After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel walked by the desert road to the Red Sea. "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light..." (Exodus 13:21) In the meantime, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he decided to pursue the Israelites. There was great fear in the Israelite camp when the Egyptian armies arrived. But the angel of the Lord, along with the pillar of cloud, stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites. During the night "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left." (Exodus 14:21-22)
According to Chuck Pierce of Glory of Zion Ministries, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on the eighth day after Passover. Fascinating! Prophetically, the number eight stands for death and resurrection/ new beginnings and sanctification. Remember how God required that every male baby boy be circumcised on the eighth day as part of His covenant? There was a cutting open of the foreskin as a sign of covenant. Doesn't opening the sea and separating it remind you that God was confirming the covenant that He made with Abraham over 400 years before? When that covenant was made, Abraham brought the Lord a heifer, goat and ram and cut them in two so that the halves could be arranged opposite each other as a sign of "cutting a covenant." (Genesis 15:10-15) God was always faithful to His covenant with His people. As they walked through the Red Sea, it was as though they were dying a death to be resurrected on the other side. They were headed toward the Promised Land and a new life where the Lord would provide everything they needed in the way of food, clothes, shelter, protection, and victory in battle. However, they would learn that God provided for them in His way—one day at a time. Every morning there was manna for the day. The Israelites needed to learn how to trust the Lord. We need to do the same thing. Fear and uncertainty have arisen as we are in the middle of a pandemic. Restrictions on the way we live are in place. Yet, we must not let the news of the Coronavirus stop us from praising the Lord for His unfailing love and compassion. Two Scriptures come to mind: Proverbs 3:26 in The Passion Translation declares, "God is your confidence in times of crisis, keeping your heart at rest in every situation." My "go to" verse in times of difficulty comes from Lamentations 3:22-23. "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail, they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Hymn writer Thomas Chisholm understood about the faithfulness of God. He saw it in the day in and day out circumstances of his life. He knew that God's presence was the premier sign of His faithfulness. He is Emmanuel—God with us. God showed Himself to the Israelites in different manifestations just as He does today. The greatest manifestation of His faithfulness, however, was shown when the Son of God, Jesus, came to live on earth. Thomas Chisholm was inspired to write a classic hymn that has been consistently sung from the time it was written. Shortly before his death he explained the inspiration for his song, Great Is Thy Faithfulness: "I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.” During this season, let us remember that we have a faithful, covenant-keeping God. Singing the words of Chisholm's inspired hymn will help us walk through the Red Sea of our lives to get through to the other side: Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not: As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow—blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Chorus: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. |
Joan E. MathiasCategories
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