By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. Hebrews11:29
I have mixed feelings when I try to put myself in the shoes of the Israelites who are faced with a parted Red Sea on the one side and an Egyptian army on the other.
On one hand I want to say:
"Let's go! God has done a great miracle! We're saved!"
On the other hand I would argue that the whole ten plagues have been a see-saw of miracle, temporary relief and then a setback when Pharaoh once again hardens his heart. Who knows what could happen here? What if the sea closes up again when we're halfway through?
But the Israelites trusted God and not the water!
It's interesting that the Hebrew writer seems to imply that faith was the key: The Israelites passed through BY FAITH whereas the Egyptians drowned when they tried to pass through (but in their case they lacked faith).
The Egyptians thought they could pass through just because the Israelites did. Even after the plagues they weren't willing to consider this as the work of a God who could cause natural powers (frogs, hail, grasshoppers, etc) to start and stop as He willed. They were so blinded by their arrogance and bloodlust that they DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER that He could close the waters while they were in the middle.
From the Israelites we learn that faith never has 100% rational certainty on which to base its decision. Faith is always a step of trust. It's often a step into the unknown and we can't always see the outcome with absolute certainty.
From the Egyptians we learn that arrogant, second-hand faith doesn't cut it. In Acts (19:13-18) we read about "seven sons of Sceva" who tried to cast a demon out of a man in the name of "Jesus whom Paul preaches." This earned them a beating at the hands of the demon-possessed man who answered "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" !
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
