Though the process of making a way through the sea appears to have taken several hours, the water isn't merely blown back out of their way but supernaturally stands as a wall on each side of the Israelites as they make their crossing. "The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left." (Exodus 14:21b-22) This is a scene that the movie "The Ten Commandments" got right, in my opinion. I'm including an image here from the movie so you can see what I mean.
Just before dawn the Egyptians see the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and they take off after them in hot pursuit. "The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, 'Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'" (Exodus 14:23-25) At least some of these Egyptian soldiers possess enough spiritual discernment (or superstitious fear, anyway) to realize that the jamming of their chariot wheels is intended to slow down their pursuit. The Lord is buying time for the Israelites to make it far enough through the Red Sea so that there's enough room behind them to release the waters back over the Egyptian army.
Pharaoh doesn't heed the cries of his soldiers who want to turn back instead of fighting against God. We know the king doesn't allow the army to turn back for we find them still in the Red Sea when the Lord allows the waters to rush in upon them. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.' Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back into its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen---the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived." (Exodus 14:26-28)
Did Pharaoh himself die in the Red Sea? Many scholars think not since Exodus 14 only mentions Pharaoh's army drowning in the waters. In Exodus 15 we find Moses and the Israelites singing a song of praise to the Lord in which they say, "Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea." (Exodus 15:4) In this song no mention is made of the death of Pharaoh and such an omission seems strange if he did indeed die, considering what grievous sins he perpetrated upon the Israelites. It was typical in those days for a king to ride in front of his troops to lead them into battle, but perhaps in this case Pharaoh remained on the seashore due to a kernel of fear in his heart. Perhaps he thought, "Suppose my men are right? Suppose the Lord is fighting for Israel? The last plague He brought upon Egypt took the life of my firstborn son. If I pursue these people into the sea, what if the Lord takes my life? To be on the safe side, I'd better move to the rear of my army and urge them on into the sea ahead of me and see what happens to them. If it looks like they're going to be successful I'll follow after them."
An argument can be made for believing Pharaoh perished in the Red Sea if we take a look at what David said in Psalm 136. David speaks of the miraculous parting of the Red Sea which allowed the Israelites to make it safely through but which "swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea". (Psalm 136:15a) Whether David literally means the king of Egypt died in the waters or whether he is referring to the army by Pharaoh's name is not certain. An example of this in more modern times is the way we tend to identify the army of Nazi Germany by the name of Hitler. In saying we defeated Nazi Germany and her allies we might refer to it as "defeating Hitler". We did not actually engage in hand-to-hand combat with Hitler; we defeated his forces. We and our allies didn't kill Hitler. He perished by his own hand. But still we might say of the Allied victory in World War II: "We destroyed Hitler." Scholars who believe Pharaoh did not die in the Red Sea interpret Psalm 136:15a to mean that the Lord defeated Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea, not that the Lord drowned Pharaoh in the sea.
It's difficult to come to any certain conclusion regarding the fate of Pharaoh since no Egyptian records have been found regarding this incident, which is typical of any defeat any pharaoh ever faced. It was not at all common for an Egyptian king to describe anything but victories in his written records or to have murals painted depicting anything but his successes. Even in those days, world leaders didn't want any bad press! The Bible never identifies the pharaoh of the exodus by name and we are therefore unable to say whether this particular king disappeared suddenly from Egypt's scene or not.
"But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant." (Exodus 14:29-31) The Lord used the rushing waters of the Red Sea to cast the dead bodies of the Egyptian soldiers onto the shore where the Israelites could see them. If He had not, maybe they'd have doubted He defeated their enemy. The Lord mercifully takes human weakness into account and provides the Israelites with visible proof of what He's done for them. They need not fear the Egyptians will continue to pursue them on into the desert. While I doubt every soldier of Egypt was at the Red Sea (since this would have left the nation defenseless against invaders) we'll see in Exodus 15 that Pharaoh's best army officers perished. We've already been told that Pharaoh assembled all the best chariots of Egypt to make the pursuit, so we can safely assume that for the foreseeable future the king will be busy replacing his army chariots and training new men to be generals. He's going to have to spend the majority of his time and money on rebuilding and equipping his army, not going after the Israelites.
As they should, the people stop to give thanks to the Lord for their miraculous rescue, and in tomorrow's study we'll take a look at the song they sing to Him. They set an example for us to follow in taking time to thank the Lord before moving on ahead into the next phase of their lives. When the Lord answers our prayers we should thank Him right then and there, not just move on ahead without acknowledging His help.
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