Trapped by the Sea

So the Hebrews left Egypt, while the Egyptians wept and regretted that they had treated them so harshly. They traveled by way of Letopolis, a place deserted at that time, where Babylon was built later, when Cambyses laid Egypt waste. Because they left in haste, on the third day they came to a place called Baal-zephon, on the Red Sea. Since the land was desert and they could get no food from it, they ate loaves kneaded from flour and only warmed by a gentle heat. They lived on this food for thirty days, for what they had brought out of Egypt would not last them any longer — and even that only because they rationed it, giving each person as much as he needed and not as much as he wanted. That is why, in memory of the want we were in then, we keep a feast for eight days, called the feast of unleavened bread. The whole multitude that went out, women and children included, could not easily be counted, but those of an age to fight numbered about six hundred thousand. [a]

They left Egypt in the month of Xanthicus, on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, 430 years after our forefather Abraham came into Canaan, but only 215 years after Jacob moved to Egypt. Moses was in his eightieth year, and Aaron was three years older. They also carried the bones of Joseph out with them, as he had charged his sons to do. [e]

But the Egyptians soon regretted that the Hebrews were gone. The king, too, was deeply troubled, believing that this had been brought about by the magic arts of Moses, and so they resolved to go after them. They took up their weapons and the rest of their war gear and set out in pursuit, meaning to bring them back if once they overtook them. They reasoned that they themselves were no longer answerable to God, since the Hebrews’ departure had already been granted; and they expected to overcome them easily, because the Hebrews had no armor and would be worn out by their journey. So they pressed the pursuit hard, asking everyone they met which way the Hebrews had gone. And indeed that land was hard to cross, not only for armies but even for a single traveler. Moses led the Hebrews this way so that, if the Egyptians changed their minds and chose to pursue them, they would suffer the punishment for their wickedness and for breaking the promises they had made. He also chose this route because of the Philistines, who had quarreled with the Hebrews and hated them of old: by no means must they learn of the departure, for their country borders on Egypt. That is why Moses did not lead the people along the road toward the land of the Philistines. He wanted them to go through the desert, so that after a long journey and many hardships they might enter the land of Canaan. Another reason was that God had commanded him to bring the people to Mount Sinai, to offer him sacrifices there. [g]

When the Egyptians overtook the Hebrews, they prepared to fight them, and by sheer numbers they drove them into a narrow place; for the force pursuing them was six hundred chariots, fifty thousand horsemen, and two hundred thousand foot soldiers, all armed. They also seized the passes by which they thought the Hebrews might escape, shutting them in between impassable cliffs and the sea. For a mountain there runs down to the sea, so rough that it has no paths, and it cuts off escape. So at the pass where the mountain meets the sea the Egyptians shut the Hebrews in with their army, posting it at the mouth of the pass to cut them off from any way out into the plain. The Hebrews could not hold out, being in effect besieged, for they had no provisions; they could see no possible way of escape; and if they had thought of fighting, they had no weapons. They expected to be destroyed to a man unless they gave themselves up to the Egyptians. So they laid the blame on Moses and forgot all the signs God had worked to win back their freedom. Their unbelief went so far that they were ready to stone the prophet while he was encouraging them and promising them deliverance, and they resolved to surrender to the Egyptians. There was grief and wailing among the women and children, who had nothing before their eyes but destruction, hemmed in as they were by mountains, the sea, and their enemies, with no way of escape in sight. [i]

But Moses, though the crowd glared at him, did not give up caring for them. He despised every danger out of his trust in God. God had granted them every step taken so far toward their freedom, as he had foretold to them, and Moses was sure he would not now let them be overpowered by their enemies, to be either enslaved or slain. Standing in the middle of them, he said: “It is not right for us to distrust even men who have managed our affairs well so far, as if they will not be the same in the future. But to despair of God’s providence at this moment is nothing short of madness, when by his power everything he promised has been done, though you expected nothing of the kind — I mean everything I have had a part in for your deliverance and escape from slavery. No: when we are in the worst distress, as you see we are, we ought all the more to hope that God will help us. It is by his doing that we are shut in this narrow place, so that out of difficulties otherwise impossible to overcome, from which neither you nor your enemies expect you can be delivered, he may show at once his own power and his providence over us. God does not usually give his help in small difficulties to those he favors, but in cases where no one can see how any human hope can make things better. So rely on such a Protector, who is able to make small things great and to show that this mighty force against you is nothing but weakness. Do not be frightened by the Egyptian army, and do not despair of being saved because the sea in front of you and the mountains behind you leave you no way to flee. Even these mountains, if God pleases, can be made level ground for you, and the sea dry land.”