Exodus Chapter 14 Verses 15-20

:15 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: 16 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. 17 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. 18 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. 19 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: 20 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.” 

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:”  When we have the promises of God and His assurances of the certain results, it is not a time to fear and doubt, but it is a time to move out on the certain promises of God an go forward in our service to Him.   

“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.”  The rod represented the authority and power of God.  Now the LORD tells Moses to lift up the rod.  When we are fearful and doubting, it is time to lift up once again the authority and power of God in our lives.  Moses was told to stretch his hand over the sea and divide it.  Obviously it was not by the power of Moses that the sea would be divided but by the power of God.  Moses was contacting the power of God through obedience to the command of God.  The result of this is that the children of Israel would cross over the Red Sea on dry ground through the midst of the sea.   

Some attributes of God are manifest in this verse as we see the authority of God, and the power of God, and the omniscience of God, and the providence of God all demonstrated.   

“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.  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.”  The Egyptians thought that they could overrule the power of God and get their way through the might of their armies and once again enslave the people of God.  But through the demonstration of the mighty power of God upon Pharaoh and upon his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen, God would receive honor from the surrounding nations as they would greatly fear the LORD.  The way the Egyptians came to know the LORD was through the demonstration of his mighty power against them and destroying their “feeble” army.   

“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: 20 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.”  Obviously, God was making a distinction between the Egyptians and the children of Israel.  On the one hand the cloud was darkness to the camp of the Egyptians, but on the other hand it was light all night to the children of Israel.  Through the Holy Spirit the Lord is light to us which are born of the Spirit of God to give us light as we journey in this land of darkness known as the world.  However, the workings of God are a completely mystery to those who are not born of the Spirit and they are in total darkness as to the purpose, promises, and providences of God.