It really doesn’t matter where in the world you live, we are all going through unprecedented difficulties between political upheavals, economic disruptions, and plague. It may seem as if we are spiritually in between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s Army, which you may be surprised to learn is actually one of the best places Bible believers can find themselves.
Let’s look in Exodus 14 to see if there is a lesson we can apply today. In verses 6-9, we find Pharaoh sending his army after the Children of Israel. The people saw the sea in front of them and they saw the Egyptian army closing in fast behind them and their response is found in verses 10-12:
10 When Pharaoh drew near, Bnei-Yisrael lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them! So they were terrified, and Bnei-Yisrael cried out to Adonai. 11 They said to Moses, “Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us, to bring us out of Egypt? 12 Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians?’ It was better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”
As people of faith, we know that their response was the absolute wrong response to the situation they were in. It was a real response. It was an honest response. But, it was the wrong response. However, when we read the next line of text, which is Moses' reply to the people, we don’t often judge Moses’ response in the same way we judge the people. Though from G-D’s response to Moses, we should see both the people’s response and Moses’ response as wrong responses. Let’s look together at Exodus 14:13-14:
13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see the salvation of Adonai, which He will perform for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will never see them again, ever! 14 Adonai will fight for you, while you hold your peace.”
When we read these words, on the surface it looks as if Moses was full of faith and chastising the people for their lack of faith. Yet, when we read G-D’s response we see that G-D’s reply to Moses is similar in tone to Moses’ reply to the people and G-D actually tells Moses to tell the people the exact opposite instructions to what Moses gave.
15 Then Adonai said to Moses, “Why are you crying to Me? Tell Bnei-Yisrael to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. Then Bnei-Yisrael will go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
Notice Moses told the people to stand still and let G-D do it. G-D told Moses to tell the people to move forward and “you'' stretch out your hand and divide the sea. I believe that we, as the people of G-D, have found ourselves in a similar situation - a situation that needs miraculous intervention, which, for the record, is the best place for believers to be because it is at these moments in history that G-D uses His people to show His power so He will receive the praise.
The Egyptians coming toward us may represent governmental attack against the people of G-D, and the Red Sea may represent natural disasters such as sickness, floods, storms, etc. The body of Messiah is standing between them with a promise of victory.
But, in order for this to happen, it is time for us to stop standing and waiting and it is time for us to begin to move forward in faith, raising our arms, and parting the sea. In other words, we have been given the power and authority to divide the sea. But instead, we are crying out to
G-D and standing around waiting.