Crossing the red sea

In the night of liberation, after eating a lamb and smearing its blood on the doorposts and their firstborn children being spared from the death that had ravaged the firstborns of the Egyptians of everything that had breath. The Hebrew people, which later became a nation, left Egypt for a journey to the land that flowed with milk and honey, as it was said with joy and celebration which was soon to be short-lived because they suddenly found themselves confronted by the Red Sea. Before long, the Hebrew people saw the mighty army of Egypt pursuing them viciously with horses and chariots. They knew the consequences were so terrible for them because previously, when Moses came and spoke about their liberation to go and worship their God in the desert; Pharaoh ordered their task masters to increase their workload while withholding some assistance that used to be given to do their quota. They found themselves now between the hard place and the rock. WHAT WOULD YOU DO, IF IT WERE YOU?

In the spur of the moment, the Bible records that the children of Israel started to lift up their voices to God and complained to Moses. Lifting up their voices and complaining to the God who had delivered them was their best response to God.

Exodus 14:10-12 “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were greatly afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? why have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness”.

This was not the sort of responding to God that God expected of a people that had seen Him deliver them with a mighty hand. By what He had done, God assumed that He was going to get glory from His people by what He was about to do again for them. He had brought them that way because He wanted to get the glory.

Exodus 14:2-4 “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall you encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will get glory over Pharaoh, and over all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so”.

At the Red Sea, the Hebrew people failed to trust God who had delivered them out of Egypt. Murmuring, complaining, and saying all sorts of evil against God’s servant and God was not the right way of responding to God. Trusting in the God in the crisis moment is the best way to respond to God. Trusting in God is a demonstration of faith in God. God is very pleased when He acts in response to His peoples’ faith in Him. Trusting in God is the principle of responding to God.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”.

Not because people trusted in God [had faith] that God instructed Moses to calm them down, but God had to do something to save His people as a way to protect His reputation and to prove His faithfulness.

Exodus 14:13-16 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea”.

At the Red Sea, God showed again His mighty hand to His people so that at least they may begin to trust Him as He led them to the land of promise. The Sea parted and its waters divided and stood still, and the ground became dry so that they can walk on dry ground. As they crossed the Red Sea, the angel of the Lord that was leading them in front came behind them to prevent the Pharaoh and his army from coming near them until they all crossed the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:22-26 “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen”.

At the crossing of the Red Sea, God took off the chariots wheels and He brought back the waters and the chariots, horses and the army were washed away at the same place that God’s people had seen His salvation. This incident was good enough to remind the Hebrew people that they ought not to respond to God with murmurings, complaints, and misuse of bad language against God and His servants. Trusting in the Lord is the best principle of responding to God.

The rest of the story after the crossing of the Red Sea is a great lesson to us today that the Hebrew people failed to trust God because time and again, we would see them fail to trust God. The worst mistrust was when the 10 spies brought back a bad report which stirred the hearts of people and failed to trust God that He was ready to give them the land of promise. Only 2 spies, Caleb and Joshua had learned the lessons and they trusted God to deliver the enemies into their hands and move forward to possess the land. Caleb and Joshua had mastered the principle of responding to God which is trusting God. What happened thereafter is a sad story, for each day the spies had been to Jericho, it was to be repaid with a year of wandering in the wilderness simply because people failed to trust in God. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness is a reminder that there are serious repercussions for failing to master the principle of responding to God. Caleb and Joshua later had to tell the nation that “It Pays to Trust God” because they were the only 2 people that left Egypt on the night of deliverance and crossed the Red Sea and lived in the wilderness under the supplies of God and now, they were in the land of promise. Indeed, it pays to trust God.

Psalms 37:3-6 “Trust in the LORD and do good; so, shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday”.

Because of what He did, what He is doing and for what He will do; God deserves to be trusted by His people. Everyone is trusted based on previous records. Let’s trust God in our daily walk with Him because of what He did for us in the past.

AMEN.

In the night of liberation, after eating a lamb and smearing its blood on the doorposts and their firstborn children being spared from the death that had ravaged the firstborns of the Egyptians of everything that had breath. The Hebrew people, which later became a nation, left Egypt for a journey to the land that flowed with milk and honey, as it was said with joy and celebration which was soon to be short-lived because they suddenly found themselves confronted by the Red Sea. Before long, the Hebrew people saw the mighty army of Egypt pursuing them viciously with horses and chariots. They knew the consequences were so terrible for them because previously, when Moses came and spoke about their liberation to go and worship their God in the desert; Pharaoh ordered their task masters to increase their workload while withholding some assistance that used to be given to do their quota. They found themselves now between the hard place and the rock. WHAT WOULD YOU DO, IF IT WERE YOU?

In the spur of the moment, the Bible records that the children of Israel started to lift up their voices to God and complained to Moses. Lifting up their voices and complaining to the God who had delivered them was their best response to God.

Exodus 14:10-12 “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were greatly afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? why have you dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness”.

This was not the sort of responding to God that God expected of a people that had seen Him deliver them with a mighty hand. By what He had done, God assumed that He was going to get glory from His people by what He was about to do again for them. He had brought them that way because He wanted to get the glory.

Exodus 14:2-4 “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall you encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will get glory over Pharaoh, and over all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so”.

At the Red Sea, the Hebrew people failed to trust God who had delivered them out of Egypt. Murmuring, complaining, and saying all sorts of evil against God’s servant and God was not the right way of responding to God. Trusting in the God in the crisis moment is the best way to respond to God. Trusting in God is a demonstration of faith in God. God is very pleased when He acts in response to His peoples’ faith in Him. Trusting in God is the principle of responding to God.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”.

Not because people trusted in God [had faith] that God instructed Moses to calm them down, but God had to do something to save His people as a way to protect His reputation and to prove His faithfulness.

Exodus 14:13-16 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea”.

At the Red Sea, God showed again His mighty hand to His people so that at least they may begin to trust Him as He led them to the land of promise. The Sea parted and its waters divided and stood still, and the ground became dry so that they can walk on dry ground. As they crossed the Red Sea, the angel of the Lord that was leading them in front came behind them to prevent the Pharaoh and his army from coming near them until they all crossed the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:22-26 “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen”.

At the crossing of the Red Sea, God took off the chariots wheels and He brought back the waters and the chariots, horses and the army were washed away at the same place that God’s people had seen His salvation. This incident was good enough to remind the Hebrew people that they ought not to respond to God with murmurings, complaints, and misuse of bad language against God and His servants. Trusting in the Lord is the best principle of responding to God.

The rest of the story after the crossing of the Red Sea is a great lesson to us today that the Hebrew people failed to trust God because time and again, we would see them fail to trust God. The worst mistrust was when the 10 spies brought back a bad report which stirred the hearts of people and failed to trust God that He was ready to give them the land of promise. Only 2 spies, Caleb and Joshua had learned the lessons and they trusted God to deliver the enemies into their hands and move forward to possess the land. Caleb and Joshua had mastered the principle of responding to God which is trusting God. What happened thereafter is a sad story, for each day the spies had been to Jericho, it was to be repaid with a year of wandering in the wilderness simply because people failed to trust in God. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness is a reminder that there are serious repercussions for failing to master the principle of responding to God. Caleb and Joshua later had to tell the nation that “It Pays to Trust God” because they were the only 2 people that left Egypt on the night of deliverance and crossed the Red Sea and lived in the wilderness under the supplies of God and now, they were in the land of promise. Indeed, it pays to trust God.

Psalms 37:3-6 “Trust in the LORD and do good; so, shall you dwell in the land, and verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday”.

Because of what He did, what He is doing and for what He will do; God deserves to be trusted by His people. Everyone is trusted based on previous records. Let’s trust God in our daily walk with Him because of what He did for us in the past.

AMEN.