“And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.”(Exodus 12:51)
For 3 days and nights the people of Egypt were in total darkness. The final plague brought on horror. After a night of being surrounded by death, the children of Israel burst out of Egypt. Does this sound familiar? Jesus died and in three days he burst out of the tomb. Salvation!!
God had some lessons Israel had to learn. The question becomes how to get from Egypt to Canaan? Obviously a straight line is the fastest way, but a straight line from bondage in Egypt will only result in bondage in Canaan.
God displays his wonders. First, by providing a cloud by day, and fire at night as a way to guide them. Second, he takes them to the sea. There is, in the mind of the children of Israel no escape.
Pharaoh was obviously angered beyond his normal level of angry. Pharaoh not only used his select troops, he used all of his troops. This is a very unusual military strategy. Sending everyone to meet an enemy, though it will certainly give numerical strength, it leaves your home base empty of any defense. Pharaoh was not going to bring Israel back, he intended to destroy Israel.
The children of Israel saw the huge military force Pharaoh had brought against them. They were frightened. I would have been. The children of Israel began to complain to Moses that they would be killed and it was all his fault.
Moses had faith in God. God created what we in the military call a Blocking Force. In the military it was a man created block, God brought a cloud of darkness to cover the Children of Israel’s movement. Moses raised his staff over the sea, and God parted the waters. This gave the children of Israel an escape. Just as God has given us all a path from Adam to Jesus.
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14)
All night long Moses moved nearly a million people (numbers are up to you) across a divided sea. How far across is the sea. We don’t know. What we do know is that this was not just a path to safety for the children of Israel, but a deadly trap for Pharaoh.
Pharaoh’s armies chased after Moses and his flock. When the armies had entered into the divided sea, and after Moses and his flock were safely across. God brought the sea slamming closed. Destroying the Pharaoh’s best forces. Ending Egypt’s military threat to the Children of Israel.
Most importantly are lessons. Although God had brought 10 plagues on Egypt, not everyone was convinced it was the God of Abraham. Just like the pandemic with its grip on human weakness, people do not see anything but a virus. They moan and whine about their own personal failures and lack the faith that God will provide what they need.
God shut up the complaints of the people for a time, sadly, people are weak. They cling to God for their every want. A shiny new car or huge bank account. God gives you what you need, if you only believe. Everything I need has not been by my work, it was given by God’s grace. So, stop complaining.
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10)
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