After Crossing the Sea

By Mary Vee
Exodus 15:22

I woke this morning still feeling tired.  We had stayed up really late last night singing and dancing praises to God.  It's hard to express what we felt.  Just yesterday we stood on the Egyptian shore with God's presence in a cloud over us.  He told me to hold my staff over the waters.

Yes, yes God said the waters would part and we'd walk across the dry sea bed, but to hear what would happen is completely different from being there.  The wind blew in my face with a great force, it nearly knocked me down.

The people were nervous about walking on the path. Think about it, a wall of water rising above their heads on both sides!  Once they saw the shore on the other side, they bolted in case the wall of water might crash down on them.  I tried to reassure them, but, I guess seeing the water wall concerned them. 

We also had one other problem.  The cloud separating the Egyptian army from us lifted.  Pharaoh screamed at his army to chase after us.  They clattered forward like madmen.  I knew the Lord would care for us, but my heart pounded like it wanted out of my chest the moment I heard them running after us.

I was the last to place my feet on the new shore.  The Lord told me to stretch my hands over the sea again. When I did the walls of water crashed down on the Egyptian army, horses, chariots, soldiers, the whole army.  Just like that.

Sure, I believed the Lord would do as He said, but the water splashed up on me.  It crashed down on the Egyptians running after us. The water roared and swirled about confused which way to go.  Drops sprayed onto my clothes.

We stood silent. Did God throw the water down on the army and kill them?  Or would they swim to shore and come after us? 

We waited. No one swam to shore.  The water and the birds sang the only song. 

Then we cheered.  We cried for joy. We sang, danced, and gave praises to God.  We told stories about what we saw along the way.  When it grew dark we made campfires and sang more praises to God.

I sat up this morning and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.  Many of the Israelites walked along the shore, some cared for the animals, some organized their belongings.  I looked at the cloud above and thanked God. 

After a morning meal the cloud with God's presence shifted to the northeast.  I called out to the people. "God wants us to more forward.  Let's go."

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1. What do you think you would have seen if you walked with the Israelites across the sea ground?
2. Who chased after the people?
3. What happened to the army? 
4. What did the people do when they arrived at the other shore?
5. How did Moses know it was time to move forward?