We hear a lot about faith and how important it is. But faith is not required for God to do His work. In fact, sometimes faith is impossible, because the totality of rampant injustice is just too great.
It is in those times, specifically, that God gives us “open miracles.” They are a way of bringing the world back from the brink of total occupation by the forces of evil.
This week’s Bible reading (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16; Judges 4:4 – 5:31) is an example of that: It is the story of the waters of the Red Sea parting to allow the Jewish slaves to escape, while also drowning Egypt’s entire pursuing army.
Had Pharoah been reasonable, he could have saved his people. He had been warned, through Moses, that it was time to release the Jews. He knew through Divine signs that the warning was accurate. He’d suffered many inexplicable plagues.
At certain points in the narrative, it seems like things will go this way. The evil leader apologizes, commits to the release, and it seems like the Jews can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe Moses did a good job and saved them?
But God’s plan did not involve a diplomatic resolution.
God’s plan did not involve the deification of one man.
The world had to see, in an openly miraculous way, that God alone was in charge.
The world had to see that Pharoah’s subversion of God–using occult “magick,” human sacrifice (forcing the Jews to kill their babies) and tricky, self-serving talk–would lead to the earth literally swallowing his “all powerful” soldiers in the end.
Therefore, God tampered with Pharoah’s ability to reason. As a result, he stubbornly held on to the Jews, long after he should have released them, and ordered his army to pursue the slaves to the end.
A plan like this might seem “crazy.” The people were broken by slavery; such machinations could only demoralize them more. And in fact, as they’re confronted by the sea in front of them and killers behind, they start to scream at Moses for his “betrayal.” Exodus 14:11:
“וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֘ אֶל־משֶׁה֒ הֲמִבְּלִ֤י אֵֽין־קְבָרִים֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם לְקַחְתָּ֖נוּ לָמ֣וּת בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר מַה־זֹּאת֙ עָשִׂ֣יתָ לָּ֔נוּ לְהֽוֹצִיאָ֖נוּ מִמִּצְרָֽיִם”
“They said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt?”
Exodus 14:11
The lesson of this week’s Bible reading could not be more clear.
We are living in a world where many, unfortunately, are owned by the “other side,” whether by force or by choice. These people, in doing immoral things, have strengthened the forces of darkness to the point where it may seem impossible that God will ever redeem us.
It is understandable, looking at what’s going on right now, seeing the seeming failure of even the most valiant fighters for God, truth, and justice, that people would just give up.
But it is precisely now, in the valley of despair, when God’s open miracles spring into action.
We who love God are promised: We will see the end of the modern Egyptian army which pursues the slaves to the ends of the earth.
As the prophetess Deborah and the general Barak sang together, in Judges 5:31:
“כֵּ֠ן יֹאבְד֚וּ כָל־אוֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה וְאֹ֣הֲבָ֔יו כְּצֵ֥את הַשֶּׁ֖מֶשׁ בִּגְבֻרָת֑וֹ”
“So may perish all Your enemies, O Lord; but they that love Him (should be) as the sun when he goes forth in his might.”
Judges 5:31
We can fortify ourselves by remembering our faith in God, loving Him, and knowing with certainty that He will not just save us, but also crush those who seek to abuse and dominate the planet.
Note: I want to urge people upset at the injustice they see to remain peaceful and law-abiding. Do not give the evil ones any excuse to target good people further.
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By Dr. Dannielle (Dossy) Blumenthal. All opinions are the author’s own. Public domain. Photo by Innermost Limits from Pexels.
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