In Between Egypt and the Red Sea

None of them but Moses had known anything but slavery. He’d been spared for the first forty years, living in the palace as his people built treasure cities for Pharaoh. Moses had run for his life, banished by the palace which had been his home and disappeared the next forty years in some faraway wilderness. They’d been skeptical and cynical of his message when eighty-year-old Moses arrived back in Egypt and told them he was going to lead them to freedom. But sometime between Moses’ rod becoming a serpent and the death of the Pharaoh’s first-born, they began to believe.

Now they were following a cloud in the shape of a pillar — the Lord’s Own Presence was leading them away from the forced labor of four centuries. The cloud led them until night fell, then blazed as a bright pillar of fire — the Presence of the Lord warming them as they slept. They settled in for the night, camped around the Red Sea.

One by one, the group of Israelites began to notice shapes in the distance. Then, terror seized them, as they saw the all-too-familiar armies of Egypt marching toward them! They were trapped on one side by a vast sea and on the other by a cruel army of horses and chariots and hardened Egyptian soldiers.

You probably already know the end of the story. Moses lifted his rod above the Red Sea, and God sent a strong wind to divide the waters. The Israelite people walked through on dry land just before the Egyptians pursued them and were drowned by the waters returning to their former depth.

This is where we all smile and praise the Lord for delivering the Israelites and draw comparisons between their situation and the one we are in currently. It gives us hope, encouragement, and settled faith. Doesn’t it? Not so fast.

I’m not sure where you are right now. Maybe you’re still carrying bricks in Egypt, metaphorically speaking. You might be camped right by your own Red Sea, trapped by haunting fears from your past and a hopeless future. There’s even a chance that you have already made it past the Red Sea, and you’ve watched your past go under its depths, never to haunt you again.

However, for most of us, I think we’re probably in the “in between”. You see, if you read the story carefully, the Israelites kind of forgot about that pillar of cloud which morphed into a pillar of fire when they needed its light. They were focused on it until they saw the army coming after them, then they lost sight of it. But just because they lost sight of it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

Take a look at Exodus 14: 19-20:
And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel: (emphasis mine) and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Just when the enemy was gaining on the Israelites and there was no where else to go, the pillar of the Lord’s Presence moved. It didn’t leave them, though. Oh no….it just stopped leading them forward, since there was nowhere to go….yet. Instead, that wonderful Presence moved behind them. It was if the Lord was saying, “Don’t worry. Sleep in peace. I have your back.”

All night long, while the miracle was being prepared, while the wind was blowing back that sea, while the armies of Egypt were impatiently waiting to recapture or finish off their fleeing slaves, the pillar stayed in place. To the Egyptians, it appeared as a thick dark cloud, keeping their former slaves out of view. To the Israelites, it was the same pillar of fire they’d come to recognize and follow. The Lord’s Own Presence effectively stood in the gap between the would-be masters and the had-been slaves. And He stayed there, all. night. long.

If you’re stuck right in the in between right now, you might be doubting whether that wind is blowing on your Red Sea. You might be resigned to the death of your dreams and your purpose like those Israelites were. I can’t promise you either one because, just like you, I have no idea what God has in mind. But there is one thing I can tell you: If you have been delivered from the bondage of Egypt and you’re still trapped between your past nightmares and future deliverance with your very present fears, look behind you. When the night falls along with your despairing tears, you will see that fiery pillar. The pillar that stands between.