Seder 54: Exod 13-14---Israel Travels to the Red Sea

 As the Israelites left Egypt, God chose not to lead them on the most direct route to Canaan, along the Mediterranean coast.  The direct route was also the most dangerous (Exod 13:17).  The Egyptians had a line of forts along the coastal route.  Certainly God could have protected them no matter what route they took and removed any opposition, but his goal was not to place the Israelites in Canaan in minimum time.  Instead, his goal was to teach and train them to be his representatives in the world, and to take action while trusting in him.  

"And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle," we read in Exod 13:18.  This does not mean that the adult male Israelites were a trained fighting force, but that they were organized as an army.  

Moses must have had a lot on his mind as the people departed, but he still made sure to remember to take Joseph's coffin (v 19), as Joseph had requested before his death (Gen 50:25).  Jewish tradition (e.g., b. Sotah 13a) praises Moses for making sure to do a good deed while the people were gathering treasure.

That tradition also reflects on the fact that Israel, on its long wilderness journey, would be traveling with two boxes---Joseph's coffin and the ark of the covenant.  This was fitting, a midrash says, because Joseph had obeyed the things written on the tablets of stone contained in the ark.  

God had further lessons for Egypt and the world, as well as for Israel.  In one of them, he would, in effect, use the Israelites as "bait", leading them to a location where they appeared to be trapped in order to lure the Egyptians to come after them.  They camped somewhere near Migdol, which we now know was the name of one of the Egyptian forts (Exod 14:2).  

The Egyptians took the bait and came out with chariots.  (Archeological investigation at the Egyptian forts has found evidence of chariots, by the way.)  

It was a shock to the Israelites to see the Egyptians coming after them.  In their fear, they lashed out with sarcastic words to Moses.  Moses responded with words of encouragement (Exod 14:13-14).  He assured them that 

• God comforts the fearful.
• He delivers from distress.
• He invites and expects his people to trust in him.
• He removes danger.
• He is a warrior against the forces of evil.