"Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." Ex. 14:15
One of the most dramatic stories in the bible is the episode of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea.
Moses was leading them out of the land of Egypt where they were kept in bondage and slavery. They were being pursued by the Egyptians.
The children of Israel, like most people, did not enjoy trusting God; they did a lot of murmuring. They said to Moses: "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."
"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever."
"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."
We might say that Moses pounded faith into the children of Israel.
They preferred being slaves to their old doubts and fears (for Egypt stands for darkness), than to take the giant swing into faith, and pass through the wilderness to their Promised Land.
There is, indeed, a wilderness to pass through before your Promised Land is reached.
The old doubts and fears encamp round about you, but, there is always someone to tell you to go forward! There is always a Moses on your pathway. Sometimes it is a friend, sometimes intuition!
"And the Lord said to Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward!"
"But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."
"And 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 dry land, and the waters were divided."
"And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left."
"And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."
"And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea."
"And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them."
Now remember, the bible is talking about the individual. It is talking about your wilderness, your Red Sea, and your Promised Land.
Each one of you has a Promised Land, a heart's desire, but you have been so enslaved by the Egyptians (your negative thoughts), it seems very far away, and too good to be true. You consider trusting God a very risky proposition. The wilderness might prove worse than the Egyptians.
And how do you know your Promised Land really exists?
The reasoning mind will always back up the Egyptians.
But sooner or later, something says, "Go forward!" It is usually circumstances—you are driven to it.
I give the example of a student.
She is a very marvelous pianist and had great success abroad. She came back with a book full of press clippings, and a happy heart.
A relative took an interest in her and said she would back her financially for a concert tour. They chose a manager who took charge of the expenses, and attended to her bookings.
After a concert or two, there were no more funds. The manager had taken them. My friend was left stranded, desolate and disappointed. This was about the time that she came to me.
She hated the man, and it was making her ill. She had very little money and could afford only a cheerless room where her hands were often too cold to practice.
She was indeed, in bondage to the Egyptians—hate, resentment, lack and limitation.
Someone brought her to one of my meetings, and she spoke to me and told her story.
I said, "In the first place you must stop hating that man. When you are able to forgive him, your success will come back to you. You are taking your initiation in forgiveness."
It seemed a pretty big order, but she tried and came regularly to all my meetings.
In the meantime, the relative had started a suit to recover the money. Time went on and it never came to court.
My friend had a call to go to California. She was no longer disturbed by the situation, and had forgiven the man.
Suddenly, after about four years, she was notified that the case had come to court. She called me upon her arrival in New York, and asked me to speak the word for rightness and justice.
They went at the time appointed, and it was all settled out of court, the man restoring the money by monthly payments.
She came to me overflowing with joy, for she said, "I hadn't the least resentment toward the man. He was amazed when I greeted him cordially." Her relative said that all the money was to go to her, so she found herself with a big bank account.
Now she will soon reach her Promised Land. She came out of the house of bondage (of hate and resentment) and crossed her red sea. Her goodwill toward the man caused the waters to part, and she crossed over on dry land.
Dry land symbolizes something substantial under your feet, the feet symbolizing understanding.
Moses stands out as one of the greatest figures in biblical history.
"It came to Moses to move from Egypt with his nation. The task before him was not only the unwillingness of Pharaoh to let go of those whom he had made into profitable slaves, but also to stimulate to open rebellion this nation which had lost its initiative under the hardships of its taskmasters."
"It required extraordinary genius to meet this condition, which Moses possessed with self abnegation and the courage of his own convictions. Self abnegation! He was called the meekest of men. We have often heard the expression, 'As meek as Moses.' He was so meek towards the commands of the Lord, that he became one of the strongest of men."
The Lord said to Moses, "lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea."
So, never doubting, he said to the children of Israel, "Go forward." This was a daring thing to do, to lead a multitude of people into the sea, having perfect faith they would not drown.
Behold the miracle!
". . . the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided."
Now remember, this could happen for you this very day. Think of your problem.
Maybe you have lost your initiative from living so long a slave to Pharaoh—(your doubts, fears and discouragements).
Say to yourself, "Go forward."
". . . the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind."
We will think of this strong east wind as a strong affirmation.
Take a vital statement of Truth. For example, if your problem is a financial one, say: "My supply comes from God, and big happy financial surprises now come to me, under grace, in perfect ways." The statement is a good one, for it contains the element of mystery.
We are told that God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. We might say in surprising ways. Now that you have made your statement for supply, you have caused the east wind to blow.
So walk up to your Red Sea of lack or limitation. The way to walk up to your Red Sea is to do something to show your fearlessness.
I will tell the story of a student who had an invitation to visit friends at a very fashionable summer resort.
She had been living in the country for a long time, grown heavier, and nothing fitted her but her girl scout suit. Suddenly, she received the invitation. It meant evening clothes, slippers and accessories, none of which she had, and no money to buy them. She came to me. I said, "What is your hunch?"
She replied, "I feel very fearless. I have the hunch to go, anyway."
So she squeezed herself into something to travel in, and went.
When she arrived at her friend's house she was greeted warmly, but her hostess said, with some embarrassment, "Maybe what I've done will hurt you, but there are some evening clothes and slippers I never wear which I have put in your room. Won't you make use of them?"
My friend assured her she would be delighted—and everything fitted perfectly.
She had, indeed, walked up to her Red Sea and passed over on dry land.
The waters of my Red Sea part, and I pass over on dry land, I now go forward into my Promised Land.
