The crossing of the Red Sea! One of my favorite stories. I remember my mother telling me the story when I was very little. I was mesmerized by the walls of water and the pillar of fire by night. I taught messages on these passages and yet I read it again today and God gives a fresh perspective!
The Israelites are in the sea – walking on dry ground – they are complaining (nothing new there). The Egyptians are marching after them (for some reason Scar’s song from the Lion King “Be Prepared” is playing in my mind).
The Israelites cry, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” I love their sarcasm – I can’t help myself. “And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’”
Wow! The faith that Moses displays – have you ever had a friend going through a problem and you both know that God can help and you say in partial faith, hoping that God really will come through for them soon, “God has a plan and it will all work out.” That is nothing compared to the proclamation that Moses made – the Egyptians that you see today, you shall never see again! Wow! That is putting it all out there. Faith talks like that!
You will also notice that when God is working and fighting on behalf of someone, silence is the correct stance. Which is hard, especially if you are female.
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night….”
So here was my fresh perspective – when God is working on my behalf, I need to keep silent (ouch) and in this story, He is driving by a strong east wind – you can’t see wind! Often we cannot see what God is doing and it makes us nervous because it doesn’t feel or seem like He is doing anything! And then, when it seems like the last possible moment, He comes through, overthrows the Egyptians and saves the Israelites. Vs 24 of the 14th chapter says, “In the morning watch, the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion.”
God’s perspective is better than ours – we can’t see through all the mess we are in down here sometimes. But God’s perspective is always from above. HE has the advantage over our enemy, or our circumstances. He sees the beginning and the end and He knows exactly how to combat our current problem, we need only to be silent and listen, in faith and with patience, for the strong east Wind.
