John Calvin Commentary Psalms 78:12

"Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan." — Psalms 78:12 (ASV)

He wrought marvellously in the sight of their fathers. The Psalmist is still to be understood as condemning the descendants of the Israelites for their guilt; but he very appropriately, at the same time, begins to speak of the first ancestors of the nation, intimating that their entire lineage, even from their very origin, had a perverse and rebellious disposition.

But having remarked that the children of Ephraim had fallen into apostasy because they had forgotten the wonderful works of God, he continues to pursue the same subject. Meanwhile, as I have said, he makes a very fitting transition to speak of the fathers, whom it was his aim to include in the same condemnation.

First, he refers to the miracles performed in the land of Egypt before the people's departure from it. To recall these more vividly to mind, he names a highly celebrated place—the field of Zoan. Next, he speaks of the passage through the sea, where he repeats what was brought to our attention in the previous psalm: that the order of nature was reversed when the waters stopped in their course and were even raised up into solid heaps like mountains.

Third, he declares that after the people had passed through the Red Sea, God still continued to be their guide on their journey. So that this might not be a mere temporary deliverance, He graciously continued to extend His hand to bestow upon them new testimonies of His goodness. Since it was a difficult and wearisome task for them to pursue their journey through dry and sandy regions, it was no ordinary blessing to be protected from the sun's heat by the intervention of a cloud. This, however, was to them a pledge of more distinguished grace. God thereby testified that this people were under His protection until they should reach the heavenly inheritance.

Accordingly, Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 10:2 that a kind of baptism was administered to the people in that cloud, as well as in their passing through the sea. The fruit of this baptism is not limited to this frail and transitory life but extends even to everlasting salvation.