Between the Army and the Sea

Exodus 14 (selected verses)

14 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall camp opposite it, by the sea. 3 Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’ 4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.’

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed towards the people, and they said, ‘What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?’ 6 So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him;…9 The Egyptians pursued the Israelites…

10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’ 13 But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.’

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. 16 But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground….and I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.”…

19 The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. 20 It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel….one did not come near the other all night.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. 22 The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 24 At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. 25 He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, ‘Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.’

The tension comes pulsing off the page as we read. Imagine this passage being read by a gifted reader who paused in the right places, whose reading heightened the tension. The freedom of Israel seems to have been very short lived. Pharaoh has changed his mind again, along with his advisors, and they are coming to get the Israelites back. The elite of the Egyptian army, which was one of the most powerful armies of its day are chasing after a rag-tag group of refugees with woman and children and their flocks and herds. This is not even be a contest, it will be a massacre, and everyone knew that. The choices were limited for the people of Israel: drown in the sea or be killed and captured by the Egyptians.

God says, “Trust me.”

Trust me that I will do something, trust me that are options you have not ever thought of, trust me that I would not have brought ten plagues on the people of Egypt to have my liberation plan fail now, trust me that miracles happen.

I admit this is a big miracle – the people of Israel thought they were as good as dead, and God completed the rescue operation. We were as good as dead, caught by the powers of destruction, by the powers of guilt and shame. And in Jesus Christ, God rescued us, freeing us from what seemed a completely hopeless situation. A miracle even bigger than separating the waters – for God got Jesus out of the grave – and we were freed to live in God’s freedom, in God’s pattern for life and hope. We too have been brought through our Red Sea – being brought to freedom.

PRAYER:

God of wonder and miracles, we rejoice that you have brought us to freedom in Jesus Christ, rescuing us from the forces that were seeking to destroy us – the powers of sin and destruction, guilt and shame. Thank you for our freedom. Thank you for Jesus’ resurrection which brings us hope in the midst of despair. In Jesus’ name. Amen.