The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael preserves a dramatic speech attributed to God, addressed to the Egyptians at the moment of the Red Sea's destruction. The voice is that of a king — and the message is chilling in its reversal.
God speaks as though reviewing a legal history. "In the past," God says, "you — the people of Israel — would rob the Egyptians, and I would prosecute you by royal edict." The Israelites, during their long years of servitude, were not blameless. When they took from their oppressors, God held them accountable. The scales of justice applied to both sides.
"But now," God continues, "my hand will permit it." The age of Egyptian dominance is over. The ledger has shifted. What was once theft is now authorized taking — the spoils of liberation.
The speech then turns to an even graver matter. "In the past, you would kill them, and I would prosecute you by royal edict." Even acts of violence by the oppressed against their oppressors were subject to divine judgment. But now, at the sea, God declares: "I shall sheathe my sword." The prosecuting sword that once hung over Israel is withdrawn.
This passage presents God as a sovereign judge whose rulings evolve with historical circumstances. The same actions that were once punishable are now permitted — not because morality changed, but because the power dynamic did. God's justice accounts for context. When the Israelites were residents in Egypt, they were bound by its laws. At the sea, they became free — and God's judicial posture shifted with them.