Exodus 14:17a "I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them." (The powerful Egyptian army held no threat for the God of Israel. Because Pharaoh and his army had refused to submit to the Lord's commands even after He had given them plentiful opportunities, now He was ready to allow them to pursue their evil intentions without His further intervention or invitation to change their minds. The Egyptians themselves saw the same open path of dry ground beside the rolled back, walled waters of the Red Sea that the Israelites saw and the Egyptians made a tactically and drastically rash and unwise decision. The Lord would now allow this foolhardy army to embrace its malicious objectives. Because they had repeatedly refused God's pardon, Pharaoh and his army would now receive God's judgment. Sometimes, the Lord allows our enemies to be blind to their lack and to appear stronger to themselves and to us than they are, but the lesson here for us is that the Lord is always in control, even in control of the enemy, and allows that enemy to pursue their intentions only to a certain point and then God intervenes on our behalf and causes defeat for the enemy and victory for us.)
