Crossing the Red Sea

Part 2 - The instruction: Raise Your Staff

Exodus 14v10-20

5^th August 2016

Last time, we began our study of the crossing of the Red Sea. God had miraculously caused the Egyptians to set the Israelites free, and they boldly marched out, until they got to the sea, when they realised the Egyptian army was coming after them. We read:

Exodus 14v10-12
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What ave you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

The Israelites' boldness turned to terror when they saw the might of the Egyptian army coming over the hill. They prayed, but they also started to blame their leader. They asked him somewhat sarcastically, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die??" Well, no, that wasn't the reason. Moses brought them out into the desert because God told him to do it. But it's easy to forget what God has said when you're afraid.

(And, incidentally, there were plenty of graves in Egypt. The Egyptians were famous for their graves)

Then the Israelites demanded, "Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'?" Well, no they didn't, so far as we know. And it's not as if Moses had forced them to leave. But we can be so afraid that we'll say anything, and blame anyone, in an attempt to handle our emotions.

The Israelites said, "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

Would it? Is it better to live as a slave than to die as a free man? Is it better to submit to God's enemies than to follow Him wherever He leads, and whatever happens? I don't think so.

Exodus 14v13-14
Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

That's a good speech, isn't it? That's the sort of thing leaders are supposed to say. We don't know what was going on in Moses's heart, but he managed to say that they'd all be fine, everything would be OK, God would sort it out.

In the middle of this short speech, he brought a prophecy, "The Egyptians you see today you will never see again". He promised them deliverance from Egypt for ever.

Then Moses prayed. We don't know what he prayed, because the writer of the book of Exodus - probably Moses himself - didn't record it. You can make up your own theory about why Moses chose not to write down his prayer for us to study. One available theory is that the prayer wasn't very good. Perhaps it was much the same as the Israelites' complaints to him, "Why did we ever leave? Wouldn't it have been better to stay in slavery? At least we'd have lived longer? Why did you lead us here? We're all doomed!"

Whatever the nature of Moses's prayer, we know God's reaction to it:

Exodus 14v15-18
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."

God actually asked Moses why he was praying! You might think that answer to that was obvious. They were trapped between the sea and the Egyptian army, the people were revolting against his leadership, and he had no idea what to do. Wouldn't you pray? But I don't think this passage teaches us not to pray, of course. I think God was telling Moses to ACT. He told Moses to tell the people to keep moving forwards, no matter how afraid they were. That's always good advice. Never deviate from God's revealed purpose for your life - keep going.

And then God said, "Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water".

And, surely, Moses thought, "Pardon?"

It's true that God had used Moses's staff before, using miraculous power to demonstrate that Moses was indeed sent by God, but He'd never done anything like this. Perhaps the thoughts that went through his mind are like the thoughts that go through ours when God says something unusual:

• Am I sure I heard God right?
• If it doesn't work, will God's people despise me?
• If God wants to part the sea, why can't He do it without my help?
• What's a staff got to do with crossing the sea? If I had a bridge, or some tunnelling equipment, then I could do something, but what can I do with a staff?
• Perhaps I should wait until I get the right equipment?
• Perhaps I should carry on praying for a while, until I understand a bit better?

But God had told him not to keep praying. God told him to DO SOMETHING. And if he was going to do something, he'd better get on with it, because the Egyptians were getting very close.

Still Moses did nothing. So God did something. But He didn't part the sea.

Exodus 14v19-20
Then the angel of God, who had been travelling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

God was giving Moses time - time to think, and time to decide if he was going to obey what God had said.