating all of this, preparing them for their own destruction at His Hand and they are sticking their own heads into a noose, not acknowledging that there is a noose there, hardening their own hears, God hardening it for them as well. Both are true.

(Exodus 14:17 [KJV])
And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

See how God hardened his heart and the heart of the Egyptians, and they hardened their own hearts? If they wanted to repent, they could and God could soften their hearts but, they were hellbent on destroying Israel then, and they are hellbent on destroying Israel to this day, the world leaders
God is using them today to set the stage for THEIR OWN destruction (Revelation 19:11-21)

(Exodus 14:18 [KJV])
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

Apparently they woke up figuring out and knowing Who God is.......underwater and too late!
That honour extends to today, because this is the record of the Scriptures handed down through Moses, the Scribes, the prophets, to us
I AM THE LORD, two Names of God given to Moses previously, now demonstrated before Israel's own eyes to see Who their God, I AM THE LORD, is

(Exodus 14:19 [KJV])
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

God was their light, as God is light
God is an all consuming fire, preventing the Egyptians from getting to Israel and destroying them

GOD IS LIGHT

(Genesis 1:3-4 [KJV])
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

The sun was not there yet, as it was gcreated on day four (Genesis 1:16).

(1 John 1:5-7 [KJV])
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

(John 1:9 [KJV])
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

(John 8:12 [KJV])
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

(Isaiah 42:16 [KJV])
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

(John 9:5 [KJV])
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

(John 12:35 [KJV])
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

GOD IS FIRE

(Genesis 19:24 [KJV])
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

(Deuteronomy 29:23 [KJV])
And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

(2 Chronicles 7:1 [KJV])
Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.

(2 Peter 3:10 [KJV])
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

(Revelation 20:9 [KJV])
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

(Exodus 14:20 [KJV])
And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Clouds block light, make daylight darkness, dark days are ahead for us, as these were to the Egyptians
How thick it must have been to block out a pillar of fire capable of lighting the path for millions of Israelites!

(Exodus 14:21 [KJV])
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Now separated by a cloud, God separated the waters to make the route out they thought would not happen
Think about how powerful that east wind would have to be in order to make the Red Sea part and stand up as water walls to let a million plus people pass through
This is not, as the unbelievers claim, along the shore, but in the midst of the Red Sea, as said in the next verse, parting the waters; it was not a case of not making a low tide from a high tide

(Exodus 14:22 [KJV])
And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

This shows that clearly, as they walked on dry ground and not mushy, wet sand that one sinks into and gets stuck
Wind does not make water walls, certainly not on both sides, but sloping, temporary side ramps toward ONE side. It says WALLS, not "a wall on the _______ side"

(Exodus 14:23 [KJV])
And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

There ya go....VERY dry land, not just dry land, horses, chariots with horsemen in them
All of that..in the midst, where it would be so soggy one could not walk in, even without a horse and chariot

(Exodus 14:24 [KJV])
And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

Chariot wheels do not just come off by themselves, being held on by a collar with pins, all hardened iron and steel
God, knowing the heart of Pharaoh and his army, knew that they would flee now and later try to pursue Israel later in order to re-enslave her, so He was given no choice by them by their own choice to eliminate them, since they were always repentant for a moment in convenience, then hardened their hearts en masse

(Exodus 14:26 [KJV])
And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

It is possible, even probable, but unrecorded, that the Israelites cried again to Moses and Aaron and repeated that they were about to die at the hands of the Egyptians, even seeing walls of water on both sides, not seeing the Hand of the Creator
Imagine the screaming right before this,
"Ya want we should die by the Egyptians, when we could have just stayed in their land and served them and stayed safe, alive!??"
This would not be too far fetched, not stretching it much, since God said to stretch out his hand over the sea, and no mention of the rod in his hand

(Exodus 14:27 [KJV])
And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

This means that the Israelites were already all out from the water, every last one; Egypt was now alone in the middle of the two walls, about to be drowned

(Exodus 14:28 [KJV])
And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

Like the Flood, all were warned, this time by the plagues, just as Noah warned people 120 years, daily, in building the Ark
Like the Flood, all perished that were not with Israel, just as anyone outside of the Ark when the door was shut by God
Like the Flood, a powerful kingdom, here Egypt, was destroyed forever, like the Pre-Flood world and all of its kingdoms

(Hebrews 11:7 [KJV])
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

(Exodus 14:29 [KJV])
But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

First a cloud, then a pillar of fire, now a flood of water; Israel is safe

(Exodus 14:30 [KJV])
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

Like the Post-Flood world, dead bodies everywhere, only these were not necessarily fossilized at all
Since that was so, it is good to move on before three days, to avoid the stench. Vultures, jackals, hyenas coming in soon.

(Exodus 14:31 [KJV])
And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.

Well....finally their seeing is believing......for now
Their history is checkered with belief, unbelief, captivity, crying, release, belief, comfort and ease, unbelief, rinse and repeat

Links to studies by book or topic are on the top menu.

Exodus Chapter 15