The People
Key: Blue=Bible, Red= Author notes
Hebrews 11:29 (NIV)
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
Good Day World!
In good Deji fashion, I haven’t made a post in over a month. But God has softened my heart yesterday and hopefully this will allow me to have a faith-filled week this week. Right now, I’m going through the days studying for a retake of my Step 2CK. As mentioned earlier, I am a 4th year Medical student, but I failed this exam, Step 2 CK, earlier this year. I need to do well in order to become competitive to get into a program after finishing medical school. But, even more important, I need to do well for myself. I am slowly becoming more open to others about the way I think, sometimes I feel that there is no need to share…but I don’t know. God has allowed me to glorify him to others and deny him to myself. It brings a gracious terror to my heart, something that is essentially unexplainable. But I believe this post will be able to bring some light to my heart that will help me grow into the man God wants me to be. And (let the reader understand) I hope these words brings hope to you as well. Hope is Alive!
Today, this blog marks what this particular book is all about. The Exodus! This is the famous story of how Israelites successfully escaped the land of Egypt. Please read the biblical account before reading this blog! [Exodus 12:31-42,13:17-14:31]
Hebrews praises the faith of the Israelites for crossing the Red Sea. I imagined if I was there…we just left the land we lived in for 400 years to follow a pillar of cloud and fire across the desert. I imagine it looks like they were following a tornado…or a fire tornado. Now to make things more vivid, Ex 12:37-38 details that 600 thousand men, not including women, children, other people, and livestock escaped Egypt. It’s fair to say at least 2 million people, which is about 4 times the entire population of the city of Atlanta, escaped Egypt. And all these people crossed the Red Sea! Now that is a lot of people, and I got to say, that is a lot of faith. You are running away from your home, following this prophet Moses, chasing after a tornado/fire tornado, and now crossing a sea where the bible says in Ex 14:22 that there was a wall of water on the left and the right of the Israelites (I always think of that seen in Moana…loved that movie) The people went through a lot, I think any one of us would have been overwhelmed by the miracles that we got to witness. But to conclude, they got to witness the power of God once the waters crashed back down killing the 600 men army of the Pharaoh. Here it is said in Ex 14:31 that the people Feared the LORD and put their trust in him and his servant Moses.
You may know what happens after all these miracles, but I want to remain focus here with the crossing of the sea. We all go through life and have the experience where an unbelievable miracle happens to us. We may conclude that it was a natural occurrence, or not a big deal, or even something by “My Own Power.” And there are times where we don’t just see this once, but multiple times. Today for me, I almost got into an accident, couldn’t fill my gas, and finally hit a point where I had to stop the car and pray. Just to thank God for everything he has done for me today. But how many times will God continue to show us to have faith in him? The Israelites feared and believed in God after they saw all these things. What has God shown you to order you to fear and believe in him? I know God showed me mercy today…but are we actually taking the time to know that he is there and that he cares.
He ordered that this story, along with the previous stories, be celebrated so that we don’t forget. Now today, we can still go back and reconnect with our spiritual ancestors. Learn from their mistakes and lean on God more than ourselves.
Next chapter we will see another image of the faith of the people. They were highlighted with the faith to cross the Red sea on dry land, and their children will be highlighted with a specific HOLY event of their own.
Dear brothers and sisters let us hone our faith! Let us have faith to follow Christ no matter what. Let us not back down when things get scary, or when things get hard. The people will reject you, they are rejecting Jesus and God. If they hate you, know they hated Jesus first. I have been meditating on these scriptures for years…but I am too afraid to see this in action. Lord I pray I can have the faith to fear you above all else. Let my knowledge increase in your abundant love towards us all. AMEN!
With Love,
Ayodeji Alaketu
