Through the Sea

Behind them, the thunder of chariots. In front of them, the sea. A vast crowd of families with nowhere left to run. And one man, holding a shepherd’s staff, telling them not to be afraid.

For generations, the descendants of Jacob had lived in Egypt. At first they were welcome guests. But a new Pharaoh came to power who saw them as a threat. He made them slaves. They made bricks and built cities under harsh taskmasters. And they cried out to God. Moses was one of them, a Hebrew raised in Pharaoh’s own household. But as a young man he had fled Egypt, and now, many years later, he was a shepherd in the wilderness, a long way from home, looking after his father-in-law’s flock.

One day, near Horeb, the mountain of God, Moses saw something strange. A bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. He went closer. And God called to him from the bush. “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then God said, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out. I have come down to rescue them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh.” Moses was afraid. “Who am I,” he asked, “that I should go?” And God answered, “I will be with you.” When Moses asked God’s name, God said, “I am who I am.”

So Moses went. Again and again he stood before Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go.” Again and again Pharaoh refused, even as plague after plague struck the land. Then came the last night. God told the Israelites to prepare a meal. Each household was to take a lamb, roast it, and eat it in haste, sandals on their feet, staff in hand, ready to leave. They were to put some of the lamb’s blood on the doorframes of their houses. That night, judgment passed through Egypt, and the firstborn of Egypt died. But where the Lord saw the blood, he passed over. A great cry went up across the land. And in the dark, Pharaoh sent for Moses and said, “Go.”

So they went. Men, women and children, flocks and herds. God led them by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire. But Pharaoh changed his mind. He gathered his chariots, six hundred of the best, and chased after them. The Israelites were camped by the sea when they looked up and saw the Egyptian army coming. They were terrified. “Were there no graves in Egypt,” they shouted at Moses, “that you brought us out here to die?” And Moses answered, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.”

The pillar of cloud moved behind them, standing between Israel and Egypt. Darkness on one side. Light on the other. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. And all that night, the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind. The waters were divided. And the Israelites walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians followed them in. But their chariot wheels jammed, and they could hardly move. At daybreak, Moses stretched out his hand again, and the sea flowed back to its place. Pharaoh’s army was gone. On the far shore, Israel stood safe. They saw what the Lord had done, and they put their trust in him, and in his servant Moses.

You may have noticed something. In Hebrew, the water in this story is called yam suph. Many English Bibles translate it Red Sea, following the ancient Greek translation. But the word suph is the same word used for the reeds by the Nile where baby Moses was hidden in his basket. So many scholars translate it Sea of Reeds. Exactly where the crossing happened is still debated. What Exodus makes very clear is who made the way through.

This story comes from Exodus, chapter three, and chapters twelve to fourteen. A frightened shepherd. A trapped and terrified people. And a God who made a road through the sea. So here is something to think about. What feels like a sea in front of you right now, and what would it look like to stand firm and trust God with it?