Exodus 14: Parting of the Red Sea

The parting of the Red Sea that is told in Exodus 14 is one of the most well-known stories of the Bible. The Hebrews have just left Egypt and are heading out into the wilderness. This is a harsh, barren desert that a group couldn’t make it without outside help. Thankfully, they have the Spirit of God who is going before them as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. He provides warmth on the cold nights, gives light to their path, and shade in the desert sun. He is enough. While they are wandering, God tells them to turn back, which ultimately leads them to a dead end! Eventually, they get to a point where there are massive enemy fortresses to the north, a blazing desert to the south, Egypt to the west, and the Red Sea in front of them. Verse 5 says, “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, ‘What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.” Pharaoh pursued the people of Israel. He wanted to go back on his word. What the people failed to grasp was that God was sovereignly directing the whole encounter, but they couldn’t see it while they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Verse 10 says, “the feared greatly”. They looked for someone to blame, so they blamed Moses. They decided it would be better to go back to Egypt than to die in the desert. They had just watched God bring the most powerful nation on the earth to submission with the 10 plagues, and they are asking to go back? They are technically free but they are operating as slaves…slaves to fear. Moses says to them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” He realized that God was at work, protecting them, and would have a plan. He sure did! God didn’t give Israel a plan of attack. He told them to trust Him to fight for them. Their eyes were on the Egyptians and the sea, which means they were looking in the wrong places. They needed to shift their attention away from their fears in order to recognize that the Lord would indeed fight on their behalf. God then used Moses to part the Red Sea. The people of Israel walked through, and then when the Egyptians chased after them, God closed the sea over them and they were “all lost”. There are nine books of the Bible that all reference the parting of the Red Sea. It is definitely a miracle of provision by God for His people! Verse 31 says, “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. When we see a dead end, God sees an opportunity. When we see impossibility, God sees possibility. When we can’t see a way, God sees the way. The journey TO the Red Sea is just as vital as CROSSING it.

Questions:

1. What is your impossibility today? Where have you leaned on your own strength, and where have you learned to let God fight for you?
2. When is a time that you saw God provide for you in a Red Sea moment in your life? Give Him thanks for that provision.