Scripture records the many instances of praise being given to God on account of the exodus. The events of the exodus, however, reveal the lack of faith, the hardness of heart and the spiritual stubbornness that can persist among believers. Scripture warns of the consequences of these things. In addition the exodus is seen as an act of divine deliverance which foreshadows the greater act of salvation through Jesus Christ.
How great God is: remember what he has done
The song of Moses and Miriam after the crossing of the Red Sea
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and army He has cast into the sea; the finest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.
The psalmist praises God for his deliverance in the exodus
Psalm 77:19–20 See also Psalm 78:12–14, Psalm 78:51–53, Psalm 105:26–45, Psalm 106:7–12, Psalm 114:1–4, Psalm 136:13–16
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Joshua compares the crossing of the Jordan to the crossing of the Red Sea
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”
Nehemiah leads the people in praise of God by reciting all his wonderful deeds
You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea. You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day. You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters. You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
God did great things in the past: he will do them again
You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
Rahab recounts what the LORD did at the Red Sea
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction. When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.
Isaiah looks forward to a future deliverance as a second exodus
Isaiah 43:16–19 See also Isaiah 11:15–16, Isaiah 51:10
Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters, who brings out the chariots and horses, the armies and warriors together, to lie down, never to rise again; to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
The exodus is remembered at the renewal of the covenant at Shechem
Joshua 24:16–18 See also Joshua 24:5–7
The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us throughout our journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!”
Warnings against hardness of heart
Hebrews 3:7–9, Hebrews 3:16; 1 Corinthians 10:1–5 See also Psalm 95:7–11
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works.
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
The disobedience of the Israelites despite their knowledge of God's deliverance
1 Samuel 12:8–9 See also Judges 6:7–10; 2 Chronicles 7:22; Jeremiah 2:5–6, Jeremiah 7:22–26, Jeremiah 11:1–8Acts 7:36–39
When Jacob went to Egypt, your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He sent them Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness. This is the same Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ He was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. And he received living words to pass on to us. But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
A picture of the deliverance from sin won for believers by Jesus Christ
Hebrews 4:2 See also Hebrews 3:1–4:13
For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.
The exodus as a sign of God's love
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
The exodus as an example of faith
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.