“They Passed Through The Red Sea”

 

By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.”                           — (Hebrews 11:29)

 

 

Faith in Christ enabled Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Aaron, Miriam and the believing Israelites to obtain what they could never have otherwise obtained. – Faith gave them strength to obey the command of God and pass safely through the roaring Red Sea with complete safety.

 

Great Danger

 

Hebrews 11:29 takes us back to what is recorded in Exodus 14. There we are informed that shortly after Pharaoh had consented to let Israel go, he hardened his heart again. His spies informed him that the Israelites were trapped. So he went after them in fury, determined to destroy them. As the armies of Egypt drew near the children of Israel began to murmur in unbelief (Ex. 14:10-12). They were hemmed in. They were shut in with the wall of Egypt on one side, the wilderness on the other, the Red Sea before them, and Pharaoh behind them. What did they do? They murmured against God. They ate the Passover and God protected them from the destroying angel. They walked out of Egypt with a high hand. Now, they trembled in unbelief. They looked to their own strength rather than the power of God, and their hearts failed them.

 

Forced Faith

 

Thanks be unto God, he will not forsake his own! He will never leave his chosen to themselves. Rather than leave us in our unbelief, by the inner workings of his Spirit and his sovereign arrangement of providence, the Lord our God graciously forces us to believe him. (Sweet grace! Immaculate mercy!) The Lord brought Israel to such a helpless and hopeless condition that they were constrained to trust him. What could they do? Fight they dare not. Flee they could not. If the Lord had not shown himself strong on their behalf they would surely have perished. God brought them to this place! He had promised to be for them. Now he was teaching them to rest confidently in his Covenant. Let us be wise, and learn from their mistake. Has he not promised us, “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee” (Isa. 43:2)?

 

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not, desert to its foes.

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”

 

No matter how deep the waters, no matter how dark the storm, no matter how strong the oppressor may be, God who cannot lie has said, “They shall not overflow thee!”