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 divided the sea before themThis phrase recalls the miraculous event of the parting of the Red Sea, a pivotal moment in Israel's history. The Hebrew word for "divided" is "בָּקַע" (baqa), which means to split or cleave. This act of divine intervention symbolizes God's power and faithfulness in delivering His people from bondage. Historically, this event is a cornerstone of Jewish identity, representing liberation and the fulfillment of God's promises. It serves as a reminder of God's sovereignty over creation and His ability to make a way where there seems to be none. and they crossed through it on dry ground
The phrase emphasizes the miraculous nature of the crossing. The Hebrew word for "dry ground" is "חָרָבָה" (charavah), indicating not just the absence of water but a firm, stable path. This detail underscores God's provision and care, ensuring the Israelites' safe passage. It also serves as a metaphor for faith, as the Israelites had to trust in God's provision to step into the path He created. This act of faith is a model for believers, illustrating the importance of trusting in God's guidance even when the way forward seems impossible. You hurled their pursuers into the depths
Here, the focus shifts to God's judgment against the Egyptians. The Hebrew word "שָׁלַךְ" (shalak) means to cast or throw, indicating a forceful action. This demonstrates God's protective nature over His people, acting decisively against those who threaten them. The "depths" refer to the deep waters of the sea, symbolizing chaos and destruction. This act of divine justice reassures believers of God's ultimate control over evil and His commitment to safeguarding His covenant people. like a stone into raging waters
This simile vividly depicts the sudden and complete destruction of the Egyptian forces. The imagery of a stone sinking into turbulent waters conveys the finality and irreversibility of God's judgment. The "raging waters" symbolize the overwhelming power of God's wrath against sin and oppression. This serves as a warning to those who oppose God's will and a comfort to those who seek His protection, affirming that no enemy can stand against the Almighty. Persons / Places / Events 1. GodThe central figure in this verse, demonstrating His power and faithfulness by delivering the Israelites. 2. The IsraelitesGod's chosen people, who experienced His miraculous deliverance from Egypt. 3. The Red SeaThe body of water that God miraculously parted to allow the Israelites to escape from the Egyptians. 4. The EgyptiansThe pursuers of the Israelites, who were defeated by God as He closed the sea over them. 5. NehemiahThe leader of the Israelites during the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, who is recounting God's past faithfulness. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty and PowerGod is sovereign over all creation, including the natural elements. His power is unmatched, and He can use it to deliver His people from seemingly impossible situations. Faith in God's DeliveranceThe Israelites' crossing of the Red Sea is a powerful reminder of the importance of faith. Trusting in God's promises and His ability to deliver us is crucial in our spiritual journey. God's Faithfulness in HistoryReflecting on God's past acts of deliverance, as Nehemiah does, strengthens our faith and reminds us of His unchanging nature. He is the same God today as He was then. The Defeat of Our EnemiesJust as God defeated the Egyptians, He is capable of overcoming the spiritual enemies we face. We can trust Him to fight our battles and bring us to victory. The Importance of RemembranceRecounting God's past faithfulness, as seen in Nehemiah's prayer, is vital for maintaining a strong faith. It encourages us to trust Him in our present circumstances. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the parting of the Red Sea demonstrate God's sovereignty and power in your life today? 2. In what ways can you strengthen your faith by remembering God's past deliverances in your own life? 3. How can the account of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea inspire you to trust God in seemingly impossible situations? 4. What are some "enemies" or challenges you face that you need to trust God to overcome? 5. How can you incorporate the practice of remembrance into your daily spiritual routine to strengthen your faith? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 14This chapter provides the detailed account of the parting of the Red Sea, highlighting God's miraculous intervention and the Israelites' deliverance. Psalm 136:13-15This passage praises God for His enduring love and recounts the parting of the Red Sea as a testament to His mighty acts. Isaiah 51:10This verse recalls God's power in drying up the sea, emphasizing His role as the Redeemer and Protector of His people. Hebrews 11:29This New Testament reference highlights the faith of the Israelites as they passed through the Red Sea, underscoring the importance of faith in God's deliverance. People Abram, Amorites, Bani, Bunni, Canaanites, Chenani, Egyptians, Ezra, Girgashite, Girgashites, Hashabniah, Hittites, Hodiah, Hodijah, Israelites, Jebusites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Levites, Og, Perizzites, Pethahiah, Pharaoh, Shebaniah, Sherebiah, SihonPlaces Assyria, Bashan, Egypt, Gate of Ephraim, Heshbon, Mount Sinai, Red Sea, UrTopics Cast, Cleaved, Deep, Deeps, Depths, Divide, Divided, Dry, Ground, Hast, Hurled, Midst, Mighty, Parted, Pass, Passed, Persecutors, Pursuers, Raging, Stone, Strong, Threwest, WatersDictionary of Bible Themes Nehemiah 9:11 4366 stones Nehemiah 9:9-11 1315 God, as redeemer Nehemiah 9:9-12 7223 exodus, significance Library The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength. Neh 9:10
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John Newton—Olney HymnsQuestions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Ten Reasons Demonstrating the Commandment of the Sabbath to be Moral.
1. Because all the reasons of this commandment are moral and perpetual; and God has bound us to the obedience of this commandment with more forcible reasons than to any of the rest--First, because he foresaw that irreligious men would either more carelessly neglect, or more boldly break this commandment than any other; secondly, because that in the practice of this commandment the keeping of all the other consists; which makes God so often complain that all his worship is neglected or overthrown, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The "Fraternity" of Pharisees
To realise the state of religious society at the time of our Lord, the fact that the Pharisees were a regular "order," and that there were many such "fraternities," in great measure the outcome of the original Pharisees, must always be kept in view. For the New Testament simply transports us among contemporary scenes and actors, taking the then existent state of things, so to speak, for granted. But the fact referred to explains many seemingly strange circumstances, and casts fresh light upon all. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come The Personality of the Holy Spirit.
Before one can correctly understand the work of the Holy Spirit, he must first of all know the Spirit Himself. A frequent source of error and fanaticism about the work of the Holy Spirit is the attempt to study and understand His work without first of all coming to know Him as a Person. It is of the highest importance from the standpoint of worship that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person, worthy to receive our adoration, our faith, our love, and our entire surrender to Himself, …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137] …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh The Prophecy of Obadiah.
We need not enter into details regarding the question as to the time when the prophet wrote. By a thorough argumentation, Caspari has proved, that he occupies his right position in the Canon, and hence belongs to the earliest age of written prophecy, i.e., to the time of Jeroboam II. and Uzziah. As bearing conclusively against those who would assign to him a far later date, viz., the time of the exile, there is not only the indirect testimony borne by the place which this prophecy occupies in …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Preface to the Commandments
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,' &c. Exod 20: 1, 2. What is the preface to the Ten Commandments? The preface to the Ten Commandments is, I am the Lord thy God.' The preface to the preface is, God spake all these words, saying,' &c. This is like the sounding of a trumpet before a solemn proclamation. Other parts of the Bible are said to be uttered by the mouth of the holy prophets (Luke 1: 70), but here God spake in his own person. How are we to understand that, God spake, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories
[Sidenote: Influences in the exile that produced written ceremonial laws] The Babylonian exile gave a great opportunity and incentive to the further development of written law. While the temple stood, the ceremonial rites and customs received constant illustration, and were transmitted directly from father to son in the priestly families. Hence, there was little need of writing them down. But when most of the priests were carried captive to Babylonia, as in 597 B.C., and ten years later the temple …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament The Holy War,
MADE BY SHADDAI UPON DIABOLUS, FOR THE REGAINING OF THE METROPOLIS OF THE WORLD; OR, THE LOSING AND TAKING AGAIN OF THE TOWN OF MANSOUL. THE AUTHOR OF 'THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' 'I have used similitudes.'--Hosea 12:10. London: Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry; and Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Bunyan's account of the Holy War is indeed an extraordinary book, manifesting a degree of genius, research, and spiritual …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Nehemiah 9:11 NIVNehemiah 9:11 NLTNehemiah 9:11 ESVNehemiah 9:11 NASBNehemiah 9:11 KJV
Nehemiah 9:11 Commentaries
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