In the first event, The people have just witnessed God do amazing things, called plagues, that hurt the nation of Egypt severely. After 400 years of slavery, the people finally leave Egypt and head out, following the pillar of cloud and fire which is God's road map for them. Not long into their journey, they come upon the Red Sea and after looking back and seeing Pharaoh's men consisting of 600 chariots, they instantly begin to panic and complain. "Did you bring us out here to be killed? I want to go back to Egypt. What are doing, Moses?" Reading through this story in Exodus, nowadays we wonder, what were they thinking? God just rescued them from bondage and they immediately want back in. But, because He is God, and these people are his chosen nation, He proceeds to tell Moses to stretch his staff out over the waters, and when he does, a wind comes in from the east and creates to solid walls of water, one on each side. The Israelites then walk on dry land across the bottom of the sea, and after every person is across, God sends the waters crashing down, right over Pharaoh and his men. About a year goes by, and the Israelites find themselves feet from the promise land, but out of fear, they end up having to spend 40 years in the desert before the nation can claim the land that God already had set aside for them. So 40 years go by. Every person who was 20 years of age or older had died, and a new generation of Israel has been established. This time, they are led by a man by the name of Joshua, who was one of the only two people left alive during the wilderness time, the other of course being Caleb. Joshua sends spies into the land across the Jordan River, Jericho, and the men report that the people are scared of them and that they can take the land. This time, the people come with a new sense of expectancy. Here some of them have waited forty years for this day, and it has finally arrived. Finally they can leave the wilderness and enters God's Promised Land. Joshua commands the people to get ready, "For tomorrow, God will do amazing things among you".-vs 3:5. He tells the priests that carry the ark to walk towards the waters edge, and once their feet touch the water, the waters will separate and again, the people will be able to cross on dry land. Talk about a step of faith. This is one of those times when the people know what is going to take place, yet they had to step out in faith in order for it to come about. Once the waters part, the people walk across, and they take 12 stones out of the riverbed and place them as a monument on the other side as a remembrance to what God did for them that day.
So, now lets compare the two. At the Red Sea, the people were full of panic and worry, for Pharaoh was coming to get them. At the Jordan River, the people were not only ready, they were obedient in stepping out into what God had for them. In both cases, the parting of the waters marked the end of one season and the beginning of a new. These situations brought an end to slavery and beginning of wandering, then the end of wandering to the beginning of promise. Following the parting of the River, the people went on to destroy the city of Jericho, not with weapons, but by simply following the orders laid before them by God. If the people had listened and obeyed the first time, they wouldn't have wasted 40 years wandering looking at the land from afar, but because of their attitude toward the situation, most of the people did not live to see God's promise come full circle. They missed out on the promise because they couldn't get out of their past in order to embrace their future.
Don't miss out on what God has for you simply because you are panicking about what is behind you, but step out into what is ahead.
Adam Semple- a young man on a mission from God
photo credit-coveredbythedust.wordpress.com
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