“But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.” Exodus 13:18
The Israelite children had left Egypt. They were on their journey. But then the Lord had them turn back. Do you think they were a little confused?
They camped by the Red Sea. They were sorting through the emotions and facts about being set free. They were in the clear. Their cries had finally been heard. They thought everything was good.
But Wait…
But God! He chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart yet again. Pharaoh realized what he had done by letting the Israelite children go and chose to chase after them to bring them back into slavery.
The Israelite children didn’t know the Egyptian Army was coming, but then they saw it. A sea of dust coming. Panic ensued. And they immediately began to distrust what they had seen God do. They thought God brought them to where they were only to die. Their faith was very weak. They didn’t see a future outside of what their past had been.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.” Exodus 14:15
At that point, they had a choice. Move forward across the Red Sea or stay and be overtaken by the Egyptian Army. Moses chose faith and listened to God and lifted the staff and the sea parted. The Israelite children saw the amazing power of God right before their eyes.
The Egyptians were held back while every Israelite, every wagon, and every animal crossed where a sea had once been, on DRY ground. The Egyptians couldn’t advance any closer. That’s a huge part of the story. The Egyptians still came, but they couldn’t harm the Israelites.
The children of Israel made a choice to move forward, to move away from their past. They took steps towards a future promised by God. In that moment they were able to let go of a past that held them captive–a past that beat them, enslaved them, and chased them down! God defeated ALL of that!
Our Story
That’s what He does for us. He chooses to defeat our past when we follow Him through that narrow patch of dry ground. It may look scary. Maybe there are terrifying walls of water on both sides. But God wants us to choose to go forward in our life with Him.
We know this was a temporary moment of victory for the Israelite children, but we can glean so much from their ongoing journey as well. We can choose to learn from their rebellion in the Wilderness or behave the same.
Have you been in a situation that makes you wonder–like the Israelites did–what God is doing? A situation that makes you think you’re not making progress in your life? But then God…
We try and make it on our own so many times, we often forget that “But God!”
- But God is better.
- But God knows our future.
- But God knows our past and still loves us and wants us!
- But God will always be with us, even when we don’t do what is best.
- But God will fight for us, we only need to be still and allow Him!
The Israelite children at the Red Sea simply obeyed–and walked forward on dry ground. Obedience is a great place for us to start too. Remember God will meet us where we are and help move us forward, out of our desert and away from our enemies of the past. He still parts Red Seas because that’s who God is!
