November 9 2025, Sunday School Lesson

Parting the Red Sea

Lesson Text: Exodus 14:10-22

Related Scriptures: Exodus 5:15 – 6:1; 15:1-21; Joshua 2:8-11; Psalm 106:1-12; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6

TIME: 1446 B.C.

PLACE: Egypt

Golden Text: “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14)

Introduction

When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army bearing down on them, their gut reaction was to abandon the great salvation God was working for them and surrender to their old life of serving the Egyptians (cf. Ex. 14:12-13). Because the exodus foreshadowed our deliverance from slavery to sin, we can apply Israel’s reaction directly to our lives today. For us, the temptation is to return to our old life of serving sin whenever our spiritual journey gets difficult.

When trials come, we need to remember what is at stake. The Israelites probably thought their reaction was reasonable. Wouldn’t it have been better to live as slaves than to die before they received their freedom? But more than physical life and death was at stake. Their question should not have been How can we stay alive? But whom will we serve? (cf. Josh 24:15). The Red Sea crossing gives us confidence to continue serving the Lord when trials come. God will make a way for us to keep following His path even in impossible situations.

LESSON OUTLINE

1. BATTLE MOVEMENT – Ex. 14:10-19

2. DELIVERANCE THROUGH DIVISIONS – Ex. 14:20-22

QUESTIONS

1. Why did the Egyptians change their minds about letting Israel go?

2. How did the Israelites respond when they saw the Egyptians pursuing them?

3. How did Moses respond to the Israelites’ fear?

4. What was the Israelites’ role in their deliverance?

5. Why did God plan to let the Egyptians follow the Israelites into the divided sea?

6. Who was the “angel of God” in Exodus 14:19?

7. How did the Lord’s division of the two camps help Israel?

8. What two previous acts of God did the parting of the Red Sea echo?

9. How was the parting of the sea a callback to Creation?

10. How did God fulfill His purpose of getting honor for His name through the Red Sea crossing?

ANSWERS

1. What led to such a sudden change? Verse 4 says it happened after the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

2. At first, they seemed to have the right response: they cried out to the Lord.

3. Moses responded with words of assurance, giving the people three commands. First, he instructed them not to be afraid. Second, he told them to stand firm. They were not to go through with their plan to surrender and return to Egypt but instead were to hold their ground. Third, Moses told them simply to watch, because they would see God deliver them from their trouble, and the army pursuing them would vanish from their sight forever.

4. Although Israel would not need to engage the Egyptians in battle, they were not to sit idly by. God asked Moses why he was crying out, then told him to instruct the Israelites to “go forward,” or set out, presumably toward the sea (vs. 15).

5. God did not yet reveal to Moses exactly what would happen next, but He assured Moses that by following Israel into the sea, Pharaoh and his army would become instruments for His “honour.”

6. Perhaps the best explanation in these cases is that because God cannot be seen, God’s “angel” acted as a visible manifestation of His presence.

7. While the cloud cast darkness on the Egyptian camp, it “gave light by night” to the Israelites (14:20). Just as in the plague of darkness, God made a distinction between Egypt and Israel; only Egypt was covered in darkness, and the Egyptians could not come near Israel all night as a result.

8. But this scene echoes more than just the ninth plague. It also echoes God’s first act of Creation.

9. Similarly, God brought light into the darkness at the Red Sea and separated the two so that the light lit the night in Israel’s camp. This is more than an interesting similarity. This was Gods visibly signaling that Israel’s exodus was the beginning of His plan for a restored creation. The Lord divides the sea(Ex. 14:21-22). God continued to imitate His original acts of Creation by dividing the sea to reveal dry land beneath (cf. Gen. 1:9).

10. When the Egyptians tied to pursue, God threw them into chaos, and the Egyptians recognized that Yahweh fought for Israel (vs. 25). Then, after God plunged the sea back on top of the Egyptians, the Israelites praised the Lord for His immense power and believed in Him (vs. 31).