Context No. 2521 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 14:26-31: in context

26The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” 27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. The LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 28The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. 29But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31Israel saw the great work which the LORD did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

The waters that stood as walls for Israel now close over Egypt. At Moses's outstretched hand the sea returns, and Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen are swept away, not one remaining, while Israel walks through on dry ground. On the far shore, the people see the great work the LORD has done, and the chapter ends with the result: they feared the LORD, and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

The rescue does its intended work in them: seeing what God had done, they believed. A decisive deliverance became the ground of their faith. It is worth marking, because the same people will grumble and doubt within days, forgetting the very sea they walked through. Faith fed by a remembered rescue is meant to hold, but memory fades fast. The sea that made them believe on the shore should have anchored them for the wilderness ahead. What God has already done is meant to be the foundation of trusting him for what is still to come.

Do I let the deliverances God has already worked anchor my faith, or do I forget the sea I walked through by the next day's trouble?

Sources

Exodus 14:31: Israel saw the great work which the LORD did to the Egyptians; and the people feared the LORD; and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Exodus 14:29: But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 14:30: Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.