Exodus 14: Won't He Do It

You can do everything right and still feel cornered. That’s the pressure cooker of Exodus 14: Israel is out of Egypt, but not out of danger. Pharaoh changes his mind, the chariots close in, and the people panic because God’s route looks like a dead end. We slow the story down and read it like real life, where fear talks loud, options feel thin, and you start wondering if obedience was a mistake.

We trace the turning points that make this chapter unforgettable: Moses telling the people to stand firm and stay calm, God telling Moses to stop crying out and get moving, the pillar of cloud and fire shifting to protect Israel, and the sea opening into a road no one could have planned. We also talk through the Red Sea vs Reed Sea debate and why the size of the water doesn’t shrink the size of the miracle. Dry ground, perfect timing, and God’s protection still tell the same story: the Lord fights for His people.

Then we bring it home. If you’re trying to raise your kids with faith, stay faithful in your marriage, keep integrity at work, or refuse the shortcuts that everyone else takes, you may feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. This chapter gives language for that moment: God doesn’t do dead ends. Wherever He guides, He provides, and sometimes the greatest act of faith is simple faithfulness today.

Subscribe for the daily Bible Breakdown, share this with someone who feels trapped, and leave a five-star review so more people can find it. What’s the “sea” you need God to part right now?

Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Mission

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Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Exodus 14 Setup And Title

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Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Exodus chapter 14. Today's title is Won't He Do It, Man. Won't He Do It? Now I gotta tell you, for all my dad joke fans out there, I was going to say, I was gonna say, Did you see what I see? Because this is about when Jesus parts or Jesus went when uh when God through Moses parts the Red Sea. And I was going to say, Did you see what I see? But that's just way too dad jokey. But it, I'm telling you, this is a banger. It's one of my favorite chapters and all of Exodus. There's so many great ones. I mean, I don't know which one to choose. This is definitely at the very top of my list. And I love to think about this from all the different angles, from Pharaoh to Moses to the people, to the fish that are in the sea. Everybody is sitting there going, man, won't he do it? It's gonna be so good. So if you got your Bibles, get ready with me. We're gonna be in Exodus

Quick Ways To Support The Show

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chapter 14. Make sure you take just a moment to like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job over there. And you can get all that information at thebiblebreakdown.com.

Why God’s Detours Matter

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Or if you've been with us over the past several days, we have just been watching God just do what he does. I mean, he has laid waste to all of the gods of Egypt. Then he told Pharaoh who was in charge. And then out of his kindness, he led them through a detour. They didn't go straight from the nation or the nation of Egypt all the way to Mount Sinai because they weren't ready. They had to take a detour. And isn't it something else that sometimes it can seem like God's detours lead to dead ends, but man, they don't. They don't lead to dead ends, they lead to miracles. And we're going to read about one of the most famous chapters or stories in the entire Bible. So if

Scripture Reading The Red Sea

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you're ready, here we go. Exodus chapter 14, verse 1 says this. Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses. Order the Israelites to turn back and camp at Pherabath between Migdal and the sea. Camp there along the shore across from Baal Misvron. Then Pharaoh will think, The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness, and once again I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. So the Israelites camped there as they were told. When word reached the king of Egypt that the Israelites had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their mind. What have we done? Letting all those Israelite slaves get away, they asked. So Pharaoh harnessed this chariot and called up his troops. He took with him six hundred of Egypt's best chariots, along with the rest of the chariots of Egypt, each with its commander. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel who had left with fists raised in defiance. The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces of Pharaoh's army, all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they camped beside the shore near Pith Harath across from Baal Ziphron. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked as they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt? Why have you done this to us? What did you why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn't we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, Leave us alone. Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It's better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness. But Moses told the people, Don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch what the Lord and how he will rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Then the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground, and I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they would charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, and his chariots and his charioteers. Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp, and the pillar of cloud also moved in front and stood behind them. And the cloud settled between the Egyptians and the Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and the Israelites did not approach each other all night. Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind, and the wind blew all night, turning the seed bed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side. Then the Egyptians, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots and charioteers, chased them into the middle of the sea, and just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. Let's get out of here, away from these Israelites, the Egyptians shouted. The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt. And when all the Israelites had reached the other side, the Lord said to Moses, Raise your hand over the sea again. Then the waters will rush back and cover the Egyptians and their chariots and charioteers. So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the water rushed back into its usual place. And the Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. Then the waters returned and covered all the chariots and charioteers, the entire army of Pharaoh. All the Egyptians who had chased the Israelites into the sea, not a single one survived. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, and the water stood up like a wall on both sides. That is how the Lord rescued Israel from the hand of the Egyptians that day. And the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the seashore. That is so gross. When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed on the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him, and they put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Oh Lord. Man, come on, won't he do it? Come my goodness. So listen, there's just so much. There's so much here.

Red Sea Or Reed Sea Debate

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First of all, first of all, there has been a little bit of controversy because the way the the Hebrew is translated, you could get uh red C, R-E-D-C, or R-E-E-D, Reed C. Both of these bodies of water are in a trap travelable distance. And so some people are like, well, the Red Sea, yeah, that's big enough where you know that they would it could cover over them or whatever, but you know, the Reed Sea, the Reed Sea is like ankle deep. I mean, they could have they could have walked across out without there being a miracle. Here's the deal both ways are miracles. If it was the Red Sea, which is what I mean, that's what the Bible says, it calls it Red Sea, then it would have been deep enough that it would have destroyed the the Egyptian uh chariots and all that kind of good stuff. So that's fine. It's just fine. But if it's the reed sea, okay, I'll give it to you. Well, you know what the miracle still would have been is that number one, that strong east wind came by, and though it could have been ankle deep, it wasn't. It was dry. And then that same ankle deep water God used to drown all of Pharaoh's army. So either way, it was a miracle. But let's go with the Red Sea because that's what the Bible says. It calls it the Red Sea. So that's what we're gonna go with.

What Protected Israel In Transit

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Another thing that was amazing is you ever watched the movie The Ten Commandments? And the Ten Commandments, they actually used live effects to create this. And I found out one time the way they did this is they created this massive, like, wall of jello. And when the moment was right, they turned on these big industrial hairdryers, and it caused the uh all of the uh the gelatin to just just get out of the way, and so that it would create this these walls on both sides. So think about this for a moment. It's almost time to to go across the Red Sea, and that pillar of fire that was always in front of the Israelites, you know what it did? It went and it went on the backside to rescue them from this, uh rescue them from the Egyptians. So they the Egyptians couldn't do anything while they were crossing over the red uh the Red Sea on dry ground. And then when they got close enough, then that pillar of fire went away so that the Egyptians could chase after them. But even then, the their the chariot wheels, you know, God calls them where they weren't working right, so they were stuck there in the middle. So if you think about this, you got the Israelites who think for a moment that God's detour led to a dead end. And then when all hope looked lost, there wasn't anything else that they could do except trust God, turns out that was enough, then at the last possible moment, God made a way where there was no way. Their job was to trust Him and to take the next step. Now that's saying something because here's the thing Up until that point, and every day since then, there's never been a moment when God asked them, well, there's one other time in the book of Joshua, but other than that, there was never a time when God did this and asked them to walk across. So it took a lot of faith for them to walk across and to hope that as they were in the middle of the journey, that God wouldn't give up on them. Think about that for a moment. You see a wall of water on both sides, there's really no point to do anything other than trust God at that point. But here's the thing when you realize that when you when you get to the place where God is all you have, you realize God is all you need, then you look from the point of the of Pharaoh and his chariots. Well, if they can do it, I can do it. That's not God, that's just luck. That's not God, that's just you know, a happy turn of chance. Only to realize, no, it really is a miracle. And then they're stuck. Because if you don't have God, it doesn't matter how skilled you are, it's not gonna work. And then just for the sake of it, you imagine the fish minding their own business, just having a good time, and you know, Mr. Fish talks to Miss Fish and says, Hey, I'm on my way home, I'll be there in 10 minutes. Well, two days later, he shows back up or shows back up at home and she's like, Where have you been? Listen, you're not gonna believe me. And by the time he's done explaining, she's like, You're right, I don't believe you. And spends the rest of their life going, Hey, remember that time when you said there was a wall and all these people walking through? Sure. I mean, just a just an amazing, amazing miracle.

Dead Ends Become Highways

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Here, here's here's what I love. Here's what I love so much is God, God doesn't know what dead ends are. I mean, he knows he knows what they are as far as what we think they are, but there is no such thing as a no-win scenario for God. It wherever God guides, he will also provide. Wherever God leads, he will continue. So when in our journey of trusting God, if our journey takes us to uncharted waters, it takes us to places where it looks like we're between a rock and a hard place, never forget that God can make a highway in the sea. You know, maybe you're in a situation right now where you have been faithful, you've been honoring God, you haven't been, you know, taking the shortcuts that other people would take, you've been taking the other thing and it's been leading you through detours. It feels like life's not supposed to be this hard, and you know, it'd be so much easier if you just kind of cheated a little bit here, did that, but you're having integrity and you're doing whatever. And and the more you're trying, you're trying to trying to raise your kids to know who God is. You're trying to stay faithful in your marriage when it just seems like it's going from bad to worse, and and you're trying to stay faithful in this job, but you just don't want to anymore. You're just trying so hard. And it seems like you're in a dead end. Can I remind you? God makes highways out of oceans. He makes ways where there is no way. And maybe that's this needs to be your promise you hold on to today. Maybe you need to look at your kids that are in that stage of life right now where they are just on every nerve you got. And maybe you just need to make them a little nervous today when you just say, you know what, I'm so thankful? I'm so thankful that God makes highways out of the sea. Maybe you need to look at your spouse and go, you know what, baby? I know you and I can't seem to say a nice word together, but I'm not gonna give up. You know why? Because God makes highways in the sea. Don't do this, but maybe you look at your boss who's never got a kind word, everything is your fault, and you just look at them and you just go, I'm so thankful that God makes highways out of seas. It looks like a dead end, but I know that God's faithful. And if we just keep doing that one day at a time, you know the greatest act of faith is faithfulness. God will open the right way. Just because you're faithful today doesn't mean you've given up on the future. It just means I'm gonna grow where I'm planted. And then when God opens the door, you ain't never seen somebody run so fast. But until he does, I'm gonna be faithful because God is faithful to me.

Prayer And Final Promise

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Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you make highways through the sea. And that Lord, you will do it over and over again. I'm thankful for you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And what God's Word says in Exodus 6, verse 6, it says, I will free you from your oppression and I will rescue you from slavery. Man, won't you do it? I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Exodus chapter 15.