A Day of Salvation for Israel—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 16A/Proper 19A (Exodus 14)
Exodus 14:19-31 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. 29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
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As we continue our journey with
Abraham’s descendants, a journey that began after Pentecost with the call of
Abraham (Gen. 12:1-4), the Hebrews, or the people of Israel, have departed
Egypt. They celebrated the first Passover, marked their homes with the blood of
the lambs sacrificed, and watched as the angel of death passed over the homes
of the Egyptians, taking from their firstborn (Exodus 12). Pharaoh had finally
relented and told Moses to get out of town and take the rest of the Hebrews
with him. Of course, Pharaoh reconsidered. After all, if the Hebrews escaped
from Egypt, they would lose a lot of enslaved laborers. Pharaoh both feared the
Hebrews and their God and needed their labor. So, Pharaoh decided to bring them
back to Egypt. Pharaoh gathered his troops, including his many chariots, and
they began to pursue the Hebrews. As you might expect, when the Israelites saw
the Egyptian troops closing in on them, they grew fearful. They cried out to
Moses, asking him why he (and by implication his God) had led them out into the
wilderness so they could be slaughtered. Finally, God told Moses to go to the
sea, lift his staff over it, and it would part so they could cross over to the
other side (Ex. 14:1-18).
What happens next is a story of
salvation. You might even call this a baptism story. At least that’s what Paul
thought when he told the Corinthian church he did not want them to be ignorant
“that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and
all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the
same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed
them, and the rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:1-4). In fact, we see a bit of
sacramental thought here. The point is that what happens here is an act of
deliverance for Israel. God is committed to these people and will do what is
necessary to get them to the Promised Land, though perhaps not in one piece!
The people of Israel fled those who
would enslave them, and God provided a way of salvation that took them through
the sea (Red Sea, Reed Sea, or some other sea is of little concern here, the
point is there is water that must be traversed). As with baptism, this journey
through the sea leads to an act of new creation. It is through this
journey that the people of Israel cease to be slaves. Of course, as the rest of
Exodus reminds us, the mindset of slavery remained with them for a long time,
which is why the two-week journey becomes a forty-year one.
What
happens at the water’s edge is preceded by the last of the ten plagues, which
takes the lives of the firstborn of Egypt, while sparing the firstborn of
Israel. At first, Pharaoh gives in to Moses, but then regrets the decision.
Thus, he pursues the Israelites to the edge of the sea. When the people of
Israel see the Egyptian army closing in on them, they become frightened and cry
out in anger. Had Moses led them out into the desert only to be slaughtered by
Pharaoh’s army? While they aren’t sure what will happen to them, it is here
that deliverance/liberation takes place. God intervenes on their behalf,
promising to fight for Israel. It is at this point that we pick up the text in
Exodus 14.
Since Israel is a community of
people who have been enslaved, they don’t have any military resources or power.
They aren’t prepared to fight against the mighty Egyptian army, with its six
hundred chariots. This is an asymmetrical relationship, but as Carlos
Cardoza-Orlandi notes, God intervenes to “bring balance to an asymmetrical
encounter.” God does this by providing a pillar of fire to stand between Israel
and the pursuing Egyptian army. That slows Pharaoh down but doesn’t end the
pursuit. Later, after Israel passes through the sea and Pharaoh’s troops have
entered the seabed, God once again intervenes. The Egyptians realizing that
they were in danger, sought to retreat, but not before the waters returned to
their natural borders, drowning the troops. Because this is understood to be a
divine act, we would be wise to stop and consider what is happening here. While
we can rejoice that Israel is saved by this liberating God, the deaths of the
people involved raise questions about our view of God, since it raises the
question, as Cardoza-Orlandi notes, whether “God’s annihilation of their
enemies becomes the foundation of their faith in God.” He further asks us to
consider whether, in this scenario, God saw “in the Egyptian army the absolute
impossibility of redemption, and therefore death becomes the equalizer?” [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, p. 389]. These are all good questions for
us to consider. That is especially true if we as Christians begin to think that
our “faith is nourished by the death of others” [Preaching God’s
Transforming Justice, p. 390].
Since we have been reading since
the Second Sunday after Pentecost through the story of Abraham and his
descendants, a story that speaks of blessing, could this story be the flip side
of things? The message of God’s covenant promise to Abraham was that God would
bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel (Gen. 12:3).
Could this be one of those curses to protect the covenant people as they carry
the blessing into the future?
As we
ponder these questions, we need to get back to the edge of the sea. At this
point in the story, Israel finds itself between the sea on one side and
Pharaoh’s army on the other. The only way forward is through this sea we’ve
been talking about. But how? According to the Exodus story, God instructed
Moses to lift his staff, then God would part the waters, while the pillar of
fire that had stood behind the Israelites, now leads them through the sea. So,
Moses does as he is instructed. He lifted his staff, God sent the east wind to
drive the sea back, and the pillar of fire led the people through the waters of
the sea on dry land. When they had made it through the sea, with Egypt
pursuing, the waters returned, and the Egyptians were destroyed.
It's not surprising that the Exodus
narrative serves as an important catalyst for liberation theologies. For people
who find themselves marginalized and oppressed or facing imperial armies, their
only hope is to lean toward God for salvation. The story of the Exodus, which
has several turning points, has inspired in many the hope that God would act on
their behalf. Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the most prominent figures in Latin
American Liberation Theology wrote that “the liberation of Israel is a
political action.” By that, he means that God acts in time and space on behalf
of Israel to create a new order by liberating them from slavery. This involves,
he writes: “The breaking away from a situation of despoliation and misery and
the beginning of the construction of a just and fraternal society. It is the
suppression of disorder and the creation of a new order” [Theology of Liberation, p. 155 - pagination is 1st ed.]. God sees and hears the
cries of the people and chooses to act by calling Moses to be the agent of
liberation. Gutierrez points out that Israel wasn’t sure about whether God was on
their side, so throughout the journey, they resisted Moses and questioned him,
especially when they found themselves backed up against the sea with Pharaoh in
pursuit. Nevertheless, we see in the Exodus story that “a gradual pedagogy of
successes and failures would be necessary for the Jewish people to become aware
of the roots of their oppression, to struggle against it, and to perceive the
profound sense of the liberation to which they were called.” Passing through
the sea, Israel is saved. As Gutierrez notes, “the Exodus is the long march
towards the promised land in which Israel can establish a society free from
misery and alienation” [Theology of Liberation, p. 156].
With
the crossing of the sea, the journey has just begun. Nevertheless, because of
what they observed that day, Israel both feared and believed in the LORD. They
also, at least for the moment, put their trust in the leadership of Moses. But
this is but the first step as John Wright points out:
Exodus 14: 19–31 does not indicate what awaits Israel. God has divided Israel from the Egyptians in the crossing of the sea. The event witnesses to God’s faithfulness to God’s promise to the ancestors, not to Israel’s freedom from slavery per se. Exodus 14: 19–31 prepares for the more important trip through a river on the dry ground, Israel’s entry into the land of Canaan. The passage marks the end of the beginning. The rest is yet to come. [Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (p. 677 Kindle edition).]
Does not the story of the Exodus serve as a wake-up call to
us? The journey of faith is one of stops and starts. There are numerous
roadblocks to overcome. We may cross seas and then deserts and then rivers. But
even when we cross the river and drink the promised milk and honey, is the
journey even then over, or do we face new challenges? That seems to be the
story that continues in Joshua and beyond. Of course, we’re still a long way
from the river. While Miriam sings her song of praise to God for delivering the
people (Ex. 15:20), very soon the people will discover that food is scarce. So,
there will be another challenge and another request for God to act and God will
act (Exodus 16). As for us, we may find ourselves crying out for assistance as
we take another step toward the Promised Land!
So, we
sing:
Lead
on, O cloud of presence; the exodus is come;
In wilderness
and desert our tribe shall make its home.
Our
bondage left behind us, new hopes within us grow.
We
seek the land of promise where milk and honey flow.
—Ruth
Duck (1974) Chalice Hymnal, 633
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