Into The Sea

Exodus 14:15-31

After the death of the Egyptian firstborn and the Lord’s Passover, Israelites leave Egypt after living there for 430 years. They are now a population of six hundred thousand men along with women and children. They and their household and livestock all leave.

God considered the state of mind of the people and led them in an indirect path that was less likely to result in battle. God thought that if the people had to face battle right away, they may get discouraged and be tempted to turn back. The LORD provided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Whenever the pillar stopped, the people stopped, and when it moved, the people followed it.

God was not quite done with showing the Israelites, the Egyptians and the world around them God’s great power. He leads the Israelites in a way that makes it look like they are wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.

When Pharaoh hears what is going on, he decides to pursue them with his army to destroy them. He personally leads them.

The Egyptian army approaches, and Israel is caught between the army and the sea. People cry out and complain to Moses. God commands Moses to lift his staff and the sea divides. The pillar that was leading them now moves between the people and the army and the people move forward into the sea over dry land with a wall of water on both sides. The Egyptians also enter the sea in pursuit.

The war chariots are getting bogged down and the soldiers realize that they are in trouble, since the LORD is so obviously fighting for the Israelites. Then the LORD commands Moses to stretch out his hand again, and the water covers the Egyptian army and destroys it. The Israelites make it to the other side safely.

We notice that there are three elements working harmoniously in this miracle – God, human and nature. God chooses not to work alone. God commands Moses to stretch out his hand, Moses stretches out his hand over the sea, and the east wind blows all night to create dry land from the sea. It is not an instantaneous work of God.

The most advanced technology of the day, the war chariot , is no match for God’s creation. They get bogged down, making it obvious to the Egyptian soldiers that the LORD is God of all creation, and they are no match for His powers.

We recall God’s words to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:15-16 – “¹⁵For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.”

As I was preparing this morning’s message, it hit me that the same factors that were at work during the Red Sea crossing were at play. God directs that a message be delivered, Pr. Tim or I must do our part, and it takes a bit of time. God does not do it by Himself. It would be nice if God would just write the message and give it to us and makes us deliver it in perfect form. But He continues to use humans to do His work.

It is the same with any Kingdom work that He assigns to each of us. God directs, we respond and do our part, and it takes time and/or creation to also cooperate.

Most importantly, we should keep in our minds that the purpose of Kingdom work is to make God and His powers known to us and that His name would be glorified throughout the world. To preach the good news of Jesus Christ – That He was sent to this world to be crucified, not for His sins, since He had none, but for our sins, so that anyone who accepts Jesus as his or her savior and Lord would have their sins forgiven and granted eternal life with God and His people.

So, when called upon, let us do our part by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit and continue to tell the world around us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on June 23, 2024.)