It took the whole day to get everything ready. But come sundown they were ready to depart. The people of Israel left that evening, with a high hand. Glad to be leaving Egypt after 430 years. Since it was a full moon they had plenty of light to travel by.

They left in orderly ranks and marched to the edge of the wilderness that night. God Himself led them, appearing as a pillar of fire, lighting the ground before them even more. When they marched during the day, as they usually did, God appeared as a pillar of cloud, giving them shade from the heat of the sun.

They also took the bones of Joseph, the once great leader of Egypt, with them as their forefathers had promised him they would just before he died.

God had told them that they were to keep the Passover forever to commemorate the saving of all the firstborn from death. Now He told them to keep a special feast to commemorate the beginning of their exodus from Egypt on the night after the Passover. This was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was kept seven days. During the seven days they were to eat no leavened products - to show that they went out in haste, before their bread had a chance to rise. Jesus later instructed his disciples to eat unleavened bread during the feast, to symbolize the partaking of righteousness. Leavening was avoided during these seven days - as it pictured sin, which God has brought true Christians out of.

God did not lead His people to the promised land, the land of Caanan, by the most direct route. Such a route would have taken them only a few days. But God knew that had the former slaves confronted the armies of the people who lived in Caanan they would have been terrified and would have quickly fled back to Egypt. Moses had been trained as a general in the Egyptian army, but the rest of the people were not as self confident, and had never handled a weapon in their lives.

God took them by a roundabout way for several reasons, one of which may have been to bring them into contact with small armies to train them gradually. But another, and more important reason, was to test them. God purposely took them by a way where they could not get food to eat, or water to drink. God wanted to provide food and water through miracles to deepen the people's faith. Another reason was to make a covenant, a special agreement where He would agree to be their God and bless them and they would agree to be His people and obey Him.

God led the people southward to the west bank of the Red Sea until they came to a place where they could go no further. Mountains loomed up on one side, the Red Sea spread out before them.

Back in Egypt Pharaoh was regretting having let the slaves go. They were the only wealth left to Egypt - and their herds the only food supply for the coming year. When he heard they were trapped between the mountains and the sea he decided to go after them. Perhaps he though if he could get the slaves and their livestock back he could yet save ruined Egypt.

He gathered an army of six hundred chariots and led the army out after the Israelites. Before they could escape he had them boxed in with the mountains on one side, the sea on the other, and Pharaoh behind them.

The people of Israel looked back and saw the great army of chariots approaching and were terrified. But God knew what He was doing. He had shown them His great power in destroying Egypt with plagues while seeing no harm came on them. But they had never seen such a large army before. An army that was rapidly drawing closer and closer. This was to be the people's first lesson in battle. God would fight their battles for them. All they had to do was stand still and watch.

But at the moment they were badly frightened. And who did they blame? Moses of course. "Weren't there enough graves in Egypt?" they said to Moses, "Why did you have to bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Didn't we tell you it would be better to serve as slaves in Egypt than to die in the wilderness?"

Sometimes we too become fearful when trials and worries pursue us. But God tells us to trust in Him to deliver us from all our woes.

Moses tried to calm them, "Don't be afraid; stand still and watch how God will save you. When God has finished, none of these Egyptians will be left alive. God will fight for you in such a way that you'll be left speechless with amazement."

Then Moses prayed to God about the Egyptians and God said, "Quit praying and get these people ready to go. Stretch your rod out over the sea and it will open up so you can all walk through on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptian soldiers so they will follow you and then you will see what I will do to them!"

While Moses held out his rod and the Red Sea parted, God, in the pillar of cloud move around between the Israelites and the Egyptian army. The cloud became a great wall of darkness on the Egyptian side so they couldn't find the Israelites. When night came it gave light on the Israelite side so they could get ready to march through the sea in the morning. All night the hot dry east wind blew through the path God had opened, drying the ground.

In the morning, before it was light, the people marched on dry ground between the walls of water towering above them on either side. When they were part way through God removed the cloud so the Egyptian army could follow. When they were all down on the sea bottom, in the early morning, God started to trouble them. The wheels started coming off their chariots. Remembering what had happened in Egypt, they cried, "Let's get out of here, their God is fighting for them!"

As the last Israelite climbed out of the sea bottom, God told Moses to stretch his rod over the sea again. When he did, God released the walls of water, covering the path. The horses and chariots and the Egyptian soldiers, every one of them drowned, not a one survived. The Israelites had been delivered safely out of Egypt on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.