The Wall - Exodus 14:19-22

14:19-22 - This massive hoard of an Egyptian army is closing in around the Israelites and they are freaking out, even despite Moses’ assurance that God will protect them. The cloud that had been guarding them during the day and had been fire by night is described here as “the angel of God,” which TB talks about whether or not it is actually an angel or God himself using the original text, but I’m not going to get into that because it doesn’t matter that much to me. But now this entity that has been either God Himself or representing God as a protective and assisting force this whole time suddenly moves and becomes a barrier between the Egyptian army and the Israelites.

Just like what happened in the ninth plague, this cloud became to the Egyptians, “darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these (Israelites).” TB notes that the words used here are the same ones used to describe the ninth plague which are “Orr” for light or enlightenment, and “chosek” for darkness, meaning spiritual darkness as well as physical darkness. So there are two massive groups of people here, one there to perpetrate violence who is immersed in spiritual darkness and one who is there to escape to freedom and it immersed in spiritual light. Interesting too that the Israelites just a few moments ago had been angry with Moses for leading them out of Egypt, but God gave them light anyway.

With this barrier in place, Moses does what God tells him and “stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” TB also notes that whenever the word “East” is used to describe a direction, it is really a reference to divine, Godly intervention. I haven’t listened to all his lectures from the beginning of Genesis, but he references multiple times in previous scripture where this literary device is used and is consistent.

The sea is driven in all sorts of directions, “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.” It would be one thing if the escape of the Israelites was simply described as “they crossed over a wet area,” or “on land surrounded by the sea,” or any other combination of words describing something like that, but the words used here are very specific, “dry ground,” and “the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” There’s not a lot of different ways that all that can be explained without the miraculous being involved.