Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Psalm 77:19-20)

As the people of Israel began their journey across the desert toward the land of Promise, God told them to “turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in’” (Exodus 14:2-3). In reality, God led them into a wadi, a deep, dry ravine (except in rainy seasons), that opened up at its end on the edge of the sea. Speaking strictly from a tactical point of view, it seemed as if they were being led into a death trap, which is exactly what Pharaoh concluded.

However, what Pharaoh — and for that matter, the children of Israel — didn’t know was that, at the time of Creation, God had prepared a path in the sea for His people. In fact, there is abundant evidence that the place where Israel camped by the sea is situated at a land bridge that connects the Sinai Peninsula with Arabia. Though submerged by sea water, it is relatively shallow meaning that the strong wind that caused the sea to divide exposed the path God had prepared in the great waters. Until that moment, no one but God knew that path existed — “Your footsteps were not known.”   

So often it seems that God leads us into situations that, from our vantage point, appear to be a dead end or worse, the death of us. However, as Israel discovered, He makes a way when there seems to be no way. Just because we can’t see the path going forward doesn’t mean it isn’t there. In fact, it may be that the path He has assigned to us and for our deliverance was established long before He breathed the breath of life into us. So, when He tells us to turn and journey into a situation that threatens to close us in and, seemingly, leave us no way to escape, remember that the way to life is straight and narrow — but it is the only way that leads to life. Trust Him — He has already prepared the path through the great waters.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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