Exodus 14:10-16
By Lynn Yates
What was life like in Egypt before Moses lead then out? Why such a lack of faith after what they had already witnessed? Why did God lead them into an impossible place to escape from? Questions like these lead to fear in the Israelites. Despite their blaming Moses, he was steady and called then to trust God.
We see a contrast of doubt and fear in the Israelites verses the faithfulness of God. They are clearly at a crisis point where there is no place to go and no hope (in human sense) for the Israelites where only God’s deliverance is the answer. A great but fearful place to be. They need to trust God and go.
God is faithful always, especially in the times of trouble. Movement is a critical aspect of living things – to keep moving forward rather than frozen in fear. It is true that the Israelites needed to move from fear to trust. Fear often causes us to freeze in indecision which is contrary to living in faith. “The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.” Trust Him and move ahead as He is leading. All of scripture, including this passage, points to Christ as creator, deliverer, comforter and source of hope in every circumstance. Moses is the foreshadowing of Christ here – His representative in the time of trouble. He calls for calm in times of trouble and to move forward and trust in Him.
Our framework as Americans (my own biases as well) is to be self-reliant. Trust myself first. We trust in God as a last resort and demand answers NOW! This is common of many westerners (including me). We have a tendency to look first for someone or thing to blame and cling to the old ways rather than to trust and move forward. This leads to trouble. We need to trust God and move forward if we are going to healthfully grow in our faith.
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