Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

divine presence.
They journeyed across a dreary, desert like region, and were
already becoming weary with the difficult terrain. Some began to be
afraid that the Egyptians would come after them, but the cloud went
forward, and they followed. Now the Lord directed Moses to turn
off their path into a rocky gorge and set up camp beside the sea. God
revealed to him that Pharaoh would pursue them but that God would
be honored in their deliverance.
Pharaoh's counselors told the king that their slaves had fled,
never to return. Their great men, recovering from their fears,
claimed that the plagues were the result of natural causes. "Why
have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" was
the bitter cry.
Pharaoh collected his forces, "six hundred choice chariots, and
all the chariots of Egypt," horsemen, captains, and foot soldiers. The
king himself, attended by the great men of his realm, led the
attacking army. The Egyptians were afraid that their forced
submission to God would make other nations ridicule them. If they
could now go out with a great show of power and bring back the
fugitives, they would redeem their glory as well as recover the
services of their slaves.
The Hebrews were camped beside the sea, which seemed an
impassable barrier in front of them, while on the south a rugged
mountain blocked their further progress. Suddenly in the distance
239