Daily Thought

There must have been tremendous excitement among the people. They had given the Egyptians the slip and at last were well on their way out of Egypt. They were leaving behind the pressures and constraints of slavery while the freedom and opportunities of the Promised Land beckoned. Keen to obey the Lord and His servant Moses they were surprised at the instruction to turn off the direct route they had anticipated. Then they discovered that the new path led to a dead end. They were hemmed in by the Red Sea in front and marshlands on either side. They were literally ‘entangled in the land’; the wilderness had shut them in.

Back in Egypt Pharoah questioned the wisdom of his decision to let them go. He gathered together his chariots, his horsemen and footsoldiers and with this massive show of strength pursued his erstwhile slaves. As the Egyptians came near the Israelites’ camp, the people saw them and panicked.

Many cries for help and salvation went up to the Lord; all seemed lost, but they reckoned without the power of their God! Then Moses commanded, ‘Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord’. ‘The Lord shall fight for you’, he added. Moses believed that if they stood still the Lord would fight the Egyptians on the shore and His people would be free to cross the Red Sea.

However, God had in mind an even greater deliverance. He said to Moses, ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward’. From running away, to standing still, to going forward! They did, and as the Red Sea appeared nearer, the angel of God ‘removed and went behind them’, as did the pillar of cloud. It was ‘darkness to them’ (the Egyptians) and ‘light to these’ (the Israelites). All night a wind blew and it opened up a path through the Sea. The people passed over without loss, while their pursuers ‘assaying to do were drowned’, Heb 11. 29. What a God was theirs! What a God is ours!

When the way ahead is unclear and the circumstances threatening, when all appears lost; stand still, go forward, hold your peace - the Lord will fight for you. You will be surprised at His power and delighted at His salvation.