Good Morning.
Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:24)
In the movie, The Ten Commandments, Pharaoh, played by Yul Brynner, determined to pursue Israel in the face of this great miracle unfolding before him. Only the most arrogant and mindless person would do such a foolhardy thing considering what the plagues had demonstrated to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The reality is, at least it is very possible, that Pharaoh’s chariots began their pursuit of Israel while it was still dark.
I say this because, it was in the morning watch (from 3 AM -– 6 AM) when God began to agitate them, sending them into a panic. That would mean Pharaoh’s chariots were already in the midst of the sea by that time. Also, the pillar of cloud would have obscured the moon’s light, concealing the fact that the walls on either side of them were the waters of the sea that had been congealed. If this is accurate, try and imagine the shock that must have overtook them as the day began to break. They had been “in the dark” in the most literal of ways and, very possibly, did not realize what they had entered into until it was too late. That is when they went into a panic.
The arrogance of the wicked is a painful thing to watch. On one hand there is the feeling that, at times, their words and deeds seem to profit them greatly causing the righteous to wonder why this is so? Why does God allow the Pharaohs of the world to prosper and have their way. On the other hand, when their destruction comes, it is often very sudden and calamitous — and very hard to watch. A Psalm of Asaph summarized this conflict of feelings by acknowledging that God’s people have often wondered why the wicked prosper saying, “my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3).
Yet as the psalm continues, we see that the writer came to understand that the wicked only prosper for a season. In the end, they must answer for their ways and, particularly for how they have treated the people of God. Just as Pharaoh had tossed the sons of Israel into the waters of the Nile, God tossed the sons of Egypt into the waters of the sea. Their last actions and thoughts were panicked retreat and an acknowledgement that the God of Israel was fighting against them. For them, it was as the psalmist would conclude for all who do wickedly:
“Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:18-19)
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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