In 19th C. Charles Blondin wowed the crowds and defied gravity by his feats on a tightrope, 160 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Falls.
The consummate showman, without safety net or safety harness, with each crossing, he added something new to his death-defying act:
– once stopping to take a photo
– another time walking across on stilts
– then taking a stove and cooking and eating an omelette
– once carrying a man on his back
– and then pushing a wheelbarrow across laden with 350 pounds of cement.
Then, on one occasion he asked the cheering spectators: “Do you think I could push a man across sitting in this wheelbarrow.”
A mighty roar rose from the crowd: “Yes! You! Can!”
So he went up to the man cheering loudest: “Sir, do you believe I could safely carry you across in this wheelbarrow?”
“Yes, of course,” the man replied. “I believe you.”
“O.K., get in,” Blondin said.
The man refused.
This man said he believed Blondin.
But, he didn’t believe in Blondin.
There is a difference.
To believe in someone means:
– You commit yourself to them.
– You put yourself in their hands.
Israel at the Red Sea
Think of Israel at the Red Sea.
God had delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt, and now they were hightailing it to the Promised Land.
They were attempting to get as far away as possible from Pharaoh and (what was left of) his formidable army as fast as possible.
The Israelites had witnessed God’s miracles in sending the plagues upon Egypt, that eventually induced Pharaoh to let them go.
They have seen God’s mighty works. They believed God.
But, do they believe in God?
To test them in this, God gives a strange command:
“Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.” (Exodus 14:1-2)
We don’t know exactly where Pi Hahiroth, Migdol and Baal Zephon are, or were back then. But you get the picture of what is going on here:
The Israelites are trying to get as far away, as fast as possible, from Pharaoh and his army.
But God is now telling them to “turn” back – so that they are closer to the jaws of death and destruction.
But there is method in God’s “madness”:
“For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honour over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” (vv 3-4)
This was an ambush.
Pharaoh would think he had the Israelites in a trap.
But he was the one who would be trapped.
And it worked.
Pharaoh got reports that the Israelites had turned back.
“Hah!” he thought. “It is easy to escape. But once in the wilderness they have no idea; they are confused. It will be easy to go after them, round them up, and bring them back – after, that is, I make an example of the ringleaders and execute them.”
So the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. (v 9)
How did Israel respond?
Here they are, caught (literally) between the devil and the deep blue sea. What will they do?
Do they really believe in God?
Or, do they just profess to “believe God” – the way the man “believed” who refused to let Blondin wheel him across Niagara Falls
Watch this carefully:
When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. (v 10)
So far, so good. The people are afraid; but, at least they are “crying out to the Lord.”
But not all “crying out to the Lord” is equal:
Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
“Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” (vv 11-12)
“It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians…”
They wanted to go “home” – where “home” was back to Egypt, back to bondage.
Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea… they chose the devil.
They might say they “believe” God.
But, when push comes to shove, they don’t believe in God.
How did Moses respond?
And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” (v 13)
Moses believes God.
He also believes in God.
Because he believes in God, he knows there is no need to be afraid.
He knows God will deliver them: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord… The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
At this stage God had not told him how He would deliver them.
But Moses knew God would deliver them, because he knew God.
But, here’s the thing:
If you believe in the Lord, the Lord will tell you to get in the barrow so He can wheel you across Niagara Falls.
It’s time for Moses – and all the people of Israel – to put their money where their mouth is.
How did the Lord respond?
And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (v 15)
Woops, what happened to: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” ?
Instead:
“Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (v 16)
What will the people do?
Will they again say they “believe” the Lord, but refuse to budge? Do they still have their eyes turned back towards the former home?
When push comes to shove will they choose the Lord… or the devil?
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. (v 21)
What will Israel do?
So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (v 22)
Israel obeyed the Lord.
They went into the midst of the sea!
The Bible’s Conclusion
Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt.
So the people feared the Lord, and believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.
Think about that:
Here were the people caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
At first, they had wanted to go back to the devil. They look back to where they have come from, and it all looks so appealing.
It was bondage! Slavery!
But the sad thing about slavery is that it can feel like home to the slave. He can feel more secure in his slavery than in his freedom. And, he wants to go back.
But these are the same people who had said they believed God.
They had professed to believe in God – in other words, to trust Him.
So God tests them.
God opens the sea, to create a path through an enormous wall of water on either side.
No one has ever seen anything like this before: water, defying gravity like this.
No one in their right mind would go down into that path, to cross over to the other side.
Remember the Boxing Day tsunami in Asia.
Before the tsunami hit, first of all the sea retreated for miles, leaving dying fish everywhere on the new sea shore.
Those who didn’t realise what was going on, raced down to gather them.
We know what happened: the sea returned suddenly, with a vengeance and swallowed them up.
We can only now look on that video footage with horror.
We want to scream out to them: “Get out of there; you don’t know what you are doing.”
Well, multiply that by a thousand when it comes to the Israelites being asked to go down into this path between a huge wall of water on either side, and cross over.
Forget going down to pick up fish off the beach before the tsunami hits; or getting into a barrow to be wheeled across, way above Niagara Falls by a blind tight rope walker.
None of those can compare with this.
The Bible explains it this way:
“All our fathers passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-2)
By passing through the sea they “were all were baptized into Moses in the sea…”
That’s an odd way to put it, isn’t it?
“Baptized”? They weren’t sprinkled by the sea. They certainly weren’t “immersed” in the sea. The Egyptians were immersed; but not the Israelites.
So, what does to mean: “All were baptized into Moses in the sea…”
It is referring to how “the people believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses.”
Going down into the sea was an act of commitment.
They either had to turn back to follow the devil.
Or, they had to “go forward” (as the Lord commanded) and commit themselves to following the Lord (and Moses).
They committed themselves; they went forward. They went down into the sea.
That’s what, “they were baptized into Moses” means:
They turned their backs forever on an old way of life, and committed themselves to following Moses.
They left behind forever their bondage in Egypt, and committed themselves to following the Lord.
That is what God asks you to do
Do you believe God?
Do you believe in God?
1) Perhaps you say you believe in God.
But you haven’t turned your back on the world you know you should leave behind.
You want to go back to that world – a world of: pride, possessions, power, pornography (and all those other putrefying “p’s”)
You want to go back to the devil.
2) Or maybe you excuse yourself by echoing those words of Moses: “I am just standing still, waiting to see the salvation of the Lord.”
Someone asks you: “Why haven’t you put your trust in Christ?”
And you reply: “Well I believe it is up to God; it’s not up to me. It’s not my fault. I’m waiting for God to put faith in my heart. Until then, I can do nothing – because salvation is all of the Lord.”
(I’m not saying Moses was like that. But a lot of people use that as an excuse.)
- To you who want to go back to the devil…
- To you who are just “standing still” till you “see the salvation of the Lord”…
God says this to you:
“WHY DO YOU CRY TO ME? GO FORWARD!”
Cease from your excuses, saying you are “waiting for God.”
What God is doing in secret is none of your business. Deuteronomy 29:29
Your business is to respond to what He commands you to do: “Go forward.”
In your case, “going forward” means: “Repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Repent
Turn your back on your old way of life.
Go forward
Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Commit yourself to Him.
Go down into the sea. Get into the wheelbarrow.
Follow Christ through a hostile world that rises up on either side, and threatens to overwhelm you in a flood.
Commit yourself to Him.