Many of us would have been familiar enough about the story of the crossing of the Reed Sea in Exodus 14. Note that the Hebrew phrase for Red Sea is “yam suph”, which clearly means "Reed Sea”, and so I will use the word Reed Sea instead of Red sea here. I myself have known this story since Sunday school, and been told again and again; and every time I heard about this story, there is always a new confidence in me to know that my God is a living God, He protects and He alone brings salvation to His people; such a wonderful God. Let us now look to each of the verses below:
1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2"Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' 4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.
God commanded Moses to tell Israel to turn back and encamp to a cornered place! Isn’t it a bad idea to move to a place where we can’t escape from the enemies? This is what God asked Israel to do: to move to Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon. Humanly speaking, it is a fool to get ourselves into such situation; a situation where our weakness is exposed, or a hopeless situation. But this is what exactly God wanted Pharaoh to believe: God told Moses to lead Israel in a way that looked confused. God told Moses and Israel to do something crazy because God knew how He could be glorified through it. Sometimes in our lives, God also leads us to a situation where there are lots of challenges and obstacles. As we face trial and tribulation, and we could not understand it, God wants us to learn to trust Him as what happen in our lives, God use it for His Glory, so that we ourselves and other people may know that He is the LORD.
Again, we see there is a wonderful promise here: though God allows the Israelites to be in the hopeless situation, God will never leave them hopeless. Though God often allows us to be in hopeless situation of taste suffering, He has given us this precious promise, the same way God told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”. Through our weaknesses, we can see His strength. This is what God sometimes do to His people, God allows suffering to show that He is able; God is able to save His people, and the glory is for Him alone. Trusting Him is one thing, and another thing is to know that it is not about us but it is about Him, God is the centre; for His name sake.
5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" 6So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Now we see Pharaoh changed his mind, and said “What is this we have done…?” Isn’t it obvious that Pharaoh let Israel go, because he has taste God’s judgement with the 10 plagues before? Why did he easily change his mind as if he never experience God’s wrath to him; isn’t it Pharaoh himself that asked Israelites to go in Exodus 12? Here we see that man by nature is a rebel. In Sin, we never fear God, if man in sin faces His wrath, they will only fear in his flesh, but not really fear Him spiritually.
This also demonstrates we are often quick to forget what God has done and shown to us. It is easy to quickly move from walking in the spirit to walking in the flesh. Similarly, we will also see this kind of attitude in Israelites later on when they were cornered.
10When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." 13And 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. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."
Can we also see the same thing here: isn’t God has shown so many great things with the 10 plagues? If God has deliver Israelites out from Egypt, wouldn’t God finish the work as well to bring salvation to Israelites to His promised land? What a great doubter, just like us that often doubt Him in our daily lives. In addition, Israelites not just doubt God who had saved them, but they are also ungrateful murmurers. They dare to say: “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians”. In spite of showing thankfulness that they have been delivered from Egyptian slavery, they murmured because of their fear towards Egyptians who are after them. It is very understandable though and humanly speaking this is what we often do as well. We often live by what we see and not by faith, and this is exactly where the problem is. If we not trusting Him fully that He is God that able to save us, that He is a living God, that He has promise that all thing works together for good to them who love God, which are called according to His purpose, then we may easily live in depression, despair and doubt. Again we need to know that God often uses “difficulties” to teach us precious lessons (eg: humbling, patience, faith, prayer, etc), otherwise we will murmur whenever God puts us through His “school of hard knocks”.
In contrast, we should learn from what Moses said: “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD”. Psalmist also says in Psalm 124:8 that our help is in the name of the LORD. At this point I think Moses would not know how God will save them, but this is faith. Moses has certainty that God will help them. When we see that our only help is God, we are more likely to trust Him. But ironically mostly, it is the little things that gets us down; things that we think we can do in our own strength. We have to always rely not by our own strength but His strength only. David Guzik says something very true here, that: “Despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing. Fear will tell you to retreat. Impatience will tell you to do something now. Presumption will tell you to jump into the Reed Sea before it is parted. But as God told Israel, He often tells us to simply stand still as He reveals His plan.”
15The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."
Now God could divide the sea without Moses lifted up his staff, isn’t He? Why God asked Moses to lift up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea? Moses alone won’t be able to divide the sea by lifting up his staff and stretch out his hand. This is a vital step of faith that Moses has to do to proof that he trusts God. Faith requires obedience, and the fact Moses asked Israel to turn back to Pi-hahiroth is also a step of faith. If we want to see His glory, if we want to experience Him as God who delivers us, we need to take steps of faith through our obedience to Him.
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night[a] without one coming near the other all night.
21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24And 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 a panic, 25clogging[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."
26Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen." 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw[c] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Now then we see the rest of the Story: God divides the Reed Sea and lead the Israelites to cross over the sea, and threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. This demonstrates His faithfulness to Israel from an impossible circumstances; and to us His people, He will always be a faithful God so that we can put our trust fully.
See in verse 25 where the Egyptians said “Let us flee… for the LORD fights for them”, also verse 31 where it says “Israel saw the great power that the LORD used… so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD…”, now this is what God intended to happen from beginning. All glory be on Him alone; God wants to show that He is a living God; He is the only one that rules the earth and there is no other god besides Him. The bible not just state from verse 1-4 above, but Bible tells us the whole chapter 14 (note: Bible stress it again in verse 30: “thus the LORD saved Israel…”) to proof to us once again that our God kept what He promise, because He is a sovereign God. Now the question for us is: do we really trust Him who brings salvation to us? If so, do we live by faith or do we live just like how Israelites were doing in this chapter?
Soli Deo Gloria,
Paul Hartono
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