John Calvin Commentary Exodus 14:10

"And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah." — Exodus 14:10 (ASV)

And when Pharaoh drew near. Moses implies that the alarm was greater because of its suddenness, as no messenger had preceded them, giving them very little time indeed for preparation. There was, then, just ground for fear even in the bravest hearts, unless there had been something very extraordinary about them.

But they sinned doubly: the hope of divine assistance had abandoned their hearts along with the recollection of God’s mercies, and they had also advanced to such an extent of ingratitude as to revolt insolently against God and Moses. Although it appears that two contrary facts are reported here—namely, that they cried out to the Lord and mutinied against His minister—we may easily gather that this cry did not arise from faith or from serious and well-ordered affections. Instead, it was extorted by a confused impulse.

This is because the natural sense impels all people, in their adversity, to offer prayers to God indiscriminately, even if they neither embrace His mercy nor rely on His power. Thus David, in Psalm 107, says that all the distressed turn to God when any trouble oppresses them. This happens because God, by the leadings of nature and by secret instinct, draws them to Himself in their danger, so that even the most careless and profane may be rendered more inexcusable. Yet in this way, they do not render due honor to God, although by the utterance of their mouths they ask for safety from Him.

It is hardly surprising, then, that the Israelites, reduced to such severe anxiety, offered prayers and vows invoking God’s name, especially since He had recently revealed Himself to them through so many miracles, and they always had the cloud or the pillar of fire in sight. But their insane cries against Moses were plain proof that, in their consternation, they had thoughtlessly hastened to call upon the name of God. For the exposition¹⁵⁴ that some offer is unreasonable—namely, that certain of them piously prayed to God while others of the multitude wickedly mutinied against Moses—because these two statements are made in conjunction and cannot be referred to different persons.

¹⁵⁴ The interpretation only noticed to be set aside is found in S. M. — — W.