Hebrews 11:29 NIVUK
[29] By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
The first time I hurt my back was, I guess you could say, perspective-forming. I was in a lot of pain and could barely put one foot in front of the other. Anyone who has been through it will know it can be quite debilitating. Back pain can take weeks, or even months, to heal. The thought constantly crosses through your mind that you might not get better, that you might be stuck (as many are) with chronic pain for the rest of your life.
But as the pain subsides and your back begins to heal, you experience that amazing, but simple, joy of just putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward – however slowly.
You might compare yourself with other people who might be the same age as you and whizz past you without a care. But that will only get you down.
Instead, you satisfy yourself with just being able to walk again, in the knowledge that you are slowly getting better each day.
What we see here is an extraordinary situation. Nothing like it happened before. Nothing like it will happen again. This was utterly miraculous.
The Israelites and their hangers on had been slaves. They had lost all sense of dignity. Their fate appeared to be in the hands of the heartless men who ruled over them.
But God had broken them out of slavery, using Moses to do so.
Now they are in a situation that is more stressful and anxiety-inducing than anything any of us will ever go through in our lives. What we see here is true faith under fire. What we learn is how to face our fears and problems when they arise.
As we go through different aspects of this event, try to imagine the scenario they found themselves in. Try to feel the heat of the fire, the water droplets in the cloud, the fishy, salty and reedy smell of the sea. Try to hear the swish of a sea in flood, the roar of the flames, the thunder and clatter of the approaching chariots...
The sheer panic in the voices of the Israelites.
Now imagine just how difficult it was for them to just take one step forwards.
This truly was a step of faith.
There are two parts to this amazing event that we need to fully appreciate.
The first of these is the things that were against them.
There were three enormous things against them.
Firstly, their confusion.
Exodus 14:1-4 NIVUK
[1] Then the Lord said to Moses, [2] ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to camp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. [3] Pharaoh will think, “The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.” [4] And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’ So the Israelites did this.
So God told the Israelites to turn around from where they were – which was likely towards the north of the Sinai Peninsula – where they could have crossed into the Promised Land, and told them to head south, where they only way they could enter the Promised Land was by crossing the Red Sea (likely at the Gulf of Aqaba).
Although this sounds like it might be crazy, there was a huge piece of Divine logic at play here, and not just because of the effect it would have on Pharaoh.
Elsewhere, we read this:
Exodus 13:17-18 NIVUK
[17] When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ [18] So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.13.17-18.NIVUK
So the Israelites left Egypt armed and ready to face any foe and conquer the Promised Land, but God knew that in reality they weren’t ready. If they had crossed directly into the Promised Land from the Sinai Peninsula, they would have entered straight into a part of the world that is synonymous with anti-Jewish feeling even now:
Gaza.
Now led by Hamas, who are a terrorist movement plainly seeking the extermination of Israel; then a Philistine city, filled with fearsome fighters, against whom the thoroughly inexperienced army of newly escaped slaves would have to fight.
So there is profound logic in steering the Israelites away from that.
Even if it was towards the sea.
However, from the outside, a million people heading away from the obvious crossing to the Promised Land would just look confused and lost, and to the average Israelite, that’s probably how it felt. Here they were, following God’s chosen leader, Moses, and he is leading them away from the entrance back to the land they had been promised?
I can imagine how that was perceived.
Secondly, their position.
And I think none of us would want to be in this position.
On their right and left and behind them? The desert.
In front of them? The Red Sea.
Behind them, and approaching at ever increasing speed? The Egyptian army, with Pharaoh at its head:
Exodus 14:5-9 NIVUK
[5] When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, ‘What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!’ [6] So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. [7] He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. [8] The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. [9] The Egyptians – all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops – pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.14.5-9.NIVUK
At the time, the Egyptians were the best developed, strongest and best equipped army in the known world. Israel, a bunch of recently escaped slaves, was facing a superpower.
That leads nicely on to the third thing that was against them: their disposition:
Exodus 14:10-12 NIVUK
[10] As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. [11] They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? [12] Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’
They were panicking. They were terrified.
And, in a sense, we can understand why.
But panic and anxiety and worry never produce any positive results. They are profoundly useless, not to mention unhealthy.
So we have a people beset by confusion, in an awful position and with a negative disposition.
No wonder they needed the God who was for them.
They are asked to do three things.
The first is be still.
Exodus 14:13-14 NIVUK
[13] Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. [14] The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.14.13-14.NIVUK
By ‘be still’, Moses means a lot more than just to stand where they are and not move.
He actually also means ‘be silent’.
That might seem like a poor tactic to get out of a serious crisis situation, but think about it: their minds were racing with panic, and their mouths were racing even faster. How could anyone think or reason clearly in that situation?
They were much more likely to deepen their crisis rather than end it.
And I know about this first hand.
A number of years, due to an accident from nothing more than a lack of awareness, I almost lost my job. My career recovered. Within a year I had scored a promotion. Within eighteen months, I was promoted again.
But I had not.
When things started to wobble again, my confidence dived, my mind spiralled downwards and it felt like I was on my way out again. I had a young family. We had a mortgage.
It felt like I was letting everyone down.
One day my boss pulled me aside and said something that offended me deeply at the time. He said in deep frustration, ‘You’re a Christian. You believe all that stuff. You shouldn’t be reacting like this.’
That hurt. It hurt deeply. I was so angry at him. He went to church occasionally but had long since lost his faith. How dare he lecture me on what a Christian should and shouldn’t do!
But he was right. He was absolutely correct.
Faith is the antidote to anxiety. It is the antidote to worry. It is the antidote to fear. People of faith can choose not to worry. That’s why we read the words ‘Do not worry’ or ‘Do not be afraid’ or ‘Do not fear’ so often in the Bible.
Because how we react to situations isn’t at all instinctive. It is a choice.
And people of faith choose faith over fear. They choose faith over worry. They choose faith over anxiety.
Moses tells the Israelites to be still and be silent not because he wants them to stop yammering in his ears, but because he wants them to silence their anxious thoughts and get control of themselves.
He wants them to choose faith.
That is how they stand firm and resist fear. That is how they react calmly in the face of an overwhelming situation. It happens when they choose to silence the spiralling voices in their head.
Apart from be still, the second command is to be expectant.
Exodus 14:15-16 NIVUK
[15] Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. [16] Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
This was a pretty bold thing to so: stretching out your staff over a sea in flood in any expectation that God will find a way.
Think about it: how would Moses have looked if this had failed?
Obedience for Moses meant being willing to go out on a limb, to take risks, to go on the road less travelled.
To utterly rely on God in a very stressful situation.
This was very much a trust exercise for Moses.
Not to mention the Israelites.
And it is one we are all asked to undertake:
Psalms 55:22 NIVUK
[22] Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
1 Peter 5:6-7 NIVUK
[6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. [7] Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. https://bible.com/bible/113/1pe.5.6-7.NIVUK
Matthew 11:28-30 NIVUK
[28] ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.11.28-30.NIVUK
And perhaps most importantly:
Matthew 6:33-34 NIVUK
[33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Everything Moses had achieved with the people of Israel right now had only been because of his faith in God. Now he was being asked to do something that was humanly impossible.
The Red Sea was in flood. There was no way forward. Divine intervention was utterly required. And when it came, there could be no misunderstanding that it was anyone but God.
When Moses stretched out his hands in obedience, he was trusting God to do what He'd promised He would do.
In full expectation that He would.
After being bring still and expectant, the third step is to be ready to move forward:
Exodus 14:15-16 NIVUK
[15] Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. [16] Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Just imagine, for one moment, the situation these terrified Israelites faced. On their left and right, the deadly heat and nocturnal cold of the desert. Behind them, the approaching thunder of horses’ hooves, the clatter of chariots and the war cries of the best equipped army in the known world. In front of them, a supernatural pillar of cloud and of fire and the seemingly impassable barrier of the Red Sea in flood.
Then Moses stretches his staff over it.
And the east wind blew.
And this happened:
Exodus 14:21-22 NIVUK
[21] Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, [22] and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
One million terrified Israelites, and all God required of them was to keep moving forward between two massive walls of miraculously stacked up water, along a miraculously dried up sea bed, to the other side, for between twelve and seventeen miles.
Sometimes faith is best shown not by amazing acts of incredible heroism, not by the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other.
Scaling incredible heights or plumbing
great depths can be phenomenal acts of faith, but few of us ever achieve them. More likely, our faith will be demonstrated by just keeping going despite incredible odds.
And that is where the Israelites showed faith. Moses – quite rightly – might have grabbed the headlines by being used by God to part the waves, but it took no less faith to walk between them.
Given what they were facing, and the huge stress and anxiety they experienced by the shores of the Red Sea, this was definitely a commendable decision.
And the outcome was spectacular.
Exodus 14:23-31 NIVUK
[23] The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. [24] During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. [25] He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, ‘Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’ [26] Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’ [27] Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing towards it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. [28] The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen – the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. [29] But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [30] That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. [31] And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. https://bible.com/bible/113/exo.14.23-31.NIVUK
Now, isn’t that an interesting turn of phrase? The Israelites put one foot in front of the other – likely terrified as they had no other option – and only after it did they see sufficient evidence to truly put their trust in God.
And even that was only temporary.
But at that moment – even if just for a short while – they stepped out on faith, even if very tentative, and saw God acts on their behalf.
That is what happens when we step put in faith.
I can recall many incidents in my life where this has happened. The biggest one was when, at the age of just twenty years old, I preached my first ever sermon, at just a few hours notice, in Cernavodă Baptist Church in Romania. I hadn’t prepared for it. I had no idea it was happening. And yet, in that searing hot pulpit in southern Romania, God began a ministry that these days takes the form mostly of this blog, and the occasional sermon in the Philippines.
Often we are facing situations, like those Israelites, that leave us intimidated, terrified and anxious. It’s part of the human experience.
Looking at how they originally reacted, we would not hold them up as an example of faith.
But I believe the writer to the Hebrews is making a huge point. Often the real heroes of faith are not the high achievers, but the people who have the courage to keep going and trust God to keep them safe.
And when He does, through weak and terrified human beings, the glory truly goes to Him.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, there are often situations where I feel like I have nothing left but to trust You. Thank You that You always come through for me. Help me to learn from it and trust You in every situation. Amen.
Questions
1. What was the situation the Israelites were facing? What was against them?
2. What was there first reaction to this situation? Did it seem like an example of faith to you? Why / why not?
3. What happened when they put theor faith in God and walked across the dried up sea bed? Was this an example of faith? Why / why not? What can we learn from this?
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