PARALYZED |
and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” Ex. 14:1-4 The people of Israel were feeling invincible because they had plundered the Egyptians who begged them to take their goods in order to hasten their departure. Little did they know that the Lord had plans in mind for them that would teach them not to rely on their sudden riches or feel too confident in their own strength now that they were free from their slavery. (Actually, no person is truly free: we either belong to the Lord or we will be governed Satan.) God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to move him to chase the Israelites with 600 war chariots and other chariots (used to carry more soldiers quickly) to pursue these mutineers. He was going to teach them a lesson they would never forget. He gathered his powerful army determined to vent his anger on these slaves. Looking at this from the human point of view, it is not strange for these Israelites to feel they were hopelessly lost when they saw this mighty army approaching. Only Moses knew that they were put in a defenseless position for a reason. (No one knows for certain where this place was. Some scholars insist this place was at the Sea of Reeds, but they choose this spot because they refuse to believe the Creator of the Universe could part the Red Sea. Obviously, if one does not believe the Almighty delivered these people, it would seem impossible for anyone to part the Red Sea.) The truth is that no one knows for sure where the Israelites crossed, but the people present at this time tell us what happened. It would be naive to allow those who anthropomorphize the Almighty by picking a crossing that looks like it could work. There is no impossible for the Creator of the universe; the parting of the Red Sea is no more impossible for God than for human beings to learn to read. These Hebrew people had to learn what sceptic scholars of our day need to discover. If we look at the challenges we face through human eyes alone, it will only lead to despair and faithlessness. The people totally forgot all the great miracles the Almighty had performed so they said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.Ex. 15:11-12 Fear, lack of faith or trust, will always paralyze us when face what we identify as the 'impossible'; faith recognizes that God knows what will resolve our need even when things do not go the way we hope. We face even greater dangers than the Egyptian army when we are confronted with death itself. Is there hope for us beyond the grave? From the human point of view, it looks hopeless, but the God of Israel has great plans for those who put their faith in His Word. He will usher them into His glorious kingdom. These Israelites were delivered in a mighty way as the Almighty parted the waters to let them cross. They testified to the fact that there was a wall of water on the right and the left as they crossed on dry ground. No wonder they celebrated being the people of God as the watch the Holy One destroy the army pursuing them while they stood on safe ground. Despite the unbelief of many today, God did part the waters as Moses reported. Just because some people cannot see how this could happen or discover where it was does not alter the reality that this took place. Prayer: Almighty God, so many things in this world remind us of our vulnerability. We are confronted by economic collapse, crime, home conflicts, war, sickness and death. We ask you to help us fix our hope on your power and love to deliver us from our fears. Amen. |
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