camping by the sea" (ver. 9). When the Israelites saw the oppressor's army the}' were terrified, and murmured against Moses. "Because [there were] no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilder- ness ?" (ver. 11.) Along the bare mountains that skirt the vallev of Upper Egypt are abundant sepulchral grottoes, of which the entrances are conspicuously seen from the river and the fields it waters : in the sandy slopes at the foot of the mountains are pits without number and many built tombs, all of ancient times. No doubt the plain of Lower Egypt, to which Mem- phis, with part of its far-extending necropolis, belong- ed politically, though not geographically, was through- out as well jjrovided with places of sepulture. The Is- raelites recalled these cities of the dead, and looked with Egyptian horror at the prospect that their car- casses should be left on the face of the wilderness. Better, they said, to have continued to serve the Egyp- tians than thus to perish (ver. 12). Then Closes en- couraged them, bidding them see how God would save them, and telling them that they should behold their enemies no more. There are few cases in the Bible in which those for whom a miracle is wrought are com- manded merely to stand by and see it. Generally the divine support is promised to those who nse their ut- most exertions. It seems from the narrative that Moses did not know at this time how the people would be saved, and spoke only from a heart full of faith, for we read, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me ? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward ; Imt 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" (ver. 15, IG). That night the two armies, the fugitives and the pursuers, were en- camped near together. Here a very extraordinary event takes place: "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; 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" (ver. 19, 20). The monuments of Egypt portray an encampment of an army of Eameses II during a campaig.i in Syria; it is well-planned and carefully guarded : the rude modern Arab encamp- ments bring before us that of Israel on this memorable night. Perhaps in the camp of Israel the sounds of the hostile camp might be heard on the one hand, and on the other the roaring of the sea. But the pillar was a baiTier and a sign of deliverance. The time had now come for the great decisive miracle of the Exode. "And Closes stretched out his hand over the sea : and the Lord caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided. And the chil- dren of Israel went through the midst of the sea upon the dr}' [ground] ; and the waters [were] a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left" (ver. 21, 22; comp. 29). The narrative distinctly states that a path was made through the sea, and that the waters were a wall on either hand. The term "wall" does not appear to oblige us to suppose, as many have done, that the sea stood up like a cliff on either side, but should rather be considered to mean a barrier; ss the former idea implies a seemingl}' needless addition to the miracle, while the latter seems to be not discordant with the language of the narrative. It was during the night that the Israelites crossed, and the Egy])tians followed. In the morning watch, the last third or fourtli of the night, or the period before sunrise, Pha- raoh's army was in full pursuit in the divided sea (ver. 23-25). Delays are now occasioned to the Egyptians; their chariot-wheels are supernaturally taken off, so that " in the morning-watch they drave them heavi- ly." The Egyptians are troubled; they urge each
EXODE
400
EXODE
other to fly from the face of Israel. Tlien -was Moses commanded again to stretch out his hand, and the sea returned to its strentrth and overwhehiied the Egyp- tians, of wlioni not one remained alive (ver. 26-28). Tlie statement is so explicit tliat there could be no rea- sonable doubt that Pharaoh himself, tlic great offend- er, was at last made an example, and perished with his army, did it not seem to be distinctly stated in Psa. cxxxvi that he was included in the same destruction (ver. l.j). The sea cast up the dead Egyptians, whose bodies the Israelites saw upon the shore. From the song of triumph which Moses sang upon this occasion •we learn some other particulars, as that "^Ae dejMs covered Pharaoh's host, the!/ sank to the bottom as a stone;" language which, whatever deduction may be made for its poetic character, implies that the miracle took place in deep water (Exod. xv; comp. Psa. cvi, 9 sq.). In a later passage some particulars are men- tioned which are not distinctly stated in the narrative in Exodus. The place is indeed a poetical one, but its meaning is clear, and we learn from it that at the time of the passage of the sea there was a storm of rain, with thunder and lightning, perhaps accompanied by an earthquake (Psa. Ixxvii, 15-20). To this Paul may allude where he says that the fathers " were all bap- tized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. X, 2) ; for the idea of baptism seems to involve either immersion or sprinkling, and the latter could have here occurred : the reference is evidently to the pillar of the cloud : it would, however, be impious to attempt an explanation of what is manifestlj' miraculous. These additional particulars may illustrate the troub- ling of the Egyptians, for their chariots may have been thus overthrown.