The Egyptians marched after them.
Israel pursued
Notice some analogies between the flight of Israel from Egypt and the progress of the sinner from the captivity of the devil. In both eases we have a debased condition of mankind, a powerful enemy, a pursuing foe, a perilous road, a human ministry, and an omnipotent and gracious Redeemer.
I. The state of Israel in Egypt was a state of the utmost abasement. Every sinner is a slave. The wicked man serves a cruel master. He is watched on every hand; all his movements are understood: every desire or aspiration after liberty is turned into an occasion of augmented suffering. Wickedness reduces the volume and quality of manhood. Every bad thought and every wicked deed is so much taken from the completeness and dignity of human nature.
II. The enemy of israel was powerful. So with the great enemy of man. His resources are all but inexhaustible. He is not confined to one series of temptations. The diabolic genius in luring and seducing men to evil dispositions and courses is fertile beyond all parallel. He assaults us through the flesh; he insinuates ruinous ideas into the mind; he secretly touches the very fountains of life. He can touch our nature with a light hand, or he can smite us with tremendous force.
III. Israel was pursued--so is the redeemed man. It is too frequently expected that when a man forsakes his evil ways, he will at once become an exemplary saint. It is forgotten that the devil relinquishes his hold reluctantly. Years upon years after our conversion to God we are conscious of the presence of the old nature; there are sudden uprisings of forces which we supposed to be extinct.
IV. There is an omnipotent and gracious redeemer. In the course of our Christian experience we are often called upon simply to stand still. Herein is shown the tender grace of the living Redeemer. We are weak, we are weary, and there is no more strength left in us; at that point He says, “Waiting shall be accounted as serving, and standing still as the progress of triumphant strength.” Israel was not self-redeemed, nor are we; Jesus Christ is the angel of our redemption; trusting to His leadership, neither mountain nor sea shall keep us back from the Canaan of God. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Difficulty in duty
I. Difficulty in duty deeply felt.
1. Our temporary well-being here greatly depends upon the conduct of our contemporaries toward us.
2. The majority of our contemporaries are governed by corrupt principle,
3. The man, therefore, who carries out in his daily life the principles of duty, must more or less excite the anger and create the antagonism of his contemporaries.
II. Difficulties in duty testing character.
1. Look at the influence of this difficulty upon the Israelites.
(1) Their cowardice.
(2) Their ingratitude.
(3) Their apostacy.
2. Look at the influences of difficulty upon Moses. He now rises into the majesty of the hero.
III. Difficulty in duty Divinely overcome. Thus it is ever.
1. The nature of moral progress shows this.
2. The promises of God’s Word ensure this. (Homilist.)
The good pursued by old enemies
I. That the good, in seeking to come out of the bondage of sin, are frequently pursued by old enemies.
1. Satan. He is powerful. He has great resources. He will arouse indwelling corruption. To sense all seems dark. To faith all is bright. We cannot get to the Promised Land without much resistance from the devil.
2. Wicked habits. The habits of youth are not easily conquered, hence they should be carefully formed, or they may impair the Christian career of the future.
3. Wicked companions pursuing with taunts and slanders even to the banks of the Red Sea. These are a terror to many a godly soul. Thus we see that Satan pursues the good with a great army, with many allies, in splendid array, and often strikes fear into their hearts.
II. That sometimes the circumstances of life appear to favour the pursuit of the old enemies of the soul. “And overtook them encamping by the sea,” etc. The world in which we live is a Pi-hahiroth, and the devil knows it: but the God who has brought us from Egypt can bring us from before Pi-hahiroth, if we trust in Him--He is greater than the pursuing enemies.
III. That the pursuit of the old enemies of the soul often awakens the sorrowful apprehension of the good. “And when Pharaoh drew near. .. sore afraid.” How often does it happen that when the good are followed by their old enemies, they forget the mercies of the past, the power of God, and look only to the on-coming foe. They think they will have to yield to the prowess of Satan, and go back to the old bondage of the soul. But we see in this narrative the folly of allowing the advance of old enemies to awaken terror in the heart of the good; for they are only advancing that the power of God may be seen in their defeat. Good people of melancholy temperament sometimes think that they made a mistake in coming out of Egypt, and that they will never reach Canaan. Such fears are dishonouring to the grace of God.
IV. That the pursuit of the old enemies of the soul must be met under the guidance of heaven. “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” It is a blessed fact that God adapts the method of His redemption to the weak condition of His people.
1. The enemies of the soul are overcome by God. He alone can give salvation from the enmity of Satan, from the weakness of self, and from the perilous circumstances of the wilderness life.
2. The soul must wait patiently the outcome of this aid. The good know not by what method of discipline the Lord will deliver them from their old habits of evil. We see here the advantage of having God as our Helper, in that He can make a way for our feet through the sea.
Lessons:
1. That the good, being pursued by the enemies of their old life, are in constant need of Divine grace.
2. That progress in the freedom of the soul is in spite of the enmity of Satan.
3. That all moral progress is the outcome of the help of God to the soul. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pursuit of the entangled
The things of the world are so many purveyors for Satan. When Pharaoh had let the people go, he heard after a while that they were entangled in the wilderness, and supposes that he shall, therefore, now overtake them and destroy them. This stirs him up to pursue them. Satan, finding those whom he has been cast out from entangled in the things of the world, by which he is sure to find an easy access unto them, is encouraged to attempt upon them afresh, as the spider to come down upon the strongest fly that is entangled in his web: for he comes by his temptations only to impel them unto that whereunto by their own lusts they are inclined, by adding poison to their lusts, and painting to the objects of them. And oftentimes by this advantage he gets so in upon the souls of men, that they are never well free of him more whilst they live. And as men’s diversions increase from the world, so do their entanglements from Satan. When they have more to do in the world than they can well manage, they shall have more to do from Satan than they can well withstand. When men are made spiritually faint, Satan sets on them as Amalek did on the faint and weak of the people that came out of Egypt. (J. Owen, D. D.)