Passing through the Red Sea by Faith Hebrews 11:29

Moses “kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood”, according to the writer of Hebrews, and “lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them”, Moses passed on these directives to the people of Israel. In chapter eleven and verse twenty-nine of Hebrews the writer shares how Moses led the children of Israel “by faith” “through the Red Sea” where we read:

By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land:

which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

The verse begins, “By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land:”. The writer began with the words, “By faith” which means “the conviction of the truth of anything and belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ which springs from trust in the same” “they passed through” which refers to “the Israelites and Moses crossed” “the Red Sea” or “the Indian Ocean washing the shores of Arabia and Persia, with its two gulfs, of which the one on the east is called the Persian Gulf, the other on the opposite side the Arabian” “as by dry land” which refers to “in the same manner as they would have crossed withered and arid land”. “Through faith” Moses and the children of Israel “crossed” the “Red Sea” on “dry ground”.

The verse goes on to say, “which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.”. The writer continued with the words, “which the Egyptians” or “the inhabitants of Egypt” “assaying to do” which means “trying and attempting to manage” “were drowned” or “were devoured, swallowed up and destroyed”. Though Moses and the Israelites were able to “pass through” the “Red Sea”, the Egyptians were drowned within it.

When we meditate upon these words in Hebrews, we see another example where people employed “faith”. Moses and the Israelites were trapped, and the Egyptians were upon them. Moses held out his rod in obedience to the Lord's command, God divided the waters and they walked on dry ground through the “Red Sea”. This took tremendous “faith” because none of them had ever seen or done this before. God intervened, and they were saved. The Egyptians, however, were not saved because as they began to cross the “Red Sea” the waters receded and the Egyptians were drowned within them. (See Exodus 14). In the same manner, Jesus desires that we have “faith” in Him and His sacrifice for our sins. When we do, we shall be “saved” like Moses and the Israelites, but if we do not, the fate of the Egyptians may be ours as well.

Next time the writer shares how “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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