At first glance, it makes zero sense why Pharaoh would chase the Israelites into the wilderness, just a short time after letting them go. After all, the plagues decimated Egypt; why would Pharaoh want to bring the cause of that calamity back to his doorstep?
Furthermore, why is Pharaoh himself leading this charge? Doesn’t he have generals he could send instead? And what does expect to do once he gets there? Even if you assume his army was around 50,000-100,000 strong (since the Text mentions 600 chariots), that’s still roughly 1 soldier for every 20-30 people. The odds are long that an army that size could forcibly return Israel to Egypt.
All of this is assuming the Israelites don’t fight back against Egypt to avoid returning to slavery. Exodus 13:18 says they went up “armed” out of Egypt, and we also know from their later history that they will use those arms against other nations. It’s not unreasonable to think they could use them against Egypt, too.
So, why did Pharaoh pursue Israel, even though he had just let them go? The only indication we have from the Text is that his heart was hard, but that it was made hard for two reasons.
First, Israel was trapped. There was almost nowhere they could go, so the chances of success were surprisingly high that Pharaoh could capture the Israelites.
Second, he regretted letting them go. According to Exodus 14:5, Pharaoh asks why they let Israel go “from serving” them. Evidently, he didn’t feel like they had escaped as much as Egypt had let them leave. And that decision, according to him, was a bad one.
If you look at the situation from Pharaoh’s perspective, there was almost nothing that could happen that was worse than what had already happened. Egypt was in shambles from the plagues, and the deaths of thousands of firstborns left a scar on the societal fabric of Egypt. What could God do to him now?
The answer, as Pharaoh will soon find out, is quite a bit. Just because Pharaoh thought he had lost everything doesn’t mean that God had run out of options. His decision to chase Israel into the desert would be the last in a long line of foolish—and arrogant—decisions to challenge God, the Holy One of Israel.
