God Shows Up at the Red Sea

We find this experience in Exodus chapter 14. Only a short time earlier, the Israelites had left Egypt after the ten plagues had devastated the economy and spirit of the Egyptian people. The Egyptians had asked them to leave and even gave the Israelites gold, silver, and precious stones to bribe them to leave and never return. I can image the Israelites were on an all-time high. Just a few days before, they were being oppressed beyond comprehension, and now, almost overnight, they were free! Free! I’m sure they felt like they had to pinch themselves to believe their experience was real. Yesterday, they had been slaves with nothing. Today, they were free with more wealth than they ever dreamed!

After the Israelites left, Pharaoh realized he had just let go the slave force the Egyptian empire had relied upon for centuries. How was the empire now going to function? Despite their hatred for the Israelites, he realized their economy still needed them. So, he and his army went after them. The Israelites were now squeezed between the Egyptian army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. Mountains stood on their right and left. They literally had no place to go. Without God intervening, they would be destroyed, or recaptured and go into an even more severe servitude than they had lived through previously. What the Israelites did not know was that God had forced them into this place where they now had to rely totally on him.

Israel needed to understand God was the Faithful One despite the time they had been in slavery. God needed to show the Israelites they could depend on him for all things and that doubt was the path to destruction, but faith was a path to salvation. Freedom does not come freely but comes with responsibility. God had plans to make them into an ambassador nation to reveal himself to the world (Ex 19:6). Therefore, the Israelites needed to learn how to rely on the Lord for all their needs. He could not only supply their needs but do so in ways they could not ever fathom.

God revealed himself as Jehovah Yishi, the Lord my Salvation. God held the Egyptians at bay at the same time he made a way through the Red Sea for the Israelites. He did something for them that was so extraordinary they could never have conceived of such as act. Never would them being able to escape the Egyptians by walking through the Red Sea on dry ground even be a considered possibility. They were experiencing a God who could save my impossible means. In addition, he showed himself to be Jehovah Ozi, the Lord my Strength. He demonstrated that only he had the power to get the Israelites out of their situation. God had put them in an impossible situation that human actions, thoughts, and abilities were unable to do or conceive. God demonstrated he was Jehovah Mazud, the Lord my Fortress. He had led them out of Egypt and proved he would be with them in all situations if they just trusted in him. If they rested in him, their fortress, they would be protected and safe. God was creating in them a mindset that with him they were safe from all foes and could become a nation to be his influence in the world. Satan has tried to thwart this plan ever since.

Next time, we’ll see how God can accomplish the impossible in hardly any time at all. Give God a day, and one’s world can change drastically. I hope you join me.

____________

Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens