The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts on the parsha that R' Frand spoke about in his shiur tonight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Shemos 14:3, the Torah states וְאָמַ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נְבֻכִ֥ים הֵ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ סָגַ֥ר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַמִּדְבָּֽר - that Pharaoh told the Jewish people that they are trapped in the land. The famous question is - who did Pharaoh tell this to, as the Jews had left already.
The pashut pshat as said by many meforshim (including Rashi) is that Pharaoh said this about the Jews and not to them. But the Targum Yonasan Ben Uziel explains that Pharaoh said this to Dasan and Aviram, who had not left yet.
R' Frand asked - if Dasan and Aviram were such evil people that they did not leave with Moshe, how were they still around? These were Moshe's historical antagonists, yet we read about them later in the Torah so they obviously got out. Why did they merit to get out of Egypt, when 80% of the Jews did not make it out of Egypt (and died in Choshech) because of their evil nature?
R' Frand answered the question by quoting the Rosh which explains that Dasan & Aviram had not given up hope of leaving Egypt. The reason that they stayed was that they believed that Moshe was a false prophet. R' Frand quoted R' Eliezer Ashkenazi in the Sefer Maasei Hashem who explains that Dasan & Aviram knew that Avraham had been told that the Jews would be in exile for 400 years...which meant that there were still 190 years left! They thought that Moshe must be a false prophet!
This also explains the conversation which took place between them and Moshe after Pharaoh increased the Jews suffering once Moshe came down to Egypt. Upon seeing this, Dasan & Aviram said to Moshe - Hashem should punish you for saying that the Jews are to leave Egypt now - you made this up yourself.
Even after seeing the 10 plagues, Dasan & Aviram did not change their minds and they stayed behind with Pharaoh and encouraged him to bring the Jews back to finish their remaining time in exile. Only once they saw the splitting of the Yam Suf did they realize that Moshe was a true prophet.
So if this was the attitude of Dasan & Aviram, why were they saved? The Maharal Diskin explains that Dasan & Aviram's merit was that they were among the nogsim - the taskmaster/enforcers who were in charge of the Jews in Egypt. But these were not like the Kapos in the concentration camps. In Egypt, these people were beaten by the Egyptians when the Jews did not meet their quotas. In that zechus and because of their empathy for their fellow Jews because they got hit to prevent people from being beaten, they merited getting out of Egypt.
R' Frand next asked - how did Dasan and Aviram make it out of Egypt? When could they have left, if Pharaoh was talking to them and the Jews are already gone?
He answered by quoting the Maharal Diskin which analyzes Shemos 15:19 which states כִּ֣י בָא֩ ס֨וּס פַּרְעֹ֜ה בְּרִכְבּ֤וֹ וּבְפָֽרָשָׁיו֙ בַּיָּ֔ם וַיָּ֧שֶׁב יְהֹוָ֛ה עֲלֵהֶ֖ם אֶת־מֵ֣י הַיָּ֑ם וּבְנֵ֧י יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל הָֽלְכ֥וּ בַיַּבָּשָׁ֖ה בְּת֥וֹךְ הַיָּֽם - that Pharaoh's horse came into the sea and the Jews walked on dry land. This seems to be out of order. First the Jews went into dry land in the sea and then Pharaoh's horse followed them in!
R' Frand explained quoting the Be'er Mayim Chayim that there was a second Krias Yamsuf. When Dasan & Aviram got there, the sea had already closed up after Pharaoh and his horse went in. But because they had a great zechus, Hashem made a second Krias Yamsuf and they walked into the sea on dry land.
R' Frand then quoted the Arizal who tied this story into the famous story of Eliyahu and the prophets of Ba'al on Har HaCarmel. The Arizal states that the two cows which were utilized in the story were the gilgul of Dasan & Aviram and this was their atonement for doubting the veracity of Moshe. The lesson was that a true prophet of Hashem could cause the 400 years to lessen. Certainly there were people who said to Eliyahu - you can't offer a sacrifice outside of the Beis Hamikdash! And they would have been right...except that a true prophet can (because of Hora'as Sha'ah) change certain operative rules, much like Moshe was correct about the reduction in the number of years that the Jews would be in exile.
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